On Saturday, February 6th, Treadway Toomey Auctions held the first in a series of four single-owner sales scheduled for 2016: A Passion for Collecting: Fine Timepieces, Erotica and Decorative Arts – Part I, from the Estate of Candice B. Groot. Ms. Groot was an artist, teacher, philanthropist and passionate collector; she painstakingly assembled her eclectic collection over 30 years through travels and purchases from both auction houses and dealers worldwide. Proceeds from these auctions will benefit the Virginia A. Groot Foundation, a nonprofit arts organization founded by Ms. Groot.

The sale began with aggressive competition over 25 lots of lover’s eyes: small portrait miniatures of eyes set in jewelry and given to loved ones from the Georgian and Victorian periods. The lots combined brought more than $72,000; with the top lot being a heart locket bracelet selling for $7,930. A hidden lover’s eye ring with a serpent achieved $6,710 and a brooch set with garnets and diamonds realized $4,575.

Following the success of the lover’s eyes came fine timepieces from the 18th to 21st centuries, many of which were erotic in nature. The top lot of this session was a rare concealed erotic enameled and gem inset gold pocket watch by James Cox of London, circa 1775. The watch sold for $73,200, while a diminutive example by the same maker brought $10,980.

A rare clock from 1836 by J.F. Houdin had eight phone bidders, activity online and interested bidders in the room. The clock exceeded the high estimate by six times, finally falling at $48,800. Other pocket watches of note included an example titled Warrior’s Rest, $32,940; a Russian watch by Paul Buhre, $29,280; and one with a barking dog sold for $19,520. In addition, an erotic automated wristwatch depicting Bill Clinton with Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones, titled President’s Activities, ultimately sold for $12,500.

The auction room fell silent when two lots of historically important taxidermy tableaux, by the famous Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter, reached nearly $300,000. Two bidders on the phone quickly escalated the biding by jumping increments in excess of $10,000. In the end, each bidder was successful in securing one of the lots

The sale also included several 19th to 21st century automata, including a smoking gentleman by the great Gustave Vichy, which sold for the low estimate at $10,000. A contemporary example by Thomas Kuntz, titled Torquemada's Nocturna, brought in more than double the high estimate at $9,760.

The next auction from the Estate of Candice B. Groot is Fire and Form: Fine Art & Ceramics, which will be held on April 16th. The sale will offer one of the most important and comprehensive collections of modern and contemporary ceramics to come to auction. The collection includes the most significant group of works by American sculptor Robert Arneson, with examples spanning the artist’s entire career. Other highlights from this sale include works by Ken Price, Beth Cavener Stichter, Vija Celmins, Ruth Duckworth, Jun Kaneko, Jan Fabre, Katsura Funakoshi, Diane Arbus, Ron Nagle, Deborah Butterfield, Peter Voulkos and Donald Roller Wilson.

For more information on all of our upcoming auctions, please visit: http://www.johntoomeygallery.com/ or http://www.treadwaygallery.com