“Enchanted Woman” by Romare Bearden enchanted bidders, who took it to $58,050, the highest price realized in the two-day event. A local bidder prevailed for the 1971 collage and mixed media on Masonite work that measured 16½ by 20¼ inches ($50/60,000).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Photos Courtesy DuMouchelles

DETROIT, MICH. — Bidders competed for 1,020 lots in DuMouchelles’ December 2023 auction on December 14 and 15. More than 80 percent of the lots gaveled down successfully from the podium, with after-sale transactions likely taking place as they usually do.

DuMouchelles’ chairwoman, Joan DuMouchelle Walker, said, “Our December sales have splendidly closed the year, reflecting the art market’s endurance. The wide array of artworks and antiques attracted a passionate audience, serving as evidence that the appetite for quality and history remains strong across the globe.”

A local bidder won for $58,050 the sale’s top lot, Romare Bearden’s (American, 1911-1988) collage and mixed media on Masonite composition titled “Enchanted Woman.” Made in 1971, the work had provenance that included a Birmingham, Mich., gallery; it had been consigned to DuMouchelles from the Bloomfield Hills, Mich., estate of Evelyn Zeman, a prominent collector of art and design.

“Bag One,” by rock star-turned artist John Lennon (British, 1940-1980) will also be staying local having been purchased for $6,200 by a phone bidder. The lot included three lithographs on paper, published by Cinnamon Press, New York, in 1970, all included in the original white vinyl portfolio case signed in ink.

This white vinyl portfolio case houses three lithographs on paper done by John Lennon in 1970. “Bag One,” which was published by Cinnamon Press in New York, found a new home with a local buyer for $6,200 ($4/6,000).

A Troy, Mich., estate was the source of a bronze sculpture by Antonio Kieff (Canadian/Spanish, b 1936), which sold to an online buyer from the Southern United States for $4,193. “Genius of Form,” measured more than 12 inches on a marble base.

Nearly 75 lots in the sale came to DuMouchelles from the New City, N.Y., estate of Drs Richard and Catherine Paskowski, including “Man and Woman by the Shore of a Lake” that bore the signature of Polish artist, Eugeniusz Zak (1884-1926). The watercolor on paper was snapped up by an international buyer bidding online for $5,483.

Also from the Paskowski estate was a pair of Sevres pâte-sur-pâte porcelain plaques that sold to a buyer in New York for $5,890, nearly tripling the high estimate for the lot. The plaques — which were titled “Bellum and Pax (War and Peace)” had been made in 1873 by Albert Louis Dammouse (French, 1848-1926). Dammouse was the son of Sevres pâte-sur-pâte artist Pierre-Adolphe Dammouse and studied under his father and Marc Louis Solon; he ultimately won the Prix d’Honneur at the Union Central in 1875. The year the plaques were made was the first Albert Louis is known to have exhibited his own work.

“Bellum And Pax (War And Peace),” two Sevres pâte-sur-pâte porcelain plaques by Albert Louis Dammouse, measured 11 by 7 inches and came from the New City, N.Y., estate of Drs Richard and Catherine Paskowski. The plaques will be returning to New York to their new owner who paid $5,890 for them ($1/2,000).

A Tiffany-style Peony art glass lamp that had a well-executed reproduction shade and twisted root base but deceptive Tiffany branding also claimed provenance to the Paskowskis. Estimated at $400/600, the 25½-inch-tall lamp sold to a buyer from New England for $4,960.

Jewelry got the first session of the sale off to a strong start, unsurprising at any time but always a popular category right before the holidays. Among the top lots in the group was a 24K yellow gold filigree decorated bangle bracelet that found a new home with a local buyer bidding online, for $6,820. It was a result that more than doubled the high estimate for the lot.

Asian works of art rounded out the highlights of the sale. Riding to $4,193 from a local online bidder was a Chinese Tang dynasty-style polychrome earthenware Sancai Ferghaana horse that dated to the Eighth Century. Previously handled by Kazuo Kotera Ltd Oriental Works of Art in Kyoto, it had also been with a private West Bloomfield Township, Mich., collection, whose estate DuMouchelles was selling.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.dumoart.com or 313-963-6255.