News-Antique.com - May 24,2012 - CLOSTER, N.J. – With two highly successful auctions already to their credit since launching operations in December, New Jersey estate specialists Sterling Associates will go for a trifecta on June 9 with a Major Fine Art & Estate Auction featuring quality consignments from the tri-state area. Like the previous sales, the June event will be a “hybrid” auction, which combines a gallery and online preview with absentee, phone and Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.
The 500-lot auction will feature paintings, furniture, porcelain, sculptures, rugs, sports art and an extensive array of lighting, candelabra and accessories. There are numerous highlights in all categories, but the lot that company owner Stephen D’Atri predicts might be “the star of the sale” is the pair of circa-1750 Qianlong famille rose Chinese covered vases in the Mandarin pattern.
“These vases are truly stunning. The decoration is so heavily applied, they almost look like Meissen,” D’Atri said. The 17-inch vases were held in a private collection for more than 30 years following their purchase from a dealer on New York’s Park Avenue. The duo is estimated at $20,000-$30,000.
From the same source comes a superb 19th-century French dore and patinated bronze centerpiece. The design incorporates a pair of putti supporting a gilt faux-wicker basket from a base adorned with a ribbon-entwined garland. A piece of outstanding quality, it is expected to make $6,000-$8,000.
Another premier lot is the magnificent palace-size silk Iranian Tabriz rug from the third quarter of the 20th century. It measures 26 by 16 ft and features a palette of pinky-peach and light greens with some reds for strength. Sterling Associates has placed an estimate of $30,000-$50,000 on the textile masterpiece.
Nothing adds a finishing touch to a room quite like an elegant light fixture, and “elegant” is the right word to describe an Art Deco-style chandelier created in the manner of Edgar Brandt or Oscar Bach. With its fine filigree work and delicately suspended bell-shape forms and crystals, it embodies the flawless balance and style of fine lighting from the Gatsby era. Previously in an eastern Pennsylvania residence, it will now pass to a new owner after crossing the auction block with a $4,000-$6,000 estimate.
There is always a demand for scientific antiques to outfit a traditional study or library, so D’Atri believes there will be strong interest in a circa-1800 Continental globe on stand. The globe offered by Sterling Associates measures an impressive 22 inches in diameter and is expected to make $400-$600.
An enormous modern oil-on-canvas painting of Marilyn Monroe is illegibly signed and dated. The framed 64½- by 50¼-inch portrait is probably too adventurous for a conventional décor, D’Atri said. “It’s ultra sophisticated, very large and very cool. It’s meant to be viewed from a distance.” The portrait is estimated at $2,000-$3,000.
Eight serigraphs by the Russian-born French artist Romain de Tirtoff Erte (1892-1990) will be auctioned. A gold-framed pair of serigraphs from Erte’s “Zeus & Hera Suite” is numbered 153/300 and estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
