French Paintings To Lead

Brunk’s September Sale

September 8–9 Auction Will Also Feature

English Silver & Puerto Rican Sculpture.

Lot 282

(1-1/2 col)

A 10½-inch Georg Jensen compote with marks for 1926 to 1932 ($4/8,000).

Lot 290

(1-1/2 col)

Jean Dufy’s signed oil on linen “L’ecuyere” ($15/25,000).

Lot 779

(2 col)

Edouard Leon Cortes signed oil on canvas “L’Arc de Triomphe” ($15/30,000).

Lot 947

(1 col)

Angel Botello (1913–1986), sculpture of Madonna, circa 1970 ($20/40,000).

MUST RUN 9/7

FRENCH PAINTINGS TO LEAD BRUNK’S SEPTEMBER SALE

#710726

SET 8/29 WD – 4 CUTS EMAILED

 

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Collectors of early Twentieth Century French fine art will be watching Brunk Auctions’ September 8–9 sale. Featured is a collection of 17 paintings, all oils, from a Delaware estate. Most were purchased at Phillips Galleries, Palm Beach, Fla.

Presale estimates for paintings by Elie Pavil, Gen Paul, Marcel Francois Leprin, Henri Farge, Marcel Cosson and Pierre de Belay are under $10,000. Exceptions belong to Jean Dufy’s “L’ecuyere” ($15/25,000), Vu Cao Dam’s “Le Poete” ($10/20,000) and Louis Valtat’s “Portrait de famille Valtat” ($10/20,000).

Two additional French oils are included in the sale — Edouard Leon Cortes’ “L’Arc de Triomphe” ($15/$30,000) and Andre Henri Dargelas’ painting of a boy and girl at play in a park ($6/12,000). The Dargelas dates from the third quarter of the Nineteenth Century; the Cortes from the 1930s.

“One of the best pieces of art in the sale is the bronze figure by Angel Botello,” said Brunk Auctions owner Bob Brunk. Bottelo’s “Madonna,” standing nearly 5 feet tall with a weathered green patina, was purchased directly from the artist in Puerto Rico, circa 1970. The signed Modernist sculpture is expected to bring $20/40,000.

Large caches of silver — more than 200 lots — are on the schedule. Trustees for the estate of the late Ruth Scott, a noted silver collector from Charlotte, N.C., consigned 31 lots of her English silver. Included are four Seventeenth Century English silver sweetmeat forks. The prominent mark is “PR” with a crown. The 43/8-inch forks are estimated at $2/4,000.

Other private collectors consigned five lots of Georg Jensen silver. The most exceptional is a 10½-inch compote with marks for 1926 to 1932 ($4/8,000).

Possibly the most dramatic silver lot is a Russian triptych by the firm of Khlebnikov, Moscow (active 1870–1918). The entire silver frame surrounding five hand painted saints and behind the left and right sections was covered with decorative blue, red and white enamel leaves, triangles and corner pieces. A Cyrillic inscription and the years “1885 X 1895” appear on the reverse of the center section, which was left without enamel. Brunk estimates the 131/16-by-9¾-inch (opened) triptych at $10/20,000.

Brunk’s Southern furniture collection leads off with a circa 1800 Northern Shenandoah Valley or Piedmont, Md., 7-foot, 5-inch walnut corner cupboard. The two arched doors, each with ten lights, are framed by arched and inlaid cove molding. At the keystone is a handsome inlaid bellflower. Hardware is probably original; backboards are undisturbed. The presale estimate is $15/20,000.

For furniture on a smaller scale, Brunk is offering 12 miniature rooms deaccessioned by Charleston’s Gibbes Museum. Three are of famous Southern interiors — the drawing room of the Nathaniel Russell House, Charleston, S.C.; the parlor of the Owens-Thomas House, Savannah, Ga.; and the drawing room of the Wilton-on-James House, Richmond, Va. Estimates on the rooms range from $1,500 to $3,000. Most are signed “W.H. Bowen” (William H. Bowen, 1924–1994, and Frances C. Bowen). The Gibbes chose Brunk Auctions because of its experience with similar room miniatures from the Sally Abney Rose collection in February 2007. At that sale, a miniature drawing room at Carter’s Grove, Williamsburg, Va., by R.L. Gutheil, John J. Hodgson and Doug Kirkland brought $19,550.

Brunk Auctions is at 117 Tunnel Road. For information, www.brunkauctions.com or 828-254-6846.