| Press Contact: | Catherine Riedell | Jane Prentiss |
| Director of Marketing | Director of 20th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts | |
| Skinner, Inc | Skinner, Inc | |
|
978-779-6341, x231 |
617-350-5400 x253 | |
JOSH SIMPSON GLASS, TIFFANY LAMPS
AND STICKLEY AND MODERN FURNITURE CENTURY AUCTION
Book Signing by Louise Luther, author of Art Glass: How to Compare
and Value
BOSTON, Mass. – November 20, 2002 -- Skinner, Inc., one of the nation’s leading auction houses for antiques and fine art, announced today that it will hold an auction of 20th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts on Saturday, December 7th, at 11:00 a.m. in its Boston gallery. The sale features a broad array of 20th century material including furniture, lamps, paintings, prints, art glass, art pottery, sculpture, and other decorative arts. Styles represented include Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Modern Movements. Makers include Tiffany, Gustav Stickley, Grueby, Rookwood, Newcomb, Quezal, Lalique, Dedham, Weller, Roseville, and Steuben, and studio artists.
Art glass is one of the sale’s major highlights, and to add to the interest, Skinner will host a book signing by art glass aficionado and Antiques Roadshow appraiser Louise Luther. Luther will be signing copies of her latest book, Art Glass: How to Compare and Value, published by Miller’s Publishing. Copies of the book will also be for sale at the auction preview.
One particularly interesting glass collection is several pieces of art glass by Josh Simpson, renowned glass artist and current resident of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. The collection features Simpson's early work including paperweight vases and his spaceship paperweights, and came from a Seminole collector of Mr. Simpson’s Studio Art Glass. Renowned for the complexity of his designs and unusual technique, Simpson forms each latticinio or filament "spaceship" by skillfully extending and twisting rods of glass beforehand. He then gathers layers of glass adding "spaceships" and other elements continually forming his vision. His inspiration for his “spaceship” designs came from his wife, an astronaut in the NASA space program. Lot 462, a floral glass vase and Lot 463, a floral planetary glass vase are two of the best examples in the sale. Each is estimated at $6,000-$8,000. Simpson is also known for his paperweights and several are offered in the sale. Simpson’s other pieces range in price from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.
The sale also includes many fine examples of art deco, art nouveau, and arts and crafts lamps and chandeliers, including Tiffany and other makers. Featured lots include:
· Lot 105: Grueby Pottery Lamp with Leaded Glass Shade, Boston, early 20th century. Estimated $18,000-$25,000.
· Lot 239: Tiffany Furnaces Mesh Shade Table Lamp. Bronze mesh with glass beading. Estimated $3,000-$4,000.
· Lot 257: Tiffany Studio Bronze and Glass Double Student Lamp. Signed on base “Tiffany Studios 805”. Estimated $3,500-$4,500.
· Lot 272: Chandelier with Six Quezal Shades. Estimated $6,000-$7,000.
· Lot 299: Handel Tropical Sunset Scenic Overlay and Slag Glass Table Lamp, Meridian, Connecticut, early 20th century. $7,000-$9,000.
· Lot 309: Bronze and Glass Hanging Lamp, Austria, early 20th century. Estimated $4,500-$5,500.
· Lot 394: Pairpoint New Bedford Harbor Reverse-Painted Table Lamp, New Bedford, Massachusetts, early 20th century. Estimated $5,000-$7,000.
· Lot 418: Bronze and Tiffany Prism Glass Chandelier, similar to the example pictured in Tiffany at Auction. Estimated $8,500 - $10,000.
· Lot 419: Tiffany Studios Bronze Dore Adams Lamp, New York early 20th century. Base signed “Tiffany Studios New York 539.” Estimated $9,000-$10,000.
Featured arts & crafts furniture lots include:
· Lot 66: L. & J. G. Stickley Oak Settle with Trundle Bed from Fayetteville, New York, early 20th century. Estimated $4,000-$6,000.
· Lot 108: Important Gustav Stickley Dining Table, Model no. 634, c. 1904. Estimated $12,000-$16,000.
Silver is also plentiful in the auction. Interesting lots include:
· Lot 151: Ten Georg Jensen Sterling Silver Pieces of Jewelry and Five Buttons, Denmark 20th century. Estimated $3,000-$4,000.
· Lot 154: Arthur Stone Sterling Silver Six-Piece Tea and Coffee Service, Gardner, Mass., 1090-1937. Estimated $3,500-$4,500.
Since the early 1980s, Skinner has been a pioneer in the sale of modern furniture and decorative arts at auction, and this sale is no exception. A wide array of modern pieces will be offered, many at affordable prices. Modern highlights include a selection of prints, posters, sculpture, and mid-century furniture from one Massachusetts collector. Notable lots include:
· Lot 190: Pair of Waylande de Santis Gregory Tall Vases (American 1905-1971) with fish and mermaid motif, signed “Waylande Gregory.” Estimated $3,000-$5,000.
· Lot 490: Hans J. Wegner Teak and Oak Valet Chair. Estimated $1,500-$2,500. Skinner recently set a world record price at auction when a similar Wegner chair sold in June 2002 (Sale #2140, Lot 338) for $4,347.50.
· Lot 515: Cabot Lyford (American b. 1925) Marble Sculpture, Exercises for the Left Hand, signed and dated “LYFORD ‘68” on the base. Estimated $2,500-$3,500.
· Lot 523: “Bastiano” Leather and Mahogany Sofa, designed by Tobia Scarpa and Gavina Afra, distributed by Stendig, c. 1961. Estimated $1,000-$1,500.
· Lot 532: Tom Wesselman (American, born 1931) Cut-out Nude, 1965. Silkscreen on Plastic. Exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston in Prints of the 60’s from Boston Area Collections, December 11, 1968 - January 6, 1969. Estimated $1,000-$1,500.
· Lot 548: Bruno Matheson Maria Folding Table, designed by Bruno Matheson, c. 1935. Estimated $2,000-$2,500.
· Lot 674: Russell Wright Glazed Ceramic Dinnerware, Steubenville Pottery, Ohio, introduced in 1959. Estimated $2,000-$2,500.
· Lots 686-692: Series of Gerrit Honduit oil paintings. Range in estimate $600-$1,500.
Auction previews will be held Thursday, December 5th, 12-5
p.m.; Friday, December 6th, 12-7 p.m., and Saturday, December
7th, 8:00 –10:00 a.m.
Catalogues for the sale (#2174) are $29
by mail, $35 for foreign orders. Contact Skinner’s subscription
department at 978-779-6241 x240.
For more information on the sale, contact Skinner’s
20th Century Department at 978-779-6241, or
view the sale catalogue and leave bids online
at www.skinnerinc.com.
About Skinner:With galleries in Boston and Bolton, Mass., Skinner is a one of the nation’s leading auction houses for antiques and fine art. As a full-service auctioneer, Skinner provides auction and appraisal services for all manner of antiques and fine art, and its appraisal experts are regularly seen on the PBS series, The Antiques Roadshow. Skinner conducts auctions year-round and has received world-record prices for many pieces sold at auction. Departments include American Furniture & Decorative Arts, Paintings & Prints, English & Continental Furniture & Decorations, Fine Ceramics, Jewelry, Couture, 20th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts, Fine Musical Instruments, Asian Art, Fine Judaica, Toys, Dolls & Collectibles, Science & Technology, Oriental Rugs & Carpets, American Indian & Ethnographic Art, and Discovery. For more information on upcoming auctions, visit Skinner’s web site www.skinnerinc.com.