Antique Desire

Welcome back to Auction Finds of the Week:  Shining Silver in the Object & Home Sale at Rago on 14 April 2021 at 11am.  This week I have chosen all silver objects because not only am I an accredited silver appraiser, but also because I am a crazy silver collector as well.  The five objects I've chosen were all made in the 20th century and 4 of the lots are silver examples from countries other than the United States. So, let's take a look at what I've chosen and always remember silver is meant to SHINE!

This week's first find, lot 122, is a sterling silver 4 piece tea and coffee service by the Danish maker George Jensen dated to the early 20th century.  The service consists of a coffee pot, a teapot, a creamer and a sugar.  The Formica topped tray is an associated piece and not original to the set.  The tea and coffee service pieces have a wonderful bulbous shape and the teapot and coffee pot have a side handle made of enameled ebony.  This set has a pre-sale estimate of $1500-2000.  Tea and coffee services seem terribly out of fashion today.  One probably thinks of a fussy Victorian service that was maybe owned by your grandmother.  This set is certainly not fussy.  It is sleek and modern and your guest will always appreciate being served tea or coffee from a beautiful, shining silver pot rather than the glass pot from the coffee maker pot or making a cup of tea with a teabag.

If you are having a dinner party or a brunch, a beautiful sterling silver pitcher is a very useful item.  Lot 104 is a sterling silver pitcher with a pre-sale estimate of $3000-4000 by William Spratling who worked in the States as well as Taxco, Mexico.  This pitcher dates to circa 1940.  It has a beautiful, globular chubby shape with an inspired ribbon handle along with repousse schematic flower blossoms on the body of the pitcher.  A truly gorgeous piece of silver by a renown silversmith.

Stylish bar carts have become all the rage lately and to make your bar cart more stylish you need some unique and interesting barware.  At least one singular cocktail shaker is essential.  Lot 145, a silverplated brass rooster! cocktail shaker by the Napier Company, circa 1945 would certainly fit the bill.  It has a pre-sale estimate of $700-900.  The rooster head is simply, but effectively rendered.  Time for a drink!

For your dinner party, you will need candlesticks to illuminate the scene.  Lot 103 is a pair of sterling silver 2-liight candlesticks by the Mexican silversmith Antonio Pineda with a pre-sale estimate of  $3000-4000.  The pair date to circa 1955-1960.  These sticks are a wonderful size for any dining table:  16" tall x 13.5" wide.  

Now that you have a pair of candlesticks, your dining table needs a centerpiece bowl for flowers or fruit.  Lot 126 is a centerpiece bowl with a pre-sale estimate of $1000-1500 made by the Danish silversmith Johannes Siggaard for the firm C C Herman.  The bowl was made in 1945.  It has a oval shape measuring 13.5" wide x 8.5" deep and a lovely open work foot.  It would look stunning with flowers or some preserved boxwood balls of different sizes.

I hope you enjoyed this all silver Auction Finds of the Week!  I think my favorite object this week is the rooster cocktail shaker by the Napier Company.  It's humorous and whimsical and would certainly cause a conversation around your bar cart.  If you are looking for a special piece of silver, I can source it for you.  Or perhaps you need an appraisal of your silver collection for insurance, donation, estate tax, market assessment etc.  Take a look at my website and you can read about my credentials and learn how I work.  I also help clients sell their antique and vintage items.

Happy Passover!

Happy Easter!

Until next time, 

Kelly T Keating

Welcome back to Auction Finds of the Week!  This week I perused the March Major Estates Auction at the New Orleans Auction Galleries and discovered some fabulous objects: furniture, silver, rugs, lighting and garden ornaments.  The New Orleans Auction Galleries never disappoint in the lots they offer for sale.  The March Major Estates Auction will take place on 27 and 28 March 2021 at 11am EDT.  Let's take a look what I found.

The first discovery, lot 7, is a pair of 20th century Neoclassical style polychrome cabinets with a pre-sale estimate of $1000-1500.  The cabinets have molded concave cornices above a conforming case which is fitted with 2 glazed doors that open up to a shelved and mirrored interior.  The conforming lower section of the cabinets have a faux marble top over 2 paneled cupboard doors.  The whole of each cabinet raised on a plinth base.  Each cabinet measures 90.5" high x 38" wide x 22.5" deep.  The cabinets are a lovely aged blue/green color like when copper oxidizes.  Lately, I have been obsessed with this blue/green color and these cabinets certainly whet my appetite for this color.

Easter will be here before we know it and though we probably cannot have the same holiday gatherings as in other years,  we certainly could make the occasion memorable with lot 283. a German novelty rabbit silver cocktail shaker with a pre-sale estimate of $3500-5000.  This contemporary cocktail shaker made by Ludwig Neresheimer Co. of Hanau is in the form of a realistically detailed European hare who is seated on its haunches.  The hare's mouth with a faux "stopper" fitted with a chained stopper with a carrot.  The head is fitted with glass eyes and removing the head reveals a detachable strainer.  The Easter Bunny has nothing on this Drunken Hare!

The third find, lot 948, is a wonderful early 20th century cast cement ornament signed "PCS" for the garden with a pre-sale estimate of $1000-1500.  The ornament depicts 3 cherubs or putti "frolicking" according to the catalogue listing.  While they might have been frolicking and playing previously, this garden ornament actually depicts the aftermath in which the central putto appears to be fainting and is being supported by their companions.  It is really not a joyful scene or narrative.  It would certainly add a note of gravitas to your garden with the trio nestled in some tall grasses or a bed of flowers.  The trio of cherubs measure 23" high x 20" wide x 10" deep.

From tragedy to triumph...a spectacular and rare Art Deco gilt bronze sunburst chandelier circa 1925-1950, lot 806, with a pre-sale estimate of $2000-4000.  The chandelier consists of 11 lights with a large sunburst backplate overlaid with a smaller sunburst concealing a halo of light sockets and another central socket in a molded "cloud".  The chandelier measures 6" high with a 26.5" diameter of the larger sunburst.  This chandelier would be the central element of any dining room and think of the myriad of reflections of the light off the gilt bronze.

Welcome back to another Auction Finds of the Week- Dreaming of Fabulous Finds in the Sun:  Traditional Furnishings & Old Masters at Michaan's Auctions on Friday 19 March 2021 at 1:00 pm EDT in Alameda, California.  In this post we delight in a French 19th century oil painting.  A massive oak vitrine cabinet does not intimidate us.  We find a pair of vibrantly colored glass lamps to inspire an entire room design along with a pair of quirky decorative boxes both with a secret that would enhance any space.  Finally, a decorative and stylish rock crystal pair would adorn a mantelpiece or a coffee table.

This week's first find is lot 3003, a 19th century oil painting entitled Desserts pour les enfants by Adrien Emmanuel Marie (1848-1891) with a pre-sale estimate of $5000-7000.  The work measures 37" x 46" and 40" x 49" framed.  In this frenetic scene, the calm maid brings out a tray of desserts for some obviously well-off and well-dressed children.  The three older children, a boy and two girls descend on the tray to claim their treat.  Their younger sibling on the left lets out a scream because he or she is being left out of the dessert course.  Another younger child on the right who is mostly obscured by the maid holds the dessert in his or her hand and looks at the maid with gratitude.  Desserts pour les enfants is a delightful genre painting, nicely executed and I think if it hung on your wall, you would never tire of it and it would always engender a smile.

This week's next find is a massive 19th century American Renaissance Revival carved oak vitrine cabinet, lot 3282, with a pre-sale estimate of only $400-600.  The cabinet measures 95" high x 51.5" wide x only 19" deep.  The crown is carved with a grotesque mask over 2 glazed doors with oval cartouches carved with an easel and paper and pen motif.  The doors are flanked by carved female figures each holding a book.  Another grotesque mask is located on the base and the whole stands on bun feet.  Such a large piece of furniture would command the focal point of any room.  Perhaps fill it with silver which would look striking against the dark wood of the cabinet.  Allow this piece to be the centerpiece of the room and surround it with simpler and complimentary furnishings.

My third pick this week is lot 3168 a pair of Neoclassical style gilt enameled glass vases made into table lamps with a pre-sale estimate of $400-600.  The lamps are most likely Italian mid 20th century in date.  The glass vases have a long neck with a shorter base and are reverse painted with a green/blue enamel to the interior of the vase.  The exterior of the glass vases are stenciled with a band of anthemia and palm leaves which are Neoclassical motifs.  The glass vases stand on a ribbed round foot with a stepped base.  The lamps measure 27" to the top of the harp.  These lamps and their blue/green color could be as a staring point in the design a room.  Their distinctive color and appealing traditional style would be a good design inspiration.

Lot 3107 is a pair of French 19th century leather book objects- a letter holder and a tantalus- that fool the eye with a pre-sale estimate of $400-500.  What looks like a stack of books reveals something else.  The decanter set is hidden in the bodies of 5 books, amusingly with spiritual titles.  The letter holder is hidden in a portable book shelf containing tooled leather books.  Both are great objects for a coffee table or book shelf.  Amuse your friends with the secrets these books contain.

The final find this week, lot 3100, is a pair of tall rock crystal obelisks of classic form with a pre-sale estimate of $1800-2000.  Each obelisk stands 20.5" tall.  I would love to see these obelisks on a coffee table or a mantelpiece.  As a material, rock crystal oscillates between hard and soft, opaque and transparent as it makes up this classical shape.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Auction Finds of the Week!  Please checkout my website for the services I offer from all types of appraisals of fine silver and English ceramics, to helping you sell your antique and vintage items to sourcing antiques and vintage objects too adorn your home. 

Kelly T Keating

The Antique Flâneur

Welcome back everyone!  I hope everyone is safe and well during the very difficult time of the pandemic.  Besides feeling I was existing in a Walking Dead narrative, I have been watching and participating in many wonderful webinars on all types of topics especially British and French ceramics and I have been perusing many auctions to learn and to be inspired by the objects I see during this crazy and difficult time.

Stair located in Hudson, New York is one of my most favorite auction houses continually offering intriguing and quality goods.  Their weekly estate auction entitled Thursday Morning at Stair is always filled with great stuff.   This week's auction is on 25 February 2021 starting at 11am.  You can bid through the Stair website or also on LiveAuctioneers.  Here are 5 lots which I found appealing and unusual, but not exorbitant in price/estimate.

The first find is Lot 12 a Victorian style ebonized and luggage color leather  tete-a-tete with a pre-sale estimate of $1000-1500.  This tete-a-tete can comfortably seat 3 people, so perhaps we should name a Trois Tetes.  Although lot 12 is not a period Victorian piece, it certainly plays the part.  The leather upholstery gives it a decidedly modern feel.  One could replace the leather upholstery with a tapestry fabric for example to get a whole different antique Victorian look.  I would love to see the Trois Tetes be the starting point in the design of an entire living room.  It would certainly be the showpiece of the space. 

Lot 3 a brass and marble drinks table by John Bonne with a pre-sale estimate of $200-400 was next on my list of discoveries.  Boone is a well-known and respected furniture designer in New York City.  The drinks table measures 21.75" x 12.25" in diameter.  It evokes the Chippendale aesthetic in the use of a tripod base ending in slipper feet and an abstracted version of a reeded column as the main support of the table.  This John Boone table is smart and elegant and could be placed anywhere needed in the living room.  (Note as of late 23 February the drinks table has already been bid up to an impressive $1400.)

The next discovery at Stair is Lot 40, an Art Deco style chrome table lamp with a pre-sale estimate of $200-300.  The table lamp measures 23" high x 6" in diameter.  It has the look of a skyscraper of several cylinders bound together and with the right shade, perhaps a black fabric drum shade, it could work well in a living room or bedroom.  Stylish and sleek.

Continuing with the Art Deco theme, Lot 65 is a period American Art Deco metal-mounted mahogany drinks cabinet with a pre-sale estimate of $300-500.  The rectangular bar compartment with 1 fitted glass shelf stands over 2 drawers featuring single metal drawer pulls with the whole raised on a footed plinth.  The drinks cabinet measures 32" x 26.25" x 17".  This cabinet is a great size for a small New York City apartment or put it unobtrusively a larger living room where it could stylishly perform its libation function without overtaking the whole room.  To me, this piece is simple and stylish and demonstrates quite well the Art Deco aesthetic.

Of course your new American Art Deco bar cabinet needs a suite of superb cocktail implements in glass and silver so that the inside of the cabinet sparkles.  Lot 318, a Danish A F Rasmussen .835 silver grade cocktail shaker after 1947 with a pre-sale estimate of $300-500 would perfectly complement our drinks cabinet with its geometric paneled construction reminiscent of the rectangular construction of the bar cabinet.  The cap of the cocktail shaker has a lovely decorative monogram of entwined L's like the mark one finds on 18th century Sevres porcelain.  Any of your guests I am sure would be delighted to be served a cocktail from this elegant shaker.

I hope you enjoyed this Auction Finds of the Week featuring items from Stair in Hudson, New York.  The sale begins at 11am on Thursday 25 February 2021 if any of these lots interest you.

Also, if you are in need of an appraisal (insurance, donation, estate) for fine silver or English ceramics please contact me.  You can visit my website for further information about how I work and my qualifications.

All the best to everyone and stay safe during this difficult and trying time of the pandemic.

Kelly T Keating

Accredited Appraiser in Silver

Appraisal Association of America

USPAP compliant until the Spring 2022

Welcome back to Auction Finds of the Week after a long hiatus.  This week I look at the quite lovely upcoming English & Continental Furniture, Silver & Decorative Arts sale at Doyle New York on 11 June 2020 starting at 10am.  My five discoveries this week include furniture, painting, porcelain and an antique textile.  If any of these items interest you and you would like assistance in bidding on them or any other object in the sale or have questions, contact me at [email protected] and consult my website.

This week's first find, Lot 1101, is a pair of English yellow-ground porcelain bough pots and covers dated to the first quarter of the 19th century.  The D-shaped form is decorated with a lovely hand painted basket of purple and lavender flowers in the center of the pot curve flanked by rectangular panels with gilt decoration. THe whole is raised on 4 bun feet.  Each measure 7.5" H x 9" W x 4.125" D and have a pre-sale estimate of $200-300.  The pots can be used to hold flowers or blossom branches and would be wonderful on a mantel with white or raspberry pink flowering branches perhaps in a raspberry room.  The contrast with the bright yellow ground of the bough pots would be quite striking.

The second find this week is an intriguing and archaic piece of dining room furniture, lot 1106, a George III mahogany cheese coaster circa 1800 with a pre-sale estimate of $400-600.  The cheese caster is a dished crescent form raised on 4 leather casters.  The coaster would hold a large and heavy wheel of cheese that could then be moved around the dining table with ease for guests to partake of the cheese.  What a wonderful and different centerpiece it would make for a dining room or kitchen table filled with fruit or flowers.  Thee cheese coaster measures 7"H x 17"W x 10"D.

Lot 1102 is a pair of Chinese Export reverse paintings on glass depicting figures in a lush landscape from the first half of the 19th century with a pre-sale estimate of $800-1200.  The pair nicely retain their original Chinese black lacquer and gilt frames.  This pictures would work well in a gallery wall design incorporating works of different mediums and different origins.  The paintings measure 11.75" x 17.25" sight and 14" x 19.25" framed.

The next selection from the Doyle auction is Lot 1247 an 18th century French Aubusson tapestry panel measuring a large 8 feet x 7 feet with a pre-sale estimate of $2000-3000.  The tapestry fragment features a pair of lovers seated in a wooded landscape accompanied by their faithful dog.  Cupid who is also present has dropped his bow and arrow and is tugging at the man's cloak as if to say, "This one is not for you!"  It would be fantastic to design a whole living room or dining room around this object making it the central focus and the starting point for colors etc.  Perhaps pair it with more modern furnishings to create a dynamic and vibrant look.

The last find of the week is a very sweet, but very sophisticated small mid-18th century Louis XV amaranth parquetry and ormolu mounted secretaire.  Lot 1186 has a pre-sale estimate of $4000-6000.  Amaranth is a purplish wood much favored by French cabinetmakers.  This secretaire is stamped MIGEON for its maker Pierre IV Migeon who became a Master of his craft by 1729.  The piece consists of a three quarter galleried rectangle top with two quartered veneered panels set above an undulating case fitted with a secretaire drawer opening to a hinged flap and a polished writing surface and drawers over a kneehole recess flanked by two short drawers.  The whole raised on cabriole legs ending in ormolu sabots.  The secretaire measures 33.5" H x 39" W x 16.25" D.  It's small but functional size would work in many spots in a living room or chic office.

Thank you for joining me for Auction Finds of the Week!  I hope you found an object you like or one that simply inspired you in the creating of your own decor for your own space.  If any of these items interest you or any other item in the Doyle sale on 11 June 2020 and you need assistance bidding etc, please contact me at [email protected]. Also contact me if you need any type of appraisal of your decorative arts particularly silver and English ceramics.  I am a USPAP compliant appraiser accredited by the Appraiser's Association of America.  Check out my website for further details.  Happy Auctioning and stay well and safe during this difficult time of the pandemic.

All the best, Kelly T Keating

The Antique Flâneur