Tag Archives: Clarke Auction Gallery

Clarke Auction Gallery sells rare Tiffany Studios chandelier for $102,000 on April 15th, 2012

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My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.

Clarke Auction Gallery, of Larchmont, NY, held a diversified auction on April 15, 2012, with a number of high quality lots. The auction went well, with a rare Tiffany Studios chandelier leading the way.

Rare Tiffany Studios chandelier sold at Clarke's

The chandelier came from a local Garrison, NY home, where it had hung for 30 years. It was a fancy variation with a row of turtleback tiles at the top and six suspended tulip shades. By auction day, the stage was set for a good show. The chandelier was fresh to the market, high quality, fairly estimated, and well advertised. It should have sold well, and it did. After spirited bidding from the audience and the telephones, the chandelier easily exceeded its pre-sale estimate of $60,000 – $80,000 to sell for $102,000, including buyer’s premium. I wouldn’t be surprised if it sold to a dealer, because it’s worth $150,000+ to the right buyer.

Tiffany Studios 16-inch diameter Colonial table lamp

Also in the sale were several more Tiffany Studios items, including a 16″ diameter Tiffany Studios Colonial table lamp. It sold for $9,600, including buyer’s premium – a high wholesale price.

Large Camille Fauré vase

Also in the sale was a fine, large, Art Deco Camille Fauré enamel on copper vase from France. In keeping with the strength in the Fauré market the last few years, it sold for $5,760, including buyer’s premium — another high wholesale price.

For a review of the highlights of the sale, click on the following link and scroll down the page. Clarke Auction Gallery highlights.

Our next show won’t be until July, but we’ll still be very much in business (except for a two week well-deserved vacation). Don’t hesitate to call or write, and let me know what you’d like to buy, sell, or trade.

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A rare, fantastic Daum Nancy vase with penguin decoration

Look around my website. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. I regularly add Tiffany vases, lamps and desk accessories, as well as French cameo glass by Galle and Daum Nancy and Louis Icart etchings. Here’s the link. chasenantiques.com

Consignors hit the jackpot with two Jasper Cropsey paintings at Clarke Auction Gallery, May 15, 2011

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Jasper Cropsey, Prospect Point, Niagara Falls in Winter, Clarke lot #234

Clarke Auction Gallery of Larchmont, NY, held an auction on May 15, 2011, that likely changed the lives of some of its consignors. Two paintings by New York artist Jasper Cropsey were sold for a total of $822,000. Not bad for two ignored paintings from the wall of the basement rec room.

This is the kind of story that shows like Antiques Roadshow thrive on – forgotten items that could easily have been thrown in the garbage but instead turn out to be treasures. Here’s the story in a nutshell – mother dies, children clean up, children go to appraisal clinic, paintings go to auction, children hit the jackpot. The details are what make the story interesting.

The two paintings were removed from the mother’s basement wall, where they had hung since the 1920s. Likely, the mother received them as a gift or payment for seamstress work from one of her wealthy Manhattan clients. One of the cleanup helpers offered to purchase the paintings for $125, which was refused. The paintings were then brought to an appraisal clinic set up by the Larchmont Historical Society at Clarke Auction Gallery. Their appraiser didn’t think much of them, deeming them of little value. The auctioneer, Ronan Clarke, intervened, thinking they could be good. He took them to Newington Cropsey Foundation, where one of the paintings, “Prospect Point, Niagara Falls in Winter”, was authenticated with help from a pencil sketch for the painting found at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The second painting, “Autumn in America”, was a known Cropsey work that had been missing since the 1860s.

“Prospect Point, Niagara Falls in Winter” was the first painting to come to the auction block with the following description.

Lot#: 234
Description: CROPSEY, Francis Jasper. O/C “Prospect Point,
Niagara Falls in Winter.” N.D., after 1856. Signed lower left. As featured in the April 6, 2011 New York Times. Authenticated by the Newington-Cropsey Foundation and to be included in the Cropsey catalog raisonné. 1856 preliminary sketch (see photo) courtesy of the Boston Museum of Fine Art archives. As found in a West Hartford, Connecticut home. Dimensions: 15″ high x 24″ wide.
Estimate: 40,000.00 – 60,000.00

Bidding started at $50,000 and rapidly soared to the final price of $540,500, including buyer’s premium. Although all of the phone lines had bidders, all of the action took place on the floor, with a New Jersey dealer competing against a Connecticut private collector. The collector won.

Jasper Cropsey, Autumn in America, Clarke lot #235

The next lot was “Autumn in America”, described as follows.

Lot#: 235
Description: CROPSEY, Francis Jasper. O/C “Autumn in America”
c. 1860. Signed lower right. From the series of “The Four Seasons.” As featured in the April 6, 2011 New York Times. Authenticated by the Newington-Cropsey Foundation and to be included in the Cropsey catalog raisonné. As found in a West Hartford, Connecticut home. Dimensions: 15″ high x 24″ wide.
Estimate: 40,000.00 – 60,000.00

It also opened at $50,000 and had the same active floor bidders. The final price of $282,000, including buyer’s premium, far exceeded its pre-sale estimate, but not with the same fireworks as the first painting — still a very strong result. This time the NJ dealer was the winner.

Kudos to the auctioneer for spotting, authenticating and selling the paintings.

Check out my new acquisitions. First is a vivid Daum fall scenic vase. Soon I’ll be listing a wonderful Tiffany Studios 7-light lily lamp with beautiful shades and a fine patina. Also coming soon will be several wonderful European ceramic items by Clement Massier, Zsolnay and Amphora. Here’s the link. chasenantiques.com