Morphy Auctions, Denver, PA, held a Fine & Decorative Arts sale on July 14-15, 2020. Day 1 was a general auction with watches, silver, paintings and orientalia. Day 2 was more interesting for me with art glass and lamps, among other items. Following are a few of the more interesting results from Day 2. Sales totaled over $3.3 million for the entire sale.
An attractive, but not killer, Tiffany Studios 17″ diameter Dragonfly table sold for $44,100, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $20,000 – $30,000, a nice result. I tried to buy it, but it was just out of range for a dealer, but not for a collector.
Morphy offered a very nice selection of Handel reverse-painted table lamps. The top lot of the group, #2165, a Poppy, multi-floral lamp sold for $30,750, at the low end of the $25,000 – $40,000 estimate. Unfortunately the Handel market peaked decades ago, with values today at about 35-50% of the peak. They’re just as beautiful today as they were then, just not as valuable.
There was a dearth of good French cameo glass at the sale, so not much to report there. In the American glass category, a very nice Tiffany Favrile paperweight vase sold just below its low estimate of $10,000, realizing $10,455, including buyer’s premium.
Morphy sold quite a few English cameo glass perfume bottles. The star of this section of the sale was lot #2012, a Webb laydown bottle in the form of a falcon. It sold well above its high estimate of $4,000, realizing $7,380, including buyer’s premium.
Included in the sale was a large, high-quality collection of Amphora pottery. The top lot of this section of the sale went to #2392, an important Dragon vase. It sold for almost 5 times its high estimate of $8,000, realizing $40,590, including buyer’s premium. That had to put a smile on the consignor’s face.
For the complete results of the sale click here.