Fall Bounty Of Antiques, Decorative Arts Drives Fontaine’s Auction Past $6.5 Million

The top lot of the two-day auction was this Tiffany Studios Nasturtium table lamp that attained $825,000 ($300/500,000).

PITTSFIELD, MASS. — Fontaine’s September 28-29 auction attained just over $6.5 million from 1,000 lots over two days. The sale was strong with Tiffany Studios lighting and decorative arts objects dominating the sale, but there were unusual and exceptional items across the board. Three major collections contributed to this auction and notable results were achieved in each with many items selling far over estimate.

“These were old time collectors that had a keen eye for collecting and all three estates performed better than expected,” said owner and auctioneer John Fontaine. “We were quite pleased with the competitive bidding we saw and the results.”

The top lot of the auction came out of the Dr Joseph T. Sheridan collection and was a circa 1905 Tiffany Studios Nasturtium table lamp. Estimated at $300/500,000, the lamp had a rare mosaic and turtle-back base and attracted a total of 12 active bidders, vying for the lamp online, over the phone and by absentee bid. Bidding remained hot up to the very end, with several bidders chasing the lamp past the $600,000 mark. One very determined private collector hung on until the final bid, claiming the lamp for $825,000.

Another fine Tiffany lamp crossing the block was this circa 1905 Tiffany Studios Laburnum table lamp also from the Dr Joseph P. Sheridan collection, which measured 30 inches tall. Part of its appeal was its rare bird skeleton base, and buyers drove bidding to $375,000 ($300/500,000).

Besides the Nasturtium lamp, a parade of two dozen Tiffany lighting examples, from lamps and chandeliers to sconces, accounted for the first day’s top 25 lots. Altogether, there were more than 225 Tiffany lots in the auction, realizing nearly $4.5 million. Most sold within or above their estimates and attracted highly competitive bidding.

Among table lamps, the category leader was a circa 1905 Tiffany Studios Laburnum table lamp also from Sheridan’s collection, 30 inches tall, that was even more rare due to its bird skeleton base. It brought $375,000.

Tiffany lighting came in all forms, not just table lamps. A standout included a pair of circa 1881 lanterns made for the two-story Moorish smoking room in the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion that realized $245,000. Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists worked in collaboration to design these lanterns for the grand New York City mansion in which socialites and the wealthy gathered. This pair was later part of the late singer John Denver’s estate. Also crossing the block was a vibrantly colored Flowering Bouquet chandelier, circa 1910, that went out at $187,500, and a circa 1910 Peony Border floor lamp with a chased pod Senior floor base and a pig tail finial; it earned $168,750.

This pair of Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists lanterns, manufactured circa 1881 for the Moorish smoking room in the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion, brought $245,000 against an $80/120,000 estimate.

Garden ornaments were also a robust category, with fine statuary and sculptures proving popular in both small and large scale. A 16-inch tall patinated bronze sculpture by sculptor Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, “Reflections,” went to $17,500, while a Robert Holmes bronze sculpture, “Spinning Dancer,” 83 inches tall, which overlooked the Hudson River, brought $15,000.

Multiple other bronzes were avidly scooped up by buyers, led by a Vasily Grachev bronze group, “Tsar And His Falconer,” which flew past its $5/7,500 estimate to bring $40,625.

There were about two dozen paintings represented in the auction with choice selections, led by late French Expressionist Bernard Buffet’s “Nature Morte au Compotier et Aux Fruits” going out at $37,500. This painting came out of the Ledgerock collection, which featured several other desirable items, including a mid Fourth Century attic red-figure bell krater, decorated on each side with classical figures, that achieved $21,250, selling well above its $2/3,000 estimate. “This collection had some unusual and amazing things,” Fontaine added.

This gem of a Bernard Buffet painting is his “Nature Morte au Compotier et Aux Fruits” that took $37,500 ($20/30,000).

From the Hunter Mountain, N.Y., estate of Hassan Basagic came a fine collection of 150 examples of Arts and Crafts furniture and decorative arts, led by a Tiffany Studios bronze floor vase, circa 1915, that achieved $20,000. Fine Stickley furniture from the estate performed solidly, including a director’s table, “No. 631,” going out at $10,625 and a book table, “No. 516,” for $8,125.

Far surpassing estimates as well was a rare Charles P. Limbert Co., Pagoda table, “Model 164,” estimated at $2,5/3,500, that realized $27,500.

All prices reported include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.fontainesauction.com or 413-448-8922.