Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

OVER 250 LOTS FROM PALM BEACH ESTATES OF JEWELRY, WATCHES, ART AND ANTIQUES WILL BE AUCTIONED SUNDAY, OCT. 28, AT A.B. LEVY’S ON WORTH AVENUE IN PALM BEACH, FLA

(PALM BEACH, Fla.) – Over 250 lots of fine jewelry, artwork by renowned and listed artists, period furniture, desirable antiques and decorative accessories will be offered on Sunday, Oct. 28, by A.B. Levy’s, starting at 1 p.m. (EST). The auction will be held at A.B. Levy’s spacious showroom, at 211 Worth Avenue in Palm Beach.


Large and important Italian micro-mosaic table top, with center panel of St. Peter’s Basilica

Just a few of the expected top lots include a dazzling ring centered by a square emerald Asscher cut diamond weighing 10+ carats; an Emile Galle carved cameo glass table lamp (circa 1910); a continental carved ivory set of the Four Seasons (circa 1880); a Rene Lalique grey glass “La Jour et la Nuit” mantel clock (circa 1926); and a large and important Italian micro-mosaic table top.

A.B. Levy’s has maintained an exclusive gallery on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach for more than 20 years. The firm’s inaugural auction, held in March in West Palm Beach, was a huge success, the top lot being a Rene Lalique Cire Perdue vase with Rene Lalique thumbprint that brought $212,000. The premiere auction at the Worth Avenue gallery was conducted May 6.

“We’ve been acting as brokers between buyers and sellers at the gallery since 1989, so it only seemed natural to take the business to the next level with an auction component,” said Albert B. Levy, President of A.B. Levy’s.

The diamond ring is the anticipated top earner of the auction, with a pre-sale estimate of $700,000-$1 million. The 10.04-carat center stone is flanked by two kite-shaped diamonds and completed by numerous round-cut diamonds. The ring, mounted by David Morris of London, is graded F for color and VS1 for clarity and is accompanied by a GIA certificate dated Nov. 2002.

The Italian micro-mosaic table top and the set of Four Seasons both enter the sale with identical estimates of $100,000-$300,000. The table top is of circular form, made in the 19th century, and is centered by a panel depicting St. Peter’s Basilica. The Four Seasons, each ivory piece 23 ½ inches tall, are seen as standing females, each one mounted on a rouge marble plinth.

The 31-inch-tall Galle table lamp is both important and rare, and it carries a pre-auction estimate that reflects that ($300,000-$500,000). The shade and base are both signed in cameo “Galle.” The Rene Lalique grey glass “La Jour et La Nuit” clock is also signed (“R. Lalique, France”) and it should easily bring $40,000-$60,000. It is a circular clock with nude figures.

Fine art by French artists will feature a monumental bronze sculpture by Marius Jean-Antonin Mercie (1845-1916), titled Gloria Victis, 73 inches tall (the same size Gloria Victis as one in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.); an oil on panel by Louis Marie de Schryver (1862-1942), titled The Flower Girl, signed and dated ‘96; and an oil on Masonite work by Louis Icart (1888-1950), titled Une Soiree des Femmes, signed.

Other notable artworks will include an oil on canvas by Daniel Ridgway Knight (Am., 1839-1924), titled Woman Gathering Berries, 30 ½ inches by 25 ½ inches, signed lower right; an oil on canvas by Paul Albert Baudoin (1844-1931), titled The Harvesters, signed and dated 1878; and an oil on canvas by Eugenio Zampighi (Ital., 1859-1944), titled The Favorite Story.

Marvelous decorative accessories will be served up in abundance. Examples that could all top the $100,000 mark include a Viennese silver-gilt ewer and stand made in the late 19th century and carrying the Austrian silver mark of Herman Bohn; and a fine pair of 20-inch-tall 19th century French turquoise ground porcelain vases with beautiful gold gilt dolphin handles.

Also offered will be an impressive pair of 100-inch-tall Italian carved marble torcheres made around 1870 in the Renaissance style with a circular dish form top; a Tiffany Studios internally-decorated “Aquamarine” favrile glass vase (circa 1912), engraved and numbered, 11 ½ inches; and a pair of carved mid-19th century parcel-gilt and ebonized blackamoors, 80 inches.

Rounding out the category will be a massive Daum Nancy acid-etched and polished blue glass vase, made circa 1925, signed, 16 inches tall; a red earthenware vase colorfully painted by Pablo Picasso himself, in a work titled Vase ad Décor Pastel, stamped and numbered (30/200); and a 19th century Louis XV-style gilt-bronze ladies’ dressing mirror with decorative marquetry.

Period furniture will feature some great pieces, too, including a Zweiner gilt-bronze mounted mahogany center table made circa 19th century, in the manner of J.H. Riesener; a mid-19th century Pretot Louis XVI-style gilt-bronze mounted mahogany commode, stamped; and a circa 1900 Francois Linke ormolu-mounted kingwood console table with shaped marble top.

Fans of plaques will not be disappointed. Examples will include a mid-19th century micro-mosaic plaque depicting the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, rectangular form; another Italian micro-mosaic plaque, depicting a pastoral scene with black circular marble finely inlaid; a pair of Chinese carved spinach jade circular plaques; and a Berlin (KPM) rectangular porcelain plaque.

Previews will be held Oct. 22-27, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Internet bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com, iCollector.com and the website TheSaleroom.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. A buyer’s premium of 20 percent will be applied to all purchases up to $100,000; thereafter, the premium is 15 percent.

A.B. Levy is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. To consign a single piece, an estate or a collection, you may call them at (561) 835-9139, or you can e-mail them at [email protected]. The sale after the Oct. 28 auction will be held in West Palm Beach on Feb. 17, 2013 (at 5001 So. Dixie Hwy.), and feature fine antiques and beautiful works of art.

To learn more about A.B. Levy’s and the firm’s calendar of upcoming events, to include the Oct. 28 auction, please log on to www.ablevys.com. The Oct. 28 auction is currently online.