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

Skinner July Auction to Feature Important European and Continental Collections

Skinner, Inc. will host an auction of European Furniture & Decorative Arts on July 12th and 13th in its Boston gallery. Session I of the two-day sale opens with The Bent Family Collection: Furniture and Decorative Arts from Quattro Venti. Session II features sculpture, pottery, and porcelain and presents The Harry A. Root Jr. Collection of 18th Century English Pottery.

martin-brothersThe Bent Family Collection
The July 12th session of the auction features furniture, decorative arts, glass, and silver from a variety of estates and collections. The auction opens with The Bent Family Collection: Furniture and Decorative Arts from Quattro Venti. Designed and furnished in the Mediterranean Revival style, Quattro Venti is the last great private residence in Annisquam Village, a small fishing hamlet near Gloucester, Massachusetts. Quincy Bent, vice president in charge of production at Bethlehem Steel at the turn of the last century, built the summer retreat around 1912 and his wife, Deborah Norris Bent, oversaw the design and decorated the interior.

Highlights of the Quattro Venti offerings epitomize the eclectic Mediterranean Revival style and include: an Italian rococo inlaid walnut chest of drawers (lot 63, estimated between $4,000 and $6,000), a pair of Spanish Colonial-style wrought iron gates (lot 90, $3,000 to $5,000), a verdure tapestry (lot 87, $4,000 to $6,000), a pair of Italian Renaissance-style bronze torchieres (lot 85, $4,000 to $6,000), a portrait of Deborah Norris (Brock) Bent by William McGregor Paxton (lot 6, $10,000 to $15,000), and a pair of Italian Renaissance demilune walnut console tables (lot 5, $3,000 to $5,000). The home’s sterling silver, including a magnificent six-piece Hunt & Roskell Ltd. sterling silver tea service (lot 83, $8,000 to $12,000) and an extensive dining suite retailed by Caldwell & Co. that includes a set of 18 sterling silver dinner plates (lot 13, $15,000 to $20,000), illustrates the lavish lifestyle the Bent family maintained at Quattro Venti.

European Furniture and Decorative Arts
The Friday night auction will also present a variety of European furniture, as well as Bohemian glass, bronze candelabras, carved ivory items, and textiles. Furniture highlights include an impressive Dutch Colonial late baroque-style silver-mounted hardwood cabinet on a stand (lot 298, $10,000 to $15,000), a pair of Venetian baroque-style carved walnut armchairs (lot 221, $2,000 to $4,000), and a Louis XV-style ormolu-mounted two-tier guéridon (lot 170, $1,500 to $2,500). Forty lots of Bohemian glass, including a pair of tall Bohemian Moser-type vases (lot 358, $1,500 to $2,500) come to auction from a private collection in Delaware. Other noteworthy items include a Continental carved ivory relief plaque depicting the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (lot 220, $6,000 to $8,000), a figural wool tapestry from Northern Europe (lot 317, $3,000 to $5,000), and a three-panel marquetry floor screen by Paul Spindler (lot 290, $3,000 to $5,000).

Bronze, Marble, and Alabaster Sculpture
Session II of the auction begins with an assortment of sculpture in marble, alabaster, and bronze. The sculpture offerings include over 80 lots from the private collection of a Midwest gentleman. Highlights include: a pair of gilt-bronze and ivory musicians after Auguste Moreau (lot 500, $3,000 to $5,000), an unsigned marble figure of a boy with a fish (lot 590, $2,000 to $4,000), a marble bust of Diana the Huntress by Giuseppe Carnevale (lot 535, $2,000 to $3,000), and a bronze and ivory dancer with castanets by Henri Fugere (lot 599, $3,000 to $5,000). Other noteworthy lots in the sculpture section include a Napoleon III figural ormolu and patinated bronze brule-parfum (lot 555, $5,000 to $7,000) and a figure of a seated woman by Allan Clark (lot 575, $3,000 to $5,000).

Fine Ceramics
A wide array of porcelain and pottery is on offer. Vienna and Meissen porcelains are well represented and feature an extensive display from a private Delaware collector, including a Meissen porcelain figural group of three children (lot 683, $1,200 to $1,800) and a pair of Vienna porcelain covered urns with allegorical scenes (lot 662, $2,000 to $4,000). Other fine ceramic highlights include KPM plaques and figures, a set of eight Limoges plates designed by Mary Bacon Jones based on Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (lot 627, $2,000 to $4,000), and a collection of Gouda, Dresden, Royal Bonn and other Continental ceramics. English porcelains include Worcester, Royal Worcester, and an impressive Brown-Westhead and Moore handpainted vase (lot 867, $700 to $900).

Fine pottery will also be offered, including an assortment of Delft and delftwares from England and Holland, a large collection of Royal Doulton flambé, a Martin Brothers tobacco jar (lot 896, $10,000 to $15,000), and a very nice assortment of Wedgwood. Twenty-three pieces of fairyland lustre are sure to stun Wedgwood collectors and enthusiasts. A collection of Portland vases in a wide range of sizes and colors will be offered, featuring a subscription edition with inscription executed for Charles Bellows in 1913 (lot 977, $2,000 to $4,000). Excellent ceramic works ranging from black basalt to majolica to Queen’s wares decorated by Emile Lessore, jasperwares, Victoriaware, ordinary lustre, and more will also be offered.

The Harry A. Root Jr. Collection
Rounding out the sale is the Harry A. Root Jr. Collection of 18th Century English Pottery composed of roughly 370 lots including early creamwares, tortoiseshell wares, and salt glaze. This collection also includes an impressive display of early cow creamers. For over forty years Harry Root assembled his collection with a keen eye and unmatched enthusiasm, and scholars will be pleased to know that a portion of the Root Collection has been donated to the Art Institute of Chicago. For collectors everywhere, Skinner is proud to offer many rare and early examples of English pottery, including a Staffordshire enameled white salt-glazed stoneware sauceboat (lot 1377, $2,500 to $3,500).

Previews, Catalog, and Bidding
Previews for the auction will be held on Thursday, July 11, 2013, 12 p.m.-7 p.m. and Friday, July 12, 2013, 12 p.m.-3 p.m. The preview will remain open for Session II only from 3 p.m.- 8 p.m. on Friday.

An illustrated catalog for #2663B is available by mail from the subscription department at 508-970-3240. It is also available at the gallery.

The Skinner website allows users to view all lots in the auctions, leave bids, order catalogs, and bid live in real-time through SkinnerLive!. Visit and “like” Skinner on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/skinnerauctions.

For further information, please contact Stuart Slavid at [email protected] or [email protected] or by phone line at 508 970-3278.

About Skinner
Skinner auctions draw international interest from buyers and consignors alike, with material regularly achieving record prices. The company’s auction and appraisal services focus on fine art, jewelry, furniture, and decorative arts from around the globe, as well as wine, fine musical instruments, rare books, clocks, Judaica, and more. Monthly Skinner Discovery auctions feature a breadth of estate material. Widely regarded as one of the most trusted names in the business, Skinner appraisers have appeared on the PBS-TV series, Antiques Roadshow, since the show’s inception. Skinner has galleries in Boston and Marlborough, Massachusetts with an international audience of bidders participating in person, by phone, and online through the SkinnerLive! online bidding platform. For more information and to read our blog, visit the website at www.skinnerinc.com, find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/skinnerauctions, or follow us on Twitter @Skinnerinc.