Once a fixture in Coco Chanel’s Parisian apartment, this Louis XIV ormolu-mounted tortoiseshell and ebony Boulle marquetry cabinet with remounted Nineteenth Century verre églomisé panels, 5 feet 10 inches by 43¼ inches, led the auction at $878,000 ($150/250,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
HUDSON, N.Y. — Representing more than three decades of “thoughtful collecting, a passion for interior design and a lifelong pursuit of beauty and self-expression,” Stair Galleries conduced a three-day, 717-lot auction — River Ranch: The Collection of Carole Harris — from June 17-19. Harris’s River Ranch property, a Louis XIV-style chateau in the Central Valley of California, was designed in collaboration with Sister Parish and the firm Parish-Hadley.
With just one lot left unsold, the auction realized $5,832,168, saw 1,250 registered bidders from 16 countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, France, China, Germany, India and Australia, and director of marketing Holly Stair noted, “The overwhelming majority of buyers in this sale were private collectors, followed by designers and the trade. There were a handful of institutional bidders who were active in underbidding.” Also notable was that 22 percent of bidders were new to Stair and 90 percent of the bidding was done directly through Stair by using their website, phones, absentee or floor bidding.
President and founder Colin Stair shared, “We’re thrilled with the results of River Ranch: The Collection of Carole Harris — but more than that, we’re honored to have presented this remarkable collection in its entirety… Carole’s collection reflects a life devoted to beauty, self-expression, and a steadfast confidence in her own taste. The results of this sale affirm that the market for Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century European furniture and decorative arts is not only alive but thriving — and that there is a passionate community of designers and collectors eager to incorporate this type of property into their homes. Over the past two decades, Stair has cultivated a deeply engaged client base that values quality and provenance, and this sale was a testament to that.”
Earning the third-highest price overall and leading the artwork category was “A Watchful Mother” by Otto Eerelman (Dutch, 1839-1926), oil on canvas, 44 by 59½ framed; it sold to a European trade buyer for $90,500 ($20/30,000).
Closing its doors for the sale-high price of $878,000 was an extravagant Louis XIV ormolu-mounted tortoiseshell and ebony Boulle marquetry cabinet with remounted Nineteenth Century verre églomisé panels raised on a later stand. Additionally, the auction catalog noted that each glazed panel retained “traces of the original Seventeenth Century verre églomisé, mother-of-pearl and aventurine decoration.” Perhaps most importantly to bidders, “This Louis XIV ormolu-mounted cabinet has a storied provenance, most notably for its time at 31 rue Cambon, the Parisian apartment of Coco Chanel, and later in Lausanne, Switzerland.”
Additionally, the Stair writeup noted that it is believed Chanel acquired the cabinet as a gift from the Second Duke of Westminster. “This cabinet is the epitome of exoticism and grandeur in Eighteenth Century French Chinoiserie decoration, with intricate combinations of natural elements like mother-of-pearl to form detailed motifs.” Competitive bidding with individuals on the phone from the US and Europe drove this piece far beyond its $250,00 high estimate, and it ultimately sold to an international buyer.
Another piece with an interesting story was a George I bottle green and gilt-japanned bureau-cabinet. Melissa Gagen, a New York City-based appraiser and furniture and works of art specialist who worked with Harris, reflected on her first memory of this piece, writing, “Carole asked me to create a comprehensive listing of her vast inventory… As I progressed through each room, each chock-a-block with eye-popping objects, an admiration for her natural eye, brilliant juxtapositions and attention to every detail kept my engines rolling for my week-long visit… This bureau-cabinet is one of the objects that stopped me in my tracks. Its gilt decoration is particularly fanciful — with its sumptuous floral sprays, exotic birds and beasts, figures with fans, enjoying tea or flying atop dragons. And how about that smiling sun? It is a superb example of early Georgian ‘japanning’ (European imitation of lacquer) fueled by a wide-eyed enthusiasm for faraway lands.”
This George I bottle green and gilt-japanned bureau-cabinet, attributed to John Belchier (London, d 1753), in two parts with beveled mirror plates on the outside of each door, 7 feet 8 inches by 41 inches, was taken to $322,250 by an international buyer ($80/120,000).
The bureau-cabinet, which was attributed to John Belchier and saw competitive bidding through phone bidders in the US and Europe, ultimately selling to an international buyer for $322,250, more than two and a half times its high estimate.
Coming in with the third-highest price was Otto Eerelman’s “A Watchful Mother,” a signed oil painting of a Saint Bernard with several puppies. Holly Stair commented that this work had a “global bidding pool with pre-sale interest” and it was “ultimately won by a European member of the trade” for $90,500 — more than three times its high estimate.
Harris’s River Ranch was decorated with many porcelain florals throughout its halls. Holly Stair pointed out that “The top porcelain floral lots had competitive interest and success with private East Coast collectors and designers.” These, by makers such as Vladamir Kanevsky and Clare Potter, brought some surprising and strong results. The assortment was led by a pair of signed porcelain and painted tôle hollyhock topiaries by Vladimir Kanevsky ($78,000). Other potted Vladimir examples to find great success included a tall white floral arrangement with lavender butterflies resting on its leaves ($37,990) and a pair of morning glory topiaries ($34,060). Two pairs of foxglove topiaries by Clare Potter — one measuring 29 inches high and the other 16 inchs high — earned $71,750 and $56,330 respectively and a pair of painted metal and tôle lemon trees by Carmen Almon brought $41,920.
Leading a plentiful selection of porcelain and painted tôle topiaries was this hollyhock pair by Vladimir Kanevsky (Ukraine, b 1951), 20½ by 6½ inches each; they brought $78,000 ($3/5,000).
Adding to the appeal of a pair of Continental ormolu, glass, crystal and marble palm trees was its provenance to US ambassador and former daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill, Pamela Harriman. Holly Stair told us, “These palms have a history steeped in provenance. Carole Harris acquired the pair from Sotheby’s New York in the 1997 sale of The Estate of Ambassador Pamela Harriman. At the auction of River Ranch, they were won by a private collector.” Cataloged as “probably supplied by Maison Jansen,” the glistening palms sprouted to $61,570.
Other interior design elements included a pair of George II giltwood figural pier mirrors, one with a man and the other with a woman, both lounging under umbrellas. The pair — which was the featured catalog cover illustration for a 1996 Christie’s, New York, auction of items from the collection of Joe and Madelaine Bain, Bel Air, Calif. — was hotly contested and successfully acquired by a designer in Australia for $83,000.
A pair of George III-style gilt-metal mounted black, silvered and gilt-japanned commodes made in the manner of Thomas Chippendale closed their doors for $34,060, selling to a private collector. These commodes were designed by Ann Getty House and copied from the original circa 1770 commodes in the Ann and Gordon Getty collection in San Francisco. Holly Stair noted, “Carole Harris long admired Ann Getty and her design prowess and was an avid collector of the Ann Getty House Collection, a line of furniture inspired by the world-renowned Ann and Gordon Getty collection.”
Eighteen Louis XVI-style painted and parcel-gilt fauteuils en cabriolet generated immense interest and ultimately sold to a new-to-Stair bidder for $34,060 ($10/15,000).
Eighteen painted and parcel-gilt Louis XVI fauteuils en cabriolet with rich green upholstery saw “immense interest from the design community and were ultimately won by a bidder who is new to Stair, bidding at stairgalleries.com,” according to Holly Stair. The set also went out at $34,060.
Colin Stair affirmed the success of this sale and the strength of its merchandise, noting, “We’re always looking ahead and remain committed to celebrating the decorative arts and championing property of this caliber. I spent three decades in conversation with Carole: poring over auction catalogs, bidding together and sharing a love of design and art history. She was not just one of my best clients — she was a true friend. It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to share her collection with the world.”
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as quoted by the auction house. For information, www.stairgalleries.com or 518-751-1000.
