Over 1,500 quality lots will be sold by Crescent City Auction Gallery Dec. 8-9 in New Orleans A 19th century framed Russian icon of St. Nicholas and a rare 17K yellow gold Chimu Kero (ceremonial cup) probably made in Peru around 1,000 A.D., will be two of the top lots at an auction Dec. 8-9.
News-Antique.com - Nov 19,2012 - (NEW ORLEANS, La.) – An rare 19th century framed Russian icon of St. Nicholas, a rare 17K yellow gold Chimu Kero (ceremonial cup) probably made in Peru around 1,000 A.D., and three highly collectible Chinese carved rhinoceros horn libation cups are just a few of the expected top lots at a multi-estate sale planned for Dec. 8-9 by Crescent City Auction Gallery. Start times will be 9 a.m. (CST) both days.
The auction will be impressive – over 1,500 lots in all – with quality merchandise, most of it fresh to the market. Featured will be the estate of Mr. Charles W. Frank of New Orleans, the McSherry estate of Baltimore, Md., and numerous other local estates and collections. The event will be held in the Crescent City Auction Gallery showroom, located at 1330 St. Charles Avenue.
The categories will include fine Southern art, European and American antiques, Chinese antique objects and porcelains, lighting, rugs, jewelry, bric-a-brac and objets d’art. Internet bidding will be provided by Artfact.com and LiveAuctioneers.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. Previews will be held Nov. 29-Dec. 7, from 10-5 (excluding Sunday). The Wednesday, Dec. 5 preview will last until 8 p.m.
The Russian icon of St. Nicholas is expected to generate large bidder interest. The framed icon is marked on the reverse (in Russian): “Presented to the ship Admiral Lazarev, in 1901, in thanks for saving 31 crew members,” and “Blessed by the Pope, from the Holy Mountain, 1898.” The rare piece also has a Sotheby’s lot tag on the back and is 20 ½ inches tall by 15 inches wide.
The 17K yellow gold Chimu Kero cup will also be desirable to collectors, for its rarity and age – 600 or more years old. The antiquity is of traditional beaker form and measures 5 inches tall and 13 ½ inches in diameter. The three Chinese carved rhinoceros horn libation cups date to the 19th century. One is 3 ½ inches tall by 2 ¾ inches wide, with relief floral decoration.
Fans of folk art will instantly recognize the names Clementine Hunter (1886-1988) and Sister Gertrude Morgan (1900-1980), both of whom were active in Louisiana. The Clementine Hunter offering in the sale is a circa 1980 signed oil on canvas work titled Cotton Pickers. The Sister Gertrude Morgan painting, titled Let Him Come In, is an oil on board, signed top center.
Two renderings of the same work by Alexander Drysdale (La., 1870-1934), titled Moss Draped Oak – one a rare vertical wash, signed, in the original frame, the other an oil on board, signed – will be sold as separate lots. And, two versions of the painting Cabin in the Swamp, by Robert Rucker (La., 1932-2001), one a watercolor and one an oil on Masonite, will also be sold.
Another painting by Rucker will also come up for bid: an oil on canvas holiday scene titled Ascension Parish Church at Christmas. The work is signed lower right and measures 20 inches by
