Under The Hammer – Antique Auction News (July 2010)

~ On June 11, Cowan’s American History Auction was highlighted by a vignette portrait of Abraham Lincoln from a negative originally taken by Mathew Brady, Friday Jan. 8, 1864 (O-87). It was signed “A Lincoln” and had remnants of Brady’s imprint on verso It sold for $38,775. Lincoln said of this particular portrait: “I don’t know that I have any favorite portrait of myself; but I have thought that if I looked like any of the likenesses of me that have been taken, I look most like that one.”

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~ On July 6, Sotheby’s Master Drawings From A Distinguished European Collection in London sold 80 lots, including these highlights: Gaetano Gandolfi’s “Portrait of Emidio Gandolfi,” 293 by 208 mm, for GBP 541,250; and Guido Reni’s “Sheet of Studies for a Seated Virgin,” Bologna 1575-1642, 180 mm by 225 mm, for GBP 103,250.

Also on July 6 in London, Sotheby’s sale titled, The Splendor of Venice, Important Furniture And Old Master Paintings From A Private Collection, included: an Italian carved giltwood console table, Venetian, circa 1730, GBP 193,250; and a pair of Italian green and polychrome painted credenza, Marche or Tuscan, 18th Century, GBP 325,250.

In another Sotheby’s auction, this one titled, Treasures Autocratic Heirlooms, highlights were: the great silver wine cistern of Thomas Wentworth (1775-1851), 3rd Baron Raby Ambassador Extraordinary to Berlin, 1706-1711, at GBP 2,505,250; and a pair of Imperial porcelain palace vases, Imperial porcelain manufactory, Period of Nicholas I (1825-1855), dated 1842, GBP 1,945,250.

And a last Sotheby’s auction of important paintings and artwork was highlighted by: Joseph Mallord William Turner’s “Modern Rome—Campo Vaccino,” GBP 29,721,250, against an estimate of GBP 12-18 million; and Pieter Brueghel The Younger’s (1564-1637/8) “The Kermesse of Saint George With The Dance Around The Maypole,” 20.75 by 33.5 inches, GBP 2,505,250.

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~ On June 2, Sotheby’s of London held its 19th Century European Paintings Including German, Austrian and Central European Paintings, The Orientalist Sale, Spanish Painting and Scandinavian Sale, Property of Formerly in the Collection of Georg Eduard Behrens. An oil-on-canvas painting by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796-1875), “Jeune femme à la fontaine,” measuring 25.5 by 16.5 inches hammered for £1,609,250 GBP, including buyer’s premium. It is considered one of his great figural paintings.

Also of note in the sale was Joaquin Sorolla’s (Spanish, 1863-1923) “El Bautizo” (“The Christening”) which reached £825,250 with buyer’s premium. It measures 33.5 inches by 47.25 inches and was painted in 1900. Jean-Leon Gerome’s (French, 1824-1904) oil-on-canvas painting, “Le Muezzin,” 1865, 16 inches by 11.5 inches, totaled £421,250.

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