Maine Antique Digest April 2015

32-C Maine Antique Digest, April 2015

- AUCTION -

he story behind a Grueby vase said a

lot about the Arts and Crafts collection

of Robert and Elaine Dillof, which was

sold by Treadway/Toomey Auctions in Oak

Park, Illinois, on December 6, 2014.

In a green matte glaze, the vase had carved

and applied vertical leaves, the work of Ruth

Erickson (1883-after 1932), and stood a mon-

umental 22" high.

When the Dillofs

discovered the vase,

it was being used as

an umbrella stand

next to the reception

desk in the lobby of

a hotel in Southwest

Harbor, Maine.

“It was a late hour, almost midnight,” Elaine

Dillof recalled in an essay she wrote about the

collection. “I told the young man at the desk

I wanted to buy it. He gave me the telephone

number of the woman who owned the hotel

and resided in Boston. That night I could

hardly sleep. The next morning after breakfast,

I rang up the woman who owned the hotel. She

was very nice but not at all interested in sell-

ing me an object from the hotel. I told Bob I

would not leave the hotel without the Grueby

vase. I called the woman again and again. The

fourth time, she said, ‘But where will I put my

umbrellas?’”

A celadon umbrella stand found at a local

antiques shop was added to the offer. When

the desk clerk notified the hotel’s owner that

the stand suited the décor of the establishment,

the woman finally agreed to sell the Grueby

vase.

That encounter typified the determination of

the Dillofs as they built their collection. After

a modest start in the late 1960s, when Elaine

Dillof first read about the Arts and Crafts

movement, the couple quickly refined what

they bought. They renovated and enlarged a

1920s fieldstone building that once served as

a hunting lodge in Croton Falls, New York,

filling the home with American furniture and

accessories of the Mission period.

“Some of the items would be very difficult

to find today, if not virtually impossible,” said

Don Treadway, whose Treadway Gallery in

Cincinnati has collaborated with John Toomey

Gallery in Oak Park since 1987, specializing

in Arts and Crafts, mid-century modern, and

fine art offered at auction.

Described by Treadway/Toomey Auctions

as “the most important single-owner collec-

tion of American Arts and Crafts furniture and

decorative arts ever sold,” the items caused a

stir resulting from both quality and quantity.

The assemblage included a bit of everything—

furniture, ceramics, and silver—but it was

lighting that really shone.

The top lot of the sale was a Dirk van Erp

table lamp, circa 1911, in hand-hammered

copper with a mica shade, that sold for $79,300

(includes buyer’s premium).

“They had great lighting. Most people in the

know say this is the best Arts and Crafts col-

lection to come onto the market ever. I would

guess they are probably right,” said Treadway.

“A lot of people were watching this sale and

concerned about it, figuring it would give an

indication of the market.”

There was so much good lighting that

Treadway was anxious prior to the sale that the

market couldn’t absorb it all. He needn’t have

worried. Bidders paid handsomely for every-

thing from candlesticks to electric lamps. A

Swirling Leaf table lamp, the pottery base by

Grueby, the Favrile shade by Tiffany Studios,

realized $32,940. A bronze candlestick by Jes-

sie Preston (1873-after 1942), an organic form

with a tooled clover design, made $10,370. A

chandelier in hand-hammered copper by Roy-

croft brought $9760.

One of the few disappointments was the bid-

ding for several floor lamps by Marie Zimmer-

mann (1879-1972). A wrought-iron example

with its original mica shade topped at $4270.

“The Zimmermann pieces were spotty,” said

Treadway. “It was probably the only weak part

of the auction.”

When it came to furniture, however, no one

needed prompting. Again, the formula was

simple: good pieces, good prices. The best

of the furniture included a Yeddo plant stand

by Gustav Stickley, ebonized maple with an

inset Grueby tile, at $51,850; a Gustav Stick-

ley sideboard, #901, in oak, at $36,600; and a

Roycroft tall magazine pedestal, #80, in oak,

circa 1906, at $26,840.

“The furniture prices were

really good across the board,” said

Treadway.

Likewise, artwork had a defi-

nite following. “The woodblocks

did very well,” he added.

Sequoia

Forest

by Gustave Baumann

(1881-1971), numbered 13/125,

realized $20,740.

Morning Glories

by Edna

Boies Hopkins (1872-1937) brought $15,000.

The Cliff Dweller

by Pedro Joseph de Lemos

(1882-1954) realized $13,420, while a similar

work by the artist,

Coast Sentinels

, brought

$9760.

Again, Treadway was pleasantly surprised,

especially with the two pieces by Lemos.

“They were nice images, very attractive, but

Lemos is not one of the major names in period

woodblocks,” he said.

Metalwork included an elevator grille

the Chicago Stock Exchange, circa 1893, cast

and wrought iron, that sold for $26,840.

Of course, there was the pottery, primarily

Grueby.

“The Grueby collection was one of our con-

cerns because there was so much of it,” said

Treadway. “We were worried about the price

being maintained on that stuff. It did very

well.”A#33 Grueby vase decorated by George

Kendrick (1850-1919), in a green matte glaze

and having carved and applied leaves, 12"

high, sold for $26,840. The Grueby vase that

served as an umbrella holder in the South-

west Harbor, Maine, hotel years ago realized

$20,740.

There were other examples of pottery but not

an abundance. Included was a Teco floor vase

#152, designed by W.D. Gates (1852-1935), in

a green matte glaze, 37" high, at $9760.

“The only weakness would be the diversity

of the ceramics, where you had really good

Grueby and lot of it…but you didn’t have a

really nice piece of early Van Briggle, a really

nice piece of Walrath. There was no New-

comb,” said Treadway.

Overall, however, he was pleased with the

sale, describing the Arts and Crafts market as

“solid.”

Featured in its own hardcover catalog, the

Dillof collection grossed $1.5 million for 267

lots. The collection was part of a larger auction

of 20th-century art and design that realized

$3.4 million.

For more information, contact Treadway

Gallery at (513) 321-6742 or visit (www.

treadwaygallery.com).

Treadway/Toomey Auctions, Oak Park, Illinois

The Robert and Elaine Dillof Collection

by Don Johnson

Photos courtesy Treadway/Toomey Auctions

When the Dillofs

discovered the

vase, it was

being used as an

umbrella stand.

Teco floor vase #152, designed by

W.D. Gates (1852-1935), green

matte glaze, impressed logo and

number, 37" high x 14" diameter,

mint, $9760.

Swirling Leaf table lamp by Tiffany Stu-

dios and Grueby Faience Company, Favrile

glass, green matte glaze with yellow flowers,

shade with early impressed tag, base with

impressed mark and two original paper

labels, 21" high, shade 19" diameter, a few

expected cracks to the glass, crazing to the

base, $32,940.

Dirk van Erp (1860-1933) table lamp,

circa 1911, hand-hammered copper,

mica shade, closed-box signature, 22½"

high, shade 23½" diameter, original

patina, four sockets appear original,

excellent original mica, $79,300.

Hexagonal table attributed to Gustav Stickley, variation of

#410, oak, original leather top and brass tacks, unsigned,

30" high, top 47" x 56", original finish, minor edge chips,

repair to leather on one edge, $30,500.

Gustav Stickley portfolio stand

#551, oak, early box mark, 41"

high x 30" wide, waxed original

finish, some wear, $30,500.

Roycroft tall magazine

pedestal #80, circa 1906,

oak, carved oak leaf dec-

oration and orb signature

to each side, 64" high x

20" wide, original finish,

minor edge chips, excel-

lent overall, $26,840.

Roycroft chandelier, hand-ham-

mered copper, stamped with orb,

43½" high, 18½" diameter, three

sockets with two original reflectors,

good original patina, $9760.