Date: Fri 25-Jun-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

icon-Jackson's

Full Text:

An Auctioneering Icon

(with 6 cuts)

CEDAR FALLS, IOWA -- Two days and 1,450 lots later, another auction at

Jackson's came to a conclusion on May 30.

The sale featured one estate and six main collections: the estate of Professor

Marjorie D. Campbell, Cedar Falls Iowa; four collections consigned from

Midwest states; a West Coast collection; and a British collection of Russian

decorative arts.

While there was a strong in-house presence both days with over 250 registered

bidders, phone bidding and Internet participation saw their fair share of

action. The sales' total, including premium, came in at $920,267.

Day one consisted of approximately 700 lots of American and European paintings

and prints, American and Imperial Russian silver, enamel, decorative arts and

icons. Day two featured American and European furniture, carpets, glassware,

porcelain and pottery, offering a few more lots than day one.

The top lot of the day was an incredibly detailed, Nineteenth Century Russian

micro mosaic presentation triptych measuring a mere 3.5 inches in width and

6.75 inches in height. Bidding opened in-house at $10,000 and bounced back and

forth between an Internet bidder, a European phone bidder and an in-house

bidder, with the hammer dropping at $19,600, selling to a Texas collector.

Day one opened with around 50 lots of American and Continental silver, topped

by a Gorham sterling flatware set in "Plymouth" pattern, service for 12, which

made $1,680.

Imperial period, (pre-1917) Russian silver was up next with a 9.5 inch silver

chalice selling for $2,128; a Russian gold cigarette case by Faberge (work

master Schramm) with contemporary embellishments selling for $3,920; and a

Russian silver-gilt and guilloche enamel cigarette case by Andre Gorianov

going to a California collector for $5,600.

Other highlights that followed included: an oval brooch by Faberge, which sold

to a Paris phone bidder for $4,480; a seven inch Russian silver and

plique-a-jour enamel serving spoon by Ovchinnikov, which sold for $1,400; and

six matching silver and enamel tea spoons marked in Cyrillic "I.G.T.," which

made $1,792.

The first group of the over 150 Russian and Greek icons offered sold next. A

10 by 12 inch Smolensk Virgin with silver and beaded riza, went to a European

buyer for $6,160, and a circa 1905 10 by 12 inch Russian icon of the

Resurrection finished at $3,080.

The first group of paintings that crossed the block saw wide interest. The

first two oil on canvas paintings by French artist Antoine Blanchard

(1910-1988), each measuring 21 by 18 inches, sold for $7,840 and $8,680. A

pair of oils by American artist Richard E. Thompson (1914-1991) brought

$4,760. An oil on canvas by Richard A. Chase (American 1891-1985) set a new

auction record for the artist selling at $3,640 according to the gallery.

More icons followed with a seven by nine inch Kazan Virgin with silver and

enamel riza selling to a Texas phone bidder for $6,160, followed by a ten by

eight inch circa 1600 Russian icon of the Virgin selling to a Boston phone

bidder for $4,760. A nine by seven inch icon of Christ with silver and enamel

riza sold for $5,880 and an addendum item of the same subject, but smaller, by

Imperial silversmith Ovchinnikov, sold to a Chicago collector for $4,144. A

Palekh School icon of selected saints, 12 by 14 inches sold to a Missouri

collector for $5,320.

A ten by eight inch icon of St Nicholas, circa 1900 and decorated with a

silver-gilt and shaded enamel riza, went to the phone for $11,480 and a circa

1800 icon of St Michael, 20 by 42 inches sold to a Nebraska couple for

$12,096.

A pair of oil on canvas dogs chasing game, "hunt" scenes by Russian/German

artist Vyacheslav Shvarts (1838-1869), saw active bidding, selling to the

floor for $17,360 (est $10/15,000). A large canvas by Russian artist Philip

Maliavin (1869-1940) made $9,520, and a color lithograph coronation ball menu

designed by Russian artist Victor Vasnetsov sold to a phone bidder for $5,720.

A pair of oil on canvas American landscapes, one a winter scene, the other a

fall scene, by French artist Regis Francois Gignoux (1816-1882) saw intense

bidding, with seven phone bidders and numerous in-house bidders competing for

the two works which were consigned by a rural Iowa resident. The pair sold for

$23,520 (est $8/10,000).

A very atypical, early abstract expressionist work by Roy Lichtenstein

(1923-1997) sold for $4,320. The 16 by 24 inch oil on canvas was from the

Professor Marj Campbell estate. Campbell taught with Lichtenstein at Ohio

State University in 1948-1949, where she received the painting as a gift from

the artist, who would take another ten years to develop his trademark comic

strip style that made him so famous.

Russian decorative arts attracted wide interest with bidders from coast to

coast and Europe vying for a piece of Imperial Russian history. Of the many

items sold, a four inch silver-gilt beaker by Faberge did $3,360; a 4.5 inch

enamel kovsh by Feodor Ruckert made $4,200; and a large, 11 inch shaded enamel

kovsh by the 11th Artel finished at $7,000. An interesting plain silver

Faberge table top cigar box, with initials and with engraved presentation to

an English gentleman, sold for $4,760.

Day two began with furniture and decorative arts, with active bidding across

the board. A walnut Victorian etagere in the Louis XV style sold for $2,128;

and a blue satin opalescent quilted diamond hanging parlor lamp sold well,

bringing $4,480.

A wide variety of interesting items crossed the block in the area of

porcelain. An 11 inch R.S. Prussia bowl, decorated with turkeys, ducks and

swallows, sold for $1,568. A 15-piece Limoges game set decorated with fish

sold to a Wisconsin buyer for $1,120. A George Jones English majolica garden

seat measuring 18 inches in height, with scattered losses, went to a New York

collector for $9,360. An oval KPM plaque signed Wagner, depicting a young

maiden with daisies, sold for $4,480.

A small offering of American art pottery followed with two notable pieces: An

Ed Deirs signed and 1926 dated Rookwood vellum vase measuring 13« inches, with

small base flake, sold for $4,480, and a 17« inch Owens Utopian line portrait

vase depicting Sioux Indian "Jack Red Cloud," by artist decorator Anna F.

Best, sold for $5,040.

European and American art glass saw wide interest. A French cameo with a 12

inch Daum Nancy enameled cameo vase in mottled yellow, pink and purple, cut

with berries and foliage, sold for $8,680 (est $4/6,000). A Galle mold blown

cameo vase in shades of burgundy and orange, nine and one half inches in

height, sold for $8,400.

A 23 inch tall Tiffany leaded glass Colonial Lamp, with 16 inch diameter

shade, went to an Illinois collector for $10,416, and a 15 inch diameter

Pairpoint reverse painted blown-out lamp, 22 inches in height, came in at

$7,952.

The sale ended with a small offering of Twentieth Century Chinese decorative

arts, many having been purchased by Paul Netland, circa 1931, in Shanghai and

consigned by his nephew and namesake, Paul Netland of Centuria, Wisc. The

collection included Chinese rugs of the period and cloisonne. A 1931 vintage

Chinese sculpted carpet, 106 by 144 inches, sold for $1,736. An 18 inch

diameter Imari charger finished at $476.

For information, 319/277-2256.