Tag Archives: collection

Paintings by Indian Artists B. Prabha and Maqbool Fida Husain Lead The Way in Bruneau & Co.’s Nov. 15th Online Auction

Posted on by

Cranston, RI, USA, November 19, 2021 -/DailyVoice/- Paintings by two renowned Indian artists took top lot honors in Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers’ online-only Estate Fine Art & Antique Auction held November 15th. A work by B. Prabha (1933-2001), titled Indian Women Painting, soared to $38,750, while a Cubist figural watercolor by Maqbool Fida Husain (1915-2011), of a couple on horseback, realized $10,625.

Both artists have appeared in past Bruneau & Co. auctions. In September, an oil on canvas Cubist painting by Husain, depicting a rider on the back of a wild horse, sold for $43,750. In March 2020, an equestrian-themed watercolor on paper by Husain realized $16,250. In that same auction, a figural oil on canvas by B. Prabha, titled Woman with a Pear Basket, brought $11,875.

The B. Prabha painting in the November auction was the expected top lot, but it still sailed past its $15,000-$20,000 estimate to sell to an eager bidder. The work depicted six Indian women with their hair tied back and long limbs, walking through a village, 30 ½ inches by 77 ½ inches. It was signed by Prabha’s agent, Nayana Sarmalkar, and came with a certificate of authenticity.

“It’s always nice to see an appreciation for a beautiful painting, as the Prabha soared over the estimate and sold to a collector in Illinois,” said Kevin Bruneau, Bruneau & Co’s president and an auctioneer. The painting was by far the top achieve of the 325+ lots in the auction.

The Husain watercolor depicted a man and woman in bright polychromatic outfits on the back of a white horse. Housed in a 33 inch by 27 inch frame, it sold within estimate. Dubbed “the Picasso of India,” Husain started off painting billboard signs in India but quickly developed his own style by blending together folk, tribal, and mythological arts.

The auction featured fine items pulled from prominent estates and collections across New England, to include artwork, decorative arts, collectibles, Asian arts and other objects.

“Internet competition was fierce,” said Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. auctioneer. “This was a great auction to round out 2021. The last two auctions will be Historic Arms and Militaria and then Comic, Toy, TCG & Sports on December 11th before the holidays. It was great year for us.”

Following are additional highlights from the auction. Internet bidding was facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, Bidsquare.com, bidLIVE.Bruneauandco.com and the Bruneau mobile app on iTunes or GooglePlay. All prices quoted include the buyer’s premium.

A mixed media portrait painting mounted to canvas, signed by Han Van Meegeren (Netherlands, 1889-1947), depicting a man in a robe clutching his chest as he stares off into the distance, 73 inches by 33 inches, finished at $5,938. Meegeren was known for his forgeries of famous works by Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch and Johannes Vermeer, among other artists.

A late 19th/early 20th century Malles Goyard large rectangular French steamer trunk that opened to one removable tray with two lidded compartments brought $5,312. The trunk was marked, “Malles Goyard 233 Rue Saint Honore Paris Monte Carlo Biarritz” on a metal tag and “Goyard” on the top of the lid. Each side was initialed “H.C.” in red letters.

An Odd Fellows taxidermy baboon hand lamp, made in the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century, 22 ¾ inches tall, changed hands for $4,375 (blowing past its $250-$400 estimate). The taxidermy baboon hand was surrounded by deep purple velvet inside a clock case decorated with acanthus leaves and a brass eye. The Odd Fellows was a non-political, non-sectarian fraternal order founded in 1819 in Baltimore by Thomas Wildey.

A gorgeous Chinese Art Deco rug, made circa 1920 and measuring 11 feet 7 inches by 9 feet 2 inches, featuring a blue, green, yellow, red and purple pictorial landscape over a red field surrounded by blue borders, sold to a determined bidder for $4,062. It, too, easily bested its estimate of $800-$1,200 by about fourfold, despite some minor wear.

Lots 1, 2 and 3 were circus sideshow banners, led by Lot 1, titled That Strange Creature Obby Dobby Alive by Fred G. Johnson (American, 1892-1990), considered to be the best sideshow circus banner artist in history. The banner, 7 feet 10 inches by 9 feet 7 inches, featured a large, colorfully painted iguana in a jungle setting. It gaveled for $3,750.

Fetching the same amount was an early 20th century, German-made F & R Enders 4/4 violin, with a label marked “F & R Enders Reproduction of Nicholas Gagliano” to the interior. The instrument, one of several in the sale, featured a spruce face with an ebonized finger board and chin rest. The back consisted of a single piece of tiger maple.To learn more about Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers and the firm’s calendar of upcoming events, please visit www.bruneauandco.com. Updates are posted frequently.

To learn more about Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers and the firm’s calendar of upcoming events, please visit www.bruneauandco.com. Updates are posted frequently.

About Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers:
Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions, with commissions as low as zero percent. Now would be a perfect time to clean out your attic. To contact Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers about consigning a single piece or an entire collection, you may send an e-mail to info@bruneauandco.com. Or, you can phone them at 401-533-9980. To learn more, visit www.bruneauandco.com.

The Charles S. Schultz Collection will Headline Nye & Company’s Online-Only Auction, November 17th

Posted on by

Bloomfield, NJ, USA, November 8, 2021 -/DailyVoice/- Nye & Company Auctioneers’ online auction of The Charles S. Shultz Collection on Wednesday, November 17th, is certain to delight collectors, dealers, scientific and literary enthusiasts alike. The Estate Treasures auction, starting at 10 am Eastern time, includes the scientific and travel library from Charles S. Shultz, the noted 19th century financier and past president of the American Microscopical Society and the New York Microscopical Society. Also included are scientific instruments, minerals, Geissler tubes and 19th and 20th century ephemera.

The highly curated auction of objects and books is being deaccessioned from the Charles Shultz House to benefit the collections fund of Montclair History Center in Montclair, New Jersey.

Shultz House, also known as Evergreens, was built by Charles Shultz in 1896. The large, stately home was occupied by three generations of the Shultz family. From Charles to his granddaughter Molly, the home was owned by this single family for 100 years. These were inquisitive people with many interests: they were scientists, inventors, tinkerers, woodworkers, craftspeople, outdoor sports enthusiasts, gardeners, naturalists, travelers and readers. “Time capsule” best describes the home, the contents of which are endlessly intriguing for their breadth and variety.

The property was bequeathed to the non-profit Montclair History Center (MHC) in 1996 and was opened as a house museum until 2019. Despite a deep love and respect for the house, and due to substantial maintenance costs, MHC is de-accessioning the property, including the contents of both the main house and the carriage house. Some items have been retained by the MHC to tell the story of the Shultz family and Montclair history; others have been passed along to Shultz family members.

Nye & Company will be offering the complete contents of Charles Shultz’s comprehensive late Victorian science library, together with an interesting and unusual array of scientific experiments and equipment.

Highlights include three mid- and late-19th century microscopes, including a Bausch & Lomb “Continental” microscope, a Spencer microscope and a Charles Collins binocular microscope, as well as an important selection of objective lenses including a rare H.R. Spencer ½” 100 degree lens. Charles Shultz’s particular area of interest was microscopic diatoms; this is one of the largest collections of slides and books relating to this subject to come to market in recent years.

One of the highlights of the collection is a large array of minerals, rocks and gems, many of them cataloged by Shultz himself in the early 20th century. Included within those samples are a group of impressive azurite and malachite specimens, fluorescent minerals from the Franklin and Sterling mines, and more.

Additionally, the collection also includes a fascinating group of turn-of-the-century electrical experiments, including spark generators, Geissler tubes and other unusual objects. There is a large and important collection of mid- and late-19th century microscopic slides prepared by some of the leading microscopists of the day.

Also on offer is a unique selection of 19th century books, photography and ephemera relating to microscopy, astronomy, natural history and other sciences. The library also contains a significant number of volumes relating to travel, history and literature. Many of these works have been sealed in airtight bookcases for more than 125 years and are in an unusual state of preservation.

Shultz, a well-traveled man, also acquired decorative objects from around the world. A few of these items are also included in the sale, such as several early Chinese jade seals, a rock crystal Chinese seal, Japanese lacquerware, a rare piece of English pottery shown at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, Austrian cold-painted bronzes by Franz Bergman and other objects.

Another splendid piece being offered is an oil on canvas of a mother and her children, with one on horseback, by Hamilton Hamilton (1847-1928). The artist captures the quintessential atmospheric summer day at dusk. His use of color and gentle brush strokes transport the viewer back in time to a perfect summer day.

The sale will feature real time online and absentee bidding, which will be available on www.nyeandcompany.com, www.liveauctioneers.com, www.bidsquare.com and www.invaluable.com. Telephone bidding is available on a limited basis.

An online preview is being held through November 16th. The sale is also available to see on the previously mentioned online platforms. Anyone looking for additional images, condition reports or info about an object is invited to visit the Nye & Company website or email to info@nyeandcompany.com.

The public is also welcome to preview the collection in person at the Nye & Company galleries located at 20 Beach Street in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Monday through Friday, from 10:00am -4:00pm Eastern time, from now until November 16th. COVID protocols will be strictly enforced.

For more information about Nye & Company Auctioneers and the sale of the Charles S. Shultz Collection on Wednesday, November 17th, visit www.nyeandcompany.com.

Works in Marble Lead The Way in Andrew Jones Auctions’ Sale of Part 1 of The John Nelson Collection Held on October 24th

Posted on by

Downtown Los Angeles, CA, USA, October 26, 2021 -/DailyVoice/- Works in marble achieved marvelous results in Andrew Jones Auctions’ October 24th auction of The John Nelson Collection, Part I, which more than doubled its presale estimate to realize $1.6 million. Leading the sale were two magnificent life-size Italian Carrara marble models of dogs, both from the19th century, that brought $62,500.

All prices quoted in this report are inclusive of the buyer’s premium.

An Italian marble torso of a youth, circa 18th/19th century, achieved $35,000, while a pair of Roman marble lion head reliefs made $23,750 against an estimate of $2,000-3,000. Asian items featured a beautiful set of four Chinese hand painted wallpaper panels of birds amidst flowering branches ($12,500); and a Southeast Asian verdigris mixed alloy bust of the Buddha ($15,000).

“I am beyond elated that the sale performed as fantastically as it did,” said Andrew Jones, the president and CEO of Andrew Jones Auctions. “A telephone bidder during the auction said, ‘I bet John is looking down from heaven with a big smile.’ I can’t image a better result than that.”

The future series of sales for The John Nelson collection will be a celebration of the unerring eye of a more than 50-year Los Angeles design and antiques institution – and the man behind John Nelson Antiques. The collection features Chinese porcelain, paintings, French decorative arts, sculpture, antiquities, Grand Tour objects, European furniture, mirrors, chandeliers and more.

The Part 1 auction came just two weeks after another ‘White Glove’ online-only event: the sale of the collection of Lady Victoria White, held Oct. 10. Leading the list of top lots was a pair of oil on canvas paintings by British equestrian artist Sir Alfred James Munnings (1878-1959), titled The Kilkenny Horse Fair ($500,000) and Making a Polo Ground at Princemere ($162,500).

John Nelson had a deep love of European furniture and decorative arts. Testaments to the man’s discerning eye was a pair of Florentine Neoclassical parcel gilt and white painted console tables, circa 1800 ($30,000); and a fine pair of Louis XVI style scarlet lacquered side cabinets by Jean Louis Benjamin Gros (Paris), from the third quarter of the 19th century. The pair made $27,500.

John’s affinity for exquisite chandeliers and mirrors spurred bidders on, as a pair of French Neoclassical style gilt bronze and cut glass 18-light chandeliers in the manner of Maison Baguès, 20th century, fetched $20,000; while a pair of Italian Rococo giltwood and cobalt glass pier mirrors dating from the mid-18th century drove international bidding to a final price of $27,500.

The selection of European paintings was highlighted by a series of four oils on canvas portraits of dogs after Joseph Urbain Melin (French 1811-1886), which collectively achieved $57,500. A wonderful and vibrant oil on canvas of parrots amidst flowers by a follower of Jacob Bogdani (Dutch/Hungarian, 1660-1724) far surpassed its estimate of $3,000-5,000 to gavel for $21,250.

Andrew Jones Auctions’ next big event will be an At Home auction, on Wednesday, November 17th. The sale will consist of nearly 700 lots of antiques, design, fine art accessories and more, including a Philip and Kelvin Laverne bronze Chan coffee table and a large-scale William T. Wiley mixed media work on paper. Part II of the John Nelson Collection will be held Dec. 12.

To learn more about Andrew Jones Auctions and the At Home auction, as well as Part II of the John Nelson Collection, slated for 17 November and 12 December, respectively, please visit www.andrewjonesauctions.com. Updates are posted frequently. Andrew Jones Auctions can be reached by telephone at (213) 748-8008, or via email at info@andrewjonesauctions.com.

About Andrew Jones Auctions:
Opened in the summer of 2018, Andrew Jones Auctions is a full-service fine art and antiques auction house specializing in the liquidation of estates and collections featuring fine art, antiques and collectibles. The firm understands market trends and has foresight for the 21st century. The highly experienced staff has a wealth of knowledge with international savvy, having worked for many years at major international auction houses in North America and Europe, sourcing property from all corners of the United States. Andrew Jones Auctions’ sales are diverse and eclectic, and feature fine diamonds to contemporary art, spanning from antiquity to today. To learn more about Andrew Jones Auction, visit www.andrewjonesauctions.com.