Grogan & Company’s October 23rd auction will feature the auction house’s distinctive selection of high quality items across all collection genres, including paintings, works on paper, sculpture, jewelry, silver, decorative arts, Asian export, and Oriental carpets.

The sale begins with an offering of 27 works from the Collection of Rita & Peter Heydon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. As lovers of felines, the Heydons built a strong collection of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper depicting cats, the majority of which are on offer in this sale. Highlights from their collection include two charming oils by Henriette Ronner-Knip (Dutch/Belgian, 1821-1909) as well as works by Charles van den Eycken II (Belgian, 1859-1923), Julius Adam II (German, 1852-1913), and Louis Eugene Lambert (French, 1825-1900).

Two striking large-sale portraits headline the fine art section of the sale. One, by the German artist Carl Hofer (1878 – 1955), is titled “Brot & Wein” and is estimated at $100,000-150,000. The work, which depicts a man sitting at a table cutting into a loaf of bread, is a strong representation of Hofer’s mature period that reflects the dueling influences that El Greco and Cezanne had on the artist’s oeuvre. The work comes to auction from the collection of a Massachusetts artist and his wife, who purchased the piece from the German sculptor Waldemar Raemisch in the late 1950s.

The other leading portrait in the auction, by the Spanish artist Raimundo de Madrazo Y Garreta (1841-1920), depicts the beautiful Mary Brewster Jennings (1871-1964), wife of New York financier Oliver Gould Jennings. The work, estimated at $50,000-100,000, has been in the Jennings family since it was painted. From the same family also come two interior scenes by Walter Gay (American, 1856-1937). Mrs. Jennings purchased Gay’s “Tapisseries Roses” from Wildenstein Gallery in 1920 and immediately thereafter commissioned Gay to paint several scenes of her stately Fifth Avenue home, including the depiction of her library offered in this sale. Each Gay painting is estimated at $20,000-40,000.

Other fine art highlights include several strong European works, including a likely 17th century still life in the Manner of Antonio de Pereda (Spanish, 1611-1678) from the family of noted German collector Benoit Oppenheim, estimated at $5,000-7,000, a bronze of an acrobat by German Expressionist Max Beckmann (1884-1950) with an estimate of $50,000-100,000, and a Jean-Leon Gerome (French, 1824-1904) bronze of Mary Magdalene with an estimate of $30,000-50,000.

A charming watercolor of a Venetian scene by Maurice Prendergast (American, 1858-1924) with an estimate of $20,000-30,000 leads the offerings of American fine art. Other American artists represented in the sale include John Whorf, Romare Bearden, Mabel Woodward, William Lester Stevens, Charles Woodbury, Robert Bruce Crane, Ben Shahn, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Two important estates headline the jewelry portion o the sale: the estates of Marian Taylor Young of New York, New York and of Mrs. F.C. “Pit” Dumaine, Jr. of Weston, Massachusetts. Marian Young Taylor (1908-1973) was best known as the radio personality, Martha Dean, the “First Lady of Radio.” Highlights from her collection include an old European-cut diamond solitaire ring weighing 2.75 cts. and estimated at $7,000-9,000, a Retro Raymond Yard yellow gold compact with a diamond and ruby clasp estimated at $2,500-3,500, and a pair of Tiffany & Company yellow gold, diamond, and sapphire earclips estimated at $1,000-1,500.

Mrs. F.C. Dumaine, Jr., known to family and friends as “Pit”, was wife of American railroad executive “Buck” Dumaine, Jr. The selection of her fine jewelry is being sold to benefit The Jonathan Edward Brooking Memorial Fund for Mental Health Research at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. The fund was founded in 1985 by Mrs. Dumaine in memory of her grandson, Jonathan Edward Brooking. Highlights from her collection include a custom Retro Raymond Yard gold, diamond, and sapphire brooch estimated at $3,000-5,000, an Art Deco Tiffany & Company platinum and diamond bar brooch estimated at $5,000-7,000, and a pair of Oscar Heyman gold, diamond, and sapphire earclips estimated at $4,000-6,000.

Other highlights from the jewelry portion of the sale include a 4.37 carat D, Internally Flawless emerald-cut diamond that was discovered set in the center of an Art Deco brooch. The diamond bears a $40,000-60,000 estimate. An 18k yellow gold and diamond Van Cleef & Arpels “Lotus” ring will be offered at $12,000-18,000. The auction also includes two Art Nouveau pieces by Louis Comfort Tiffany: a yellow gold and black opal ring with a grape leaf motif is being offered with an estimate of $3,000-5,000 and a yellow gold, peridot, and plique-a-jour brooch bears the same estimate.

The sale concludes with about 100 lots of silver, decorative arts, and rugs. Silver highlights include several lots of Russian silver gilt and enamel pieces, a Georg Jensen Silver Fish Service, pattern no. 55, ca. 1914, estimated at $5,000-8,000, and an American Silver Tankard made by American silversmith Benjamin Burt with an estimate of $5,000-10,000. A ca. 1900 Louis Majorelle Inlaid Art Nouveau Etagere leads the decorative arts and furniture portion of the sale with an estimate of $4,000-6,000, while other highlights include a Louis Vuitton Wardrobe Trunk bearing an estimate of $5,000-7,000 and a Tiffany Studios Patinated Bronze “Volcano” Humidor, estimated at $4,000-6,000.

For more information and to view the illustrated online catalogue, please visit www.groganco.com. The auction will be held at Grogan & Company’s Beacon Hill gallery at 12 noon on Sunday, October 23rd. The sale exhibition will open to the public on Thursday, October 20th at 12 noon.