Fontaine's Auction Gallery To Offer Fine & Decorative Arts Sept. 28-29

PITTSFIELD, MASS. — Fontaine’s will present an important Two-Day Fine & Decorative Arts Auction on September 28-29 which will include 1,000 lots of 19th/20th century lighting, Tiffany lamps, art glass, leaded glass windows, fine silver, porcelain, marble and bronze statuary, Asian items, paintings, American and European furniture, clocks and jewelry. Highlighting the sale will be over 200 Tiffany Studios items. Sessions start daily at 11am.

The auction will feature the Tiffany collection of Dr. Joseph T. Sheridan, the Tiffany collection of Edward McHugh, the Arts & Crafts collection of Hassan Basagic, the Ledgerock Collection and various other private collections.

Fontaine’s is renowned for its aptitude for curating fine Tiffany lamps around the country to bring to auction and this sale will not disappoint with a robust selection of choice examples. Expected to lead the auction is a Tiffany Studios “Laburnum” table lamp from Sheridan’s collection that is estimated at $300,000 to $500,000. This design came from the imagination of Clara Driscoll, then the head of Tiffany’s female-led glass cutting department. This circa 1905 example, standing 30 inches tall, is even more rare owing to its “Bird Skeleton” base. The shade is impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York” and the base is impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 442.”

Other scarce Tiffany Studios lamps from the Sheridan collection crossing the block are a “Nasturtium” table lamp ($300,000-$500,000), circa 1905, with a seldom-seen “Mosaic and Turtle-Back” base, 34 ½ inches tall and a circa 1910 “Flowering Bouquet” chandelier ($150,000-$250,000), having a 28 ½-inch diameter shade, which is featured on the cover of "The Lamps of Tiffany" by Dr. Egon Neustadt.

On offer from another collection is a “Peony Border” floor lamp, a pattern name that immediately catches collectors’ attention. The circa 1915 lamp in this sale, estimated at $125,000-$175,000, has a “Chased Pod” Senior floor base and a “Pig Tail” finial. The shade is impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 1574,” the base is impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 376” and the lamp stands 78 ¾ inches tall.

Also worth noting is a set of four Tiffany Studios “Vine Border & Turtle-Back” ceiling lights ($80,000-$120,000), circa 1905, featuring rare red background glass, coming out of a private collection in California.

Leaded and stained glass Tiffany windows were such a popular product for the company around the turn of the Twentieth Century that the firm created a whole department, Tiffany Glass & Decorating Co., to deal with them. Most were consigned from churches and today are highly desirable by private collectors.

Several fine windows are featured in the auction, led by a circa 1897 pair of “Alpha” and “Omega” windows ($80,000-$120,000), 96¼ inches tall, which came from the Church of the Transfiguration, Rittenhouse & Evans Memorial, in Pottstown, Penn.; a four-panel entryway with windows, commissioned from St. Paul’s Presbyterian ($75,000-$100,000) circa 1905, and “The Good Shepherd” window ($40,000-$60,000) from First Presbyterian Church, Fish Memorial, Passaic, N.J. The circa 1895 window measures 105 ½ by 42½ inches overall.

Boasting fine provenance and demonstrating the strong artistic collaboration between Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists is a pair of lanterns made for the “Moorish” smoking room in the Cornelius Vanderbilt II Mansion ($80,000-$120,000). The circa 1881 fixtures were also once in the collection of the late singer John Denver and are 33½ inches tall. Additionally, there is a Tiffany Studios “Curtain Border” chandelier which once hung in the dining room of John Denver’s Aspen, Colorado, Starwood Home.

While Tiffany and other lamps may seem to dominate the auction block the first day, there will be no shortage of other fine items commanding attention. Highlighting a select grouping of paintings is an oil painting by the late French Expressionist Bernard Buffet, “Nature Morte au Compotier et Aux Fruits” estimated at $20,000-$30,000. Two lots sure to make bring sweet music to buyers’ ears is a Steinway & Sons Model B Grand piano ($25,000-$35,000), circa 1908, and a J.P. Seeburg Style “G” upright art style orchestrion ($20,000-$30,000) dating to the early 20th century.

Garden sculpture is a booming market in the collecting world with buyers eagerly scooping up both large and small sculptures in stone, bronze and other media to enhance their outdoor living areas. Several sculptures that make quite a statement and require thoughtful placement due to their size, are on offer here with each estimated at $10,000-$15,000. A Robert Holmes bronze sculpture, “Spinning Dancer,” standing 83 by 56 by 49 inches, from The Ledgerock Collection, overlooking the Hudson River; Additionally, there is a monumental head of a man by sculptor Roy Kanwit, carved circa 1990s in concrete and steel, 116 by 85 by 106 inches.

Rounding out the auction will be a platinum, diamond and emerald brooch ($15,000-$25,000) having a leaf and floral design, adorned with over five carats of diamonds and nearly four carats of emeralds and a pair of exceptionally-worked Samuel Yellin wrought iron hanging lights ($12,000-$16,000), 16 by 10 inches.

Fontaine’s Auction Gallery is the oldest operating auction gallery in Western Massachusetts. It has earned the trust of collectors, investors and gallery owners worldwide. All cataloged lots receive nationwide exposure to the firm’s database of more than 27,500 select buyers. Fontaine’s Auction Gallery has been voted “Best Antique Auction Gallery” eight times by the public.

Fontaine’s is actively seeking quality items for all upcoming auctions, to include furniture, lighting, art glass, clocks and watches, paintings, porcelains, bronze and marble statuary, Asian items, art glass and cameo glass, Russian objects, silver, musical, coin-op, advertising, toys, banks, gaming and carousel items.

The firm will buy outright or accept on consignment. Call 413- 448-8922 and ask to speak with John Fontaine, or you can send Mr. Fontaine an email to [email protected]. For more information about the company and the upcoming auction schedule, visit www.fontainesauction.com. Updates are posted frequently.

Fontaine’s Auction Gallery is located at 1485 West Housatonic Street (Route 20), Pittsfield, Mass. For more information, visit www.FontainesAuction.com or call 413-448-8922.