·         1100 Lot No Reserve Discovery Auction on Friday, April 20

·         750 Lot Estate Auction on Saturday, April 21

·         450 Lot No Reserve Jewelry, Silver, Couture, Coins and Currency Auction on Sunday, April 22

Lambertville, NJ   The Rago Arts and Auction Center will hold a no reserve Discovery Auction on Friday, April 20 to kick-off a three day auction marathon, April 20-22.  This 1,100+ lot Friday sale is followed by a 750+ Estate Auction on Saturday, April 21 and a 450 lot No Reserve Jewelry, Silver and Couture auction on Sunday, April 22.

“The Discovery Auction’s popularity has resulted in a huge sale for Friday and an extra day dedicated to good jewelry, silver, couture and coins on Sunday. Saturday’s Estate auction includes everything a really good Estate sale should: furnishings, decorative and fine art, rugs, silver, coins and currency, estate goods, fresh-to-the market collections priced to sell,” said Miriam Tucker, the Rago partner in charge of these sales. “It’s all online and telephone, absentee and online bidding are available for anyone unable to attend. There are bound to be some sleepers all three days.”

Auction Dates/Times

·          Discovery Auction: Friday, April 20 at 9 a.m.

·          Estate Auction: Saturday, April 21 at 10 a.m.

·          No Reserve Jewelry/Silver/Couture: Sunday, April 22 at 12 noon

Auction Exhibition/Preview

·          Saturday, April 14 – Tuesday, April 17, 12-5 p.m., Wednesday, April 18 – Thursday, April 19, 12-7 p.m., and by appointment. Doors open on Friday at 7:30 a.m. and on Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m.

·          Rago Open House: Wednesday, April 18, 6 p.m., featuring a talk by Philip Zimmerman, museum and decorative arts consultant and former Director of the Museum Collections Division at Winterthur. Please RSVP to raac@ragoarts.com or 609-397-9374 ext. 119. All are welcome. 

·          Rago’s is located midway between New York City and Philadelphia. Directions online at ragoarts.com. 

Catalogues

·          View complete catalogues with color images online at ragoarts.com as of March 30.

·          Estates Auction Catalogues are available for $20; Discovery, No Reserve Jewelry, Silver, Couture Auction printed lists are free.  Available by calling 609.397.9374 or emailing a request to info@ragoarts.com.  

Auction Contact Information

·          609-397-9374 or info@ragoarts.com

DISCOVERY AUCTION: FRIDAY, APRIL 20 AT 9 A.M.

All lots in the Discovery Auction are unreserved – the high bid, no matter the amount, wins the lot. The wide variety of chic and useful property from traditional through the 21st century, includes furnishings, decorative arts, lighting, fine art, Asian, art pottery, art glass, folk art, toys, country and traditional furnishings, Native American, rugs, and much more, many from famous makers and designers. Modern design by makers including Arne Jacobsen, Fritz Hansen, Arne Vodder, Charles & Ray Eames and George Nelson for Herman Miller, Charles Pollack for Knoll Associates, Dakota Jackson, Donald Deskey, Edward Wormley for Dunbar, Eero Aarnio, Eero Saarinen for Knoll Associates, Florence Knoll, Frank Lloyd Wright, Fritz Hansen, George Nakashima, Hans Wegner, Harry Bertoia, Harvey Probber, Heywood Wakefield, Isamu Noguchi for Herman Miller, Jacques Adnet, James Mont, Jens Risom, Le Corbusier for Cassina, Maitland Smith, Milo Baughman for Thayer Coggin, Mira Nakashima, Paul Frankl, Paul McCobb, Pierre Paulin, Richard Schultz, Roger Sprunger,  T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb, Thayer Coggin, Thonet, Tommi Parzinger, Verner Panton, Vladimir Kagan, Warren McArthur and more. Fine Art in the Discovery auction includes mixed media, oils, watercolors, prints, photography, drawings, sculpture and works on paper by artists such as: Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Jasper Johns, Keith Haring, Marc Chagall, Roy Lichtenstein, Shepard Fairey, Sol LeWitt, Alice Sotter, Arthur Wesley Dow, Elaine De Kooning, Frederick James Brown, George Petty, Irving B. Haynes, Victor Vasarely, William Douglas McGee, Marcel Breuer, Wolfgang Roth, Eugene Laurent, Dorothy Alden Morang, Kenneth Nunamaker, Alice Kent Stoddard, two prints by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and many more. Arts & Crafts design includes ceramicists such as Rookwood, Clewell, Fulper, Ohr, Weller, Legras, Loetz, North Dakota School of Mines, Roseville, Marblehead, Moorcroft, Royal Doulton, Van Briggle, Zsolnay.

ESTATES: SATURDAY, APRIL 21, AT 10 A.M.

The Estates auction features over 750 lots of traditional furnishings, Asian artifacts, fine art, porcelains and pottery, glass, coins and currency, noteworthy collectables including autographs, Native American items, and much more. There is Americana such as U.S. flags, powder horns, carousel horses, textiles, quilts, needlework; glass from Lalique, Tiffany, Loetz, Steuben, Galle; silver and hollowware from makers such as Grosjean & Woodward, Tiffany & Co., Gorham, Mauser Manuf & Co.; Reed & Barton and Wallace; pottery and porcelain from Royal Crown Derby, Rosenthal, Ernest Wahliss, a Wedgwood china service, Royal Dux, Limoges, Majolica, Doulton Lambeth, Royal Doulton, Teco;  Bronzes from Austria, Italy, France, Germany, Romania, Spain, Russia and the U.S., from artists including Affortunato Gori, Amadeo Gennarelli, Andre Laoust, Demetre Chiparus, Emmanuel Villanis, Ferdinand Preiss, Leonid Vladimirovich Posen, William Couper; over 140 lots of fine art by artists John Hagny, Rudolf Ernst, Henry Harewood Robinson, Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovsky, Carl Philip Weber, Ferry Beraton, John Hauser, Robert Ward Van Boskerck, Vitali Gavrilovich Tikhov, Philippe Jacob Sadee, Simeon Solomon, Andre Gisson, Manuel Viola, Romain de Tirtoff (Erte), Vladimir Donatovich Orlovskii; over 100 lots of Chinese and Japanese artifacts, such as ivory carvings, Foo dogs, Buddhas, urns, figures, palace vases, cloisonné,  watercolors, drawings, textiles, furnishings, a chess set, pottery and porcelains, netsukes, silk robes; Native American/tribal items include historical photographs, a pipe bag, a burl bowl, Hopi Kachina, Navajo weavings, Oil paintings, bronzes, baskets, cigar store statues, posters, rugs, pipes, masks. Other items include autographed books, rifles, powder horns, U.S. flags, Lionel trains, medals, folk art, a coke machine, a ships wheel, bisque dolls, and fireplace accessories.  There is a hooked rug depicting an equestrian, one of a small number still in existence by artist Mary Smyth Perkins Taylor. There is Georgian, Edwardian, Federal, English and French traditional/continental furnishings, including several lots of custom mahogany pieces by Henkel Harris for Virginia Galleries; Chippendale pieces such as a Philadelphia card table; Louis XV style settee, curio cabinets, tables, armchairs; Windsor chairs, a spool cabinet, Victorian rococo music cabinet, and much more.  There are several lots of ephemera from the family of Franklin Murphy, Civil War veteran and 31st governor of New Jersey, who was related to Archbishop Doane, William Burnet Kinney and other prominent New Jersey families. The Franklin family played prominently in defining the Newark area and New Jersey.

COINS AND CURRENCY IN ESTATES:  SATURDAY, APRIL 21, AT 10 A.M.

Kicking-off the Estate Auction will be a 45+ lot sale of coins/currency, in an array of values and genre, featuring several exceptional and highly sought after examples. Punctuated by a small but select group of fine American Currency from a local collector.  This group represents some of the most beautiful and rarest examples known. They are of extremely high grade with population reports from major grading services, cumulatively under 20.  Also featured are gold coins, Buffalo nickels, commemorative sets, Carson City silver dollars, Lambertville New Jersey national currency, U.S. half dollars, silver dollars, Franklin half dollars, gold bullions, Morgan Dollars, Peace Dollars and more.

NO RESERVE JEWELRY/SILVER/COUTURE: SUNDAY, APRIL April 22 AT 12 NOON

This 450 lot unreserved sale contains fine jewelry, silver and couture, and coins and currency. Jewelry from antique to contemporary, precious and semi-precious gems, gold, silver and platinum, and select costume pieces, many by famous makers such as David Andersen, Georg Jensen, David Webb, Tiffany & Co., David Yurman, Judith Ripka, Limoges, Paul Von Ringelheim, Marci Zelmanoff and Mikimoto. Silver and silver plate tea sets, compotes, candlestands, flatware, and other useful and decorative items by makers such as Gorham, Tiffany & Co., Wallace, Towle, International, S. Kirk & Sons, Reed and Barton, Georg Jensen and other Danish, American Arts & Crafts, Cartier, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, novelties and smoking accessories, Continental, hollowware, flatware and ladies vanity items. Couture includes handbags, belts and clothing from Chanel, Hermes, Judith Leiber, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Picasso, Dior and Armani. The sale contains gentleman’s watches and accessories, mineral specimens, modernist jewelry, Art Deco and Art Nouveau jewelry, Native American jewelry (Mexican, Navajo, Zuni, Asian, Hopi, Indo-Persian tribal), Victorian, Victorian style and rococo revival jewelry pieces include ornate and delicate works in gold and platinum, with diamonds, sapphires and other gems, carved coral pieces, lockets, cameos and a mourning brooch, Asian jewelry including jade, ivory, coral, Buddhist motifs, etc. The sale concludes with approximately forty lots of foreign and American coins, currency, proof sets, mint sets, tokens, metals, etc.  

Notes for the Editor

High-resolution images available.

Consignments Invited

Consignments are invited for the next Discovery Auction, to be held Friday, September 14, the next Estate Auction, to be held on Saturday, September 15, 2012 and all of Rago’s fall auctions, including 20th C. Design, Fine Art, Silver and Jewelry. 

About Rago Arts and Auction Center

Since 1994, Rago's has served thousands of sellers and buyers with a singular blend of global reach and personal service. Originally specialists in 20th century design, today Rago's expertise covers centuries of fine art, decorative arts, furnishings, jewelry and ethnographic property.  It is a world-class venue through which to buy and sell. It is also a destination for those who seek to learn and share knowledge about art, antiques and collecting, offering free valuations for personal property (from a single piece to collections and estates), appraisals and auction exhibitions in house and online. Rago's, the largest and leading auction house in New Jersey, is located midway between Philadelphia and New York.

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