Skinner, Inc. announced that its 20th Century Furniture & Decorative arts auction will be held in its Boston gallery on December 18th, just in time for last minute holiday shopping. The auction features a large selection of modern artwork including paintings, sculpture, and wall hangings, modern furniture, and furniture, silver and art pottery from the Arts & Crafts movement. Tiffany lighting and Art Deco lamps and wall sconces will be offered as well.
Arts & Crafts
The sale kicks off with a fine selection of offerings from the Arts and Crafts movement. Of note are collections of Roycroft furniture and Walley pottery. “Collectors will be pleased with the offerings, as this auction features a nice selection of Arts & Crafts material not often seen at auction,” notes department Director Jane Prentiss. Among the other Arts and Crafts highlights is a Celia Laighton Thaxter bowl, painted in New Hampshire and estimated at $2,000 to $3,000.
Metalwork and Silver
Metalwork is always popular with 20th Century enthusiasts, and the sale features a collection of European, mostly English and German, metalwork including inkwells and teapots as well as a fine selection of early 20th decorative belt buckles. Highly sought after Georg Jensen silver will also be available, highlighted by a pair of Pomegranate Candelabra, estimated at $6,000 to $8,000. Arthur Stone silver offerings include a nice modern design set of flatware by Aanton Michelson estimated $4,000-6,000.
Tiffany
The sale boasts a great selection of Tiffany from lamps to pottery, to glass and metalwork. Lamp highlights include a Bigelow & Kennard table lamp, estimated at $3,000 to $5,000 and a Tiffany studios table lamp in a herringbone pattern, estimated at $6,000 to $8,000. A Tiffany paperweight daffodil vase, estimated at $5,000 to $7,000, is an example of the fine glass offerings.
Sculpture
A very interesting Mary Ogden Abbott wall sculpture graces the sale. Mary Ogden Abbott was a widely traveled artist, hunter, and equestrian. She was born and lived most of her life in Concord, Massachusetts and attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, graduating in 1917. She then spent eight years in her twenties traveling with her mother across the country, backpacking in the Grand Canyon and Montana, and traveled abroad to the Far and Near East and then through Europe. She was a landscape painter painting views of the American West, the western Himalayas and Mexico and she also carved wooden doors, including a pair of teak doors that were hung at the entrance of the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. Her drawings were illustrated in the journal Appalachia and in travel books and her works have been exhibited at the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Massachusetts, the Currier Gallery, Manchester, New Hampshire, Concord Art Association, Concord, Massachusetts, and the Fitchburg Art Center, Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The wall sculpture depicting a stalking mountain lion amidst rockery and cactus is estimated at $5,000 to $10,000.
Modern Furniture
Mid-century modern furniture up for bid includes pieces by Hans Wegner, as well as other Scandinavian furniture designers such as Poul Kjaerholm. The sale also features a great selection of George Nakashima furniture from the original commissioner including a chest of draws, dining table, and coffee table.
Catalog and Preview Information
Previews for the auction will be Thursday, December 16th, 12 p.m.-5 p.m. and Friday, December 17th, 12 p.m.-7 p.m and Saturday, December 18th, 8 to 9 a.m. Illustrated catalog #2531B is available by mail for $35 ($42 for foreign requests) from the subscription department at 508-970-3000 x3240. It is also available at the gallery for $32. Prices realized will be available at Skinnerinc.com during and after the sale. Skinner’s site also allows users to view all lots in the auctions, leave bids, order catalogs, and bid live in real-time through SkinnerLive!
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