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

GROGAN & COMPANY’S FEBRUARY AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

Dedham, MA- Grogan and Company Fine Art Auctioneers and Appraisers is pleased to announce their upcoming February 23rd auction includes over 800 lots of Jewelry and Silver, American and European Fine Art, 18th and 19th century Furniture and Decorations, Asian and Tribal Works of Art, and Oriental Rugs and Carpets from various New England Estates and Collections. The sale will appeal to a myriad of collecting tastes.

Norman Rockwell, The Fireman
Norman Rockwell, The Fireman
The highlight of the auction is an oil study for The Fireman by venerated illustrator and American icon Norman Rockwell. The 14 x 11 inch oil on paper board, painted as a study for the May 27, 1944 cover of The Saturday Evening Post, is estimated at $50,000-100,000. The study, which includes the original autographed photograph of the sitter, was a gift from the artist to the sitter, Howard Lewis of Dodd, Mead and Company, New York’s pioneer publishing house. The work was inspired by Rockwell’s discovery of an antique gilt frame in a junk shop which was carved with axes, hoses, ladders, and other firefighting artifacts. Rockwell set out to find the perfect sitter, who turned out to be Howard Lewis, whom he met at a publisher’s party in New York City. Struck by Lewis’s old-fashioned look, Rockwell invited Lewis to his studio where he dressed him in a turn-of-the-century fireman’s uniform and took his photograph. The study lead to a larger oil on canvas painting, which is now in a private collection.

The sale will begin at 10 a.m. with a large selection of Jewelry and Silver. Jewelry highlights include three impressive rings from a Massachusetts Lady: a 14K Yellow Gold, Emerald, and Diamond Ring ($15,000-25,000); a 14K Yellow Gold, Ruby, and Diamond Ring ($5,000-8,000); and a 14k White Gold, Sapphire, and Diamond Ring, ($8,000-12,000). A selection of fine watches include an Audemars, Piguet & Co. Platinum, Diamond, and Sapphire Lady’s Pendant Watch ( $1,000-2,000); a Jules Jurgensen, Copenhagen 18K Yellow Gold Split Second Chronograph Open Face Pocket Watch ($2,000-3,000); and a Tiffany & Company, 18K Gold and Diamond Lady’s Covered Wristwatch ($2,000-3,000). An 18K Yellow Gold Necklace by Henry Dunay, an important contemporary goldsmith and jewelry designer, is expected to fetch $4,000-6,000. Dunay’s designs have earned him notable awards including a four time winner of the De Beers Diamond International Award and his pieces have been worn by important figures including Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Taylor. Other contemporary designers of note include SeidenGang, Elizabeth Locke, Loree Rodkin, and Balocci Preziosi. Addition highlights include a Natural Pearl Necklace ($5,000-7,000) and a late 19th Silver Gilt, Enamel, and Garnet Necklace ($1,000-2,000). A selection of natural untreated pieces of Jadeite include GIA certificates.

Silver highlights include a collection of early American, English, and Scottish silver from a prominent Massachusetts collection. At least two 18th century Bostonian silversmiths are represented with an American Silver Cann bearing an inscription dated 1744 and marked Hurd, possibly Jacob Hurd, is estimated at $3,000-5,000; while Three American Silver Spoons, each bearing Revere marks will be sold individually with conservative estimates. The same collection includes an a Rare Scottish Silver Quaich, bearing the silver mark of William Scott and inscribed This cup the property of John Grant of Nevie & Helen Leslie, his spouse, eldest daughter of John Leslie of Kinninvie, married at Kinninvie 14 Octr. 1680, is estimated at $3,000-5,000; while a collection of Twelve Early English Monogrammed Spoons dated between 1615-1703 is also estimated at $3,000-5,000. Other silver highlights include two Danish silver pieces by Georg Jensen, a 19th century Georgian Silver Tureen by Garrard, and a large selection of silver flatware services.

Russian items of interest include a whimsical Silver, Ivory, and Amber Vessel created in Moscow, circa 1882. The ivory relief depicts a bear hunt surmounted by climbing mice and is estimated at $2,000-3,000. A rare illustrated book by Princess Marina Petrovna Romanoff titled La Princess Nen Kedjane, Legende Tatare de Crimee, published by Honore Champion of Paris in 1926, is estimated at $3,000-5,000. Marina Petrovna was the daughter of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia. She is described as a gifted artist who studied painting in St. Petersburg before escaping the Russian Revolution with members of the Romanoff family aboard the British ship the HMS Marlbourough in 1919. Two 18th century Russian/Latvian Portraits depicting Anton Von Lowis of Menar and Maria Von Boye of Genaers, a couple from Riga Latvia, bear $4,000-6,000 estimates (each) and have descended within the family. The pair of circa 1770 portraits, which have yet to be attributed, hail from the Golden Age of Catherine the Great’s reign.

A wide range of Fine Art offerings include Old Masters drawings, American and European landscapes, still lifes, portraits, prints, sculpture, and contemporary works. A seven volume leather bound set of John James Audubon’s Birds of America, octavo edition includes 500 hand colored lithographs and is estimated to bring $25,000-35,000. European highlights include a salon size painting by Italian artist Osvaldo Bignami. The impressive 47 x 59 inch Orientalist Scene, created in 1897, is estimated at $20,000-30,000. French painter Rene Rousseau-Decelle’s Study for Paddock at Argenteuil, is a 12 x 24 inch oil on canvas estimated at $10,000-15,000. The full sized finished version of this painting was purportedly hung at the 1908 Paris Salon and was sold at Sotheby’s in New York in 2006. The lot is accompanied by a document identifying the names of the thirty sitters, all of whom were members of the Societe de Steeple-Chase d’Argenteuil. Modern and Contemporary works of art include four works on paper by Irish born artist Louis Le Brocquy, an oil on canvas by French artist Charles Lapicque and another by German/American artist Friedel Dzubas, as well as a gouache by Latin American artist Florencio Molina Campos. American highlights include Springtime, a 21 x 16 watercolor by well known Massachusetts painter Dennis Miller Bunker ($10,000-15,000) and Spring Snow, an oil on canvas by Rockport painter William Lester Stevens ($5,000-7,000).

Many of the auctions highlights arise from the collection of a New York City family, including an Old Master drawing St. Peter Before Christ, a brown ink wash with sanguine attributed to Andrea Boscoli ($5,000-15,000) and The Flood, an unattributed sepia ink drawing estimated at $4,000-8,000. The collection also features a large selection of tribal works of art, including a Papua New Guinea Carved and Painted Wood House Board ($5,000-10,000) and a New Ireland Malanggan Carved and painted Wood Ceremonial Figure from Papua, New Guinea ($5,000-10,000). The collection includes ceremonial masks, carved wood figures, Pre Columbian carvings, as well as other artifacts from antiquity.

A large Collection from a Boston Lady includes a selection of Georgian furnishings and fine carpets. Highlights include an 18th century Georgian Mahogany Secretary Bookcase ($3,000-5,000); a Set of Ten Georgian Carved Mahogany Dining Chairs ($3,000-5,000); and a Gothic Carved Oak Tall Case Clock ($3,000-5,000). The residence also boasted two noteworthy carpets: a 17’1” x 12’4” Ziegler Sultanabad Carpet, circa 1875, estimated at $10,000-20,000 and a 25’5” x 18’ Kirman Palace Carpet, circa 1910, estimated at $5,000-10,000. Offerings for collectors of French antiques include a Pair of Fine Louis XVI style Parquetry Inlaid Ormolu Mounted Marble Top Vitrines estimated at $5,000-10,000; a Pair of Guillaume Avisse Louis XVI Giltwood Fauteuils, from a Newport collection ($1,000-2,000); and a Louis XVI style Gilt Bronze, Porcelain and Marble Mantle Clock ($2,000-3,000).

The highlight of the Asian works of art offerings is an impressive 19th century Chinese Carved Rhinoceros Horn, estimated at $25,000-50,000. The horn, carved with flowers, fruit, deer and a figure, stands at 26 inches and descended within a prominent Boston family. The Boston family, deeply involved in the China Trade, lived for a time in Macao before returning to Boston in 1857 with all their possessions, including this horn, on the clipper ship “The Flying Fish”. A similar Horn on Stand, possibly the pendant piece, is in the Winterthur Museum collection, Wilmington, Delaware, museum object no. 1960-1042.

The exhibition will open to the public beginning Wednesday, February 19th. Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. The auction begins promptly at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 23rd. A fully illustrated catalogue can be found at www.groganco.com. For more information call 781-461-9500.