Two Mary Cassatt works were the big surprises of the day at South Bay Auctions’ June 20 sale, which mostly comprised the Cynthia Phipps estate, according to auctioneer Jean Paul Napoli.
“It went very well,” he said, with just a hint of understatement. “It was like the old days. We had a full house and they stuck with us.” Reluctant to give a specific sales total, Napoli was only too happy, however, to announce the sale had surpassed their expectations.
Phone activity was exceptionally high for this sale, given the name recognition factor of the Phipps family name. Cynthia Phipps was the great-granddaughter of Henry Phipps, American financier, philanthropist and partner in Carnegie Steel.
“It almost wrecked me, trying to coordinate that many phones,” Napoli said, explaining they made around 300 phone calls to bidders during the sale. Between a full gallery, heavy phones and a stack of left bids that measured around 4 inches thick, the auction staff was kept busy all weekend.
The Cassatt drypoint etchings were the top lots of the auction, with “Les Canards,” a sweet work depicting two women and a young girl in a boat near a group of ducks, fetching $118,000 from a phone bidder. The lot attracted much interest and had 14 phones vying for it.
Cassatt’s other etching in the sale, “The Banjo Lesson,” achieved $93,220, also to the phone.
Other strong art performers included a portrait of the Phipps’ champion thoroughbred horse, Oedipus, done by Franklin Brooke Voss in 1951 that realized $30,680, and a Elisha Kent Kane Wetherill oil on canvas, “The Philadelphia Orchestra,” that was desirable for its exceptional size of 45 by 47½ inches, selling to the floor for $15,930. Most Wetherill paintings are smaller, Napoli noted.
A Francois Gall painting, “Honfleur,” brought $15,340. The work will be included in an upcoming Francois Gall catalogue raisonné. A Paul Cadmus drawing, a pencil study of roses, performed solidly at $6,372.
Other auction standouts included a Tiffany linen-fold shade with a six-light bronze base that went to the phone for $17,700, and a full-bodied cow weathervane, copper with a cast head, that took $7,670.
Two Martin & Brothers stoneware double face jugs, each just over 7 inches high, crossed the block. The first one was inscribed, “A peace that had never been broken, and he trusted and believed, never would be” realized $4,956, followed by one at $4,484.
Furniture offerings included a Louis XV-style oak center table with a serpentine and mottled green marble top at $5,192 and a Louis XV tulipwood and kingwood side table by master craftsman George Jansen at $4,484, while a George III bracket clock fetched $4,956.
One interesting item was a set of two oversized silver and gilt table articles that together brought $3,540. Napoli said most people could not believe the size of this pair until they saw them first-hand, as a mere photograph could not accurately convey the scale.
The magnifying glass had a whopping 5-inch lens with dolphin scrolled and carnelian mounted frame over a jade, carnelian and ivory banded handle, while the letter opener had a pierced blade with gilt scrolling leaves over a mythological face of a man with carnelian spheres and a putto with an onyx sphere.
Rounding out the auction were a large iron gate decorated with fleur-de-lys and faces for $3,776 and a 13-piece Cartier dresser set in 14K gold and glass at $4,720.
All prices reported include the 18 percent buyer’s premium.
South Bay will hold a country auction in August. For information, 631-878-2909 or www.southbayauctions.com .
