NEW YORK — Bonhams will offer Important Studio Glass from the Collection of Dr. Anthony Terrana in the June 14 20th Century Decorative Arts auction at the Madison Avenue salesroom. Comprised of 23 impressive works created by some of today’s most gifted, innovative and influential artists in this burgeoning collecting field, this notable group inspires the mind with its exploration of the modern-day treatment of glass.

2013 marks the 51st anniversary of the birth of the American Studio Glass movement – a phenomenon which has brought glassmaking from the domain of factory craftsmen into the realm of artists working individually in studios, shattering the boundaries of traditional glassmaking.  Artists who continue to propel this art form, including William Morris, Dan Dailey, Michael Glancy and Paul Stankard, are well represented in the Terrana Collection.

Prominent amid this exceptional assemblage are four important glass sculptures by William Morris. Zhejiang Man (est. $180,000-240,000), from the artist’s seminal 2001 Man Adorned series, is a powerful and haunting life-size figural sculpture imbued with anthropological lore that has never been seen at auction before.  Another rare masterwork being offered is Sable Antelope Canopic Jar (est. $80,000-120,000), acquired directly from Morris’s own collection.  Created in 1995, this striking covered vessel, with its exquisite and highly realistic animal form lid, fuses the artist’s fascination with ancient Egyptian funerary jars with his superlative skills as a glassblower.  Suspended Petroglyph Urn with Horn, created in 1994 (est. $45,000-65,000), and Lechwe Situla, a sculpture modeled as an antelope head, from 2000 (est. $25,000-30,000) round out the selection.

Other auction highlights include Florentine Continuum, an electroplated two part glass sculpture by Michael Glancy (est. $15,000-20,000),  Nantucket Bouquet, a nine part assemblage box by master paperweight glass artist Paul Stankard (est. $20,000-30,000), and Flying Goats, a bronze-mounted glass vase from the Circus Series by Dan Dailey (est. $18,000-24,000). 

“Dr. Terrana’s private collection is one of the most impressive, and finely curated groupings of Contemporary Studio Glass I have ever seen,” remarked Frank Maraschiello, Bonhams Director of 20th Century Decorative Arts. “It is very exciting to offer a collection that embodies the versatility, beauty and conceptual potential of Contemporary Glass.”

Bonhams has, since 2007, held the world record for highest auction price achieved for a single work of Contemporary Studio Glass at $480,000, for Stanislav Libensky & Jaroslava Brychtova's monumental Green Eye of the Pyramid.

Bonhams will offer Dr Terrana’s private collection of Contemporary Studio Glass in the upcoming June 14 20th Century Decorative Arts auction in New York. The collection will preview at Bonhams from June 8-14.

A fully illustrated catalog will be available in the coming weeks at www.bonhams.com/auctions/20976/.

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