Dedham , MA-    On Sunday, May 20th,  Grogan and Company Fine Art Auctioneers’ Dedham gallery was teeming with collectors of fine art and antiques from across the globe.  The six hundred lot auction comprised of Paintings, Sculpture, Old Master drawings, Furniture, Decorative Works of Art, Oriental rugs, Jewelry and Silver from various estates and collections, grossed just under two million dollars.  “I was very pleased with the results,” remarked Grogan and Company’s president Michael B. Grogan, “The quality of the offerings was met enthusiastically with strong international participation.”  

      The highlight of the fine art selections was Josef Alber’s Homage to the Square, ‘Late Sound’.  The circa 1964 oil on masonite, which will be included in the catalogue raisonne of the artists work, sold to a private collector over the phone for $236,000. Still Life of Fruit, a 26 x 35 inch oil on canvas by another modern master, Austrian artist Anton Faistauer, soared beyond it’s $30,000-40,000 estimate to sell for $112,100 to an Austrian collector bidding by telephone.   A collection of Old Master Drawings from the Estate of Lawrence Maguire of Wellesley, generated an international buzz and featured a drawing of Christ holding an angle, catalogued as “Manner of Il Guercino”, which sold over the phone for $29,500, while two old master oils on panel from the same estate later sold to an Italian dealer in the room, also for $29,500.  Dutch artist Frederick Henrik Kaemmerer’s oil on canvas, Juene Fille Jaunt de la Harpe, sold for $16,520 (pre-sale estimate $6,000-8,000), while American artist Robert Koehler’s At the Café, an oil on panel exhibited at the 1893 World’s Fair, sold for $17,700 ($10,000-20,000 pre sale estimate).  

      The highlight of the furniture and decorative arts offerings was a hotly contested Embroidered Imperial Dragon Suit of Parade Armor, which sold to a Canadian phone bidder for $112,100, well beyond it’s $8,000-10,000 pre-sale estimate.    An Empire Carved Giltwood Fire Screen, believed to have possibly been from a suite of furniture ordered by President James Munroe from French cabinet maker Pierre-Antoine Bellangé for the White House in 1817 bore an unassuming $2,000-4,000 estimate.  However, fierce bidding broke out between three phone lines before finally selling for $22,420, while a circa 1820 Federal Carved Mahogany Fall Front Secretary, attributed to William Hook of Salem, Massachusetts sold for $18,800 against a $5,000-10,000 pre-sale estimate.   Other decorative arts highlights included a rare Cartier Miniature Enamel Travel Clock or “Pendulette de Voyage”, which sold for $26,550 ($3,000-5,000 estimate); and a Japanese enamel box drove the price of a lot of Chinese and Japanese cloisonné to $17,700 ($700-900). 

     The auction concluded with over 100 exceptional Rugs and Carpets from various owners and collectors.  Interest for the rugs came from many corners of the globe, including Germany, Italy, London, Turkey and the United States.  The highlight was a Yellow Ground Kuba Long Rug, which sold over the phone for $44,250 against a presale estimate of $8,000-12,000, while a Rare West Anatolian Village Rug from the late 17th century brought $41,300 (estimate: $10,000-20,000).  A circa 1825 Chinese Dragon Rug on an unusual apricot field with floating dragons surprised the audience when it soared beyond it’s $2,000-4,000 estimate to sell for $32,450, and a Tree Kazak Rug from the early 19th century sold for $16,520 against an $800-1,200 estimate.