Date: Fri 11-Dec-1998
Date: Fri 11-Dec-1998
Publication: Ant
Author: DONNAM
Quick Words:
Cincinnati
Full Text:
Cincinnati Post Sale
(with 5 cuts)
CINCINNATI, OHIO -- Cincinnati Art Galleries held its first-ever Holiday Sale
of Rookwood and American and European Art Pottery on Sunday, November 8, at
the Cincinnati Club Building.
More than 475 pieces of art pottery were sold, including about 215 pieces of
Rookwood alone.
"We had a wonderful turnout, even better than expected," said gallery owner
Randy Sandler. "For our first November sale, we are very pleased."
The one-day sale was divided into two sections: Keramics and Rookwood. The
Keramics portion kicked things off with 128 pieces of Roseville, followed by
61 pieces of Weller and 81 lots of other American and European potteries,
including makers such as Amphora, Boch Freres, Bretby, Brush, Buffalo,
Clewell, Clifton, Cowan, Fulper, Gordy, Grueby, Hampshire, Hull, L. Hjorth,
Enke Ipsens, George Jones & Sons, Marblehead, Matt Morgan, Moorcroft, Newcomb,
Overbeck, Owens, Peters and Reed, Pigeon Forge, Raymor, Red Wing, S.E.G.,
Harris Strong, Wisecarver and Zsolnay.
Over 40 different lines of Roseville were represented, including pieces of
some of the more sought after lines such as Pine Cone, Falline, Baneda and
Sunflower. A blue Pine Cone wall pocket, which had generated a lot of pre-sale
interest, sold for $850. A Pine Cone floor vase, shape 913-18, in brown topped
out at $1,400, and a blue Pine Cone jardiniere, shape 402-8, and pedestal,
shape 406-10, set the auction high for Roseville at $2,600.
Roseville Falline had a strong showing. An 8¬ inch vase with a flaring body
and two loop handles hammered at $1,300 while a 6Ã inch, two-handled Falline
vase in brown brought down $700.
Baneda and Sunflower pieces tied for the second highest prices brought by
Roseville. A Baneda two-handled vase in green, shape 597-10, sold for $1,700
as did an unmarked 9Ã inch, two-handled Sunflower vase. A second Sunflower
vase with a repaired rim chip, shape 490-8, went for $1,000.
Two other Roseville pieces worthy of note were a 14Ã inch Pauleo vase in a
mottled rust and black low-lustre glaze and a 7-7/8 inch Fudji vase with Art
Nouveau designs slip-trailed over a tan clay body. Both ended up at $1,200.
Lawn and garden ornaments included Weller best sellers: three frogs and a dog.
A mat glaze Weller Terrier garden ornament, standing 10â¹ inches high with
minor repairs to the base sold for $2,200. Strumming a banjo and perched on a
lotus blossom, an uncommon 12¬ inch Coppertone Banjo Frog, also with a repair
(to the handle of the banjo), brought in $3,600. The pies-de-resistance,
however, was a very rare Coppertone ornament in the form of two dancing frogs,
which sold for $9,500, exceeding expectations.
Other potteries making a good showing include an Arts & Crafts marblehead vase
decorated with a band of stylized trees in green and brown on a mustard
background; a 3Ã inch squat Grueby vase with mottled green mat glaze; and a 6Ã
inch mat glaze carved and painted Newcomb Pottery vase done by Sadie Irvine in
1921. These three brought $1,700, $1,200 and $1,500, respectively.
Auctioneer Jay Karp then moved on to Rookwood. The first single-page piece in
the catalog, a large 1927 Vellum glaze vase by Ed Diers, shape 904B, sold for
$7,250.
Setting the auction high would be an elegant 14 inch iris glaze scenic also
featured on the catalog's cover. Done in 1911 by Kataro Shirayamadani, the
vase shows a silhouette of tall trees in the foreground through which
sailboats can be seen silently stealing over water under the peachy blush of
an evening sky. Despite small glaze flaws in the base of which rendered the
piece a second, it still brought $13,500.
An iris glaze floral by John Dee Wareham sold for $4,000. Dating from 1901,
this 11Ã inch piece was decorated with a single pale blue stalk of lilac
softly bent as if by an invisible breeze against a deep lavender background.
Some minor glaze inconsistencies and a pin point size abrasion account for
this piece also receiving the wheel ground "X".
Despite a small rim bruise and a descending â¹ inch line just below it, a
Kitaro Shirayamadani Vellum scenic would also sell for $4,000. The 15 inch
vase done in muted shades of green and apricot had the viewer peering through
a group of trees on a hillside at a lake nestled into the valley below.
One area of Rookwood in demand seems to be plaques. Said gallery director
Riley Humler, "Just a few years ago we had as many as 20 plaques in one
auction. They're really becoming hot items and difficult to find."
A Vellum glaze rendering of Mt Ranier by Ed Diers, estimated prior to the
auction at $4,000 to $6,000, brought $9,500. Uncrazed and nicely detailed, the
12-by-9 inch plaque dating from 1927 looks up at Ranier across a misty lake
lying at the foot of the mountain.
Another Rookwood piece exceeding expectations was a standard glaze portrait of
a Native American girl done in 1898 by Artus Van Briggle. This 8 inch vase was
of particular note because not only did Rookwood produce relatively few Native
American portraits, only a handful of them ever depicted woman or children. It
brought $7,250.
The line of animal and figural shaped paperweights and bookends known as
"critters" included a rare polychromed ladybug paperweight made in 1937 with
the nursery rhyme "Ladybug, Ladybug" incised on the bottom, estimated at
$600/800, sold at $1,400.
A set of 5â¹ inch, rust-colored Indian head bookends designed by William
McDonald, among the rarest production sets ever made by Rookwood, despite a
repair to two feathers, went for $3,000.
The last "big ticket" item of the day was actually only 7Ã inches high: A high
glaze Venetian harbor scenic from 1923 by Carl Schmidt surpassed its high
estimate by about $700 to sell at $4,700. This uncrazed piece was a fine
example of Schmidt's work picturing boats with multi-colored sails, men on the
decks, and several birds flying overhead.
In all, only 22 lots failed to sell, with the auction totalling nearly
$400,000.
Prices quoted do not include a ten percent buyers premium. Cincinnati Art
Galleries is now taking consignments for Rookwood IX and Keramics 1999 in June
and for its next Holiday Sale in November. For information, 513/381-2128.