Auction News Network

Colonial Chair May Exceed $1m

What makes a chair worth $1m? It doesn’t hurt if it’s a colonial rarity, like the Chippendale “easy” wing chair that’s the highlight of Sotheby’s Americana sale in New York later this week. Carved in Philadelphia circa 1775, in the style of Nicolas Bernard, it’s finely ornamented with front cabriole legs with acanthus-carved knees and claw feet. At the time of their crafting, these chairs were produced for only the wealthiest Americans. That’s a pattern that’s unlikely to change with its estimate of $800,000-$1.2m.

Rare Colonial Cabinet Leads Americana Sale

Back in 2005, the Metropolitan Museum in New York held an exhibition of the work of John Townsend, one of the highest regarded Colonial cabinetmakers. Just a few blocks away, in the townhouse of a family that had owned it since around 1770 but no longer had any sense of its value or provenance, sat one of Townsend’s rarest pieces. It was a four-shell kneehole Chippendale bureau table, discovered a visit last fall by Christie’s John Hays. One of only seven examples known to exist, it’s expected to sell for $700,000 -$900,000 at Christie’s Americana sale later this month in New York.

Christie’s Luxury Week

Closing out its 2012 season, Christie’s will offer a Luxury Week series of sales, beginning today with an event in New York devoted to jewels, led by a 50.01 carat diamond ring by Graff, (est. $7m-$10m). In tomorrow’s sale, Christie’s will auction a collection of furniture, fine and decorative art from the estate of legendary director Billy Wilder, and in coming days, there will be sales, six in all, devoted to watches, wine, and 20^th century design.

Major French Art Deco Sale At Christie’s

The late Steven A. Greenberg’s collection of Art Deco furniture and objects of design largely concentrated on the work of just three designers: Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dupas, and Jean Dunand. However narrow its range, however, the more than 200-lot collection, which Christie’s will auction on December 15^th in New York, is considered the most important offering of Art Deco designs to come to auction in more than twenty years. A 1932 fan-shaped desk by Ruhlman, adorned with black lacquer and nickel-plated brass is expected to lead the sale, in which it carries an estimate of $2-$3m.

Upwards of $900,000 Expected For Chippendale Chair

There are chairs, and then there are chairs. A case in point: a Chippendale carved mahogany easy chair that dates from 1760-1765, for which Christie’s is expecting as much as $900,000 at its American Furniture auction on September 24^thin New York.The mastry of its carver, an anonymous craftsman known as “Garvan,” is what gives this chair its unusual value. The seller doesn’t hurt either. It’s being consigned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art to benefit its acquisitions fund.

Distinguished McCue Shaker Furniture Collection Will Be Sold

From the late 18^th to the mid-19^th centuries, the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing or the Shakers, as they were better known, attracted as many as 20,000 to their monastic, celibate way of life. These days, they’re more likely to be known for the stern simplicity and beauty of the furniture they created.  Next month in Marshfield, Massachusetts, Willis Henry Auctions will offer a particularly distinguished collection of their work, assembled over some 50 years by the McCue family. The sale’s star is likely to be a trestle table, dating from 1820-1840, that’s expected to sell for $70,000-$90,000.

The World’s Biggest Faceted Emerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote a story called “The Diamond As Big As the Ritz.” Were he alive today, who knows what sort of narrative he might be inspired to fashion about a remarkable gem coming up for auction on February 26? It’s a 65,500ct earth mined stone, not quite as big as a hotel perhaps, but large enough to be the world’s largest faceted emerald. Not many precedents exist for evaluating its worth, which accounts for its rather broad  estimate of $100,000-$500,000.

$3.55m For Townsend Chest

John Townsend, the celebrated 18th Century New England cabinetmaker, was not much more than a lad when he crafted his “masterwork” high chest of drawers that sold at Sotheby’s Americana Sale in New York for $3.55m. The piece had been in the family that commissioned it for the past 255 years. Townsend liked it so much he signed and dated it two times, (1756) and added his maker’s mark five times.

Silver Cups From Salem Witch Trial Judge

Not quite a decade after the notorious Salem Witch trials of 1692, the judge who presided commissioned a pair of silver standing cups, made in 1701 by the goldsmith Jeremiah Dummer of Boston. That judge was Governor William Stoughton of Massachusetts, whose cups will be a highlight at Sotheby’s Americana sale on January 20-21^st in New York. They’re expected to sell for $1m-$2m.

Millions Expected For Ott Furniture Collection

Few collectors were as knowledgeable about American antiques, and in particular the distinguished 18^th century furniture makers of Rhode Island, than Joseph K. Ott. During his lifetime he and his wife assembled an extraordinary collection, which Christie’s will auction on January 20^th in New York. A standout is likely to be a Captain Anthony Low Queen Anne mahogany marble slab table built by John Goddard (1724-1785), estimated at $2m-$3m.

Another Thriller?

It’s all included, even the bed where he died. The contents of Michael Jackson last home, at 100 N. Carolwood in Holmby Hills, will be sold at a Los Angeles auction.  Everything from the armoire on which he tacked a note to himself (“TRAIN, perfections, March April. FULL OUT May”) to a kitchen blackboard on which a child’s scrawl reads “I (heart) Daddy. SMILE, it’s for free” will be offered at the December 17th sale. Julien’s expects the event to bring $400,000-$600,000, an estimate the auction house admits may be conservative “because of the circumstances.”

Malcolm Forbes’ Art & Queen Victoria’s Bloomers

What didn’t interest Malcolm Forbes? The late publisher collected art, hot air balloons, historical documents, yachts, real estate, motorcycles, maritime artifacts and toys—thousands of them. Now, yet another of his remarkable collections will be sold. That would be the contents—500 lots strong– of Old Battersea House, the 17^th century London home, which he restored in 1970. Among the featured lots at the Lyon & Turnbull sale is “For the Squire,” an oil by Sir John Everett Millais, estimated at $800,000-$1.28m.

Update: The Millais painting sold above its low estimate for $886,412, and the Queen’s bloomers swelled to $15,000, more than three times the high estimate.

$6.9m Commode Tops Safra Sale

It required four days for Sotheby’s to sell the vast collection of billionaire banker Edmond J. Safra and his wife Lily. By the time the contents of their various homes in the U.S., Switzerland, and France crossed the block, the final tally was $45.9 million. Top lot at the series of auctions was an 18^th century Louis XVI ormolu-mounted French commode, which sold for $6.9m.

Noted Thoroughbred Breeder’s Collection

The late Edward P. (Ned) Evans was a racehorse breeder of some renown. His 3,000 acre Spring Hill Farm is the largest breeding farm in Virginia, and it was also home to his collection of 19^th and 20^th century paintings as well as English and American furniture, silver, ceramics and decorative works of art. Sotheby’s will sell that collection on September 29^th in New York, where the highlight is expected to be a rare mahogany Chippendale games table circa 1770, estimated at $60,000-90,000.

Bonhams To Sell Actor John Forsythe’s Estate

For much of last 50 years, the late actor John Forsythe seemed ubiquitous, starring in three long-running television series (“Batchelor Father,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “Dynasty”) as well as a variety of other television and film projects. Bonhams & Butterfields will sell his estate in late September, which includes such items as his mahogany Steinway Baby Grand piano.