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Cottone Auctions held a Fine Art & Antiques sale yesterday, March 23, 2019. Included in the sale was a nice selection of Tiffany Studios lamps and glass and one very nice Daum Nancy vase. Following is a review of those items.

A Tiffany Studios 22″ diameter Bamboo table lamp, lot #55, sold a little below its estimate of $75,000 – $125,000, realizing $85,550, including buyer’s premium. The result appeared weak, as bamboo lamps have sold for considerably more at the major NYC auction houses.

A very nice Tiffany Studios 9″ Favrile Cypriote vase, lot #58, sold for a good price, within its estimate of $20,000 – $40,000, realizing $36,580, including buyer’s premium.

Other Tiffany Studios objects did well. A very fine 7″ deep blue Favrile lamp sold for $16,520 (lot #59); an unusual 14″ diameter Arrowroot table lamp sold for $61,950 (lot #60); and a red Art Deco desk set sold for $15,930 (lot #70).

There was only one Daum Nancy vase in the sale, but it was a good one — a nice Fall scenic, 9¾” tall. It sold within its estimated range of $7,000 – $10,000, realizing $10,620, including buyer’s premium. Unfortunately I was unprepared to bid at the auction because we had just returned from vacation, but I probably would not have bought this vase as the price was a bit too high for a dealer.

The complete results can be found by clicking here. You will have to sign into LiveAuctioneers to see the prices.

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.

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We are just finishing our trip to Argentina and Chile. Everywhere we went, I was reminded of the role of nature in the works of American and French companies from the Art Nouveau period.

Lapageria rosea, known locally as Chilean bellflower or Copihue, is the national flower of Chile. We found this exceptionally beautiful flower on a walk through a nature reserve near Pucón, Chile. My first thought was that it’s the same size and shape as a Tiffany Studios lily shade, even more so than real lily flowers.

The same day we came across a beautiful rocky river, which immediately reminded me of one of Handel’s most beautiful lamps.

Small wonder that I love Art Nouveau.

BTW, if you’re wondering where to go for your next adventure, I suggest the Patagonia region of Argentina and the lake and volcanoes area of Chile. You can drive from one to the other in a few hours. Great food and hotels are dirt cheap on the Argentine side and a little more expensive on the Chilean side, but still quite reasonable. You’ll thank me!

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.

No new post this Monday. We’re on vacation.

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It’s not often that Tiffany Studios lamps are sold at auction in Europe. So I was surprised that a French auction house, Tajan, was selling one, a Tiffany Lotus lamp, at their sale in Paris last November 20, 2018. The final sale price of €93,600 ($106,122), including buyer’s premium, easily exceeded the pre-sale estimate of €40,000 – €60,000.

But was it a good price compared to what it might have brought if it had sold at a major American auction house? Not if you look at the result of a fairly recent Sotheby’s New York sale, Tiffany: Dreaming in Glass, December 13, 2017. A green example sold for $375,000, against a pre-sale estimate of $120,000 – $180,000.

So the way I see it, one of two things happened. Either someone got a great deal on an authentic lamp or got ripped off on a reproduction. I wasn’t there to inspect the lamp, so I have no idea. I can only hope it was the former.

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No shows until October 20, 2022, when we’ll exhibit at the Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show. Two weeks later we’ll exhibit at the Antiques + Modernism Show in Winnetka, IL, starting on November 4, 2022.