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TIFFANY PEACOCK LAMP REALIZED

(with 4 photos)

NEW YORK CITY -- A Tiffany peacock leaded glass, gilt-bronze and mosaic

centerpiece table lamp was the runaway hit of Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers

New York Sale of Important Twentieth Century Decorative Arts on Monday,

December 7, hammering down at $1,872,500 million, it surpassed its pre-sale

estimate of $800/1,200,000. The price was the second highest ever paid at

auction for a Tiffany lamp.

The only one of its kind known to exist by Tiffany Studios, the creation sold

after spirited bidding to an anonymous phone bidder.

The second highest lot of the day was a Louis Chalon, Charles Louchet and

Lamarre gilt-bronze, ceramic and plique-a-jour vase, circa 1898, which

realized $101,500. Further works by Tiffany also contributed to the success of

the sale which brought in more than $3.5 million overall. Finding favor with

bidders were a red turtle-back hanging Tiffany shade with original chain which

commanded a premium price of $90,500, a Tiffany curtain border floor lamp

which earned $85,000 exceeding its pre-auction estimate of $50/70,000 and a

Tiffany bronze lamp with dragonfly shade that earned $79,500, soaring over its

pre-sale estimate of $25/40,000.

Other works by Tiffany evoking enthusiastic responses were a fine Tiffany

Studios turtleback tile, favrile glass and bronze hanger which was bought for

$74,000 and a fine Tiffany helmet rose leaded glass shade which reached

$68,500.

Additional sale highlights included an important Pairpoint Puffy Rose Bonnet

reverse painted glass table lamp, which attained $66,300 setting a record for

this model, a Carl Otto Czescha silver service in original box, which garnered

$57,500 and a pair of Verre Eglomise Normandie Panels which crossed the block

at $57,500.

Usha Suramaniam, director of Phillips Twentieth Century decorative arts

department, commented "The record price achieved for the Tiffany Peacock

centerpiece lamp reflects the continually rising demand for the finest works

by one of American's greatest designers, Louis Comfort Tiffany."

SOTHEBYS RECORD BREAKING SALE OF AMERICAN PAINTINGS W/4CUTS SET 12/10 LB

NEW YORK CITY -- A standing-room-only crowd packed Sotheby's New York sale

room on December 3 for a record-breaking sale of American paintings. The event

totaled $44,577,250 with seven paintings sold for more than $1 million. The

previous auction record for an American paintings sale was $43.7 million for

Sotheby's December 1997 sale. The sale included a selection of American

paintings from the Masco Corporation, which garnered $16,517,175. Sixteen

artist records were achieved throughout the day, including N.C. Wyeth, George

de Forest Brush, Robert Frederick Blum, Alexander Pope, John F. Kensett,

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Frank Duvenek.

The top lot of the sale, Mary Cassatt's portrait of "Children Playing with a

Cat" sold for $2,972,500.

Several works by Frederic Remington performed well, accounting for three of

the top ten lots of the sale. "The Belated Traveler" sold for $2,477,500,

against an estimate of $1.5 million; "The Lone Scout" made $1,542,500, against

an estimate of $1 million; and "Coming Through the Rye" sold for $800,000.

The centerpiece of the paintings from the Masco Corporation was a masterwork

by George de Forest Brush entitled "The Picture Writer's Story," which sold

for $1,707,500, a record price for the artist at auction, far surpassing the

high estimate of $1.2 million as well as the previous artist record of

$486,500.

"Venetian Bead Stringers" by Robert Frederick Blum also brought a record price

for the artist when it sold for $1,487,500. Frederic Edwin Church's dramatic

"View Near Stockbridge" surpassed it's pre-sale high estimate of $800,000 when

it sold for $1,047,500. N.C. Wyeth's "The Doryman (Evening)" ignited a bidding

frenzy, finally selling for $662,500, more than ten times the estimate and a

record for the artist.

36 BRONZES BY DAN OSTERMILLER SET 12/10 EWM

NEW YORK CITY -- Through January 30, Spanierman Gallery, LLC will feature "Dan

Ostermiller: Animal Sculptor," an exhibition of 36 bronze wildlife sculptures.

Four works debuting in this show and several that are among the last casts

remaining from other editions will be shown.

The sculptures, including cats, rabbits, dogs, deer and grizzly bears, reveal

the artist's thorough knowledge of animal anatomy, his manipulation of line,

form and mass and his ability to convey the underlying spirit of his subjects

while expressing their beauty and grace.

Born in Cheyenne, Wyo., Ostermiller was surrounded by animals during his

youth. His father was an internationally renown taxidermist. In his father's

studio, Ostermiller had the opportunity to study wildlife physiology and poses

as well as skin and hide. Ostermiller studied at Kansas State University, but

he gained much of his knowledge by working as a hunter's guide.

Ostermiller cast his first sculpture, "Ram Skull," in 1977. Two years later,

he began sculpting full time, when he established close ties with Art

Castings, a bronze foundry in Loveland, Colo. He is known for his modeling

with simplicity of pose and minimum of detail and for his use of incised lines

to create rich, tactile surfaces.

Ostermiller began producing monumental sculptures in 1985, and since then has

executed numerous commissions for museums, parks and private corporations. He

has exhibited throughout the United States at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art

Museum in Wausau, Wisc., and at the Fleisher Museum in Scottsdale, Ariz.

A 24-page catalogue with 12 color plates and a biographical essay is

available.

Exhibit hours through January 30 are 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, Monday through

Saturday, telephone 212/832-0208.

WISTERIA ABLE LAMP SELLS FOR $420,500 AT CHRISTIES EAST NO CUTS SET 12/10 LB

NEW YORK CITY -- Louis Comfort Tiffany's gradual transformation of electric

lamps into three-dimensional expressions of nature culminated in the bold

series of leaded glass shades. On December 8, Christie's East auctioned a

"Wisteria" table lamp, Tiffany Studios for $420,500 against a pre-sale

estimate of $100/150,000, setting an auction record for a "Wisteria" lamp. A

similar lamp from Tiffany Studios was sold in April 1995 for $343,500.

The selection of glass in cornflower-blue mottled with periwinkle, indigo and

a profusion of translucent green is evocative of all the glorious color

imperfections seen in a single blossom in nature, rather than an idealized

representation of the wisteria flowers which grew in abundance in the

luxuriant gardens of Tiffany's Laurelton Hall estate in Long Island.

In addition, a circa 1890 "Winfield Memorial" window from Tiffany Studios,

formerly in the Greenville Reformed Church of Jersey City, New Jersey, was

sold for $63,000 (est $30/40,000).