Weschler’s May 15 auction of European and American furniture and decorations, including Twentieth Century design and Asian works of art, ended the season with sales exceeding $460,000.
The top lot of the auction was an unsigned oil on canvas in the circle of Italian artist Giovanni Paolo Panini (1692‱765). The oil, “A Capriccio of Classical Ruins,” garnered international attention prior to the sale and once bidding began, the work quickly brought $27,025.
Silver offerings achieved robust results and were highlighted by a Japanese embossed silver Iris pattern seven-piece coffee and tea service from the Meiji period (1868‱912), which fetched $7,050, and an early Twentieth Century Chinese Export embossed silver Dragon pattern footed tray from the workshop of Qiu Ji, retailed by Wang Hing & Co., that brought $7,637.
Rounding out the silver category were an S. Kirk & Son, Co., Baltimore, repoussé five-piece coffee and tea service at $5,405 and an S. Kirk & Son, Co. repoussé sterling pitcher that sold to an Internet bidder for $2,410. Highlighting European offerings was a George III silver soup tureen with a maker’s mark “J[?],” London, 1816, which sold for $7,637; a Sheffield plate supper dish on hot water stand at $3,290; and a Victorian silver mounted intaglio cut glass claret jug by George Fox, London, 1875, that made $1,997.
Russian works featured a selection of icons, including a silver gilt and cloisonné enamel “Christ the Pantocrator.” The icon, by Pavel Ovchinnikov, Moscow, 1896‱908, sold above estimate at $16,450. Also on the block was a silver teapot by F. Lonnqvist, assay master Mikhail Karpinsky, St Petersburg, 1830, which realized $2,169 from an Internet bidder.
Standouts among the decorative arts were a selection of porcelain plaques, including a late Nineteenth Century Berlin plaque of the “Little Beggars.” The plaque, after Bouguereau, and signed Schinzel, brought $15,665 against a $4/6,000 estimate.
Also, a French guilloche enamel, champlevé and “‘jeweled” brass mantel clock by Japy Frères sold to an Internet bidder for $5,543; two Lyon & Healy parcel-gilt and figured maple harps sold for $9,037 and $17,625, respectively; and a Japanese lacquer incense chest (Kodansu), Meiji period, Nineteenth Century, went for $3,995.
Topping American furniture offerings was a Massachusetts Chippendale feather crossbanded and mahogany veneered reverse serpentine chest of drawers, circa 1750‱770, which caught many collectors’ eyes during preview and sold above estimate for $9,400, and a New England Queen Anne cherry highboy, probably Connecticut, circa 1760‱780, at $7,637.
Other notable furniture lots included a Pennsylvania Chippendale cherry step back cupboard, circa 1790‱810, bringing $5,170; a Connecticut Chippendale cherry chest of drawers, Hartford or Colchester area, circa 1780, selling above estimate at $3,995; and a Victorian mahogany tall case regulator selling for $5,170.
An Italian rococo walnut bureau-bookcase composed of Eighteenth Century elements brought $4,230, and a good bargain was a carved Seventeenth Century Northern Italian walnut bamboccio commode that sold for $11,750.
Rounding out the auction were an oil on canvas in the manner of Henri Fantin-Latour of flowers in a glass vase that realized $3,760 and a Nineteenth Century Flemish tapestry fragment that surprised many, selling above estimate at $7,637.
All prices reported include the 17½ percent buyer’s premium.
The next auction of European and American furniture and decorations will be October 23. For more information, www.weschlers.com or 202-628-1281.
