EUROPEAN FURNITURE & DECORATIVE ARTS
AT SKINNER OCTOBER 7th
Featuring Fine Silver
BOSTON, Mass. - September 18, 2006
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www.skinnerinc.com - Skinner, one of the nation's leading auction houses, will host an auction of European furniture and decorative arts in Boston on October 7, 2006 at 10 a.m. The sale features a fine selection of American and European silver, as well as furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries, and a variety of clocks, porcelains, paintings, and ivories, among other offerings.
American and European Silver
The auction will open with over 300 lots of American and European silver. Highlights will include a broad selection of Georgian and Victorian silver, led by a Set of Four George III Silver Candlesticks by William Pitts (lot 32, $10/15,000), and a George IV Silver Soup Tureen by William, Charles and Henry Eley (lot 40, $7/9,000). Also included are three excellent lots for the wine drinker with a taste for the elegance of fine silver: a Pair of Large Victorian Silver Renaissance Revival Ewers (lot 53, $5/7,000), a George III Silver Claret Jug (lot 12, $8/1,200), and a Victorian Silver Claret Jug (lot 54, $8/1,200).
Continental selections will feature several excellent early tankards, including some Russian examples. Offerings include a Late Holy Roman Empire Silver Gilt Coin-set Tankard (lot 83, $4/6,000), a Late Holy Roman Empire Parcel-gilt and Coin mounted Tankard (lot 84, $4/6,000), and an 18th century Continental Silver Gilt Repoussé Tankard (lot 85, $4/6,000). Russian examples include a Parcel-gilt Silver Tankard from St. Petersburg, 1790s (lot 92, $4/6,000), a Silver Tankard from Moscow, 1851, by Sazikov, with Imperial warrant (lot 100, $1,5/2,500), and a Russo-European Parcel-gilt Silver Beaker, c. 1744 (lot 86, $3/500).
Additional Russian pieces include a Silver and Enamel Decorated Ecclesiastic Hanging Lamp (lot 138, $8/1,200), a Gold-washed Silver and Colorless Cut Glass Dish, 1908-1917 (lot 150, $7/900), a Pair of Fabergé Workshops Silver-mounted Jade Candlesticks (lot 159, $8/1,200), and a Fabergé Silver and Stone-set Cigarette Case (lot 160, $8/1,200). A large group of Portuguese tablewares includes a Baroque Revival Five-Piece Silver Tea and Coffee Service (lot 139, $1,2/1,800), a Silver Covered Tureen (lot 162, $8/1,200), a Classical Revival Figural Silver Centerpiece (lot 163, $1/1,500), and a Pair of Silver Five-Light Rococo Revival Candelabra (lot 172, $1/1,500).
Highlighting the American silver offerings is a group of repoussé tablewares, and Aesthetic Movement mixed metal articles. Repoussé lots include a Freeman A. Durgin Sterling Four-Piece Tea Service (lot 186, $4/6,000), and a Five-Piece Whiting Manufacturing Co. Sterling Aesthetic Movement Tea Service with Silver Plated Tray (lot 190, $3/5,000). Several pieces by S. Kirk & Son will be featured, including a Sterling Monteith-style Bowl (lot 199, $3/5,000), a Sterling Covered Serving Dish (lot 201, $1/1,500), a Sterling Center Bowl (lot 235, $8/1,200), and a Sterling Fruit Compote (lot 200, $7/900). Also offered is a Near Pair of S. Kirk & Son Co. Silver Spanish-American War Commemorative Plates, each stamped to reverse with the inscription, "Made of Spanish Silver taken from The Cristobal Colon sunk in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, July 3rd 1898" (lot 239, $1,5/2,500). The Spanish armored cruiser Cristobal Colon, cornered by the American fleet in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, was scuttled by her captain rather than have her surrendered to the enemy. Her contents were quickly salvaged by the Americans, before the ship sank that evening.
Aesthetic Movement mixed metal lots include a Tiffany & Co. Sterling and Mixed Metal Hammered Japonesque Vase (lot 191, $4/6,000), a Gorham Sterling and Copper Side Bowl (lot 198, $1,2/1,500), a Gorham Copper and Silver-mounted Dresser Tray (lot 203, $6/800), and an American Sterling and Copper Scent Flask (lot 193, $3/500).
Furniture
Furniture selections range from an impressive George III Mahogany Tall Case Clock (lot 729, $15/20,000) to a Biedermeier Ebony-inlaid flame Birchwood Corner Cabinet (lot 395, $8/12,000), a Pair of George III Polychrome, Parcel-gilt and Inlaid Satinwood Demilune Consoles (lot 672, $6/8,000), and a Regency Boxwood Inlaid and Rosewood Crossbanded Sofa Table (lot 403, $5/7,000). Additional examples include an 18th century Turkish Painted and Gilt-gessoed Ottoman Palace Armchair (lot 319, $3/5,000), a Spanish Renaissance-style Walnut Vargueno on Stand (lot 342, $3/4,000), and a Dutch Neoclassical Fruitwood Marquetry Inlaid Mahogany Game Table, a whimsical inlay of teapots to its top (lot 509, $2,5/3,500). A French Renaissance Revival Ormolu and Porcelain-mounted Onyx Pedestal (lot 451, $2/3,000) and a George III Mahogany Bureau Bookcase (lot 494, $2,5/3,500) will be offered as well.
Decorative Arts
The sale also offers a good selection of clocks and timepieces, including a French Second Empire Gilt and Patinated Bronze Malachite-mounted Mantel Clock (lot 525, $6/8,000), an English Ottoman Market Lantern Clock by Jonathon Parks of London (lot 645, $5/7,000), and a Louis XV Style Boullework and Bronze-mounted Bracket Clock (lot 586, $4/6,000). An Egyptian Revival Black Slate, Rouge Marble and Bronze mounted Three-Piece Clock Garniture and an English and Gilt-decorated Black Japanned "Act of Parliament Clock" also will be featured (lots 420A and 657, respectively, $3/5,000 each). Rounding out the selection are a Louis XVI Style Bronze Cartel Clock (lot 360, $2,5/3,500), and a French Aesthetic Movement Slate Mantel Clock (lot 540A, $1,5/2,000).
Leading a large group of Russian porcelain is a Popov Porcelain Cottage-form Standish (lot 612, $5/7,000). Additional examples include several Gardner Bisque Porcelain figures and figural groups, among them a Dancing Peasant Man (lot 383, $3/4,000), a Box Formed as a Woodsman with a Wheelbarrow (lot 542, $3/5,000), a figural group of a Drunken Man with His Wife (lot 426, $1,5/2,000), and Two Boys Cracking Colored Eggs (lot 616, $8/1,200). Russian selections also feature a large and impressive Russian bronze by Nicolai Ivanovich Liberich (Russian, 1823-1883) depicting an incident on a wintry road (lot 692, $30/50,000).
Two nice ivory lots featuring a late 19th century Framed Collection of Continental Carved Ivory Panels (lot 731, $3/5,000) and a late 19th century Pair of Continental Carved Ivory Figures (lot 602, $2/3,000) are certain to draw attention, as will two fine micromosaic lots, comprising a late 19th century Italian Plaque of the Doves of Pliny (lot 480, $2/3,000), and a late 19th century Italian "Grand Tour" Plaque (lot 625, $1,2/1,800).
Highlights in smalls include a Bronze Figure of a Recumbent Lioness by William Clark Noble (lot 301, $1,4/1,800), a Charles II English Needlework Band Sampler, c. 1607 (lot 332, $2,5/3,500), a late 19th century Pair of Sevres-style Jeweled Porcelain and Ormolu-mounted Mantel Urns (lot 346, $1,5/2,500), and a hexagonal Georgian Paper Filigree Tea Caddy (lot 400, $1/1,500).
Others include a Black Forest Carved Bear-form Umbrella Stand (lot 496, $7/900), a Continental Baroque Ebonized Miniature Cabinet (lot 694, $6/800), and a late 19th century Continental Silver-clad and Carved Ivory Figure of St. Lucy (lot 698, $3/5,000). Past Skinner auctions of English and Continental furniture and decorative arts have offered material deaccessioned from the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, Mass. This sale also features objects from the museum, including a Group of European Steel Armor Articles (lot 435, $2/3,000), as well as several swords and rapiers: a Continental Steel Basket Hilt Rapier (lot 669, $250/350), an 18th century French Steel Small Sword (lot 674, $250/350), a Continental Mediaeval-style Steel Estoc Sword (lot 675, $3/500), a Continental Steel Basket-hilted Rapier (lot 685, $3/500), and a Continental Mediaeval-style Steel Broadsword (lot 691, $3/500), among others.
Previews and Catalogue Information
Previews for the auction will be 12 to 5 p.m. Thursday, October 5th, and 12 to 8 p.m. Friday, October 6th. There is no preview the morning of the sale. Illustrated catalog #2332 is available by mail for $32 ($39 for foreign requests) from the subscription department at 978-779-6241 x240. It is also available at the gallery for $29. Prices realized will be available at www.skinnerinc.com during and after the sale. For more information, call 978-779-6241, or visit www.skinnerinc.com. Skinner's site also allows users to view all lots in the auctions, leave bids, and order catalogues online.
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About Skinner
Skinner, Inc. is one of the nation's leading auction houses for antiques and fine art and the only major auction house headquartered in New England. With expertise in over 20 specialty collecting areas, Skinner draws the interest of buyers from all over the world and its auctions regularly achieve world record prices. Skinner provides a broad range of auction and appraisal services, and it is widely regarded as one of the most trusted names in the auction business. Skinner's appraisal experts regularly appear on the PBS-TV series, Antiques Roadshow, and its specialty 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. Skinner galleries are located in Boston and Bolton, Mass. For more information on upcoming auctions and events, visit Skinner's web site
www.skinnerinc.com.
