Maine Antique Digest, April 2017

32-E Maine Antique Digest, April 2017

AUCTION -

32-E

This time, there were three top

lots, each bringing $67,500, and all

from different collecting areas.

New Orleans Auction Galleries, New Orleans, Louisiana

A Fall Full of Sales

by Karla Klein Albertson

Photos courtesy New Orleans Auction Galleries

uctions in New Orleans usually feature material

from notable estates, which are highlighted in

the catalog’s opening tributes. While continuing

the diversity of these major 1000-plus-lot events, New

Orleans Auction Galleries has begun to add specialty

auctions as well. The lighter Cakebread Decorative Arts

& Design sales have been going on for several years. Last

fall, between the larger October 14-16 and December 10

and 11 auctions, the firm added a one-day jewelry sale

on November 12, 2016, and coming up in April, it will

hold its first focused fine art auction, not long after the

big March estates sale. In other words, a whole lot of

material is crossing the block in the St. Joseph Street

salesroom.

The December 2016 event was typical of one of the

firm’s larger sales. Saturday was devoted to English

and Continental furnishings and fine art, with dedicated

blocks of silver, modern design, and Asian art. Sunday

always leads off with a treasure-trove of jewelry,

followed by American furniture, decorative arts, and

regional paintings. Which category does best? This time,

there were three top lots, each bringing $67,500 (with

buyer’s premium), and all from different collecting areas.

There is always an underestimated Chinese lot, and

this time it was a 38½" x 67" Qing Dynasty painting on

silk of a hunt scene, estimated at only $3000/5000, that

was one of the top lots. NOAG adores fine jewelry—

there were almost 200 lots of sparkle and luxurious

goods—so, no surprise, the second $67,500 was captured

by a diamond necklace with a large pendant emerald (est.

$55,000/80,000). The third big figure of $67,500 went

to a southern regional favorite, a fine Havell Audubon

print of the

Brown Pelican

(est. $30,000/50,000). The

following Havell Audubon print,

Virginian Partridge

brought $35,000 (est. $15,000/25,000). There was

beaucoup

merchandise from which buyers could pick

and choose but something for everyone, from birds to

bling.

Perhaps the most captivating estate offerings in the

December auction were the art pottery and Arts and

Crafts furnishings collected by George “Dod” Stewart

(1947-2015) of Slidell, Louisiana. Outstanding among

these lots were examples from the Shearwater Pottery

in Ocean Springs, Mississippi; Stewart wrote a prized

book on its ceramics. The pottery was founded in 1928

by Peter Anderson, who was joined by his artist brothers

Walter Inglis Anderson and James McConnell “Mac”

Anderson. The pottery continues in operation today. It

was restored after the coastal site took heavy damage

during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Although only three

pieces are illustrated here, every single one of the 13

examples in the sale displayed appealing aspects of the

pottery’s decorative output.

In a 2010 interview with this reviewer, Dod Stewart

talked about his attraction to the work. “We used to spend

our summers on the Gulf Coast, and I’ve been going

over there since I was a kid. The forms were mostly

their own designs. Peter was the oldest, and he was the

one that actually threw the pottery. Mac was trained as

a draftsman, and he designed shapes.” Walter, whose

watercolor paintings of coastal wildlife bring very high

prices at auction, also decorated pottery with similar

motifs, although he did not sign the works.

“I think Shearwater Pottery is very underappreciated,”

Stewart continued. “People don’t understand its history.

It’s never been cheap because it takes a lot of time; it’s

an expensive process. I probably have a couple hundred

pieces.” Using flawless collector’s logic, he added that

acquiring them for his own collection was the best way

to assure the necessary illustrations for his book on the

pottery.

Collectors were delighted to acquire examples with

this provenance, and, as would be expected, the top

prices were realized by the vases decorated by Walter.

On the American furniture front, while some auctions

might be all about armoires or center tables, December’s

lineup presented buyers with a choice of six Classical

sofas, symmetrical or asymmetrical, many from the same

One Asian lot always flies

out of the ballpark. This

time it was a framed 38½"

x 67" Chinese painting on

silk of a hunt landscape

from the Qing Dynasty

(1644-1911). Its final

price was $67,500 (est.

$3000/5000).

In Audubon’s

Birds of

America

(1826-38) with hand-

colored aquatint engravings

by Robert Havell, No. 51,

plate CCLI, is a full-size

Brown Pelican

. This framed

example sold for $67,500.

The Sunday session,

accompanied by a

welcoming brunch

spread, started off at 10

a.m. with fine jewelry.

The first lots were

gentlemen’s watches and

rings from the estate of

James Westerfield of

Jackson, Mississippi.

An 18k yellow gold Rolex President wristwatch circled with

diamonds (not shown) sold for $11,250, but in the wearable

women’s section, the top lot was this diamond and 18k

white gold necklace with an 18.20-carat emerald-cut treated

emerald; it brought $67,500.

At least one of this near-pair

of console or sofa tables, 28½"

high x 67½" long, almost ended up

supporting a pianoforte, a form

that is made with similar

structural support. The

mahogany tables, carved

with Classical flourishes and inlaid

with brass rosettes and foliage, were

attributed to the Philadelphia workshop of Joseph

Barry. The lot sold for $16,250 (est. $4000/7000).

This faux-rosewood and gilt-

stenciled Grecian couch sold

for $3750; a similar example

is illustrated in the Boors’

Philadelphia Empire Furniture

(2006).