This reddish-brown tufted leather settee and lounge chair by Afra & Tobia Scarpa for Cassina had exposed supports with a chrome finish; the set was bid to $9,840 ($4/6,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
ALAMEDA, CALIF. — In total, 635 lots crossed the block in Michaan’s Auctions’ July Gallery Auction on July 19. Standout collecting categories included furniture and decorative arts, fine art, jewelry and accessories. At the sale’s close, 75 percent of the lots successfully traded hands and the auction realized a total of $452,050. Ashton Lyle, business development associate, told Antiques and The Arts Weekly, “I can confirm that the July Gallery Auction from Michaan’s Auctions included international bidders from Europe and Asia, as well as bidders from across the US, including the East Coast. Most of our bidders are private collectors and dealers and bid with us via online platforms, but we had several high-profile buyers who chose to bid in-person and over the phone.”
Standing out against the other lots was a white 2017 Cadillac XT5, which drove across the block as the highest-earning lot. In good condition with a beige leather interior, a panorama moon roof and fewer than 9,000 miles on the odometer, the SUV was bid to $22,140.
An Afra & Tobia Scarpa for Cassina lounge set comprising a chair and settee, topped the charts in the furniture department and was the second-highest earning lot of the sale. With reddish-brown tufted leather and chrome finish supports, both pieces had Cassina and Atelier labels affixed to the underside. Despite expected signs of wear and a small tear to the chair, the living room set brought $9,840. Jill Fenichell, appraiser of furniture & decorations at Michaan’s Auctions shared, “The Scarpa furniture suite came from a wonderful Noe Valley, Calif., adjacent home, owned for decades by a couple who sadly have now passed on. They had great lives and were adventurous, curious and successful (or at least the husband was) in advertising. These are just two items from this wonderful home. In a funny way, advertising and psychology folks look at ethnographic and art and design material as reflexes of each other — searching for deep meanings, and sometimes delighting in the humor or workmanship of individual items. The Scarpa pieces look like they are laughing, the way Chairy on Pee Wee Herman’s was full of life and humor.”
Exceeding its $800-$1,200 estimates to achieve $9,225 was this white marble bust of Louis XIV; it measured 40 inches high by 29 inches wide by 12 inches thick.
A white marble bust of Louis XIV blew past its $1,200 high estimate to finish at $9,225. The bust, which showed Louis XIV looking slightly upward to the left and draped in regal robes, was raised on a square pedestal for a total height of 40 inches. Despite surface wear and some hairline cracks and chips, fierce competition broke out for the French king.
A pair of bronze figural candelabras, after the French Rococo sculptor Clodion, went to an online bidder for $7,380. The ebonized bronze figures, one male and one female, were depicted standing and holding gilt bronze horns with grapevine and foliate form arms emanating from the opening. Each was fit to hold eight candles and the figures stood atop green marble bases with gilt bronze mounted details accenting the rim and base. The date and signature, “1775 Clodion,” was etched into the bronze by the figures’ feet.
With extensive marquetry throughout its body, a Louis XVI style commode, after Jean-Henri Riesener, found a new home for $5,535. Surrounded by ornate gilt bronze framing with cherubs and vines, inlaid depictions of festive offerings — including a basket of fruit and some vases — were illustrated at the center, spanning the height of the structure’s two drawers. The sides and the two cabinet doors bore geometric and floral pattern marquetry with additional bronze mounts, and the commode featured a shaped Brèche d’Alep marble top with only minor surface wear.
This Louis XVI-style Brèche d’Alep marble top commode with extensive marquetry and gilt bronze mounts, after Jean-Henri Riesener (French, 1734-1806), 39 inches high by 85 inches wide by 32¾ inches deep, went out at $5,535 ($7/12,000).
“The bust, the Clodion and the commode lived together for at least 30 if not 40 years in the home of a private collector in San Francisco. He is now having to down-size due to some physical issues and was loathe to part with these juicy French things. Apparently, the dead market isn’t so dead after all. I have found really fine quality items that retain some of the lustre and size of Sixteenth–Nineteenth Century things, do really well,” added Fenichell.
Luxury accessories were led by a two-tone Rolex GMT-Master watch. The black and gold-faced watch with luminous indicators was on a yellow-gold and stainless-steel Jubilee link bracelet that measured 7 inches in length. It was bid to $7,380 — just past its high estimate. Also finding favor in that category was a diamond tennis bracelet. With 41 old European-cut diamonds, which weighed a total of 8.15 carats, the bracelet was set in platinum and measured 7½ inches long. It more than doubled its high estimate, ultimately finishing at $5,842. Elise Coronado, GIA Graduate Gemologist, director of jewelry and timepieces remarked, “The Rolex GMT and diamond tennis bracelet came to us through our twice-monthly free appraisal events, each from a different client. The tennis bracelet will be traveling to a buyer on the East Coast and the Rolex GMT is staying with a local buyer.”
Making $5,843 was Salvador Dalí’s (Spanish, 1904-1989) signed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland portfolio of 12 woodcuts and etchings on Mandure paper, after Lewis Carrol (British, 1832-1898), edition 676/2500, published by Maecenas Press-Random House, New York/France, 1969 ($5/7,000).
Combining art and literature, a signed portfolio of Salvador Dalí illustrations for Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland included 12 original woodcuts and etchings. Published in 1969, the Mandure paper sheets had some toning and wear but were housed in a quarter morocco over beige cloth clamshell binding with bone and morocco clasps. Dalí’s signature was done in pencil on the title sheet and the edition, number 676 of 2,500, was stamped on the last page. The collector’s set broke into its estimate range and finished at $5,843, within estimate.
In the Asian art department, two lots stood out in particular. The top lot in the category — at $4,613 — was a Tibetan thangka, or painted tapestry, of Ushnishavijaya with White Tara and other figures. Both Ushnishavijaya and White Tara are peaceful female deities in the Buddhist religion. Ushnishavijaya, depicted at the center of the tapestry, is painted with three deities seated beneath her with several other figures in the clouds above her haloed head. Likely from the Eighteenth Century, the illustration was painted with distemper on cloth then mounted on navy blue satin affixed with a horizontal rod for hanging.
This Chinese ruyi head form pillow, stoneware with purple splashed pale blue glaze (Jun ware), had a poem inscribed on its unglazed 12-inch-wide base. It sold to a phone bidder for $3,998 ($600/800).
An unexpected result in the Asian art category was that of a Chinese Jun ware pillow. The pale blue and purple glazed stoneware pillow was in the shape of the traditional ruyi head, and it had pierced gourd-form carvings on the top sides. Etched into the unglazed base of the pillow was a poem in traditional Chinese writing, likely a draw for interested bidders. Soaring past its $800 high estimate, the speckled pillow was bid to $3,998.
And for the numismatics, several sets of uncirculated 1915 Austrian 1 Ducat coins were offered. With 20 coins in each set, the highest earning lot made $5,228 and another four sets each brought $4,920 ($4/5,000).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Next on the docket for Michaan’s is the August Annex Auction, August 12-14. For information, www.michaans.com or 510-740-0220.
