Paintings were the story at Kaminski Auctioneers’ recent sale where William Bradford’s “Arctic Sunset” sold for $471,500. The picture, which was signed and dated 1870, came from the Boston area and went to a Northeast collector. Auctioneer Frank Kaminski said the picture was black when he first saw it, but a careful cleaning restored its brilliance.
“Misty Moonlight,” an early Twentieth Century oil on panel by the New Bedford born artist Albert Pinkham Ryder, sold for $120,750. The picture has an extensive exhibit history and since 1981 has been in the collection of John Whitaker Hollister of San Diego who consigned it. The picture sold to a New York collector.
A desert landscape with mountains by Utah artist, John Hafen who was born in Switzerland, drew a record $29,900. The canvas was dedicated to Cyrus Dallin whose Arlington, Mass., address is on the back and with whom Hafen studied. Four phone bidders from Utah chased the picture until one was successful.
William Sherman Potts’ estimable “Portrait of a Young WomanWearing a Black Hat and Holding a Fan” was very desirable andelicited yet another record when it sold for $25,150.
A William Lester Stevens Gloucester Harbor scene with fishing boats was of interest and brought what may also be a record $21,275.
It had some tears and craquelure and needed cleaning, but the 1889 “La Fille du Peche” by the Boston-born Francis Henry Richardson attracted strong interest and sold for a record $20,700 against its estimated $4/6,000. The picture was also titled “Net Mender, Brittany” and was painted during the time Richardson was active in the Paris Salon. The picture sold to an agent bidding for the Richardson family.
An abstract in black, blue and white inscribed “Richard Pousette-Dart 1950” was an attention getter and it brought $36,800. Emile Gruppe’s signed oil on canvas “Gloucester Morning” realized $33,850 while his, “Surf Casting,” sold for $9,775. In an interview after the sale, Kaminski conceded, “I was pretty thrilled!”
A portrait of Abraham Lincoln by David John Gue, who only began to paint after he turned 50, was another picture that drew high interest. It sold for $13,800.
Enoch Wood Perry’s evocative ice skating scene with figures drew $10,350.
The coastal oil on canvas “A Pool at Low Tide” by FlorenceEste bore a framer’s label of the Parisian framers A. Guinchard andF. Fourniret, from Robert Rollin, also of Paris, and from VoseGalleries, Boston. The picture sold for $9,775, as did anEighteenth Century Dutch School still life of fruit and flowers inan interior with a view of the landscape and buildings through anopen door.
A pen and ink drawing by Howard Pyle, “New York Colonial Privateers,” which is thought to have been made for a story by Thomas A. Janvier, author of In the Sargasso Sea, sold for $8,625. Abbott H. Thayer’s Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century portrait of a boy realized $7,475 and the Nineteenth Century American School oil on canvas “Portrait of a Young Woman in Elegant Dress” sold well above estimate at $8,625.
A mid Nineteenth Century Philadelphia School still life with fruit sold for $8,625 to a Philadelphia buyer while a Nineteenth Century Dutch School picture of sailboats that was indistinctly signed sold for $5,988.
William J. Kaula’s oil on board, “After a Shower,” was unsigned by inscribed on the back with the name of the artist, his address in the Fenway Studios in Boston and the title and sold for $5,750. Philadelphia artist Martha Walter’s “A Beach Scene” fetched $5,750.
A partial set of 392 prints of John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” printed at the Abbeville Press in 1985 drew $5,453.
Martha Walter’s jolly “A Beach Party” sold for $5,750.”Beyond Thunder Hole,” a 1998 view of Acadia National Park by KenKnowles, who was born in 1968, sold for $4,600.
A Twentieth Century oil on panel, “Horse and Drover along a River at Sunset” by Dutch artist Evert Pieters (1856-1932 ) drew $6,275 as did “Sailing Ship at Sea” by Gordon Hope Grant.
Two oil on canvas nudes by Howard Everett Smith each bore a label from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Each brought $4,600.
The interesting “Autumn Landscape with a Fox in the Foreground” by F. Mortimer Lamb sold for $4,025. The picture had been deaccessioned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
A Classical figure of a man poised for lift off from a variegated black marble base was estimated at $800/1,200 and sold for $10,875. The sculpture was cast at the Gorham Company Founders of Vermont whose stamp was visible on the bronze base. A bronze nude of a woman by Mario Korbel was $5,750 and another by Allan Clarke went for $4,600.
An Art Deco figure of a woman signed “Menneville” on themarble base realized $3,738.
Kaminski will offer the remaining inventory of some 7,000 pieces from the venerable Haley & Steele gallery in Boston in a sale slated for November. While the story really was about the paintings, some furniture and decorative accessories brought good money.
Among the furniture pieces that crossed the block an 85-inch Eighteenth Century south German secretaire commode in walnut with exotic wood inlay fetched $8,050. The piece was made with a two door cupboard that opened to a compartment fitted with 13 drawers over a serpentine three-drawer base.
A Handel table lamp reverse painted with a landscape of Mount Fuji was a strong $6,900 and an 1883 Rookwood vase decorated with an Oriental motif of birds and plum blossoms by A.H. Warren sold also for $6,900.
A Nineteenth Century pair of gilt bronze chenets in the form of slaves of antiquity with figural faces and paw feet sold for $7,475.
An Eighteenth Century New England Chippendale maple and tiger maple tall chest went for $5,750 while an Eighteenth Century Chippendale mahogany tall chest with the original pierced brasses and some restoration drew $4,025. A nice looking Nineteenth Century English mahogany linen press drew $3,220.
A Tiffany Favrile punch bowl, signed L.C. Tiffany, was engraved with a grape and leaf decoration and had a 7-inch crack around the base brought $1,150.
All prices quoted reflect the 15 percent buyer’s premium. For more information, www.kaminskiauctions.com or 978-927-2223.
