World record auction prices were shattered and intense bidding was experienced at Jackson International’s auction of November 19th and 20th. The sale attracted over 2,000 registered bidders representing some 26 countries and nearly all 50 states. Total sales were slightly over $1 million for the two-session 720 lot auction.
Bidding trends for the most part followed the now well-established tendency of intense activity for blue chip ‘best of’ type material, as validated by a number of sales results.
The auction featured the estate collection of the late Guy Johnson (1933 – 2019), as well as items from the Dr. Frank Kulik lifetime collection of Scottsdale, Arizona, a collection of Russian art from the lifetime collection of George Odarchenko (1929-1999) Philadelphia, PA along with numerous other estates and collections.
The sale opened with an offering of Art Deco period French art glass from the firm of Schneider. The first piece up was a circa 1926 Schneider cameo footed vase, which while only 12 inches in height, it still managed a very respectable $1,430, selling to a telephone bidder in Italy. The next lot was a 14 inch Le Verre Francais cameo vase which sold to a telephone bidder in Indiana for $1,950. Lot 7, another Schneider Le Verre Francais vase measuring 28 inches in height, found a new home at four times the high estimate ($4,000) to a collector from Arizona bidding by phone. Bidders from both coasts, France, and everywhere in between participated in person, by phone, and online for all of the French art glass. None of the French art glass sold below the high estimate, and the vast majority sold for double or triple the high estimate.
Lot 55- While only 7 inches in diameter, this Tiffany Favrile glass trivet set a new auction world record price. Selling for $20,000.00
Next up was a small offering of Tiffany items, the most exciting being lot 55, a Tiffany Favrile glass trivet. While only 7 inches in diameter, the piece garnered eight phone bidders and sold for ten times the high estimate, finishing at $20,000 to the phone and thereby setting a world record auction price for a Tiffany trivet. The trivet was followed by an LCT Tiffany pottery vase in white bisque finish which sold online for $3,600.
A variety of other mixed art glass and porcelain also drew strong interest, including a set of 12 Royal Worcester plates decorated by H. Davis, circa 1924, which sold to a buyer in the UK for $4,680 – over two and a half times the high estimate. A stunning Amphora Art Nouveau vase measuring 25 inches attracted 6 phone bidders including three from Austria and ended up selling to a New York buyer for eight times the high estimate, finishing at $8,125.
A pair of fresh-to-the-market bronzes by Polish/American sculptor Max Kalish (1891 – 1945) sold for $39,500, well over double their high estimate.
But the star of the auction was without question lot 170, a three-piece glazed ceramic grouping by California artist Viola Frey (1933 – 2004). Ten phone bidders from coast to coast as well as an in-house bidder and online bidder competed for the work which sold for over five times the high estimate, bringing $125,000 while at the same time setting a new world record auction price for the artist. The Frey was followed by a bronze grouping by contemporary American sculptor John Buck (b. 1946 - ) which came in at $12,500.
Ten phone bidders from coast to coast, as well as in house bidders and online bidders, competed for this monumental glazed ceramic grouping by American sculptor Viola Frey (1933 – 2004). The work opened at $30,000 and ended up selling for five times the high estimate, setting a new auction world record price for the artist. Selling for $125,000.00
Other items worth mentioning include a watercolor by British artist Frederick Goodall (1822-1904) depicting a camel watering at a well, which sold for $7,500 , a painting by Frederick Stuart Church depicting a young woman amongst flamingoes which sold to a collector in Florida for $5,200, a winter landscape by Nebraska artist Robert Gilder (1856-1940) made $5,750, a charming little impressionistic painting attributed to Frederick Fursman sold to a buyer in Pennsylvania for $3,640, and a pair of New Mexico landscapes by Laura Hoernig (1872 – 1957) set a new auction record for the artist bringing $3,000.
A number of American graphic works on paper were also offered, the most noteworthy was the print by Thomas Hart Benton The Farmer’s Daughter, which brought $6,000.
A triangular shaped painting by American artist Donald Roller Wilson (B. 1938 - ) sold to a California collector for $11,875, and another work by Wilson measuring only 7 inches x 9 inches depicting an angry monkey with red hot glowing ears, sold to the same California collector for $8,125.
A painting by Chicago artist Andrene Kauffman set an auction record for the artist selling for $1,875 and a painting by the Dominican artist Clara Ledesma Terrazas sold to a buyer in Santo Domingo for $3,500.
While coast-to-coast auction trends of sterling silver of the most recent past generally have resulted in scrap prices for tableware, however that was certainly not the case for the large amount of the Reed & Barton Francis I offered on this sale. All lots of Francis I sterling far exceeded their silver weight value, including a Francis I Tea & Coffee service which brought over three times it’s silver weight value, finishing at $13,750 and a Reed & Barton Francis I Water Set which brought over six times melt, selling for $9,750 and similar results were seen for most all the other Francis I silver.
The second session of the auction opened with a collection of Russian works from the lifetime collection of Russian/Ukrainian émigré George Odarchenko (1929-1999), beginning with a breast star from the order of St Alexander Nevsky, St. Petersburg, 1896 – 1908, which sold for $3,750. That was followed by a circa 1850 example of an order of St Anne which sold to a Russian buyer for over five times the high estimate coming in at $5,200.
A Russian phone bidder won a small Russian icon triptych of St Nicholas for $25,000, and a Romanian phone bidder was the successful bidder on a Mount Athos carved wooden cross with silver and enamel mountings that finished at $8,750.
A carved wood triptych of The Nativity sold to a Chicago buyer for $10,625, and a Steinway Model B. Classic Grand Piano (circa 1981) finished at $27,500 to an in-house bidder.
Of the small offering of other furnishings to sell, noteworthy examples include a plaster molded gilt mirror which sold for $2,860, a circa 1920 carved gilt wood Louis XV style settee sold for $2,000, a carved gilt wood folding screen with torn Aubusson machine embroidery made $2,340, a pair of Sheraton style knife urns sold for nearly seven times their high estimate, going to a phone bidder in North Carolina for $1,375. A Seth Thomas Gorham bronze mantle clock came in at $2,000, an English oak Arts and Crafts chest of drawers, vanity, and bed sold for $2,250, and a Victorian walnut table made $800, selling to a buyer in Connecticut.
A small offering of American and European art pottery and glassware sold next and included four lots of Otto and Gertrude Natzler pottery, the tallest piece measuring 7 inches, the smallest measuring 1.8 inches, all four lots saw active bidding and ended up totaling $9,000. A 3.75-inch 1904 dated Van Briggle vase sold to an in-house bidder for $1,187, and a six-inch Newcomb pottery vase went to a California collector for $2,000.