ATLANTA – An an unusual French glass, gilt metal and enamel candy dish – or box – shaped like a sadiron from around 1880, sold for $18,880 at an auction held Oct. 17 and 18 by Ahlers & Ogletree. But an important circa-1980s American Aesthetic Movement sterling and copper pitcher made by Bigelow, Kennard & Co. of Boston rose even higher, selling to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $26,550.
The pieces were top lots in a 1,136-lot, two-session sale of exceptional items pulled from prominent local estates and collections. Session I, on Oct. 17, was titled Objets d’Art: Period Art Glass & Decorative Art and featured over 500 lots. Session II, the following day, was an Autumn Fine Estates Auction, with merchandise from some of Atlanta’s finest estate homes.
The American Aesthetic Movement mixed metal water pitcher (below) was of rectangular form, with chasing and repousse decoration. The front two body planes each featured an applied dragonfly and the underside was inscribed, “George and Lucy from Clarence, Oct. 16, 1879.” It also had the Bigelow, Kennard & Co. mark. The pitcher, 8 3/4 inches tall, weighed 26.6 troy ounces.
The French sadiron-shape glass box was even more diminutive, at just 5 1/4 inches, and was apparently unmarked. That didn’t deter bidders, however, who were drawn to the dish’s unusual appeal and visual beauty, with decorations of allegorical scenes depicting love, a heart struck with an arrow and a romantic courtyard scene with male and female figures and cupid sculpture.
By the time the last gavel fell at the end of the second day, just over $1 million in sales had been tallied, including the buyer’s premium.
“We had more new buyers than ever before, and that was hugely encouraging,” said Robert Ahlers of Ahlers & Ogletree. “The auction had one estate that was top-heavy with fine glass pieces, and we were worried bidders might lose focus with such a vertical category. But just the opposite happened. Focus stayed strong, online and in the room, sparking fierce bidding wars.”
Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include an 18 percent buyer’s premium.
Asian lots performed particularly well. An unmarked Chinese palatial low porcelain center bowl (below) with parrot decorations, 24 3/4 inches in diameter and likely made in the first half of the 20th century, went for $20,060.
An 18th century Chinese Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) watercolor painting book (below), with eight finely painted and traditionally rendered scenes on silk and with each panel having lines of calligraphy and a red seal mark, brought $9,440.
Fans of Fabergé, the Russian decorative arts firm founded in 1842, were not disappointed. An early 20th century gilt silver, diamond, ruby and guilloche enamel crucifix necklace pendant (below) with diamond accented crown at the top, went for $9,440, while a Henrik Wigstrom (Finnish., 1862-1923) for Fabergé silver and jeweled pill box of circular form, made $2,124.
From the fine art category, a 19th century unsigned French School oil on canvas rendering of a wheelbarrow in grass next to a hat, jacket and satchel (below), 17 1/2 inches by 20 1/2 inches (framed) garnered $7,080; and a set of four painted wooden panels, likely done in France in the 19th century, each scene having been cut from one whole landscape and depicting figural scenes of life in French Indochina, 84 inches by 24 inches, brought $6,490.
A fine and monumental – 64 1/2 inches by 46 1/2 inches, framed – 19th century oil on canvas British portrait of a lady (below), unsigned and titled Portrait of Beauty with Flower Garland, sold for $7,080.
Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.