CRANSTON, R.I. – A trio of rare, early 20th century Tiffany Studios floor and table lamps from a private collection out of Houston, Texas, knocked down for a combined $260,400 (including the buyer’s premium) at an Estate Antiques & Fine Art Auction held September 22nd by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers, online and in the Bruneau gallery located at 63 Fourth Avenue in Cranston.

It was an eclectic sale, with more than 450 lots in many categories, pulled from prominent estates and collections, plus the contents of the Pawtucket, Rhode Island Preservation Society Joseph Spaulding House. “It was an amazing sale with action on the floor, online and over the phone around the country,” said Bruneau & Co. company president and auctioneer Kevin Bruneau.

Remarkably, all three Tiffany Studios lamps sold to phone bidders. The three were as follows.

• An allover Dogwood floor lamp, circa 1910, 63 ½ inches tall with a 22 inch diameter shade consisting of variegated iridescent white Favrile glass petals with blue-green glass throughout on a molded onion pattern base; shade and base both impressed ($118,800).
• A blown glass table lamp with 20 inch diameter Poppy shade consisting of variegated blue, green, red and yellow Favrile glass with reticulated bronze overlay supported by a globular reticulated blown glass base, circa 1910, shade and base impressed ($112,800).
• A Crocus Pine Needle table lamp, crafted around 1915 and having a Crocus shade consisting of deeply contrasted amber-gold and green Favrile glass supported by a Pine Needle pattern bronze base, 21 ½ inches tall, with shade and base impressed ($28,800).

“After the last selection of Tiffany in a prior auction, I was honored to be able to handle a second collection with such unique qualities,” Bruneau said. It was truly a joy to put this sale together.

Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. specialist and auctioneer, echoed that sentiment. “It was a thrill to hammer down such great items and to see such interest in the Chinese famille rose vase and celadon censer. You never know what something will bring when it crosses the auction block.”

The vase and censer he referred to were the star lots of the Asian category. The Chinese Qing Dynasty baluster form pink ground Yangcai famille rose vase, decorated with an allover lotus flower and tendril pattern with powder blue bats and figural elephant form handles, gaveled for $15,000. The underside of the lovely, 12-inch-tall vase bore an underglaze Qianlong seal mark.

The Chinese Qing Dynasty celadon tripod censer bowl, shallow in form and measuring 7 ¾ inches in diameter, changed hands for $12,500. It was decorated with a foliate and tendril pattern supported by tapered feet. The underside of the bowl had an impressed Qing Dynasty seal mark.

Following are additional highlights from the auction. The online bidding was facilitated by bidLIVE.Bruneauandco.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Bidsquare.com. Phone and absentee bids were also taken. All prices quoted include a sliding scale buyer’s premium.

The auction opened with a pair of vintage Ford automobiles. Lot 2, a 1922 Ford Model T wood body depot hack truck with green painted fenders and hood, a wood panel body and vinyl roof, and an inline four-cylinder engine, chugged away for $15,000. The smart-looking car had had a fairly recent restoration and showed off a nicely finished body and detailed engine compartment.

Lot 1 – a 1929 Ford Model A standard closed cab pick-up truck, with two-tone green and black paint, vinyl roof and wood-lined bed and side rails – found a new owner for $9,375. The vehicle, out of the collection of a Massachusetts lady, sported an inline four-cylinder engine that had been upgraded with modern oil filter, spark plug and points, for convenience and a fast turn-key start.

An etching by John James Audubon (Haitian-American, 1785-1851), of the Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers, plate 66 from the Birds of America Double Elephant folio (Robert Havell first edition, London, 1829) soared to $46,250. The signed aquatint and hand-colored etching on wove paper of a male and female ivory-billed woodpeckers was 38 ¾ inches by 25 ¾ inches.

A painted metal audio-kinetic ball machine sculpture by George Rhoads (Illinois/N.Y., b. 1926), 48 ½ inches tall, an early example of Rhoads’s work, finished at $5,625. The machine contained an intricately layered downward track with coils, cyclone forms and xylophone-like mid-section striking 26 cascading notes. Along its path the ball would strike 12 metallic painted wind chimes.

An original color poster by Arthur Wesley Dow (Mass./N.Y., 1857-1922), for the French magazine Modern Art, of a post-impressionist landscape, for Le Maitres de l’affiche (1897), realized $4,688. The artwork, signed lower left, was 25 inches by 19 ¼ inches (framed), with an archival mat and frame. Modern Art was edited by J.M. Bowles and published by L. Prang & Co.

Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers has two major auctions planned for the balance of the year. These will include an antiques and fine art auction on Saturday, November 24th; and a sale dedicated to comics, toys and collectibles on Saturday, December 1st. Both auctions will be held online and in the Cranston, R.I., gallery. See the website for further information, at www.bruneauandco.com.

To learn more about Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers and the firm’s calendar of upcoming auctions, visit www.bruneauandco.com. To contact the company via e-mail, use info@bruneauandco.com.

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