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21 Nov 2009, San Francisco and Los Angeles |
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European & American Furniture & Decorative Arts Brings Strong Prices in San Francisco June 15th
http://www.bonhams.com/usfurniture
Bonhams & Butterfields Auction Featured Property from
Los Angeles & San Francisco Museums
European and American furniture and decorative arts -- featuring antiques and collectibles formerly within noted institutional and private collections – brought more than $1.6-million on Monday, June 15, 2009 during Bonhams & Butterfields’ San Francisco auction.
Property deaccessioned from several leading California museums, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, attracted an international pool of bidders. Property from these institutions was offered to support their future acquisitions.
Sold on behalf of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and tripling its estimate was an elaborately carved early 17th century English marquetry and oak court cupboard (brought $13,420) while a good late Renaissance/early Baroque English credence table also sold above estimate, bringing $10,370. A very fine late 19th century Louis XVI style gilt bronze and marble three-piece clock garniture attributed to Ferdinand Gervais was offered with its pair of six-light candelabra, the lot sold above estimate for $42,700 and bidder competition pushed the price for a pair of early Louis XV gilt bronze mounted marquetry commodes to $27,450.
Property from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art included an extensive offering of Crown Derby porcelain dinner service comprising more than 160 pieces (sold for $9,760). Also stemming from Southern California was a collection from Falcon Lair, screen legend Rudolph Valentino's sprawling home in Bel Air, CA, an estate later owned for 50-years by tobacco heiress Doris Duke. Bidders vied for chandeliers and door surrounds including a set of four pairs of Venetian Rococo painted and silver-gilt doors which sold for $10,980. That same price was paid for two Italian Baroque painted and giltwood door surrounds carved with foliate banding and standing nearly nine feet high. A pair of Italian Neoclassical style giltwood, iron and tôle eight-light chandeliers from the now-razed estate sold above estimate, bringing $9,150.
Bonhams’ two-session sale included Americana, English, French and Continental works, and garden decorations. Carved and painted carousel figures sold, including two jeweled carousel horses attributed to Gustav & William Dentzel, and a rooster by the English carver C.J. Spooner doubled its estimate to bring $5,185. A fine American Aesthetic walnut library table on offer was commissioned by an Alameda, CA family from Herter Brothers. The table brought $17,080 and was consigned by the California Academy of Sciences. A Queen Anne carved walnut armchair brought $20,740, far above its $6/8,000 pre-sale estimate.
As many as 40-lots of European furniture from the Warner Brothers Studio Collection interested bidders. Seating, tables and cabinets may have been backdrops to cinematic masterpieces, used on various sound stages to dress scenes. A pair of George III style inlaid walnut bookcases sold within estimate for $21,960 while a Viennese Biedermeier parcel gilt and parcel ebonized mahogany secretary formed of a circular case and a hinged fall-front writing surface sold for double its estimate, bringing $27,450. Bonhams offered American furniture and decorative arts in January 2009 during its first New York City auction dedicated to the collecting area. That auction featured more than 300 lots and resulted in a sale total of nearly $2.3-million, including the Studio’s collection of fifteen pieces of American furniture by noted cabinetmakers Herter Brothers [see related press release at www.bonhams.com/press].
Continental lots selling strong included: a 16th century Italian Renaissance walnut credenza (sold for more than five times its estimate to bring $34,160); a fine early 19th century Russian Neoclassical gilt bronze and cut glass 24-light chandelier (sold for $26,840); a German late 17th century Baroque marquetry and walnut shrank which tripled its estimate to bring $23,180 and a 19th century Continental Baroque style marquetry bureau mazarin which sold for $30,500.
Handsome bronzes sold, including a late 19th century pair of gloved pugilists after Gregoire (doubled its estimate, selling for $6,710) and a patinated French bronze featuring a pair of bare-chested gents fencing (sold for $4,270).
Two pairs of early 18th century carved stone finials led the garden ornaments, both lots featured Aix-en-Provence French Baroque urns over-flowing with fruit and flowers.
Of interest to French furniture collectors were a fine monumental Louis XV style giltwood and painted pier mirror (sold for $17,080) and a pair of Belle Époque style gilt bronze and pieta dura tables de milieu, each black marble table top inset with semi-precious stones above bronze winged term supports (brought $12,200).
“Considering the issues with the economy,” said Jeffrey Smith, VP and Director of Bonhams & Butterfields’ Furniture & Decorative Arts Dept., “it was uplifting to see such strong international attention and competitive bidding on so many of the finest pieces sold.”
The illustrated auction catalog with prices realized during the June 15, 2009 sale will remain online at www.bonhams.com/us.
Press Contact: Levi Morgan, pr.us@bonhams.com , 415-503-3348
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com. (01-08) For other press releases, go to www.bonhams.com/press.
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