Fine Art Collection of Dixie Cup Mastermind is Centerpiece of Myers’ Feb. 10 Auction Collection’s European and Asian antiques have remained in private hands for 60+ years
Venetian doge. Additional enticements include an Italian pietra dura specimen table and micromosaic pieces; French cameo glass, majolica, silver, Louis XV bronze candelabra, and Austrian ivory and wood figures. There will also be fine European porcelain, an inlaid Italian marquetry chest and antique Italian walnut cupboard; and a pair of French Empire bronze table lamps. A Continental relief-carved ivory plaque depicts a frenzied battle scene of warriors on horseback. Dating to the mid-19th century and possibly from Dieppe, France, it is estimated at $3,000-$5,000. Another standout is a signed Tommaso Gentile (Italian, 1853-?) bronze mirror adorned by two nude women. It bears the Kunst-Erzgieserei Vienna foundry mark and is estimated at $6,000-$8,000.
Timepieces include European mantel clocks, a miniature tall-case clock with chinoiserie artwork, and a highly desirable tall-case clock with Joshua Wilson (London) 17th/18th-century movement in a Philadelphia Chippendale walnut case. The musical moon phase clock stands 95 inches tall and, although missing some of its mechanical parts, is likely to achieve $4,000-$6,000.
An interesting estate collection contains antique Japanese samurai swords of various lengths. The edged weapons are in good company with the auction’s grouping of early Persian armor and trio of 18th-century Japanese Edo Period matchlock rifles.
The sale’s extensive Asian section covers all imaginable forms and media. Ceramics include Japanese Imari, antique Chinese hand-painted plates and a pleasing selection of Chinese export porcelain. Among the carved figural pieces are a 77-inch oxblood Buddha, an ivory Siddhartha bust, jade and hardstone objects, and numerous Chinese and Japanese ivories. Other highlights include a Japanese inlaid and carved screen, a set of four Chinese Qing silk paintings, 19th-century Chinese reverse paintings, a pair of yoke-back armchairs, an early 19th-century Kano school 4-panel screen painting, and an array of Asian bronze and mixed-metal vessels and other items.
Not to be missed if one is considering the renovation of a special room is the lot containing more than 25 rolls of Zuber et Cie. (French) panoramic wallpaper in the “Views of North America” pattern. The rolls were printed from Zuber’s original 19th-century woodblocks.
“In the 1970s, Jacqueline Kennedy chose the very same wallpaper for the White House [Diplomatic] Reception Room,” said Mary Dowd. “It depicts American scenes such as Boston Harbor, Niagara Falls, and Natural Bridge in Virginia. The rolls we are auctioning are in perfect condition. They were ordered from Zuber in the 1970s but were never installed.”
The garden and architectural category is led by a 19th-century marble bench side support depicting a winged mythological creature, and an impressive pair of 19th-century marble Bacchanalian garden herms topped by carved busts of a satyr and nude maiden. Each herm stands 62 inches tall, and together they tip the scales at 1,000+ lbs. Formerly ensconced at a Southampton, N.Y., estate, the pair is estimated at $6,000-$9,000.
Other items of note include a John Wallace (1841-1905) landscape of a hilltop castle, a carved R.J. Horner partner’s desk with carved griffin legs ($3,000-$5,000), 18th-century ecclesiastical vestments, and a chic F.V. Manti (Italian) 18K
