Three dimensional figures came in a variety of media in this week’s Across the Block. Leading Heritage Auctions’ October 10 Fine & Decorative Showcase sale at $475,00 was a Twelfth Century Khmer sandstone figure of Vishnu from the collection of Jonathan Kern that was sold to benefit charity. It was followed at $10,465 by a 4-foot-tall white marble figure of Pocahontas by Joseph Mozier that Mapes Auctioneers found in a Cazenovia, N.Y., collection and placed with an upstate New York dealer. Rounding out the selection and just in time for the Thanksgiving holidays was a three-piece blow mold set of two pilgrims and a turkey, made by Don Featherstone for Union Products; a bidder from Montana paid Bodnar $360 for the group. Fine art — and a 1994 Toyota pickup truck — were the remaining highlights.
Pho’s ‘Les Fleurs’ Blooms To Number One For Clarke
LARCHMONT, N.Y. — On October 6, Clarke Auction Gallery conducted a 512-lot Spectacular Fine Art, Jewelry & Antiques sale, which offered what the auction catalog deemed “an exceptional array of high-end fine art, bronzes and sculptures,” as well as a selection of jewelry and watches, perfect for the upcoming holiday season. Leading the sale was Le Pho’s (Vietnamese and French, 1907-2001) oil on canvas painting titled “Les Fleurs (The Flowers),” which bloomed to $75,000, surpassing its $30/50,000 estimate. The painting had provenance to the artist’s studio, Findlay Galleries and a private New York City collection, from which it was consigned. According to the auction catalog, the work will also “be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné being prepared by the Findlay Institute.” For information, 914-833-8336 or www.clarkeny.com.
1994 Toyota Pickup Truck Drives To Success At Opfer
TIMONIUM, MD. — Richard Opfer Auctioneering started off the fall season with an online-only antiques and estate auction on October 10, offering 385 lots of furniture, paintings, prints, silver, crystal, Willow Ware, pre-Columbian figures and bowls, country collectibles and vintage cars, scooters and motorcycles. Leading the sale was a 1994 Toyota pickup truck with an extended cab. Listed as a “must see and drive,” the truck had just under 77,000 miles on it. It also featured a four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission, with a tilt wheel, air conditioning and an AM/FM tape deck. The truck drove to a Rhode Island customer for $10,800, against a $4/6,000 estimate. For information, 410-252-5035 or www.opferauction.com.
Thanksgiving Blow Mold Set Lights Up Table At Bodnar’s
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Just in time for the start of the holiday season, Bodnar’s Auction conducted an auction on October 3 that featured two fresh-to-market, lifetime single-owner collections, one comprising 75 years of vinyl records and the other consisting of various Christmas and other holiday decorations, including Lenox and Hallmark ornaments. Also on offer were Lenox giftware, Belleek, cookie jars and salt and pepper shakers. Leading the sale was a vintage Union Products Don Featherstone lighted Thanksgiving blow mold set, which included two pilgrims and a turkey, all of which were in good condition. The turkey, measuring 20 inches tall, and the woman, 35 inches tall, both lit up; the man did not. The set of three sold to a Montana collector for $360. For information, 732-951-2100 or www.bodnarsauction.com.
Baber’s Dark Leap To Light Cements Brunk Auctions’ Post-Hurricane Return
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Forced to close during Hurricane Helene, Brunk Auctions was back online on October 10 to host its Modern Art, Design + Craft auction, a 343-lot sale that was about 85 percent sold by lot. The top lot — Alice Baber’s “Dark Leap to Light” — was an aptly titled top lot following the North Carolina firm’s ordeal. Estimated at $40/60,000, the 35-7/8-by-74-inch oil on canvas abstract composition from 1976, which was being deaccessioned from the Birmingham Museum of Art, found a new home with a private collector, bidding on the phone, for $172,200. For information, 828-254-6846 or www.brunkauctions.com.
Sandstone Vishnu Climbs Heights Of Heritage Fine & Decorative Arts Showcase
DALLAS — Nearly half of the 189 lots presented in Heritage Auctions’ October 10 Fine & Decorative Showcase sale were from the collection of Jonathan Kern and sold to benefit charity. Among these was the sale’s top lot, a Twelfth Century Khmer sandstone figure of Vishnu that achieved $47,500 of an overall sale total of nearly $140,000. Helping to drive interest in the 34-inch figure was an extensive provenance that included the Marquess of Dufferin and the Duke of Northumberland, as well as three auctions at Hotel Drouot in Paris, and another at Sotheby’s. For information, 214-528-3500 or www.ha.com.
Marble Pocahontas Earns Top Price At Mapes
VESTAL, N.Y. — Mapes Auctioneers & Appraisers conducted its fall 2024 antiques auction on October 8. Leading the 370-lot auction was Joseph Mozier’s (American, 1812-1870) circa 1868 white marble sculpture, “Pocahontas.” Signed “J. Mozier Sc. Rome, 1863,” the 4-foot-tall sculpture was on a 31-inch revolving burgundy marble pedestal. Aaron Everetts shared, “This beautiful sculpture came to us from a private collection out of Cazenovia, N.Y.,” and, after selling for $10,465, “it now resides in the collection of an upstate New York dealer.” For information, www.mapesauction.com or 607-754-9193.
Rainbow Fleet Sails To Lead Eldred’s Fall Fling
EAST DENNIS, MASS. — Maud Millicent Clapp’s (American, 1913-2001) “Rainbow Fleet, Nantucket” appealed to off-island and online bidders participating in Eldred’s 330-lot Fall Fling sale on October 16. According to the catalog, Clapp trained at the California School of Fine Arts as well as with Frank Swift Chase and Philip Hecken before joining the Nantucket Artists Association in 1947. Her 24-by-30-inch unframed oil on canvas composition, which carried a $1,5/2,500 estimate, achieved $3,456 from a Boston collector bidding on the phone. For information, 508-385-3116 or www.eldreds.com.
Edward Hopper’s ‘Night Shadows’ Casts A Long One In Swann Auction
NEW YORK CITY — Edward Hopper’s (1882-1967) bird’s-eye perspective of a city street corner, “Night Shadows,” 1921, sold for $40,000, the top lot in Swann Auction Galleries’ Old Master Through Modern Prints sale on October 17. Full of suspense and drama, the etching, 7 by 8¼ inches, was in an edition of approximately 500. Signed in pencil, lower right, it was published by the New Republic, New York. According to the catalog, Hopper began making etchings and drypoints in 1915 with the help of fellow artist Martin Lewis (1881-1962), and he produced 70 prints before he ceased etching in 1928 to focus solely on painting. For information, 212-254-4710 or www.swanngalleries.com.
Arctic Whaling Painting Ices Doyle’s Old Master Sale
NEW YORK CITY — Auctions conducted by Doyle October 16-17 were decidedly Eurocentric, featuring English and Continental furniture and decorative arts, Russian works of art, silver, Old Master pictures and the single-owner sale of the collection of Eldo Netto, a prominent figure in New York City’s textile and interior design world. The highlight of the two-day event, in which nearly 84 percent of the 619 lots offered crossed the block successfully, was “Whalers in the Arctic” by Adriaen van Salm (Dutch, 1660-1720). Publication and exhibition history helped drive interest in the rare 22-by-32-¾-inch oil with India ink composition, which finished at $127,500. For information, 212-427-2730 or www.doyle.com.
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