Dedham, Massachusetts -   Grogan and Company is pleased to announce their fall auction will be a two day affair held over Columbus Day weekend, October 13th and 14th.  The auction is comprised of a large selection of Fine Art, Jewelry, Silver, Furniture, Decorative Works of Art, and Rugs from various collections and estates throughout New England. 

The jewelry is set to take center stage with an impressive selection of rings, brooches, and bracelets from several prominent collections.  “We are so pleased to have our daughter, Lucy, join us to expand the jewelry department, states Nancy Grogan, Vice President, “I believe this is the largest assemblage of jewelry that Grogan and Company has put on the block in our twenty-five year history.”

One of the cornerstones of Sunday’s session is a collection of jewelry descended within the family of 19th century New York socialite, Adelaide Downey Hastings. Hastings was the daughter of John Downey, master builder for the Astors.   Highlights include a Platinum, Diamond, and Sapphire Bracelet, bearing an $8,000-12,000 pre-sale estimate, and a Black Starr & Frost Platinum, Diamond and Fancy Yellow Diamond Ring, estimated to bring $10,000-15,000.  An 18K Yellow and White Gold and Diamond Brooch from the collection of turn of the century Chicago socialite, Mrs. Everts Wrenn, is expected to fetch $10,000-15,000; while an Italian 18K Rose Gold and Micromosaic Bracelet, attributed to the Vatican School of Mosaics from the latter part of the 19th century, is estimated at $2,000-3,000. 

The auction will begin with a selection of over 130 paintings, prints, drawings, and sculpture.  Highlights include a Venetian Canal scene by American Impressionist and Massachusetts native, John Leslie Breck.  Breck created the oil on canvas while in Venice in 1897, a decade after he was introduced to and painted with Claude Monet in Giverny.  The painting, which bears a $20,000-30,000 estimate, was originally acquired from the artist by a Massachusetts lady and has descended in the same family since the turn of the century.   Four recently discovered works by Alexander Calder from a Cambridge friend of the artist will be featured amongst the Contemporary offerings.  An untitled gouache of spirals and moons, created in 1949, bears a presale estimate of $20,000-30,000.  An impressive site to behold is a set of five oil on canvas panels depicting Christ with the Four Evangelists, created in 1898 by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company of New York.  The set, which is estimated at $5,000-10,000, stands at approximately 100 inches tall and once graced the former Mount Vernon Church in Boston.  The panels were fortunately removed from the church in the mid-20th century before the church burned to the ground in the late 1970s.  The Tiffany Glass Company was reestablished as the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company in 1892.   

European highlights include a striking oil on canvas, View of Paris, by venerated French post-cubist painter Claude Venard.  Venard was a member of the Forces Nouvelles, an artistic movement born in 1936 that rejected Impressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism.   The colorful and graphic 38 x 51 inch oil is estimated at $15,000-25,000.   Sunday’s session will end with a selection of fine silver, including a rare Georg Jensen Silver Swan Bonbonniere designed by Johan Rohde, estimated at $1,500-2,500; an S. Kirk & Son Silver Presentation Ewer estimated at $3,000-5,000; and an extensive assemblage of Gorham flatware in the ‘Versaille’ pattern estimated at $6,000-10,000. 

Monday’s auction of Furniture, Decorative Work of Art, and Oriental Rugs features a circa 1790 Aaron Willard Mahogany Tall Case Clock with revolving moon phase dial and original fret work.  The clock hails from a prominent Nantucket family and once belonged to 19th century whaling ship captain Prince William Ewer.  Ewer’s portrait, which will be sold on Sunday, as well as that of his son Albert, are attributed to James Hathaway, Nantucket’s preeminent portraitist from 1832-1852.  A collection of fine furniture from a New York lady features a Fine Regency Carved Rosewood and Brass Credenza, estimate $7,000-10,000 and a Regency Mahogany Inlaid Leather Top Center Table, estimated at $5,000-7,000.  History buffs will delight in a 1794 shipping document bearing the original signature of our first President George Washington, as well as his Secretary of State Edmund Randolph.

The sale will be conducted in two sessions with the Fine Art, Jewelry, and Silver to be sold on Sunday, October 13th and Furniture, Decorative Works of Art, and Oriental Rugs to be sold on Monday, October 14th.  Both sessions begin at 12 noon.  Exhibition hours begin Thursday, October 10th.  Hours: Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday and Monday, 10 a.m. – 12 noon.  For a fully illustrated catalogue or more information about Grogan and Company's auction and appraisal services, please visit www.groganco.com or call 781.461.9500.