Date: Fri 05-Feb-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Constable-Sloan's

Full Text:

Constable Canvas At Sloan's

(with 2 cuts)

BETHESDA, MD. -- Sloan's Auction Galleries kicked off 1999 with a three-day

estate auction conducted January 22-24. Paintings, furniture, decorative arts,

silver, rugs and jewelry totaled over $1.4 million.

"Aggressive bidding" was the name of the game as prices on several items from

each department far exceeded presale estimates.

Highlighting paintings was an oil on canvas by the well-known English artist

John Constable, an open landscape entitled "Hampstead Heath, Looking Towards

London." When the hammer fell, the 13¬ by 20-inch work had sold for $442,500,

far exceeding its presale estimate.

American paintings also sparked much interest including an oil by Harper

Pennington entitled "Nocturne," reflecting James Abbott McNeill Whistler's

influence on Pennington's work. The painting brought $18,975, more than

doubling its presale estimate.

Other American works included several still-life paintings from the estate of

George J. McDonald, a well-known Washington, D.C. collector. An Andrew John

Henry Way entitled "Oysters and Beer" sold for $9,775; three oils by Bryant

Chapin, "Six Plums," "Five Apples" and "Raspberries in Basket," brought

$6,900, $5,750 and $4,600 respectively; a landscape, "Sandland in Winter

(Sandland's Evening Song)" by Frank Virgil Dudley (est $3/4,000) sold for

$26,450 (also from the McDonald estate); and an oil on panel, entitled

"Twilight," by Dwight William Tryon, sold for $13,800.

Prints and Asian art included "A Map of Kentucky Drawn from Actual

Observations," 1793, by John Filson, which brought $4,300; a Thomas Hart

Benton lithograph, "The Race (Homeward Bound)," which reached $4,600; and an

Eighteenth Century Japanese School four-panel screen, ink and color on paper,

entitled "Ceremonial Hunt," which rang up $4,600.

Furniture was highlighted by a Regency William IV mahogany breakfront cabinet

bookcase, circa 1820, which surpassed expectations. As assured by its stylish

design and superior craftsmanship, competition ran high. The bookcase sold for

$63,250 (est $6/8,000).

An Eighteenth Century Dutch rococo walnut and marquetry longcase musical

clock, with engraved brass dial, spandrels painted with putti emblematic of

the seasons, a lunette with a mythological orchestra, claw and ball feet,

floral marquetry, playing six airs, brought $20,700.

An American classical marble-top and gilt bronze mounted mahogany pier table

from New York City, first quarter Nineteenth Century, sold for $8,050. This

piece, also from the estate of George McDonald, was exhibited at the Hunt

Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh,

in 1984, as the work of Duncan Phyfe.

Decorative arts were best illustrated by a Rookwood Art Pottery vase (circa

1901) and an American cotton quilt (circa 1840), both selling for more than

their presale estimates.

The vase, by Albert Valentein, more than quadrupled in its estimate of

$3/4,000, selling for $18,400. The large collection of quilts from the Hess

and Cox families of Morgantown and Shinnston, W. Va., brought strong interest.

The American cotton quilt, with its 12 calico red and pink rose applique

pattern on ivory squares, made by Dora Ann Cox on the occasion of her

granddaughter's wedding, sold for $5,750.

Silver, jewelry and rugs were highlighted by a Chinese Peking carpet,

approximately 12 feet by 11'7", which reached $13,800. All sale prices include

buyer's commission.