Maine Antique Digest May 2015

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22-D Maine Antique Digest, May 2015
- AUCTION -
Note the slatted top on
the tall, narrow oval vit-
rine by Joan Busquets
i Jané (Spanish, 1874-
1949). Standing 85" high,
the piece gains width
from glass “wings.” It
sold for $1250.
Amid all the carefully displayed treasures, we found
a cluster of unrelated yet artfully arranged items. The
Austro-Hungarian mirror brought $1063, and the pair
of oak side chairs made $250. The American overlay
and slag lamp did not inspire and sold below estimate
for $500. Tucked in back are two stained-glass and
brass fire screens that fetched $344 and $813.
One entire wall held fine art glass. At bottom left is a
$7500 Emile Gallé etched, enameled, and applied green
glass vase. Next to it are two cylindrical Gallé vases, one
with thistle decoration that sold for $1750; the other is
similar, also decorated with thistles, and sold for $938. On
the shelf above and two in from the left is a $5750 Gallé
enameled and applied glass decanter decorated with “Rien
Sans Amour.”
When worlds collide: A Think-
Pad abuts an Austrian irides-
cent glass and metal lamp that
sold for $1000. It is reflected in
a walnut Continental mirror
that sold for $5750. The cabi-
net below is part of an Art Deco
walnut and oak dining suite
that sold for $1250.
Besides starring on the catalog cover, the
$23,750 French walnut pedestal table by
Pierre Selmersheim (1869-1941) provided a
new aspect of Art Nouveau. Viewers were
fascinated by the four-part support and
eight dished shelves. At 43" high x 31" wide,
it is an imposing piece. Hindman photo.
Before the
sale, we saw
a number of
viewers ask-
ing for direc-
tions to the
almost 27" high
ceramic and gilt-
bronze-mounted vase
by Paul-François
Louchet and Charles
Korschann. It sold for
$7500. We marveled
at the deep cobalt
and cream ceramic.
Hindman photo.
Alphonse Mucha cycle
posters are iconic. No
wonder this circa 1897
“Cycles Perfecta” color
poster printed by F.
Champenois brought
$25,000. Hindman
photo.
19% came online. Surprisingly,
few European collectors and/
or dealers were buyers, though
most major Art Nouveau artists
and artisans came from the area.
A massive Spanish oak dining
set sold for $18,750 to a buyer in
the Midwest; a French oak bed-
room set went to Texas for $3250.
Four Mucha posters went to a
collector in Tokyo where, as Horn
put it, “The 1980s market for Art
Nouveau posters is still hot.”
The top lot in posters, “Divan
Japonais” by Henri de Tou-
louse-Lautrec, brought $30,000
from a Chicago-area collector.
Perhaps collectors were swept
by the tide of enthusiasm. The
more a lot captured the essence
of Art Nouveau design, the
higher it sold.
Collectors were certainly on
fire. The dragonfly chandelier
from Brodsky’s dining room that
went to a midwestern collector
for $27,500 was “everything you
want from Art Nouveau,” said
Horn.
It was “an absolutely stunning
sale,” observed Melloy. “We
were absolutely thrilled.”
For more information, go to
).
Could this four-
piece silver-plate
German tea set
designed by Paul
Follot around 1902
be any more Art
Nouveau? Here
design goes a long
way to explaining
the $25,000 result.
Hindman photo.
We asked Hindman to
pose with a book that
staff created for her as
a Christmas gift. In it
iconic works of art are
replicated using staff
members. Here director
of fine art Zack Wir-
sum is van Gogh as he
appeared in an 1889
self-portrait.
One of several Gallé
marquetry pieces that
sold, this single-door
rectangular vitrine
sold for $30,000. Note
the three Sarah Bern-
hardt “La Plume”
prints in the cluster.
They brought $13,750,
$5750, and $10,000.
The gilt-metal mantel
clock, listed as “after
Claude Bonnefond,”
fetched $813.
Measuring approx-
imately 80" high
x 80" wide x 23"
deep, the massive
Spanish oak server
is part of a dining
room suite that
brought $18,750.
The French gilt-
bronze centerpiece
by Max Blondat
(1872-1925) sold
for $11,875, and
the American cast
metal and Quezal
table lamp, dis-
assembled at left,
brought $2750.
The twist candlesticks are
Steuben gold Aurene and
sold for $813. Above them
is a $1000 Tiffany Studios
gold Favrile glass vase; the
Tiffany Studios gold Favrile
candlestick with a ruffled
shade below brought $688.
The large $625 walnut
pier mirror hangs next
to a circa 1901 Paul
Berthon (1872-1909)
print of Sarah Bern-
hardt that realized
$1375 (est. $300/500).
The silvered cast metal
vase on the floor that
sold for $500 is next
to a $2375 American
bronze ewer. The table
is part of a $3250 bed-
room suite, and the
Tiffany Studios bronze
lamp base with later
dragonfly shade sold
for $7500.