Jules Barbe English Cameo vase

Dudley Browne, the expert in charge of the Glass & Lamp division at James D. Julia, Inc., drives thousands and thousands of miles each year to gather the items that are consigned to the sale.  This year he was lucky to get some great English Cameo glass.  It appeared to be one private collection because of the high quality of the offerings, but accordingly to Dudley, the English glass came in in dribs and drabs from various consignors.  The quality was high and the estimates reasonable, so there was real action and strong prices resulted.    That was a big surprise to me because English Cameo Glass has been relatively weak for the last 30 years.  It seemed only the highest quality pieces, such as those by George or Thomas Woodall, brought very strong prices.

I really know my glass but wasn’t familiar with the first lot of English Cameo Glass, a vase by Jules Barbe.  Apparently the bidders were, as the vase was estimated at $8-12,000 and sold for $21,500 + 15% premium.  The action was mainly from the telephones, but several in-house bidders participated.  Several English Cameo lamps followed, with most exceeding the high estimate and one beauty with an amethyst background (so rare that I’ve never seen it before) selling for almost twice the high estimate at $15,000 + premium.

That was followed by a large grouping of vases, a basket and perfumes.   Most sold within or above their estimates, with one exceptional Webb vase, white on blue with a dragonfly, almost doubling its high estimate, realizing $11,250 + premium.

Tomorrow I’ll cover the French Cameo glass at the same auction.