Maine Antique Digest, March 2017

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26-C Maine Antique Digest, March 2017
- AUCTION -
26-C
Diana by Paul Howard Manship (1885-1966),
inscribed and dated 1921, bronze with green-
ish-brown patina and select areas of silver
plate, sold for $727,500 to a bidder on the
phone. The 38¼" high sculpture on a 1½" mar-
ble base had an estimate of $400,000/600,000.
“I’ve never seen one with this much silver,”
said head of department Kayla Carlsen during
the auction preview, explaining that the bronze
was handed down over three generations. It
came from the estate of Sylvia McLaughlin
of Berkeley, California, having descended in
the family of George E. Cranmer of Denver,
Colorado.
Bonhams, New York City
American Art Sale
by Julie Schlenger Adell
Photos courtesy Bonhams
Bonhams was the last of the auction
houses to hold its American art
sale right before the Thanksgiving
break. Coming at the end of an event-
filled week, the Tuesday afternoon
auction on November 22, 2016, saw some
competitive and active bidding in the
salesroom.
“It felt positive and refreshing,”
commented head of department
Kayla Carlsen, “with bidders actively
participating and engaged. It was different
from the way they were in the spring. It
felt like a real auction.”
Furthermore, she said, “There was a bit
of an uptick in the market. We saw bidders
who reentered the market after a season or
two off.” She added, “There are always
some misses that I wish had done better.”
The sale totaled $3.09 million, with
69 of the 97 lots selling, for a 71% sell-
through rate.
“We saw activity from institutions,
dealers, and private buyers,” said
Carlsen, “and some new buyers we hadn’t
previously dealt with. Smaller institutions
seem to not be feeling as pinched,” she
noted.
The top lot of the sale was Paul
Howard Manship’s Art Deco sculpture
Diana, which sold for $727,500 (includes
buyer’s premium). It had an estimate
of $400,000/600,000. The sculpture,
inscribed and dated 1921, came from the
estate of Sylvia McLaughlin of Berkeley,
California. It was the cover lot of the
catalog.
After attending almost a week of
sales with accompanying lectures and
receptions, plus the American Art Fair
with its two receptions and lectures, and
visiting the galleries that were part of
the Just Off Madison event, participants
seemed anxious either to get back home
or get out of town for the Thanksgiving
holiday. Since Bonhams was the last
event on the calendar, many dealers and
collectors left after the Christie’s sale in
the morning. Nevertheless, Carlsen was
pleased with the participation level.
Besides Manship’s Diana, other top
lots included Marsden Hartley’s Still Life
with Calla, which sold for $217,500 (est.
$100,000/150,000). “It was in perfect
condition, with an original Hartley
frame, and had an attractive estimate,”
noted Carlsen. Martin Johnson Heade’s
Seascape at Sunset sold for $271,500
(est. $120,000/180,000) to dealer Mark
Brock of Concord, Massachusetts, and
Sanford Robinson Gifford’s Arch of Nero
at Tivoli from the West sold for $150,000
(est. $40,000/60,000).
Commenting on the sale, Carlsen
allowed that “sellers were a bit more
judicious in their offerings during an
election year, so there were fewer things
on the market. This sparked more demand.
Not one genre suffered—Ash Can,
nineteenth century, sculpture, illustration,
and Impressionism all sold.”
Looking ahead to the spring sale in
May, Bonhams “will continue to put
conservative estimates on things, will be
selective, and will keep the sale under a
hundred lots,” Carlsen predicted. “I like
to have a well-balanced sale with all
genres represented.”
Further information is available at
).
“There was a bit of an
uptick in the market.”
Arch of Nero at Tivoli from the West by Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823-
1880), inscribed and dated “Tivoli Oct 13 ’68,’” with a Gifford estate sale
stamp on the reverse, sold to a bidder in the salesroom for $150,000 (est.
$40,000/60,000). The oil on canvas, 8" x 133/8", was accompanied by a letter
and research report by scholar Dr. Ila Weiss, who confirmed that the work
illustrates ruins of a Roman aqueduct at Ponte degli Arci, which stands near
Tivoli, Italy. According to her research, the structure was for some time
“incorrectly referred to as the Arch of Nero,” and it was “referred to as such
in the artist’s journal as well as among his peers.” Gifford admired the works
of Thomas Cole, who had visited the site and completed two pictures of the
view, and in Gifford’s European journal he wrote that he was eager to get to
the “picturesque Arch of Nero...the subject of one of Cole’s finest pictures.”
Seascape at Sunset by Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904), oil on canvas,
signed lower right, 10¼" x 20¼" , painted 1876-83, was bought in the sales-
room by dealer Mark L. Brock of Brock & Co., Concord, Massachusetts,
who paid $271,500 for it (est. $120,000/180,000). Heade, a Hudson River
school artist, was inspired by a variety of subjects, including marshes,
hummingbirds, floral still-lifes, and marine imagery.
Newsboy by Karl Witkowski (1860-1910),
estimated at $5000/7000, sold for $18,750
to a bidder on the phone. The signed and
dated (’99) 201/8" x 141/8" oil on canvas had
last sold at Christie’s, New York, on March
4, 2010, lot 178, for $10,625.
Childe Hassam (1859-1935) painted Ten Pound Island, Gloucester, Massachu-
setts around 1894-95. The 14" x 20" watercolor, estimated at $80,000/120,000,
sold for $125,000 to a buyer bidding online. A couple of dealers in the sales-
room bid on it, with New York City dealer Betty Krulik the underbidder. The
work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist’s
work by Stuart P. Feld and Kathleen M. Burnside.
Windy Doorstep by Abastenia St. Leger Eberle (1878-1942),
bronze with dark brown patina, 14" high, sold for $60,000 (est.
$25,000/35,000) to a buyer bidding online. The sculpture had
last sold at Sotheby’s, New York, on April 8, 2011, lot 116, for
$43,750 (est. $15,000/25,000).