Past Auction

Pair of George II Library Chairs Achieves $164,500 at Doyle New York's Auction of Important English and Continental Furniture and Decorations

Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 10am EST |
New York
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Jacques-Laurent Agasse's 'Miss Cazenove on her Favorite Hunter' Leads the Old Master Paintings at $194,500

  • Jacques-Laurent Agasse's 'Miss Cazenove on her Favorite Hunter' Leads the Old Master Paintings at $194,500
  • Sale Totals Over $2.7 Million Amid Strong International Bidding
  • Pair of Regency Wine Coolers by Paul Storr with the Arms of Lieven Fetch $128,500

Doyle New York held an auction of Old Master Paintings and Drawings and Important English and Continental Furniture and Decorations on January 26, 2011. The sale offered furniture and decorations from the 17th through early 19th centuries, as well as Continental, English and Chinese export porcelain, Georgian silver, sculpture, clocks, chandeliers, sconces, tapestries and rugs. The Old Master Paintings section of the sale showcased landscapes, still lifes, portraits and religious subjects by European artists from the Renaissance to the 19th century. Highlighting the sale was property from the Estate of Joseph A. Patrick of Old Westbury, New York.

With competitive international bidding from the salesroom, the telephones and the Internet, the sale totaled a strong $2,739,469, against a pre-sale estimate of $1,802,700-2,794,700, with an exceptional 84% sold by lot and 94% sold by value.

Furniture From the Estate of Joseph A. Patrick

Highlighting the sale was a pair of George II mahogany library armchairs, mid 18th century, upholstered in tapestry, with one chair stamped Gibside. Gibside is a country estate in England's County Durham that was once owned by the prominent Bowes-Lyon family, ancestors of the late Queen Mother. Consigned by the Estate of Joseph A. Patrick, the chairs surpassed their estimate of $100,000-150,000, selling to a buyer in the United Kingdom for $164,500.

Also from the Patrick Estate was George III gilt-bronze mounted mahogany library table that sold to a British buyer for a staggering $80,500, many times over the estimate of $10,000-15,000. A pair of George III silvered wood armchairs in the manner of Thomas Chippendale, circa 1770 achieved $53,125 from a New York buyer, and a pair of George III gilt-wood pedestals, circa 1785, fetched $46,875 from a British buyer, each far surpassing their identical estimate of $6,000-8,000. A buyer from France purchased a Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted ebony, satinwood, tulipwood, mahogany and amaranth tric-trac table, circa 1780, for $40,625, a price that soared over its estimate of $3,000-5,000.

Silver

The top silver lot in the sale was an elaborate pair of Regency silver gilt wine coolers by Paul Storr, London, circa 1813-14, retailed by Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. Estimated at $40,000-60,000, the pair sold for a stunning $128,500 to a buyer in New York. The wine coolers were decorated with the Arms of Lieven and are two of six known examples with the Lieven Arms. Prince Christopher Andreevich Lieven served as the Russian Ambassador to the Court of St. James from 1812-1834. During their years in London, Prince Lieven and wife, Daria (Dorothea) von Benckendorff, established themselves among the capital's glittering social and political elite.

Lighting

The selection of chandeliers and sconces was highlighted by a large-scale George III colorless cut glass sixteen-light chandelier measuring six feet in height thatsold for $35,000 to a British buyer, doubling the estimate of $15,000-20,000.

European Works of Art

The auction also offered an extensive selection of European works of art dating from the Renaissance through the 19th century. Notable examples included a 19th century French ivory figure of a bishop measuring 28 inches in height that sold to a buyer from New York for $40,625, well over its estimate of $15,000-25,000. A 19th century French carved ivory tryptic carved as a bishop, his cloak opening to reveal a scene of a wedding, 16 inches in height, achieved $22,500 from a buyer in New York, doubling the estimate of $8,000-12,000.

Edwin Lutyens

A lot of more recent vintage was an oak double-sided bookcase by Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944). Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens was the most influential British architect of the 20th century. His collaboration with landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll redefined the traditional English country look. Lutyens' greatest architectural achievement was the Viceregal Lodge and surrounding buildings of New Delhi, India. Furniture by Sir Edwin Lutyens was produced in small quantities, and examples are rare to the market. This bookcase, consigned by the Estate of Ben Sonnenberg, sold to a buyer from the Midwest for $22,500, within the estimate of $20,000-30,000.

Rugs and Carpets

Rugs and carpets offered a Lavar Kirman carpet from Southeast Persia, last quarter of the 19th century, with an unusual pattern of animals and human figures in an ascending landscape pattern, measuring 16 Feet 5 inches x 13 feet 4 inches, from the Estate of Eleanor S. Rawson. It sold to a buyer from New York for $23,750, within the estimate of $20,000-30,000.

Old Master Paintings

The section of the auction devoted to Old Master paintings was highlighted by a splendid work, Miss Cazenove on her Favorite Hunter, by Jacques-Laurent Agasse (Swiss, 1767-1849). Jacques-Laurent Agasse studied art in his native Geneva before moving to Paris to study animal anatomy at a school of veterinary medicine. He established himself in Switzerland as an animal painter, but around 1800 moved to England. The subject of this work, Miss Cazenove, was a distant cousin of the artist and a great beauty of her day. The painting sold to a buyer in New York for $194,500, within the estimate of $150,000-250,000.

The surprise of the Old Master section was an early oil on panel view of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, signed indistinctly and dated 1853. The work, with unfortunate splits in the panel, caused a great deal of excitement among bidders in Brazil and Europe. None was able to identify the artist, yet all were interested in this very rare and very early view of Rio. With intense competition from a number of telephone bidders on both sides of the Atlantic, the piece was bought by a bidder in France for $68,500, many times its estimate of $1,500-2,500.

A newly rediscovered work by Antoine Coypel (French, 1661-1722) depicting The Judgment of Solomon also attracted bidder interest. The painting was a later version of the Judgment of Solomon that Coypel exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1699, and which later provided the composition for a tapestry by the Gobelins factory (1717-1720). It sold for $31,250 to a buyer in New York, tripling the estimate of $8,000-12,000.

Next Auction in This Category: May 18

Doyle New York’s next auction of Important English and Continental Furniture and Decorations, including Old Master Paintings and Drawings is scheduled for May 18. Consignments are currently being accepted.

Consignments are currently being accepted

To have your property evaluated for possible consignment in the next auction, please contact:

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  • Estate of a New York Gentleman
  • Estate of Ben Sonnenberg
  • Estate of Carmen de Zulueta Greenebaum
  • Estate of Charles E. Whipple
  • Estate of Eleanor S. Rawson
  • Estate of Himan Brown
  • Estate of Joseph A. Patrick
  • Estate of Justine Auerbach
  • Estate of Karen Ettinger
  • Estate of Karl Lunde
  • Estate of R. F. Shannahan
  • Estate of Sherwin Kamin
  • Property from the Estate of Charles Blakiston ("Blake") Ashburner
  • Property of a Collector
  • Property of a Connecticut Estate
  • Property of a New York Collector
  • Property of an Estate of a Distinguished Gentleman
  • The Collection of Dr. Ruth Lax

A Selection of Auction Highlights