This 69½-by-37-inch framed Chinese ink on paper landscape of a mountain scene achieved the sale’s highest price of $16,250, selling to an Asian buyer ($300/500).

Review by Carly Timpson

BLOOMFIELD, N.J. — Nye & Company’s July 30-31 Chic & Antique auction comprised 794 lots of porcelain, decorative arts, furniture, Asian antiques, fine art, jewelry, collectibles and more. Company president Andrew Holter shared, “The sale sold within the estimate range and was well attended during the previews and through online participation. We were very pleased with the overall results and with the continued interest in traditional decorative arts. The sale had included an exceptional collection of French furniture, bronzes and porcelains that were primarily purchased at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in the 80s and buyers and bidders competed from around the globe for these items.”

Sold on the first day, a framed Chinese ink on paper landscape of a mountain scene achieved the highest price of $16,250, rising well beyond its modest $300/500 estimate. Holter told us, “Interest in the Chinese watercolor, was from near and afar, ultimately selling to an Asian buyer.” The work was signed to the upper left along with a block of text in Chinese characters and two square red symbol stamps; the reverse had a sticker from the Cleveland Museum of Art and another in Chinese characters.

Fittingly, the second-highest price topped off the second day of the sale. Achieving $16,250 was an 18K yellow gold Patek Phillippe 5015J power reserve moon phase watch. Featuring mechanical movement with automatic winding produced by Patek Philippe, its power reserve was up to 48 hours and its movement was hallmarked with the Seal of Geneva, Cotes de Geneve. The watch was sold with its original box, papers and sale receipt.

Bringing $16,250 —the highest price of day two and the second-highest price overall — was this Patek Phillippe 5015J 18K yellow gold power reserve moonphase watch ($15/25,000).

Eighteenth Century French furniture and decorations followed in price, making the greatest impression on high-stakes bidders categorically. Finishing at $12,160 — and more than doubling its high estimate — was a Louis XV (r 1715-1774) ormolu-mounted bureau plat. This desk, with three drawers and a worn leather writing surface, bore a plaque that read “Property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the City of New York, Subject to the Life Estate of Ogden L. Mills, Under Articles 2nd and 4th of the will of Ogden Mills.” As such, the desk’s provenance listed a 1977 Parke Bernet auction, Odgen Livingston Mills and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Louis XV items also included another writing desk — this one a bureau en pente. The desk, with a sloped front that folded down to reveal a leather writing surface, several interior compartments and two small drawers, was inlaid with floral designs and scrolling borders of tulipwood and kingwood. Signed “M. Boudin” to its underside and having mounted gilt ornamentation, the bureau en pente rose more than four times its high estimate, ultimately selling for $8,125. Additionally, two pairs of Louis XV cast-bronze chinoiserie-decorated wall sconces lit up for $5,625. Each had been wired for electricity and the cataloging noted that the gilding appeared to be original.

This set of four Louis XV cast-bronze chinoiserie-decorated electrified two-light wall sconces, French, Eighteenth Century, 14 by 9 inches each, brought $5,625 ($1/2,000).

A Régence-era (1715-1723) boulle work and ormolu bracket clock, paired with a matching shelf, realized $8,125. The clock’s dial, which had blue Roman numerals for the hours and black Arabic numerals for the seconds, was marked for “Stephen Lenoir/London”; its backplate was signed “Étienne LeNoir Paris.” With a seated figural finial, the clock was in good condition and was previously purchased at a Sotheby’s London auction in 1983.

Items from the preceding reign, that of Louis XIV (r 1643-1715), were led by a pair of bronze ewers, designed after a silver pair made in 1696-97 by Nicolas Delaunay (circa 1655-1727) for the private altar service of Cardinal Louis-Joseph de Montmorency-Laval. The pair had provenance to a 1983 Christie’s, London, auction and were bid in this sale to $5,440.

Marking the end of the monarchy was a Louis XVI (r 1774-1792) sealing wax case. The gold tube bore the mark of Charles-Alexandre Bouillerot (fl 1769-1792) and was chased with depictions of harvesting tools musical instruments and foliage. The case also included the charge and discharge marks of Jean-Baptiste Fouache and Dominique Compant. Last sold by Christie’s, New York, in 1991, the case was taken to $5,937 this time around.

Bearing the makers mark of Charles-Alexandre Bouillerot, this Louis XVI sealing wax case, French, Eighteenth Century, 4¾ inches long, stamped a $5,937 result ($3/5,000).

French was also fanciful when it came to high-achieving porcelains. Earning $6,250 — well beyond its $500/700 estimate — was a three-piece Sèvres set comprising an ewer, basin and bowl. Dated to 1764, this Jean-Baptiste Tandart-designed set was in a vibrant green apple color and one was signed to its underside, though all bore the Sèvres monogram. Another trio, this one with two Sèvres covered bowls and a Sèvres-style bleu céleste sugar bowl made $5,625 against an estimate of $600/900.

However, the French were not the only ones to produce high-quality and well-received porcelains. A lot that included a Japanese Nabesima dish with blue swirling waves and red flowers found a new home for $5,000. This lot also included a porcelain bowl with floral motifs and a black patterned rim and three Japanese Satsuma jars — a tea caddy, a footed/covered vessel and a censor. The Nabesima bowl had its original wooden box, marked with Japanese characters, and the Satsuma jars each had a box as well.

Notable works of art in the auction were topped off at $7,500 by a framed watercolor and ink illustration of “Figures and Animals” by Indian artist Sakti Burman. Done in 1935, this work was signed to the lower left and had provenance to an estate in Hemlock Farms, Penn. Laurence Philip Sisson’s oil on board coastal scene of a “Clamdigger” raked in $6,080. The painting was signed to the lower left and had labels from Midtown Payson Gallery in Hobe Sound, Fla., and The Burnt Mills Galleries in Bernardsville, N.J., affixed to the reverse.

Sakti Burman’s (Indian, b 1935) watercolor and ink “Figures and Animals,” 27¾ by 33¾ inches framed, achieved $7,500 ($1,5/2,500).

Making $5,760 was “Portrait of Seated Woman By Window” by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. This ink and wash on notebook paper, signed to the lower left in pencil, was unframed and had holes to the left side as if it were previously in a binder. The artist’s “Two Can Can Dancers,” in ink on similar notebook paper, achieved $4,480.

Other fashionable finds in the sale included two sets of Berry pattern sterling silver flatware and a Chanel handbag. The two silverware lots were both cataloged as being by Whiting “in the whimsical vintage 1880 berry patterns,” which included elderberry, blueberry, black cherry, gooseberry and more. Both housed in custom cherrywood silver chests, the set with specialized serving utensils brought $9,600, while the standard dinner service brought $7,680. The double flap Chanel handbag, in coral quilted leather, had provenance to the New York City estate of Susan Chalom and sold with an authenticity card for $7,680.

“Our next auction will take place September 10-12 and will include a single owner collection titled Property Descended in and Collected by the DeWolf-Herreshoff- and Brown Families. There will also be a various owners Chic & Antique Auction as well,” Holter noted.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.nyeandcompany.com or 973-984-6900.