Two 17th century portraits of British nobility painted by English artist John Hayls (1600-79) realized $14,160; a pair of palatial European 20th century Bohemian-style dore bronze mounted crystal floor urns brought $12,980; and a large hand-blown Murano glass sculptural charger (or disc) by Lino Tagliapietra (b. 1934), done circa 1987, sold for $7,670. All prices reported include an 18 percent buyer's premium.
These were just a few of the nearly 900 diverse lots that came up for bid on March 5 and 6 at a Spring Estates Auction held by Ahlers & Ogletree, in the firm's gallery located at 715 Miami Circle in Atlanta. Ga. Quality merchandise from prominent local estates and collections came under the gavel in a sale that grossed about $580,000. The portraits were the sale's top-achieving lot.
One depicted "Michael Warton Esq., son-in-law of John first Lord Poulett," the other "Susanna daughter of John first Lord Poulett and wife of Michael Warton Esq. of Beverly in Yorkshire." Both were formal paintings, of British nobility from the period. Each was housed in a finely carved and gilt wood frame and measured 53-by-42.5-inches. Artist John Hayls lived from 1600-79.
The Bohemian-style dore bronze mounted cobalt cut to clear crystal floor urns were truly palatial - each one standing a majestic 63 inches tall - with a dome-shaped panel cut finial over a berried laurel dore bronze neck mounted to each side with foliate scrolling and Greek key handles. Both featured lovely "Deer in the Woods" engraved scenes that were signed by the artist, but illegibly.
The hand-blown Murano glass sculptural charger by Lino Tagliapietra, entitled Saturno, was #23 out of a limited-edition of 100 made. It measured 25-by-23.5-inches wide and was internally decorated, having a concentric form with white and black conforming spirals on colorless glass. It was raised on an enameled iron stand and was signed, dated and numbered.
The two-day auction was packed with original artwork, antiques, furniture, lighting, mirrors, fine estate jewelry pieces, hand-woven rugs and carpets, collectibles, art glass and crystal, sculpture, Russian silver and enamel, Georg Jensen sterling silver, porcelain, Japanese woodblock prints, Chinese porcelain, pottery and other decorative arts, modern and contemporary art and design.
About 300 people attended the sale in person over the course of the two days. Online bidding featured 7,436 bidders on LiveAuctioneers.com, 1,830 bidders on Invaluable.com, 138 bidders on BidSquare.com and 180 bidders on the Ahlers & Ogletree website and mobile app. Also, just over 450 absentee and phone bids were made on behalf of 60 bidders.
A patinated and partially polished bronze artwork by the Spanish surrealist master Salvador Dali (1904-89), titled “Nobility of Time,” #81 of 350, 23.25 inches tall, showing a melting clock atop a tree trunk with an angel and a female nude, fetched $6,785. The Asian category was led by a pair of 20th-century Chinese rose medallion decorated porcelain vases with hidden calligraphic marks, each one standing about 17 inches tall and boasting hand-painted figural enamels that hit $2,950.
A circa-1775 George III satinwood marquetry inlaid demilune (half-round) console, made in England after a design by Robert Adam, beautiful and heavily carved, changed hands for $5,015. It was previously sold at Sotheby's in London in 1989 and Sotheby's in New York City in 1998. Also, a Georgian mahogany and satinwood inlaid eight-drawer mule chest, probably made in Lancashire, England in the late 18th or early 19th century, 41.25 inches tall, commanded $1,534.
Staying with furniture, a 19th-century Swedish serpentine chest of drawers (or a three-drawer commode), with a dark brown painted and shaped top above three long, undulating pull-out drawers, with weathered patination and a French-style grey painted exterior, finished at $3,540; while a matched pair of 19th-century Italian-made, hand-painted bombe form bedside commodes, each having a simulated marble serpentine molded top over a conforming case, garnered $3,245.
Jesus Rafael Soto (1923-2005) was active and lived in Venezuela and France. He was one of the most prominent representatives of the Op Art-Kinetic Art movements, and his work exuded high energy, often using metal. Sold was a painted metal on wood relief sculpture, signed by Soto and numbered (64/175), titled “Homenaje al Humano” ($8,260); and a silkscreen-on-plexiglass with metal rods titled “Tes azules y negras” from 1979, signed and numbered and 19.75 inches tall ($7,080).
An oil-on-canvas by the Hungarian-American artist Marcel Vertes (1895-1961), titled “Swan Family,” an impressionist work depicting two adult white swans and a baby swan floating on blue water, signed, breezed to $1,652; and an oil-on-canvas by Andre Gisson (1921-2003), titled “Figures By a Lake,” showing a woman and a child in an outdoor setting, signed, sold for $1,180.
Fans of silver were treated to an Art Nouveau-style sterling silver nappy or bowl with double scrolling handle by Harald Nielsen (1892-1977) for Georg Jensen (Danish, founded 1904), made circa 1945-77 and weighing 13.85 troy ounces ($1,652); and a 43-piece set of silverplate flatware made circa 1963-83 by the French silversmith Christofle (founded in 1830), in the Louis XIII style "Cluny" pattern, and each with a slightly beveled fiddlehead handle, which sold for $1,416.
The auction held some happy surprises, as many lots sailed past their high estimates. A classical-style carved marble sculpture of Hercules, artist unknown, likely made in Italy, 19th century, sold for $7,670 on an estimate of $3,000-$5,000. And a circa 1920s or '30s Italian collection of 36 dried flower specimens in one large frame that was supposed to bring $1,000 to $2,000, ended up realizing $3,245. Each specimen was set behind its own pane of glass, within a wooden border.
A fine, handwoven Persian room-size rug, expected to sell for $1,000-$2,000, sold for $3,835, as bidders were wowed by its animal and floral motif, with deer, rabbits and birds. Also, a Chinese 20th-century porcelain jar or urn, with a cobalt blue underglaze decoration on white ground depicting a seascape with ducks swimming amid willow trees and lotus plants, 13.25 inches tall, defied its estimate of $600-$800 by finishing at $2,655.
To learn more about Ahlers & Ogletree, call 404-869-2478 or visit www.AandOauctions.com.