Marion Antique Auctions will once again be offering over 540 lots drawn from various local estates, collectors and institutions. This diverse sale has extraordinary offerings in many categories.
The detailed online catalog begins with an incredible selection of sterling silver. There is a Tiffany vase with floral and fern design, a Tiffany Anglo Japonisme bud vase, and a wonderful round Tiffany silver and enamel box with floral swag design, a 12-piece Tiffany lot of Olympian pattern flatware, and 127-piece Tiffany flatware set in the Wave Edge pattern. The Gorham Company from Providence, Rhode Island is also well represented with probably the best piece of silver in the sale being a larger sterling and enamel vase depicting water lilies in a pond. Also from Gorham are several lots of sterling and enamel flatware and serving pieces in the coveted Narragansett pattern. There is a Sciarrotta sterling bowl that will garner local interest. Sciarrotta was a Newport Rhode Island silversmith. A lot containing Georg Jensen pieces in the Acorn pattern is expected to do quite well. Rounding out the silver offerings are lots of English, Irish and Scottish pieces.
Marion Auctions always seems to have a strong selection of nautical items probably due to its proximity to the coast and New Bedford, which was the whaling capital of the world. Leading the way in this category are two exceptional 19th century sailor’s valentines. They come from a Maine collection. The most interesting piece of scrimshaw came out of a Marion estate less than a mile from the auction gallery. It is a 19th century engraved sperm whale tooth called a Tabua featuring a harbor scene with ships and castle. The tooth is said to have belonged to a Fijian chief and was possibly traded from a sailor. A fine scrimshaw whales tooth snuff box displays a ship under sale and seated Britannia. There is a scrimshaw rolling pin with whale tooth handles. A letter opener with a clinched fish and heart-shaped handle, a document box and a whalebone cannon. One of the most interesting items in this category is a Napoleon era mechanical spinning Jenny. There are five wooden half-full models in this sale.
Other nautical highlights are paintings of ships by Clement Drew, Benjamin Russell, Charles Henry Gifford, Franklin Briscoe, Dwight Tryon, Marshall Johnson, and Clement Swift. Found in a New Bedford attic comes a temple toggle harpoon signed James Driggs, a Luther Cole signed blubber spade, a collection of Nye whale oil bottles, a fine Bellamy style eagle and a ships passport dated 1856, signed by President Franklin Pierce.
The assemblage of paintings in the sale is most impressive. An oil painting on canvas by Robert Spear Dunning depicting Beaver Tail Point in Jamestown Rhode Island, and a Lilla Cabot Perry New England landscape painting bearing a Boston Athenaeum exhibition label comes from a Tiverton Rhode Island collector. Other artists that are represented include William Preston Phelps, Wendell Macy, R. Swain Gifford, George Bellows, Benjamin West, Harry Neyland, Mathias Joseph Alten, Charles Gruppe, Joel Shapiro, Richard Serra, John Sloan, Edward Stetson, Piranesi and numerous others. Just in from a Westport collector comes a large cold painted bronze cockerel by Franz Bergmann.
The furniture offerings start with an ancient 16th century lift-top chest with heavy iron hardware from the George Morgan estate on Martha’s Vineyard. An inlaid American Federal secretary desk that retains its original finish and is in an unusual diminutive size. In the original surface is a set of six New Hampshire Windsor dining chairs made by T. G. Furber. Most of the exciting mid-century furniture we are offering comes from the Doris Lockhart Saatchi collection. We have Le Corbusier lounge chairs and loveseat, a Ubanji Kidokoro lounge chair, Noguchi Cyclone tables, Harvey Probber steel cubes, a rare Charles and Ray Eames folding screen for Herman Miller, Stephen Swift stools, four Eero Saarinen Tulip chairs and table base, Marcel Breur coffee table, Mario Bellini chairs, Roland Simmons paper floor lamps and a Zigzag chair by Alwy Visschedyk. All the mid-century furniture is in good to excellent condition.
Marion Auctions continues to offer a large collection of Taino objects, circa 600 to 1500 A.D., curated by noted expert Larry Roberts. Antique Oriental rugs in the sale include a Senna saddle cover, a late 19th century Oushak room size rug and several early Caucasian carpets.
There are lots of gold and diamond jewelry, gold and silver coins, as well as an incredible collection of 19th and early 20th century miniature portraits. Standing out in garden items is a pair of cast iron recumbent lions, early 20th century and a rare figural cast iron hitching post with squirrel on top.
One of the favorite items in the sale is a large 19th century copper bull weathervane from a big old Dighton Massachusetts barn. Religious items are represented by several lots of Eastern Orthodox icons, a 17th century Prie-dieu and several 17th century carved wooden Madonna statues.
From a Westport Massachusetts estate is a rare banjo clock made by George Hatch in Attleboro, MA. Hatch was a clockmaker and a state legislator. A very nice 19th century watchmaker sign is expected to do well. A large collection of 19th century stoneware advertising jugs are on offer. There are eight lots that comprise French and Italian copper cookware in excellent condition, and from the Mary Jean McLaughlin estate there is a collection of chocolate and ice cream molds with nautical designs, including lobsters and fish. There are several large lots of Chinese export porcelain and historical blue china, which should be of interest to dealers, as well as a collection of miniature oil lamps being sold in one lot.
There is a diverse and interesting selection of ephemera with hand-colored lithographs of Native Americans by Charles Bird King, a signed and dedicated book by Robert Frost titled “A Further Range”, a large collection of 19th century bound Punch magazines, numerous early 18th century maps, lots of early photography as well as whaling and marine documents. Deaccessioned from the Steamship Museum in Rhode Island comes a collection of colored steamship lithographs.
The most interesting part of this ephemera category in this auction was a last-minute addition to the sale found in a storage locker on Martha’s Vineyard. There are over 140 psychedelic rock posters from the 1960’s and 1970’s, many of them designed by Wes Wilson for Bill Graham’s Fillmore West concerts, all found in near mint condition. They appear to never be hung or used. They are being sold in lot of four. Some of the bands include Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, The Wailers (Bob Marley), Janis Joplin, The Doors, The Who, Cream (Eric Clapton), The Byrds, Muddy Waters, Jefferson Airplane, John Lee Hooker, Arlo Guthrie, Buffalo Springfield, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller Band, Chuck Berry, and many more, along with Jim Dine posters. Last, but not least, rounding out the sale is a large collection of World War I war posters, with two rare Uncle Sam recruitment posters dated 1917.
Most of the items in the sale are from local estates and collectors and are being sold without reserve. There are some very fine large lots geared towards dealers. If you buy direct (in person, phone or absentee bid) from Marion Antique Auctions and pay by approved check or cash, the buyer’s premium is only 20% versus 28% for online buyers. For information call Frank McNamee at 508-498-7136 or you can email [email protected]. Please try to visit our very detailed online catalog at marionantiqueauctions.com
Our next auction has not yet been scheduled. Please check back soon or click here to view past auctions.
"*" indicates required fields
Visit our retail store, just half a mile down the road on Route 6. More Details →