Maine Antique Digest April 2015

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6-B Maine Antique Digest, April 2015
- AUCTION -
Two artists achieved rock star status at Charlton Hall’s
sale on December 12 and 13, 2014—Conrad Wise
Chapman (1842-1910) and Martin Lewis (1881-1962).
Two of Chapman’s paintings of the military defenses
in and around Charleston, South Carolina, during the Civil
War were in the sale. They were probably part of a set of 31
paintings commissioned by Brig. General Thomas Jordan in
1863. Chapman’s watercolor of Fort Moultrie, a fortification
on nearby Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, sold for $40,800
(includes buyer’s premium). A watercolor and pencil Study
for Battery Rutledge, Charleston Harbor, also dated 1863, hit
$25,200.
It was, however, one of Chapman’s paintings completed
after he left the United States following the defeat of the Con-
federacy that won the day. View of Monterey , an oil on canvas
of the sprawling Mexican city of Monterrey (note the dou-
ble “r”) in 1865 became the sale’s top lot at $120,000. Atmo-
spheric panoramas like this one are considered the apex of
Chapman’s painting career. According to Charlton Hall’s dec-
orative arts specialist, Kinga Bender, the price paid for View of
Monterey placed it in Chapman’s all-time top five.
The three paintings by Chapman were purchased by the
same phone bidder, a New York private collector.
Martin Lewis was a native-born Australian who studied
with noted Sydney printmaker Julian Ashton. Nine years after
immigrating to the United States, Lewis settled in New York
City, his home for most of the rest of his life. His earliest etch-
ings were produced in 1915, but he was thought to have honed
his printmaking skills before that time. He further refined his
intaglio techniques by adding drypoint, mezzotint, and aqua-
tint to achieve richly evocative lighting effects.
Relics, Lewis’s circa 1928 drypoint and etching print of
Speakeasy Corner in New York City, sold to a private collec-
tor from New Jersey for $48,000. It was a record high for a
Lewis etching. The resemblance between the 1928 print Rel-
ics and Edward Hopper’s famous 1942 painting Nighthawks
may stem from the professional and personal friendship the
two shared. Lewis’s Chance Meeting, a 1940-41 drypoint of a
New York street scene, sold to a private collector from South
Carolina bidding over the Internet for $10,000.
Overall, eight of the sale’s 208 paintings, etchings, and
drawings were among the top ten highest-priced lots.
At 72%, the 67 jewelry lots may have had the sale’s lowest
sell-through rate by category. Despite those many passes, two
jewelry lots became part of the sale’s top ten. A circa 1930 Art
Deco diamond and platinum ring with a round brilliant-cut
center diamond sold for $43,200 to a phone bidder, who
bested four others on the line. A jumbo 14.5-carat emerald
surrounded by round diamonds in an 18k white gold setting
sold below estimate for $13,200 to a floor bidder. A total of
five jewelry lots topped $10,000.
Here are the sale’s best performers, presented in five other
categories.
Portraits: The sale’s 25 portraits had a sell-through rate
of 76%. Leading the way was a framed and unsigned oil on
canvas of Lady Jane Grey in the manner of Hans Holbein the
Younger. It sold for $3840 to a floor bidder.
Art Glass: It was a sellout for the 36 lots of art glass and
art pottery from the collection of the late Dr. Edward L. and
Helen McConnell. Internet bidders were especially aggres-
sive; they jumped bids by hundreds of dollars for these lots.
Charlton Hall predicted that a circa 1910 Daum Nancy enam-
eled cameo glass vase, 13½" tall, would lead the pack and
gave it an estimate of $2000/4000, the collection’s highest.
The vase sold to a phone bidder for $7200.
Silhouettes: Eight lots of silhouettes by South Carolina
native Carew Rice (1899-1971) all sold. They ranged from
two to eight silhouettes per lot. The top lot contained five
works, two unframed, including My Money’s Done Gone (see
photo), and sold for $1140 (est. $500/800).
Books: The 30 leather-bound partial volume sets from the
library of Benjamin Bates James Jr. of Atlanta drew enormous
attention. At least one rare-book dealer was in the house. Lot
sizes ranged from a single volume to 58 books. Decorative
possibilities seemed to be on the minds of many bidders.
All 30 lots sold. The top lot was a fore-edge-painted book
by Robert Pollok. The Course of Time: A Poem, 1857, had a
harbor scene on the book’s front edge. This reporter’s notes
read, “The Internet went nuts!” The decorated book by Pollok
started at $200 and sold to an Internet bidder for $2250.
Silver: With 75 lots, silver was plentiful. It appeared at five
different points in the two-day sale and achieved a sell-through
rate of 96%. The top silver lot was a French silver flatware ser-
vice by Andre Aucoc, 1887-1911. The collection consisted of
199 pieces in the Thread pattern, all housed in its original red-
lined oak box. The set sold for $8400 to a phone bidder.
For more information on sales at Charlton Hall, visit theWeb
site ) or call (803) 779-5678.
Charlton Hall Auctioneers, Columbia, South Carolina
Paintings and Jewelry Rule in Columbia
by Pete Prunkl
Photos courtesy Charlton Hall Auctioneers
“The Internet went nuts!”
Shortly after bidding opened at $7500, a phone bidder jumped the bid on ConradWise Chapman’s View of Monterey,
1865, to $30,000. At the end, auctioneer Ronald Long was asking for $5000 increments. ANewYork collector bidding
on the phone bought the 8¼" x 32½" oil on canvas for $120,000 (est. $10,000/15,000).
The same New York collector who bought View of
Monterey bought Conrad Wise Chapman’s 1863 Study
for Battery Rutledge, Charleston Harbor. This 9¼" x
12" watercolor and pencil on paper cost him $25,200
(est. $4000/6000).
A phone bidder jumped the opening bid of $4000 to
$10,000. With competition from others on the phone,
the winning New York collector paid $40,800 for Fort
Moultrie, 1863, a 9¼" x 12" watercolor on paper (est.
$4000/6000) by Conrad Wise Chapman.
Since 2001, art dealer, appraiser and restorer
Edward Fritzi has lived in historic Madison, Geor-
gia. He attended the sale with Michele Bechtell,
the director of the Madison Museum of Fine Art.
Fritzi is shown examining a 10½" sterling bever-
age pitcher by Frank Whiting in the Renaissance
pattern. Neither bid on the pitcher, which sold to
a phone bidder for $1200 (est. $400/700). Prunkl
photo.
Charlton Hall regularly features watercolors by
Charleston, South Carolina, artist Alice Ravenel
Huger Smith (1876-1958). Her subtle 21½" x 14½"
Egrets and Cypress went to a phone bidder for
$19,200 (est. $8000/12,000).
Atlanta artist Edward Moulthrop
(1916-2003) fabricated his own tools
to get inside huge chunks of wood that
were spun on a lathe. This result of his
artistry is signed and marked on the
bottom “Figured Tulipwood / Lirioden-
dron tulipifera / 500992.” The 14½" x
13" vessel sold to the phones for $4080
(est. $3000/5000).
This lot of 49 leather-bound books was the second-highest book lot
after the fore-edge-painted book. It contained poems by Oliver Wen-
dell Holmes and novels by the Bronte sisters among other classics.
Mary Lawson, other floor bidders, and various Internet bidders
chased it to $1625 (est. $400/600). This collection as well as 14 other
book lots sold to the Internet.