#Mixed #Bag #Brings #Bountiful #Results #Butterscotch #Antiques #Arts #Weekly
The sale was led by “Cherry Blossoms” by Mary Nimmo Moran (American, 1842-1899), 1894, oil on canvas, which bloomed to more than three times its $3/4,000 estimate, at $15,866.
Review by Kiersten Busch
BEDFORD, N.Y. — Butterscotch Auction presented 578 lots from multiple important estates worldwide in its November 17 Fall Estates auction. Lots on offer included books, furniture and fine art descended through the McDonnell family of Copped Hall (Essex, UK), a collection of custom-made arch-top electric guitars from a Stamford, Conn., estate and an array of art glass from a Scarsdale, N.Y., collector, among others.
“We felt that the sale went well overall. While we didn’t have any real big-ticket items this time out, we had a high percentage of lots selling in the low thousands, and a number of nice surprises throughout,” shared Brendan B. Ryan, appraiser and auctioneer at Butterscotch. When all was said and done, the sale totaled $507,766.
Blooming to $15,866, the highest price of the sale, was Mary Nimmo Moran’s “Cherry Blossoms.” The oil on canvas was signed and dated 1894 and measured 24 by 29½ inches, framed. The painting had provenance to Questroyal Fine Art (New York City) and was purchased from the gallery by the consigning estate in 2006. It will be staying in New York State, heading to a private collector on Long Island, an online buyer.
“Still life with carnations” was an oil on copper from the School of Jan Van Huysum, which measured 14½ by 17¼ inches framed and closely resembled another still life sold by Sotheby’s, London, in 2014. This example bloomed to $6,100, doubling its $2/3,000 estimate.
“Still life with carnations,” from the School of Jan Van Huysum, blossomed to $6,100, selling in-house to a local collector. The oil on copper depicted carnation flowers with “a bird’s nest, and other flowers and insects on a marble ledge,” according to the auction catalog. The catalog also noted that there was a faint inscription, that read “…fecit Huysum…” in the painting’s upper left corner. Additional inscriptions to the work included a chalk number “N2” and “Duke of Bedford / Van [Huy]sum.” It also had noticeable similarities in composition to a still life sold at Sotheby’s in London during a December 2014 sale.
Jewelry offerings were led by a Marcus & Co., platinum emerald and diamond ring with provenance by descent through a Greenwich, Conn., family. The Art Deco ring contained one cabochon emerald, flanked by baguette shaped emeralds and melee diamonds and weighed 3.8 grams. It was marked “Marcus” inside its band. Interest in the ring may have come from the scarcity of the jeweler: according to the auction catalog, Marcus & Co., (New York City) was in operation from 1892-1962, then was sold to Gimbels in 1941, after which it merged with Black, Starr & Frost in 1962. Flying past its $1/1,500 estimate, the piece realized a sparkling $12,700, the second-highest price of the sale, and found a new home with an online bidder in Florida.
This size six platinum ring by Marcus & Co., contained a cabochon emerald, baguette-shaped emeralds and melee diamonds and sparkled at $12,700, the second-highest price of the sale ($1/1,500).
A pair of 18K gold earrings by Aldo Cipullo for Cartier dangled at $6,250, selling on the phone to the trade. Cipullo, the designer of the iconic Cartier Love bracelet, designed these earrings, shaped like stylized geometric ribbon-wrapped presents, as part of a series of “bold, geometric designs made of yellow gold and carved semi-precious materials,” according to the auction catalog. Both earrings were signed “Aldo Cipullo” and dated 1972. They had provenance by descent through the family of a Central Park West (New York City) collector.
A small Louis Vuitton trunk rounded out the top three best-selling lots of the sale and is heading back to France with an online buyer, who won the trunk for $10,370. It had a fitted interior and was in “very good condition,” according to the auction catalog. Additionally, the trunk had provenance by descent through a Stamford, Conn., estate.
Butterscotch Auction’s next sale will be on March 23. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For further information, 914-764-4609 or www.butterscotchauction.com.
