AUCTION FINDS OF THE WEEK- JANUARY 27TH: IMPORTANT ENGLISH & CONTINENTAL FURNITURE & DECORATIONS AT DOYLE NEW YORK
by Kelly Keating on 01/29/14
All of this week's auction finds come from Doyle New York's sale Important English & Continental Furniture & Decorations which will be held on January 29, 2014. Doyle is one of my favorite auction houses. Although smaller than Christie's and Sothebys, it still offers quality lots of great interest and often at a better price point than the two big houses in New York City. All of this week's selections of painting and furniture reflect my own personal taste, but I am sure there will be something that you like or something that you want to bid on or something that will serve to inspire the design and conception of your own interior space.
This week's first discovery is an oil on canvas portrait of a sweet young girl by an unknown artist of the Flemish school. It dates to the late 17th or 18th century and measures 28.75"x 24.25". This painting, lot 13, has a pre-sale estimate of only $700-1,000. An elegantly dressed young girl in swirls of voluminous blue and cream fabric seems to have been gathering flowers when our presence that of the viewer has caught her attention and she stops to gaze upon us through the paint. She holds her gathered flowers in her right hand which are placed in a fold in her dress. Her left hand delicately holds up more of the fabric of her dress. I like this work because the sitter has what I describe as a soul. There is life in her staring eyes. She breathes and upon looking at her we are assured of her once existence.
The next find is also an oil on canvas portrait with a soul. Lot 39 is an English School portrait of a nobleman by an unknown artist. It measures 32.5" x 25.5" and is dated to the 17th or 18th century. It has a pre-sale estimate of only $800-1,200. The gentlman elegantly resides in the painted space in all his sartorial splendor. He wears a white shirt with lace cuffs. Over the shirt he wears an smart brownish jacket. The whole is set off my a swath of pagoda red velvet drapery which imbues the sitter with drama and importance. His handsome face looks out at us the viewers with piercing blue grey eyes. The soul of this painting resides in the eyes.
I would love to see each of these paintings hung in a very modern setting. I think the contrast would be delicious as the subject of the portrait looks out from long ago on life now. Combining old and new is a wonderful way to design a room and it creates a visual and narrative dynamic that is continually pleasing.
The next treasure this week is the final painting of the finds. Lot 77 is an oil on canvas French painting entitled La Reveuse or The Dreamer by Paul Saint-Jean (1842-1875). It measures 47.125" x 36.625" and has a pre-sale estimate of $12,000-18,000. The painting is a wonderful 19th century genre scene in the French academic style of the licked surface. A servant girl surrounded by a lush bounty of food- strawberries, peaches, cherries, dead fowl and a rabbit hanging in the background- ignores her work, hand on chin and is daydreaming. Her expression wonderfully conveys her reverie. She has a far away look in her eyes and exemplifies an experience relatable to every spectator.
This week's first furniture find, Lot 173, is a Dutch 17th century oak and ebony chest of drawers with bone and ivory inlay with a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-4,000. The chest consists of 2 drawers over a deep panel drawer with a perpspective arch in the center all over 1 long drawer. The whole is raised on bun feet. The intricacy of the surface of this chest is particularly appealing and dynamic. I love the little pots of flowers on the top 2 drawers. The trompe l'oeil depiction of an arch and corridor in the center of the deep panel drawer is quite wonderful and adds a touch of whimsy to the chest.
This week's second furniture treasure, lot 196, is an Italian Rococo inlaid walnut writing table from the third quarter of the 18th century with a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-4,000. The writing table has a rectangular top above a molded frieze door with a shaped apron. The whole stands on cabriole legs. Wonderfully petit at only 41.5" wide, the table has a clean look and sparse ornamentation. It looks very modern to me and I would love to see a great laptop on its surface and a contemporary style lamp. The contrast between them would be quite stimulating.
This week's next discovery is a pair of Regence stained beechwood and caned fauteuils a la reine by Louis Cresson from the second quarter of the 18th century. Lot 208 has a pre-sale estimate of $1,500-2,500. Each chair has a serpentine crest that is carved with a central shell that is in turn flanked by foliage and shellwork raised above two shaped arms and a serpentine seat with a carved rail. The whole stands on foliate carved cabriole legs. The chairs are signed L. Cresson who was named a Master in 1738. A good pair of French chairs are able to work in any setting. Think of this lovely pair with a dynamic new fabric and they would highlight many types of interiors.
From a pair of ornate French Rococo chairs to an early 19th century English piece of furniture, lot 244 are Regency mahogany bedsteps with a pre-sale estimate of $400-600. The tops of the 3 steps are covered in red leather and the whole is raised on simple turned legs. The top step has also a hinged lid opening onto a space for storage. These bedsteps would make a wonderful side table for a living room or a nightstand for the bedroom.
The next find this week is lot 499, an Empire mounted burl-wood and mahogany vide poche, basically a storage tray to put things in order and to keep tidy with a pre-sale estimate of $4,000-6,000. This vide poche is a rather grand example of a mundane bowl in which to throw your keys in when you arrive home. It is in the manner of Jacob Desmalter (1770-1841) who ran one of the most successful furniture workshops in Paris from 1796-1825. The vide poche consists of a rectangular well raised on a curule base with a gilt bronze strecher. It is a small item of furniture measuring 28" high x 26.75" wide x 16" deep. What an elegant object to have to place your keys and mail in when arriving home.
From the grand vide poche to something more humble, lot 333 is a George III brass bound mahogany cellaret with a pre-sale estimate of $600-900. This cellaret dates to the late 18th/early 19th century and is octoganal in shape with canted sides. Cellarets were used to store wine at room temperature. Today, a cellaret would make a wonderful magazine basket or keepsake box for old letters and such.
This week's last find is a pair of George III mahogany hall chairs circa 1775-1800. Lot 521 has a pre-sale estimate of $600-900. Each chair has a oval flat back with a radiating design centered on a flat crest panel that depicts a griffin. The seat of the chairs have a serpentine shape and are raised on tapered legs joined by an H stretcher. I am in love with hall chairs. Their designs are varied and dynamic and their original position in the halll of a great house meant they were the face of the house especially for those visitors who never got past the hall. Hence, too, their hard wooden seats and stiff backs. If you never got beyond the hall, no one wanted you to stay in the hall very long either. I think these chairs are smart and chic and would work in any room as a bit of functional sculpture. Add a cushion to them for your guests!
I hope you enjoyed this week's Auction Finds from Doyle New York. My favorite pieces this week were the vide poche which is not really in the style of furniture I like, but it just seems so decadent and gratuitous that it is enormously appealing. I also love the pair of George III hall chairs which I think are wonderfully stylish and with a nice cushion they would be a useful pair for seating. What were your favorites? Please comment below.
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Until next time,
Kelly T Keating
