William H. Bunch To Auction Collection Of Classic Cars, Estate Art, Antiques and Fine Jewelry, Oct Lineup includes swank 1926 Pierce-Arrow, ’76 Cadillac Milan, Model A station wagon
beautiful lady with four diamonds across the crown of her hair. Est. $2,500-$3,500.
A gleaming selection of silver is led by a 7-piece Dominick & Haff repousse and floral-engraved sterling tea set that was the consignor’s grandmother’s wedding set in 1908. Retailed by Bailey, Banks & Biddle, the set has a total weight of 370 ozt., with the massive tray weighing in at 170 ozt. Auctioneer Bunch speculates the “melt” value of the set to be $11,000 to $12,000 but hopes it will be purchased by an antiques collector.
A small Victorian silver vinaigrette in the form of a mussel shell, est. $400-$800, is stamped “S. Mordan & Co. London.” While it has no silver touch marks, it is identical to an example that sold at Christie’s London gallery in 2001 for $4,000. “That one had an 1876 registry stamp,” Bunch noted.
Also to be auctioned are sterling silver serving pieces and souvenir spoons; and two outstanding pieces of American silverplate by Simpson Hall & Miller. A 24-inch double-armed enameled bride’s basket with colored satin-glass inserts is estimated at $2,500-$3,500; while a circa-1880 tilting water pitcher on a trolley could fetch $800-$1,200.
Art glass includes a vase by Pallme-Koenig (Austrian), a Rindskopf purple iridescent bowl and a blue and amber Moser glass vase with applied salamander. A signed, horseshoe-shape Lalique Vielleuses Amours Tiara lamp with engraved flowers is modestly estimated at $2,000-$4,000.
The star lot amongst the fine French furniture is a monumental Louis XV-style 2-drawer kingwood commode with mounted bronze ladies on the top corners and richly decorative ormolu on the ends and door front. Described by William Bunch as “the best piece of Continental furniture in the sale,” it is estimated at $10,000-$20,000. Other noteworthy furniture lots include a pair of small Regency breakfronts with floral-and-urn inlay, a Chippendale block-foot card table and a Chester County dish-top birdcage candlestand.
A stellar oil-on-canvas portrait of statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852) is attributed to Chester Harding (American, 1792-1866), who painted U.S. presidents and European royalty. “Daniel Webster is known to have been a favorite subject of Harding’s. One of his Webster portraits went to the Bar Association of New York,” Bunch said.
Other artworks include a Louis Kronberg (American, 1872-1965) pastel of a ballerina, a Mihaly Munkacsy (Hungarian, 1844-1900) tabletop still life, and two original oils by Louis Icart. In addition, there will be 20 lots of 1990s works on paper from the estate of a Philadelphia man who worked in a Florida print atelier. Many very collectible late-20th-century listed artists are represented, including Rauschenberg, Scharf and Rosenquist.
Estimated at $6,000-$12,000, a 19th-century signed Aristide Petrilli alabaster lamp with relief-carved shade has an desert oasis theme, with camels, palm trees, ladies and other figures. Another exceptional artwork is the Gerdago enameled and silvered-bronze Art Deco dancer with ivory hands and face. Standing 11 inches high inclusive of green alabaster base, the sculpture is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. The sale also features a Franz Bergmann Vienna bronze of an Arab slave trader presenting
