Antiques PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Antiques PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

Rago New York Estates Sale

Highlighting the sale is the Estate of Lester Yankee, a Solebury, Pennsylvania resident for 34 years. Rago’s is selling the personal property from Mr. Yankee’s large and elegant house and gardens. He and his life partner were dedicated collectors whose taste ran to Continental decorative art and furnishings. Rago’s will also serve as agent of sale for Mr. Yankee’s fine art, jewelry, garden statuary and Steinway piano. An additional 300 lots to be auctioned include paintings and porcelains gifted to the Heckscher Museum, as well as property fresh from homes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

“The consignors to this sale made our jobs easy by virtue of their good taste and their faith in our skill at pricing. The result? This auction is full of varied, desirable property reasonably estimated,” says Tom Martin, who directed the sale. “I look forward to showing it off.”

Auction
• Saturday, March 20 at Noon
• Telephone, absentee, online bidding available for those unable to attend.

Auction Exhibition/Preview
• Saturday, March 13, 2010 through Friday, March 19, from 12-5 PM and by appointment. Doors open on day of sale at 9 a.m.
• Rago’s is located midway between New York City and Philadelphia. Directions online at ragoarts.com

Catalogue
• Printed catalogues are available for $20 by calling 609.397.9374 or e-mailing a request to [email protected].
• View a complete online catalogue with color images at ragoarts.com as of March 5, 2010.

AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

THE ESTATE OF LESTER YANKEE
Over 240 lots, largely in the Continental taste, including figural statuary in porcelain, marble, terra cotta, bronze and ivory; boxes and decorative accents, many in animal form; Georgian, Biedermeier, Sheraton, Empire, French and Italianate tables, commodes and chairs; a selection of fine art from Old Masters to 20th C., including 18th and 19th C. portraiture, still lifes and prints; stemware, china and silver; men’s gold jewelry; garden statuary; ivory miniatures; lightings; clocks; and items of interest to collectors of military and religious imagery.

CONTINENTAL/AMERICAN FURNISHINGS
American, Continental, English and Irish tables, cabinets, commodes, chests, beds, desks, tables, chairs, settles, stands, mirrors and pedestals. Louis XV, Federal, Sheraton, Georgian, Regency. Biedermeier. Ebonizing, marquetry, parquetry, gilding, pietra dura, inlay and overmount. Formal and country. Over 100 lots in all. Heriz, Kirman, Sarouk, Kashan and other rugs. Lamps, chandeliers and candelabras in a range of period styles. Fireplace accessories.

CONTINENTAL/AMERICAN DECORATIVE ARTS
Glass by Lalique, Steuben, Baccarat, Zsolnay and Durand. Some 30 lots of Bohemian porcelain from Riessner, Wahliss and other makers, sold to benefit the Heckscher Museum. Staffordshire, Sevres, Limoges, Parian, Rookwood, Old Paris Porcelain, Royal Worcester Coalport, KPM, Samson and Ridgeway Flow Blue. Chinese Export and Asian porcelains. Ink stands, shaving mugs, apothecary jars and majolica. Desk accessories, bird cages, tea caddies, miniatures and bibelot, animal figurines and decorative accents.

FINE ART
Over 50 lots of fine art, predominantly 19th/early 20th C. Paintings, works on paper, prints, engravings and daguerreotypes from an international roster of artists, among them Angelo Ribossi, Thomas Allen, Jr. and Herbert Waldron Faulkner. Over 35 lots of fine and decorative statuary in bronze, marble, wood and terra cotta by artists including Victor Seifert and Sylvain Kinsburger.

JEWELRY/SILVER/CURRENCY
Seventeen lots of men’s gold and silver link bracelets, rings, cufflinks, watches and fobs, many by Mitchell-Peck from the Estate of Lester Yankee. Silver serving pieces, tableware and vases by Georg Jensen, Tiffany, Towle, Gorham and Black, Starr and Frost. Russian objet de vertu. Twenty-five lots of currency, including U.S. silver dollars, half dollars, quarters, nickels proof sets, medals, bullion and commemorative coins; uncirculated coins; U.K. gold sovereigns; Israeli medals and currency; Canadian, U.K. and other foreign currency; ancient coins and artifacts.

ALSO WORTHY OF NOTE
• Tribal items including Inuit carving, California and Northwest American Indian baskets and late 19th/early 20th C. fully beaded Sioux child’s moccasins.
• Asian property including lacquer cabinets and boxes, religious statuary, hardstone, screen.
• Books, posters and ephemera, including theatrical posters, 19th C. baseball scorecards and baseball guides, celebrity autographs
• Garden decoration in iron and other materials, including birdbath, urns, armillary, benches.
• Napoleonic collectibles
• Reliquaries, Santos

Auction Contact Information
Tom Martin, Specialist-in-Charge: 609-397-9374 or [email protected]

Notes for the Editor
High-resolution images available.

Next Estates Auction
Saturday, June 19, 2010.

About Rago Arts and Auction Center
The Rago Arts and Auction Center was established in 1995 by David Rago, a leading expert and dealer in early 20th C. design, who entered the business of auctions in 1984. The Auction Center, located midway between Philadelphia and New York, holds multi-million dollar sales of 20th century decorative arts and furnishings, fine art, jewelry, tribal and estate property. Since 1994, Rago’s has served thousands of sellers and buyers with a singular blend of global reach and personal service. It is a world-class venue through which to buy and sell. It is also a destination for those who seek to learn and share knowledge about art, antiques and collecting, with free valuations for personal property (from a single piece to collections and estates) and auction exhibitions in house and online.