Hanging up with the highest price overall was this Seventeenth Century Peruvian Spanish colonial tapestry with the arms of Don Pascual de Aragón de Cardona y de Córdova. Measuring 96 by 86 inches, it achieved $32,500 ($8/12,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
DALLAS — Heritage Auctions’ April 17 Sophisticated Palate sale presented fine and decorative arts from the collection of Frederick H. Schrader, Napa Valley, Calif. The auction comprised European, American and Spanish Colonial paintings, sculpture, antiques, rugs and more, all capturing “Fred’s unwavering commitment to the pursuit of excellence and adventure,” per the auction catalog. In total, the 269-lot sale of Schrader’s collection realized $518,282, had a 93 percent sell-through rate and saw activity from 553 registered bidders.
Samantha Robinson, director of decorative arts & design for Heritage Auctions told Antiques and The Arts Weekly, “With his discerning taste, keen eye and decisive nature, celebrated vintner and dealer Frederick H. Schrader amassed an impressive collection of fine paintings, sculpture and antiques over the decades. Heritage Auctions is honored to present the collection over a series of auctions in 2024 and 2025, including the most recent: our April 17 Sophisticated Palate: Fine & Decorative Arts from the Collection of Frederick H. Schrader, Napa Valley. The strong results demonstrate that collectors are increasingly embracing a ‘more is more’ philosophy and a maximalist aesthetic. Antiques including Renaissance furnishings and Spanish colonial rarities captured bidders’ attention and top hammer prices, indicating a return to tried-and-true collecting categories.”
When Heritage announced the consignment of Schrader’s property, the firm wrote, “The New Jersey-born, Florida-raised businessman, who started collecting and selling art in the 1970s and 80s, has traveled the world in pursuit of treasures ranging from Sixteenth Century Italian sculptures and modern abstract paintings to American Indian artifacts and Tiffany lamps.” Per the auction catalog, “Fred Schrader is often described as one of the ‘bad boys’ of Napa Valley, a title that reflects his adventurous spirit and unconventional approach to life… In addition to producing many of the world’s finest Cabernet Sauvignons […] Fred Schrader has been an art dealer and collector since the 1970s, and he has traveled the world in pursuit of treasures.”
From the mid to late Eighteenth Century, this Spanish colonial chased repoussé silver low estrado table, just 17 inches high, was bid to $16,250 ($7/9,000).
Per Robinson, “Notable results included rare Spanish colonial works, including a Seventeenth Century Peruvian tapestry and an Eighteenth Century silver estrado table, a Fifteenth Century Venetian Gothic Rosso de Verona portal surround and an American carved walnut lectern in the form of an eagle and inscribed to Greogry Thurston Bedell, third Episcopal Bishop of Ohio.”
The Seventeenth Century tapestry was the top lot of the auction, more than doubling its high estimate and achieving $32,500. Made in a Peruvian workshop, the red and gold tapestry was woven with the arms of Don Pascual de Aragón de Cardona y de Córdova. The rare example had provenance to the Chevalier textile collection, a private Parisian collection and was acquired by Schrader from Beaussant Lefèvre & Associés, Paris, in 2016.
The Spanish colonial low estrado table was made of chased and repousséd silver during the mid to late Eighteenth Century. The table, 27½ inches long by 18 inches wide, had provenance to the collection of a private Connecticut gentleman and was purchased by Schrader from CRN Auctions (Cambridge, Mass.) in 2015. The catalog noted that the table’s overall appearance was attractive, with wear indicative of its age and minimal use. As such, it was bid to $16,250, almost doubling its high estimate.
As Robinson mentioned, an early Fifteenth Century arched Venetian Gothic rosso de Verona marble portal surround more than doubled its high estimate to realize $16,250. In several pieces though in relatively sound condition, the pink surround’s provenance included the Florida collection of John S. Phipps and was sold to Schrader at auction by Butterfield’s & Bonhams in 2010.
“Carnevale on the Grand Canal, Venice” by Antonio María de Reyna Manescau (Spanish, 1859-1937), a 13½-by-29¼-inch oil on canvas, led the art category at $15,000 ($6/8,000).
In addition to their design and decorative art counterparts, Spanish and Italian artworks also found great success. Spanish artist Antonio María de Reyna Manescau was represented by six works in the sale, led by his oil on canvas “Carnevale on the Grand Canal, Venice.” The vibrantly colored work, signed and inscribed “A. Reyna / Venezia” to the lower right, was housed in a frame with an artist’s plaque. Last sold by Leonard Auction, Chicago, in 2015, it earned $15,000 this time around. De Reyna Manescau’s “Venetian Backwater,” another oil on canvas scene, was bid to $6,875. Another Venetian scene, though this one done by an Italian artist, was “Piazza San Marco, Venice.” Done by Augusto Lovatti in 1895, the piece was signed, dated and inscribed to the lower right. Schrader acquired this work at a Swiss auction in 2016. It nearly doubled its high estimate, earning $9,375. An Italian school marble sculpture depicting “Hebe” brought $6,975. This Nineteenth Century figure was signed “Cocchi Pompeo” and had provenance to Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, London. The catalog noted that it was in “overall very fine condition with minimal wear” and appeared to have professional restoration done at some point.
A departure from the aforementioned themes was “King Vulture,” an oil on canvas of the bird by German artist Wilhelm Kuhnert. Kuhnert’s vulture was signed to the lower left and there were traces of additional signatures on the board the canvas was laid to. Once held in a private European collection, Schrader purchased the piece from Koller Auktionen AG, Zurich, in 2016. Bidders stalked it to $6,875.
Wilhelm Kuhnert’s (German, 1865-1926) “King Vulture,” oil on canvas laid on board, 17½ by 11½ inches, was hunted down for $6,875 ($2/3,000).
Items with bird motifs continued to attract bidders, with an American carved walnut lectern with a spread-wing eagle earning $12,500 — well beyond its $5,000 high estimate. As Robinson mentioned, the late Nineteenth Century stand had an attached plaque inscribed “In loving memory of Greogry Thurston Bedell.” Another eagle, this example a gilt bronze sculpture, brought $11,250 — soaring past its $1,500 high estimate. Standing upright with its wings tucked back, this confident figure was inscribed “F. Barbedienne. Fondeur” and stamped “A. Collas / Reduction Mecanique / Brevete” to the base.
Additional highlights included a 160-piece Garrard & Company Limited, London, partial gilt silver flatware service for 12. Dated to 1984, the set, each hallmarked with the lion passant, leopard’s head, “K” and “G.C.L,” sold with a storage canteen for $13,750. Having provenance to a private collection in Victorville, Calif., Schrader acquired the set in a 2016 auction by John Moran Auctioneers in Monrovia, Calif.
With a muscular man holding each corner, a near pair of silver jewelry caskets were hoisted to $6,875. Made in the Twentieth Century, one of the boxes was marked “Sterling” and the other “RC Sterling,” though no other identifiers were evident. Lined with velvet, the pair had a gross weight of 7,784 grams and finished within their estimate range.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.ha.com or 214-528-3500.
