It has been said that when William Penn first designed an urban plan for Philadelphia, he envisioned a city within a vast expanse of parkland, rife with private gardens. It is suiting, therefore, that one of the nation’s premier antique garden and architectural auctions should take place there, every April, hosted by the historic city’s budding Kamelot Auctions.
A major purveyor of antique planters, statuary, handwrought iron, carved stone and garden bronze, Kamelot Auctions attracts private collectors to its annual April sale, along with top international dealers.
Doors opened upon this year’s sale at 8 am Saturday, April 18. Two hours of preview preceded the opening lot at 10 am, with well over 700 lots to follow throughout the late morning, afternoon and into the early evening hours.
Bidders flooded through the auction house showrooms in steady streams, weaving through displays divided into outdoor “roomscapes,” with every lot shown in harmonious groupings that set off each one’s defining features advantageously.
An enormous and ornate cast iron and steel pagoda that sold to a private Pennsylvania estate owner for $11,400 formed a room of its own on the main showroom floor, and provided a backdrop for several lots of carved stone benches and garden sculpture. The sale featured outdoor furniture, décor and works of craftsmanship in wood, stone, metal and glass that ran a full gamut of styles, from the stately elegance of classical figures to the raucousness of torn and weathered steel.
On the classical end of the spectrum, finely carved antique marble stirred the most competition.
A 6-foot-long carved marble center table with slab top sold to a Parisian dealer for $10,925. This circa 1900 table had a base composed of two beautifully carved slabs set vertically near either end, with griffin forms protruding from the edges whose tails and wings extended behind them in bas relief. In another strong turn for marble, an antique birdbath, circa 1850, that was estimated between $1,200 and $2,500 went to a private collector from Boston for $4,600. This item displayed an understated three-part form comprising a hexagonal base, cylindrical pedestal and a neatly square-angled basin, with a delicate bas relief carving of grapevines and birds evenly spread over the main components like wallpaper.
A carved marble fountain basin from the earlier period of roughly 1790 had lobed handles and incised family crest. This item sold to a determined British dealer for $4,140, and is yet another example of carved stone destined to cross the Atlantic en route to its newest home. The sale also featured several highly decorative lots of fine Gothic carved marble architectural elements, many small enough to adorn an interior space as well as a garden landscape.
Terracotta and cast iron antiques kept paddles high over several lots. Fueling a bidding wildfire and keeping the auctioneer’s hammer raised suspensefully, the sale of a pair of particularly graceful Galloway garden urns, circa 1920, brought a final price tag of $12,075. A very good glazed and stamped Galloway terracotta fountain, circa 1930, displayed a fine central figure of a boy with a fish and brought $4,600.
Another fountain, this one in lead, circa 1928, displayed a signature and a label reading “Florentine Craftsmen” and featured a standing woman. It sold for $4,370, nearly $3,000 more that its high estimate of $1,500. Among figural terracotta pieces, standouts included a regal antique American glazed terracotta winged griffin, circa 1910, that realized more that $4,000.
Good antique iron garden chairs were somewhat scarce in this year’s event, but quality was not lacking in the four diminutive Regency-style cast iron armchairs that sold for nearly $1,000 each, bringing the lot’s purchase price to $3,910. Other iron items of particular note included a great Victorian-era Fiske aquarium, circa 1890, that brought more than $10,000 and two French wrought iron consoles with applied cast iron faces forming a central design that drew $3,450.
In the category of monumental metalwork, a grand pair of iron entry gates sold to a collector in Delaware for $4,140, and a hugely theatrical pair of patinated metal hanging lanterns in the Gothic style sold for more than $1,500 each, totaling $3,680.
Prices include the 20 percent buyer’s premium.
The gallery is at 4700 Wissahickon Avenue. For more information, 215-438-6990 or www.kamelotauctions.com .
