The event will be held in Cottone’s gallery, located at 120 Court Street in Geneseo, New York.
GENESEO, N.Y. – Approximately 800 lots of Mid-Century Modern pieces by major designers in the field, original oil paintings and other works of art, marvelous art glass creations, sterling silver, lamps and lighting, clocks and decorative accessories will come up for bid on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 26th and 27th, at Cottone Auctions’ big annual Fall Fine Art & Antiques Auction.
One lot certain to spark intense bidder interest is a stunning Tiffany Studios leaded and stained glass window, offered for the first time ever and titled Angel of Resurrection. The window comes directly from the Church of the Redeemer in Newark, N.J., where it was originally installed as the “Allison Memorial Window.” It is expected to hammer for between $40,000 and $60,000.
Another candidate for top lot of the auction is an all original, fresh to the market Tiffany Studios Poppy lamp, 24 inches tall, with an overlay filigree shade 17 inches in diameter, signed Tiffany Studios (N.Y., #1461). The bronze blown-out base is Tiffany signed as well. Fine examples like this don’t come to market often. The lamp has a realistic pre-sale estimate of $60,000-$80,000.
The vast bulk of Mid-Century Modern pieces in the sale come from the estate collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hallick who, in the 1950s and ‘60s, commissioned the renowned Danish designer Tage Frid (1915-2004) and numerous other luminaries in the field to assist in the renovation of their home in Rochester, N.Y. Much of what is being sold is from that effort.
It is worth noting that Tage Frid was a woodworker who, along with Wendell Castle, George Nakashima, Wharton Esherick, Sam Maloof and others, was a founder of the studio furniture movement, which elevated furniture making to an art form. Frid taught at both the Rhode Island School of Design and the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Craftsmen.
An example of Frid’s work is a gorgeous 7-foot-long walnut dining table that was featured in the book Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking, Book 3: Furniture Making. It’s expected to fetch $7,000-$10,000. Also in the sale is an outstanding sterling silver 10-inch Brussels coffee pot by Hans Christensen (1924-1983), Georg Jensen’s head designer. The pot should garner $7,000-$10,000.
Other designers in the auction will include Hans Wegner, Charles and Ray Eames, Russell Seacrest and Richard Marquis. From Mid-Century Modern to fine prints and etchings, the collection of James Lockhart, Jr., will come up for bid. Many of the artworks were featured in “An Exhibition of 100 Prints and Drawings,” held at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, 1939.
Also being sold are items from the Cooper estate out of New Jersey, an extensive collection gathered over the course of 30-plus years. The Coopers collected everything from antique to modern, with items ranging from sterling silver to original works of art to art glass, with pieces by Tiffany, Galle, Daum Nancy, Durand, Loetz , Val St. Lambert, Charder, LeVerre and DeVez.
A contemporary art glass bowl by Toots Zynsky (b. 1951), titled Boundless Serena, carries a pre-sale estimate of $8,000-$12,000. The fused and slumped glass thread sculpture is signed with a “Z”. Also, a tall colorful Modern glass vase on a custom-made machined steel stand, 41 inches tall, by Stephen Rolfe Powell (b. 1951), titled Bell Bottom Smith, should reach $10,000-$15,000.
In the original artwork category, two lots show identical pre-sale estimates of $20,000-$30,000. One is an engraving by Albrecht Durer (Germ., 1471-1528), titled Lady on Horseback. It is a fine, early impression and quite diminutive, just 4 ½ inches by 3 ¼ inches. The other is an oil on mahogany panel by Emile Eisman-Semenowsky (Pol./Fr., 1857-1911), depicting a pair of lovely ladies in courtyards (or terraces). The 34 inch by 11 inch work is signed lower left and framed.
Two other artworks also have the same estimates: $10,000-$15,000. The first is a 48 inch by 36 inch oil on canvas double portrait of the Howes children (of Oneida Cty., N.Y., later Utica), by Calvin Balis (Am., 1817-1863). The painting, with original frame and stretchers, has some minor scattered impaint, but is otherwise excellent. The second is an oil on Academy board by William Aiken Walker (Am., 1838-1921), titled Waiting For a Boat, measuring 6 inches by 12 inches.
A bronze sculpture by Jonathan Martin Kenworthy (b. 1943), titled Charging Rhino, is expected to hammer for $20,000-$30,000. The work, 34 inches tall, is artist inscribed, dated (1971) and numbered (3/5), and boasts a deep, original patina. In the clocks category, a fine French shelf clock by A. Brocot (Paris), with gilt bronze cherubs, a ram’s head and garlands, and with Sevres hand-painted panels with musical themes, 21 inches in height, should rise to $15,000-$25,000.
Internet bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. A full online catalog will be available at the Cottone website (www.cottoneauctions.com) starting August 29th. To order a complimentary color catalog by mail, you may call Cottone at (585) 243-1000. Previews will be held Thursday, Sept. 25, from 1-5 p.m.; Friday, Sept; 26, from 9 a.m. to noon; and Saturday, Sept. 27, from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m.
Cottone Auctions is always seeking quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, call (585) 243-1000; or, you can e-mail them at [email protected].
To learn more about Cottone Auctions and the upcoming Sept. 26-27 Fall Fine Art & Antiques Auction, please visit them online, at www.cottoneauctions.com. Updates are posted frequently.
