| Press Contact: | Jane Prentiss, Director | Catherine Riedel, Director |
| 20th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts | Marketing & Public Relations | |
| Skinner, Inc | Skinner, Inc | |
|
978-779-6241 ext. 253 |
978-779-6241 x231 |
SKINNER TO HOLD AUCTION OF
20TH CENTURY FURNITURE & DECORATIVE ARTS
BOSTON, Mass. - June 13, 2005 – www.skinnerinc.com - Skinner, one of the nation's leading auctioneers of antiques and fine art, will hold an auction of 20th Century Furniture and Decorative Arts on Saturday, June 25, 2005 in Boston. The sale, which will present more than 750 lots, begins at 11 a.m. Highlights will include a fine selection of Tiffany Studios offerings; posters and furniture from the Seagram Building, Park Avenue, New York City; and an extensive collection of Art Deco Robj Porcelain figural bottles.
Tiffany Studios
Leading the Tiffany Studios pieces is a Tiffany Hydrangea Cone Shade (lot 437, $25/35,000). This shade was consigned by two sisters who have been its stewards for many years. Purchased in the 1940s in Boston as a hanging shade, it was later joined to its current Asian-style base. The sisters originally met with Jim Callahan, Skinner's director of Asian Furniture and Decorative Arts, who quickly realized that the shade was more valuable than the base. As its residents can contest, Boston suffered a particularly difficult winter season, and the day the shade was consigned was no exception. Recalls 20th Century department director Jane Prentiss, "I drove to the consignors' house the morning after a nor'easter to pick up the shade, making my way around corners with over six-foot high snow banks, and thought to myself, in June when this lamp is sold, it will be warm, and nobody will remember how it got to auction." Additional Tiffany lamps include a glass and doré table lamp (lot 438, $10/15,000), and a bronze and favrile glass lily lamp (lot 436, $8/12,000); lamps by other makers include a reverse-painted Pairpoint table lamp (lot 447, $7/9,000), a brass and leaded glass floor lamp possibly by Bigelow and Kennard (lot 443, $4/6,000), and a reverse-painted Handel table lamp shade, no. 6529 (lot 316, $3/5,000).
The Seagram Collection
Skinner has offered portions of the Seagram Collection in both its June 2004 and December 2004 auctions of 20th century furniture and decorative arts. Housed in the Park Avenue building Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed in collaboration with Phillip Johnson in 1957, these objects were located on the eight floors that Seagram Company occupied for 45 years. The June 2005 sale also features property from the collection, this time focusing on a varied group of posters by Paul Klee, Raoul Dufy, and Jasper Johns, among other artists, as well as selected furniture, including several examples by Mies van der Rohe, and Charles and Ray Eames. Additional furniture in the auction also will include a gilt and gesso cabinet by Max Kuehne (lot 68, $3/4,000). Kuehne worked in New York and on Cape Anne in Massachusetts, and turned to decorating furniture by using gesso and gilt during the depression to make ends meet. This piece, according to Prentiss, "is the epitome of this style of furniture decoration."
Art Pottery
The auction will offer an extensive collection of Art Deco Robj Porcelain figural bottles. These whimsical bottles were first created in Paris in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and held rum, gin, and liqueurs. Skinner will present approximately thirty lots of these highly collectible pieces, including "Les Trois Matelots (lot 97, $5/7,000), "Le Muscadin Ou L'Incroyable" (lot 107, $3/3,200), "Kummel Cursky De Cointreau" (lot 105, $2,6/2,800), "Chartreuse" (lot 95, $1,8/2,000), and "M.P." (lot 85, $1,6/1,800). Additional offerings in art pottery include a large assortment of Roseville Pottery in a variety of floral patterns including vases, hangers for plants, wall pockets, and flower frogs. From the same collector is a broad selection of Art Deco Lenci porcelain figurines, made in Italy beginning in the late 1920s, including "Essevi "Nostalagia" by Sandro Vacchetti (lot 143, $5/7,000), "Angelita alla Corrida" by Scavini (lot 144, $3,8/4,200), and "Maternita" by Scavini (lot 141, $3/3,500).
Boston Offerings
Of local interest in the sale is the estate of Mary Thompson, the former wife of well-known architect Ben Thompson. Modern aficionados will remember Thompson for his Design Research building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, an extraordinary example of 20th century commercial architecture. Through Design Research, Thompson was responsible for introducing numerous Scandinavian designs to the United States for the retail market. He was a friend of Walter Gropius and a part of the enclave that lived in the planned development known as Moon Hill in Lexington, Massachusetts, were Mary lived until her death. Several examples of Scandinavian Design furniture from the estate of Mary Thompson will be offered.
Also of local interest is a collection of Modern art that will be sold to benefit The Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School. This school, founded in 1997 in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, not only demands of its students an 8-hour day, and an 11-month school year, it also requires each of its 360 middle and high school students to study Chinese, maintaining that China will be a major force in the world in coming decades. Objects sold to benefit the school include Clouds-Tortola Triptych by Dorothy Arnold (lot 591, $8/1,200), and Landscape I, II, III by Tracy McKeon (lot 599, $3/500).
Website, Catalogue, and Preview Information
Previews for the auction will be 12 to 5 p.m. Thursday, June 23rd, 12 to 7 p.m., Friday, June 24th, and 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday, June 25th. Illustrated catalogue #2279 is available by mail for $32 ($39 for foreign requests) from the subscription department at 978-779-6241 x240. It is sold at the gallery for $29. Prices realized will be available at www.skinnerinc.com during and after the sale. For more information, visit www.skinnerinc.com. Skinner's site also allows users to view all lots in the auctions, leave bids, and order catalogues online.
Note to Editors: Photos available upon request. Contact Catherine Riedel at 978-779-6241 x 231.
About Skinner:With galleries in Boston and Bolton, Mass., Skinner is a full-service auctioneer and appraiser of antiques and fine art. Regularly seen on the PBS series, Antiques Roadshow, Skinner is one of the nation’s leading auction houses. 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 & Ethnographica, and Discovery. For more information on upcoming auctions, visit Skinner’s web site www.skinnerinc.com.