Date: Fri 02-Apr-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

Stickley

Full Text:

Stickley Plant Stand At Dennis

STEWARTSVILLE, N.J. -- A Gustav Stickley plant stand with a ten-inch Grueby

tile insert topped Dennis Auction Service's March 6 sale.

The original, signed Stickley piece was consigned from a prominent estate in

Mendham, N.J., where it had been for the last 85 years. Keen interest in the

stand resulted in more than 30 absentee bids and ten active phone lines.

Bidding opened from the floor at $2,000 and quickly escalated to a final bid

of $28,000 from a phone bidder, which is believed by the firm to be a record

for the item. A ten percent buyers premium brought the sum paid to $30,800.

The 601-lot auction covered a wide range of items from various periods and

countries. The three top lots exemplified the diversity of the sale: the

Stickley plant stand, from the Arts and Crafts Movement; an early American

walnut Pennsylvania Dutch glazed front cupboard, which brought $16,500; and a

gilt cornered Seventeenth Century Italian Baroque commode, which realized

$9,350.

An antique Tabriz Oriental rug, measuring 10 by 15« feet, originally purchased

in 1947 from a flea market in Poland, created strong competition among rug

dealers, resulting in a hammer price of $24,200.

More than 600 people with 487 registered bidders attended, according to Frank

Dennis, auctioneer and co-owner of the firm. "People were in attendance from

Massachusetts to North Carolina. One man from North Carolina flew his private

plane to New Jersey in order to bid on a love seat that his wife had her heart

set on." Bidder enthusiasm remained consistently strong throughout the day and

the crowd stayed right to the end of the sale.

Art glass featured approximately 20 lots of signed L.C. Tiffany, R. Lalique,

Schneider, Steuben, Galle, and Daum Nancy. Jim McClure, who catalogued the

collection, stated that a 17-inch tall Steuben bene aurene vase was one of the

largest that he had seen in his 28 years of experience in evaluating art

glass. Active bidding on the piece realized $3,300. Tiffany Favrile glass was

highlighted by a signed L.C. Tiffany Favrile large gold vase with carved gold

leaves that hammered down to a dealer at $4,950, and a pastel yellow

opalescent L.C. Tiffany bulbous vase that sold at $2,750 under active bidding.

A pair of matching Mettlach table lamps with classical figures in relief sold

for $5,720 and an alabaster based lamp with alabaster shade depicting putti

brought $2,860. A pair of Eighteenth Century carved wooden and hand painted

blackamoor pedestals realized $5,500.

The sleeper in the sale was an oval canterbury with an ornate fretwork band

and turned finials. The piece was estimated at $800, but brought a surprising

$2,640 despite the fact that it was not an antique.

Garden accessories included a massive pair of signed J.W. Fiske, N.Y., garden

urns, which sold for $5,720. A pair of Neo-classical iron garden chairs sold

for $2,640 to a woman who, after her successful bid, announced to the

auctioneer that she already had four and has waited ten years to get the two

more that she needed.

Top lots in sterling silver included two matching English silver sweet meat

servers, circa 1790, which brought $4,180 and a Continental sterling silver

and cut crystal epergne, with a figural base, that realized $2,750.

Highlights among Revolutionary and Civil War rifles and muskets included a

Whitney New Haven flintlock musket with eagle, which brought $1,980. A pair of

matching dueling pistols with brass mountings marked Ketland, London, hammered

down at $1,980.

An interesting group of American folk art and memorabilia included a

hand-embroidered and hand painted folk art pillow, with a deep South theme,

that realized $1,320. Several early Nineteenth Century samplers were offered;

one, signed Sarah Carter, 1827, was mounted in a carved cork frame and sold

for $1,045, and another, by Anna bella Moorhead, 1841, brought $1,540.

Prices reflect a ten percent buyers premium.