A single-owner sale packed the house on October 4 at Grogan & Company for the Asian art collection of the late Frederick Rush Innes of Boston. Bidders from mainland China and Hong Kong, London, New York and the United States were in hot pursuit of the Chinese objects in the collection. They consistently outbid area dealers, who ended up in the position of observers because of strength of the Chinese renminbi.
Chinese blue and white porcelain represented the most desirable objects, but interest was spread across most areas of Chinese decorative arts.
An imperial Qing dynasty blue and white kundika pot with a Qianlong six character mark opened at $2,000 and was jumped immediately to $5,000. The fluttering of paddles around the gallery only ceased when the pot sold to a Chinese dealer in the room for $189,700. It is headed to mainland China, as is the 8-inch Chinese blue and white Qianlong covered ewer from the Qing dynasty that bore the six character Qianlong mark and sold for $160,100. Two 11½-inch blue and white transitional period square bottles that attracted much interest in the preview sold for $122,103. An old price sticker indicates that the price for the pair was at some time in the past $375.
Other blue and white ware was snapped up eagerly and estimates meant nothing. A pair of blue and white tea bowls with a red overglaze with the Yongzheng mark provoked lively bid jumping and realized $86,250 from the same dealer who bought the kundika pot.
An Eighteenth Century 14¼-inch Chinese blue and white dish with iron red accents caused a gallery full of fluttering paddles before it sold to the trade for $37,375.
A 17¾-inch Kangxi blue and white beaker form vase brought $13,800, and a Kangxi two handled vase went for $12,950 †two Kangxi period ginger jars, one of which had a lid †brought the same price. Two Kangxi period blue and white ginger jars with figural decoration went for $11,500.
Some fine cloisonné attracted attention and excellent money. A phone bidder took a Chinese gilt bronze and cloisonné tripod censer with the Qianlong mark for $80,500.
A Kangxi period peach bloom porcelain brush washer with a repousse metal lid attracted $24,150, and a 5¾-inch Kangxi blue and white brush pot was $9,200.
A group of Chinese porcelain and glass objects comprising a pair of famille rose lotus bowls in a fitted box with Qianlong marks that may have been later, a famille rose beaker with a yellow ground, a famille rose tea cup with the Jiaqing mark and an enameled glass vase sold for $18,400.
Much of the Chinese material, especially the high lots, is headed back to China; most of the buyers were Chinese dealers, some with presences in New York and China. It was the Chinese effort that drove the sale total to nearly $1.5 million.
Two Chinese cinnabar lacquer table screens, possibly late Ming, sold in the room for $31,625, and a group of four cinnabar lacquer cover boxes, two of which were Ming and two of which were Qing, sold for $20,070. Three Eighteenth Century carved brown lacquer boxes and a carved melon-form box brought $14,950, and a group of five Nineteenth Century cinnabar objects, including a quatrefoil tray, a rectangular box and three smaller boxes sold for $12,950 to the same buyer. A 12¼-inch Ming dynasty carved cinnabar round covered box in a fitted Japanese box sold for $9,200.
The variety and depth of the Innes collection provoked bidding competitions reminiscent of auctions of years past. The intensity of bidding was a tribute to Innes’ discerning eye. Every bit as interesting as the material he collected, his tall, lanky figure and the shock of white hair, which he cut himself, was a familiar sight in Boston and Cambridge. He was frequently spotted around town with a knife and fork in the breast pocket of his tweed jacket.
Innes came to Asian art objects during World War II when he served in the Navy. He was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked, and later sailed the Pacific aboard several heavy cruisers, including two that sank under him. He was later part of the occupying forces in Japan, which gave him insight into Japanese art and piqued his interest in things Chinese.
Returning to the United States after the war, he finished up at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and then received a doctorate in theoretical physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to his native city, and embarked on a distinguished career as a theoretical physicist. He was a frequenter of the library at MIT day and night, even in retirement, working on physics projects.
His nephew, James E. Innes, who, with ten other family members, was present for the auction, recalls his uncle as interesting and mischievous; he also cited his uncle’s eye for the ladies. He related a family story of Uncle Fred and his brother, who sang in the same choir. Uncle Fred dated a young woman in the choir for about a week. He was such a handful that she turned her attention to the brother, whom she ultimately married.
Innes’ collections were wide and impressive; they included paintings, art pottery and other arenas. Another family member was overheard observing that Innes never threw anything away. The family and Grogan staff celebrated with champagne at the conclusion of the sale, no doubt toasting Uncle Fred’s very good eye.
Among the few jade lots across the block was a lot of nine pale green and white jade carved figures of animals, fruit and flowers, the largest of which was three inches long: it went to the Chinese trade for $19,550. A group of 17 carved jade discs and pendants brought $9,775. Ten carved jade belt buckles and a single hardstone belt buckle was $4,600, while another lot of three carved Eighteenth Century jade belt buckles was $3,925.
A group of 37 carved hardstone archer’s rings, some of which appeared to be jade, went on the phone for $19,550; a lot of 13 miscellaneous hardstone and interiorly painted snuff bottles included a previously unidentified Imperial example; the lot sold for $39,250; a lot of 16 jade snuff bottles opened at $2,000, jumped to $3,750 and ended at $6,275; and a lot of eight famille rose snuff bottles was also $6,275.
A group of Chinese and other Asian ornaments and objects that included an amber glass bowl with the Qianlong mark, a wooden vase, three spoons, a set of chopsticks, four stamps and other miscellaneous pieces contained something of great interest that drove its price to $8,050.
A Chinese inkstone carved in the form of a bamboo stalk, in a carved fitted case of lacquer and wood, realized $12,950. Three Yixing clay teapots, two of which were inscribed with Chinese characters, and a wine pot with lion decoration, were all signed and drew $8,725. A Chinese bronze figure of a seated bodhisattva that may have been a Ming work sold on the phone for $9,775, and a Tibetan gilt bronze figure of a seated Tara elicited $4,313.
Chinese textiles did not escape notice: a 96-by-60-inch silk embroidered panel in an overall blue and white floral pattern with red-orange highlights went for $9,200; an imperial Chinese silk kimono embroidered in silk and metallic thread with five clawed dragons was $8,050. A silk embroidered fan along with an embroidered and tasseled hanging and a rattan and beaded tassel attracted $3,450, while a lot of six silk and metallic thread patchwork panels, one with calligraphy, sold for $2,875.
Despite Innes’ early interest in Japanese objects, relatively few were included in the sale and their results were considerably less dramatic than the Chinese pieces. A lot of four Japanese lacquer ware boxed games, along with a Japanese stamp in a lacquer box, brought $4,600. A Japanese quadruple case inro and a lacquer box with a carved interior drew $2,300.
All prices reported include the 15 percent buyer’s premium.
For information, www.groganco.com or 781-461-9500.
