
The highest price of the sale, $58,500, was awarded to this carved blackstone stele relief of Shiva and Uma, Indian, Pala period (Twelfth Century), 30 inches high by 16 inches wide by 6 inches deep ($3/4,000).
GLEN COVE, N.Y. — Roland Auctions’ November Estate Sale, conducted on the 15th, featured a rare collection with three areas of focus: fine art, Chinese and Asian art and silver, including antique sculpture and decorative arts, all of which were the property of and benefiting Columbia University in New York City. Also offered in the collection was silverplate by Puiforcat & Christofle, Jade, Baccarat and others.
A series of top sellers, all from the Columbia University collection, included the top lot of the day, an Indian carved blackstone stele relief from the Pala period (Twelfth Century), which depicted the deities Shiva and Uma. The figures were surrounded by figural decoration and seated on a lotus form base which included a Yaksha (Indian nature spirit) positioned beneath. Mounted on a wooden base and with additional provenance to the estate of John W. Kluge, the piece sold for $58,500.
Also from the Columbia University collection was an Indian carved sandstone figure of a dancing Ganesha made in Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh circa the Tenth Century, which went for $21,450. The statue had a carved sacred thread and contained two figures above Ganesha, likely Riddhi and Siddhi (Ganesha’s consorts), and two figures at the base, likely music-playing Ganas. A Khmer carved sandstone of Uma also did well. The Hindu figural sculpture, wearing a Baphuon-style sampot and headdress, was made circa the Eleventh Century in what is now modern-day Cambodia and rested on a later base. The work sold for $12, 350.

This Regency mahogany and specimen marble top center table, late Nineteenth Century, 35 inches in diameter, sold for $10,400 ($1,8/2,800).
Additional notable items from the Columbia University collection included a Regency era mahogany and specimen marble-top center table with acanthus carved legs ($10,400); an intricately carved circa Nineteenth Century Chinese jade scholar’s object, possibly a scroll tube, with carved foliate, deer and architectural decoration ($9,100); and “Einheit aus drei Gleichen volumen (Entity made up of three identical volumes),” a gilt brass sculpture by Max Bill, signed “Bill 61-63” on the edge of one of the volumes ($7,150).
Decorative arts from other collections and estates that earned notable prices included an Art Deco bronze by Thayaht (Ernesto Michahelles), which sold for $19,500. Titled “Dux,” the 1929 work was signed “Thayaht” to its reverse and dated “Anno VII.”
A 26-inch-high artist’s proof bronze consigned from a New York collector after Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” was bid to $11,050, and a pair of Chinese floral decorated rice bowls on carved stands also attracted bidder attention at $11,700.
There were several notable high prices in the fine art category, including a circa 1750 palatial oil on canvas portrait attributed to Stephen Slaughter. The work depicted three children in a landscape setting surrounding a bowl of fruit and a bird. It measured 68 by 87 inches in a carved and gilt wood frame and had provenance to a May 20, 1993, Sotheby’s sale; it earned $11,700 at Roland.

Attributed to Stephen Slaughter (English, 1697-1765), this oil on canvas portrait of three children, circa 1750, 68 by 87 inches framed, made $11,700 ($12/15,000).
An oil on board of a burning city attributed to Dutch painter Aert Van der Neer (1603/4-1677) contained the artist’s cipher and had a woodburned signature to its reverse. It surpassed the high end of its $7,5/9,500 estimate to make $10,400.
Unsigned and attributed to Louis Elle Ferdinand II (French, 1648-1717) but marked spuriously “Gerrit Von Honthorst” on the lower portion of its frame, an oil on canvas portrait of a woman as Diana crossed the block for $7,150.
A few lots of gold coins sold separately but all earned the same price — $4,225. These lots included a 1977 South African one-ounce Krugerrand coin housed in a 14K gold screw pendant frame and a 1987 one-ounce US Liberty $50 gold coin with a Roman numeral date. The US coin was one of eight $50 gold coins, all dating within the years 1986-1989, which sold for $4,225.
Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 212-260-2000 or www.rolandantiques.com.





