Maine Antique Digest May 2015

30-D Maine Antique Digest, May 2015

- AUCTION -

here were 20 Rago staffers on the phones

and computers, twice the number of bidders

in the salesroom, for the Rago Arts “Mid-

Mod” and modern design sales on Friday, Feb-

ruary 13, and Sunday, February 15. A few dozen

people graced the salesroom on Saturday, February

14, despite the cold and snow squalls, making the

numbers of staff and bidders just about even that

day. More and more bidders are comfortable with

looking at high-resolution photographs and getting

condition reports and then bidding on the phone or

online for 20th-century material, never seeing in

person what they bid on.

Rago used two online bidding platforms, its own

RagoLive and Bidsquare, on Saturday and Sunday

for early 20th-century design, glass, and ceramics,

and modern design, and three bidding platforms on

Friday for the lower-end “Mid-Mod” sale. All the

platforms were busy, often bidding against each

other, but phones were even busier, and some bid-

ders left written bids with the auctioneer. That is

how auctions work these days.

The total for the sale with buyers’ premi-

ums was $5,371,000 (est. $3,782,550/5,373,900

without buyers’ premiums); the hammer total of

$4,305,600 fell at mid-estimate; 81% of the 1064

lots offered sold. David Rago was pleased with the

$5-million-plus sale that had fewer lots than usual

and was spread over three days. When a sale has

more than 1000 lots, it gets tedious.

The lots to watch were furniture designed by

Wendell Castle that came from the estate of Dr.

Philip Rubin of Rochester, New York, who bought

Castle’s work in 1969, and a half-dozen pieces of

Paul Evans furniture that were published in

Paul

Evans: Crossing Boundaries and Crafting Mod-

ernism

, the exhibition catalog for the 2014 shows

at the James A. Michener Art Museum and the

Cranbrook Art Museum.

A sculptural boomerang-shaped walnut-lami-

nated desk by Wendell Castle from Rubin’s estate

sold for $183,750.05 (est. $65,000/95,000), and

the very same price was paid for a Paul Evans

Sculpture Front cabinet that was the centerpiece of

the Evans exhibition. It was consigned by a family

foundation. The price for the desk is not a record

for Castle, which stands at $204,000 at a 2008

Rago sale for a sculpted oak Sleigh chair, made

in 1963. The price for the Evans cabinet is not a

record either; the record stands at $269,000 paid at

Sotheby’s in December 2013 for a vertical Sculp-

ture Front cabinet from the Yurik collection.

An Evans Sculpture Front vertical screen,

from the Dorsey Reading collection, also in the

Evans show and catalog and similar in design

to the record cabinet, sold for $135,750.05 (est.

$80,000/100,000).

A Wendell Castle laminated walnut table lamp

also brought that same price.

There were other successes. A William Hunt

Diederich prancing stallion weathervane, made

of enameled wrought iron, sold for $59,375 (est.

$10,000/15,000). It is big—40" x 49".

Contemporary glass performed well, espe-

cially three important pieces by Lino Tagliapi-

etra. A sculptural vessel,

Bilbao

, fetched $43,750.

Suzanne Perrault said that is a record for the Italian

master at auction.

Rago and his wife, Perrault, carefully orches-

trated the sale. On Friday, 78% of the 288 lots of

lower-priced mid-century modern furniture and

lighting sold for $498,969, almost entirely online.

The hammer total, $399,175, was below the low

estimate ($462,550/674,600, figured without the

buyers’ premiums). More than 1000 online bid-

ders signed on to participate on one of the three

online bidding platforms. Of the 217 on Bidsquare,

8% were from outside the U.S.—Canada, Mexico,

France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary,

Belgium, Denmark, and New Zealand. Of the

437 on RagoLive, 62 bidders or 14% came from

outside this country, from Australia, Austria, Bel-

gium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong

Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the

Netherlands, New Zealand, Nor-

way, Singapore, South Africa,

Switzerland, United Arab Emir-

ates, and the United Kingdom.

LiveAuctioneers accounted for

432 bidders, of which 62 or 14%

were bidding from outside the

U.S., from Austria, Australia,

Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Den-

mark, France, Germany, Israel,

Italy, Japan, the Netherlands,

Norway, New Zealand, Portugal,

Russia, Spain, Sweden, the U.K.,

and Venezuela. Twentieth-cen-

tury design sales have international

interest, and some bidders on low-

er-priced lots are used to bidding

on LiveAuctioneers and have not learned about

Bidsquare and RagoLive.

Most of the prices for mid-century modern were

less than $2000; the top lot was a Russell Wood-

ard patio furniture set consisting of a pair of set-

tees, three lounge chairs, and an ottoman. From

the Sculptura series, they are made of enameled

steel and vinyl. Together they sold for $12,187.50

(est. $1500/2000) on the phone, underbid by an

absentee bidder who left a bid with the auctioneer.

The phone bidder also bought a Russell Woodard

dining table and six armchairs for $10,312.50 (est.

$1200/1800), underbid by the same absentee bid-

der for the patio set. “The underbidder will never

believe it; he really wanted that furniture,”

said Rago. A pair of figured walnut Singer

& Sons two-part cabinets, designed by

Bertha Schaefer in Italy in the 1950s,

sold for $10,625 (est. $3000/5000), and

an Edward Wormley sofa of lacquered

mahogany and bittersweet velvet sold

for $10,000 (est. $2000/3000). Designers

look over these sales carefully!

Rago used just two bidding platforms for

the rest of the sales, knowing that higher-end

lots generally sell on the phone, but there was a

good amount of online competition as well. Sat-

urday’s sale of early 20th-century decorative arts

featured art pottery, Arts and Crafts furniture, and

lighting, and was followed by modern ceramics and

glass. A George Ohr vase, a pink volcanic twisted

form, sold for $68,750 (est. $35,000/45,000). It is

pictured in

The Mad Potter of Biloxi

(1989)

and

was exhibited at the American Craft Museum in

New York City in the George Ohr exhibition in

1989-90.

“The high end of the art pottery market is hold-

ing up, but the middle market is down, and there

are some great buys in what I call the top of the

second level,” said Rago. “Some things are selling

for half what I was getting for them a decade ago.

Tastes change.”

Two phone bidders wanted a large Pewabic

vase with Persian blue drip luster glaze, and it

sold for $27,500 (est. $5000/7500). Some Grueby

sold over estimates; an early vase with blossoms

brought $32,500 (est. $10,000/15,000). A large

Rookwood Black Iris vase sold for $38,750 (est.

$15,000/20,000). Rago said it was the finest Iris

glaze he had ever seen, and the vase is similar to

one in the Newark Museum. Rookwood plaques

sold over their estimates, and nearly every one

sold, including one large scenic Vellum depict-

ing El Capitan at Yosemite for $30,000 (est.

$25,000/35,000). The Rookwood plaques brought

about half of what they brought when they were at

the top of the market. At the Toni Schulman Rook-

wood sale on March 6, 2004, at Rago, the El Cap-

itan plaque sold for $58,750. The consignor of a

number of the Rookwood plaques said he expected

they would bring about half what he had paid for

them, but he has changed the direction of his col-

lecting and wanted to sell.

Arts and Craft furniture is affordable. There

were some really good buys and few high prices.

Two people really wanted an 8' trestle table by L.

& J.G. Stickley. It is not just a comfortable table

for dining; it has a presence. Two bidders duked

it out, and it sold for $23,750 (est. $3500/5500).

An L. & J.G. Stickley trapezoidal mantel clock,

Bidsquare for $10,880 (est. $5000/8000). Hansen

worked for Gustav Stickley before he worked for

L. & J.G. Stickley, and he is best known for the

Rago Arts, Lambertville, New Jersey

Evans Cabinet Brings $183,750

by Lita Solis-Cohen

Photos courtesy Rago Arts

Rago was pleased with

the $5-million-plus sale

that had fewer lots than

usual and was spread

over three days.

Suess table lamp with geo-

metric shade on tree trunk

base, Chicago, 1900s, pat-

inated metal, leaded slag

glass, and four sockets,

unmarked, 24" x 30",

in the 1906 Suess cata-

log, sold on the phone

for $17,500 (est.

$6000/9000).

Rookwood Black

Iris vase by Carl

Schmidt (1875-

1959), uncrazed,

C i n c i n n a t i ,

Ohio,

1910,

flame mark, sold

for $38,750 (est.

$15,000/20,000)

to a buyer who

left a bid with

the

auctioneer.

David Rago called

it the best piece of

Rookwood he had

ever seen and fresh

to market. A similar

example is in the New-

ark Museum.

Pairpoint puffy table lamp with an

Apple Blossom shade with bumble-

bees and butterflies and a tree trunk

base, New Bedford, Massachusetts,

1910, reverse-painted frosted glass,

patinated metal, and single socket,

base stamped “Pairpoint Mfg Co

3091,” 23½" x 16", sold for $23,040

(est. $10,000/15,000). Another simi-

lar lamp sold for the same price;

they both sold on Bidsquare.

Pewabic large vase

with Persian blue

drip over luster

glaze, Detroit, Mich-

igan, circular stamp,

11" x 10½", sold on the

phone for $27,500 (est.

$5000/7500).

This Edith Lautrup (1875-1963)

Favrile pottery bowl with swim-

ming fish, New York, 1900s,

incised “LCT / B,” 4½" x 7",

descended from the original

owner, a Tiffany Studios employee.

It sold on the phone for $16,250

(est. $10,000/15,000). It has some

hairlines.

Peter Hansen (1880-1947) for L. &

J.G. Stickley, trapezoidal mantel clock,

Fayetteville, New York, circa 1910,

with “Handcraft” decal, 22" x 16" x

8", sold on Bidsquare for $10,880 (est.

$5000/8000).

Early Grueby vase with blos-

soms, Boston, Massachusetts,

circa 1900, circular faience

stamp, 7" x 11½", sold on

the phone for $32,500 (est.

$10,000/15,000).

Gustav Stickley bow-arm

Morris chair, Eastwood, New

York, circa 1905, with red

decal, 37" x 30¼" x 36½",

sold for its high estimate at

$7680 (est. $4000/6000).