A Teco Vase-Turned-Lamp, a Chicago Modernist’s Painting Fetch Top Prices at Treadway-Toomey Auction What light through yonder Teco breaks? A handsome Teco vase designed by W.B. Mundie and fashioned into a striking lamp showcased a Prairie-style stained glass shade and sold for $28,800.
of Chicago and became an avid supporter of the dunes area conservation efforts.
Mary Curtis Richardson’s captivating “Girl with Bow,” an oil on board she painted circa 1905, sold for $9,600. A Californian noted for her portraits and paintings of mothers and children, she was known as the “Mary Cassatt of the West.” Richardson (1848-1931) received national recognition for her work, which was shown in numerous exhibitions, including one at the National Academy of Design in New York City in the late 1880s.
Two especially striking oil on board paintings circa 1910 by William Henry Dethlef Koerner (1878-1938) also fared well. “Sketchers” brought $8,400 while “Girl in a Hat” sold for $6,000. Each was estimated at $5,000 to $7,000. In the late 1890s Koerner worked as an illustrator for the Chicago Tribune. In 1901 he began classes at the Art Institute of Chicago, and four years later enrolled at the Art Students League in New York. He became a highly successful illustrator, and popular writer Zane Grey used Koerner’s drawings in his novels.
In the 1950s to Modern session, top sellers were a cabinet by Swedish designer Carl Malmsten that sold for $8,400, and a set of six chairs by Denmark’s Hans Wegner, which also brought $8,400. Designed in 1929 for Nordiska Kompaniet of Sweden, the Malmsten cabinet featured a flame birch veneer, four drawers over bun feet, and a top with its original dark finish. The veneer on the cabinet was applied in a manner that reflects light at different angles, which creates the illusion of a geometric pattern, depending upon one’s vantage point. The veneer is, in fact, all the same color. It is believed that this cabinet was exhibited at the Century of Progress in Chicago in 1933 to 1934, according to Lisanne Dickson, the modern design expert for Treadway-Toomey Galleries.
Wegner’s chair design, aptly titled “The Chair,” was manufactured in the 1950s by Johannes Hansen of Denmark and featured a teak frame with original caning to the seats and backs. The lot of six was estimated at $3,500 to $4,500.
Designs by Paul Frankl were also in demand, including a vanity-desk with brass pulls and a stool in its original leaf fabric, manufactured by Johnson Furniture Co., which sold for $3,250 ($1,500-$1,800). One Paul Frankl mirror in its original finish brought $2,880 (est. $900-$1,200), while another fetched $3,000 (est. $1,200-$1,500). A Paul Frankl coffee table with a round cork top over a dark mahogany base brought $4,500 (est. $1,200-$1,500).
A fascinating circa 1940 sideboard attributed to the French firm of Maison Jansen achieved $5,100 (est. $3,000-$3,500). The handsome two-door piece was crafted of ebonized oak over sculptural legs and had a gold-leafed, carved wood column on each end. Each door was inset with a glazed ceramic tile decorated with a fantastic green dragon.
A pair of French Art Deco lounge chairs sold for $4,200 (est. $2,500-$3,500). Circa 1935, the chairs were made of curvaceous walnut frames and had been reupholstered in a lovely greige-colored mohair fabric.
