Dogs in Show & Field

February 18th, 2015

The top lot of the sale was King Charles Spaniels by Richard Ansdell (British, 1815-1885). The 36" x 28" oil painting sold on the phone for $81,250 (est. $80,000/120,000). The same bidder bought five other paintings, all by John Emms, spending over a quarter of a million dollars, all on the phone with Alan Fausel, head of sale. This painting sold at Sotheby’s New York in 1988 for $198,000, a record for Ansdell, when it was sold by socialite Claus von Bulow.

Portrait of a Foxhound by Thomas Blinks (British, 1860-1912) was bought by a couple in the salesroom who were bidding against the phone. Estimated at $2000/3000, the 18" x 14" oil on canvas sold for $8125.

Three phone bidders pursued this Carl Reichert (Austrian, 1836-1918) oil painting, Head of a German Shorthaired Pointer. Estimated at $8000/12,000, it sold for $20,000. Signed and dated “C. Reichert—898,” it is 18" x 14¾".

Gordon and English Setters in the Field, an oil on canvas laid to board by Percival Leonard Rosseau (1859-1937), sold in the Bonhams salesroom to a couple from Ohio. The collectors competed against an absentee bidder and bought the signed and dated 1910 painting for $47,500 (est. $20,000/30,000). It measures 21¼" x 29¼".

Bonhams, New York City

Photos courtesy Bonhams

Some dog lovers who came to New York City over the long Presidents’ Day weekend to attend the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show stayed an extra day to attend Bonhams’ yearly “Dogs in Show & Field” auction on February 18. A crowd of two dozen, including the judge who crowned Miss P, a beagle, “Best in Show” this year, gathered in the auction house’s Madison Avenue galleries to bid on 182 lots of oil paintings, watercolors, bronzes, etchings, trophy cups, pastels, and a few brooches.

Private collectors made up the majority of the audience. A couple who flew in from Ohio specifically for the auction bought many things, most notably oil paintings by Percival Leonard Rosseau (1859-1937) and John Emms (British, 1843-1912). The collectors, who own Yorkies and English bulldogs, spent over $100,000 and were smiling throughout the auction. “We’re trying to figure out where we’re going to hang all of these,” the woman, who owns several houses, said after the sale.

The offerings appealed to a range of buyers. The lowest price was $125 (includes buyer’s premium) for a Marguerite Kirmse (1885-1954) etching of two Great Danes, which sold to a woman in the salesroom. That buyer spent a total of $2500 for four other Kirmse etchings and one by Bert Cobb (?-1935).

The most expensive sale of the day, an oil painting, King Charles Spaniels by Richard Ansdell (British, 1815-1885), sold on the phone for $81,250. It was painted around 1842. The 36" x 28" painting had been part of a collection sold at Sotheby’s New York in 1988 by Claus von Bulow as part of a settlement of a lawsuit brought against him by his stepchildren. It was estimated then at $25,000/35,000 and sold for $198,000.

The Bonhams sale had a presale estimate of $813,000/1.218 million. With buyers’ premiums, it totaled $817,650, with 73% sold by lot or 132 of 182. “It was a good day for [John] Emms, [Percival Leonard] Rosseau, and [Carl] Reichert,” declared Alan Fausel, head of sale. “They all sold well.”

Fausel, who owns an English springer spaniel, said Bonhams sources half of the auction’s offerings from Britain and the Continent and the other half from America. Generally, 80% to 90% of sales are made to American buyers, he added, and eight out of ten buyers are private collectors. The trade makes up the balance, and “most of them bid on the phone,” he said with a smile.

Many of the estimates were low, which encourages people to bid, said dealer William Secord, who sat through the entire sale and bought nothing. “I have a huge inventory,” the New York City dealer and author of several books on dog art explained. “There wasn’t enough quality material,” he said, although he did like a pair of John Sargent Noble oil paintings, which sold to a phone buyer for double the high estimate at $12,500.

Secord’s “best in show” awards went to Waiting for Master, a John Emms oil painting of a group of hounds at a barn door that sold for $68,750, and to English Pointers in a Landscape, a Thomas Blinks (British 1860-1912) oil, which had passed in last year’s sale. The painting’s estimate was lowered from $60,000/80,000 to $40,000/60,000, and it sold on the phone for $43,750.

“The market is very strong for the very best,” stated Secord, who owns a Dandie Dinmont terrier. Reached on the telephone in Florida a day after the sale, he said there has been less interest in “purebred dog portraits. They’re too stiff.” Furthermore, “If there’s a person in the composition, it dates it,” explaining that one can tell the period of the piece by what the person is wearing.

Bonhams held its annual Barkfest charity brunch on Sunday, February 15, before the auction, for owners and their canine companions. Proceeds benefited the American Kennel Club’s Humane Fund.

For further information, go to the Bonhams website (www.bonhams.com).

This John Emms (British, 1843-1912) oil painting, A Bitch by Her Kennel, sold in the room to a couple from Ohio who flew to New York City for the sale. The buyers prevailed over an Internet bidder, paying $25,000 (est. $8000/12,000) for the 15¼" x 20¾" signed painting.

Bidders in the salesroom and on the phones chased after this John Emms (British, 1843-1912) oil painting of three hounds and a terrier. Waiting for Master, signed “JNO EMMS” lower left, eventually sold to a phone bidder for $68,750 (est. $30,000/50,000). Before hammering down the 28" x 36" unframed painting, auctioneer Karl Green looked at the bidder in the room and inquired, “No regrets?”

I Wish I Had a Polka Dot Bikini by George Rodrigue (1944-2013), estimated at $20,000/30,000, sold online for $37,500. Signed “Rodrigue” lower right and titled and dated 1996 on the reverse, it is 30" x 25".

This pair of John Sargent Noble (British, 1848-1896) oil paintings sold to a buyer on the phone for $12,500 (est. $3000/5000). Gone to Ground and The Day’s Bag, each 8¼" x 14¼", are titled, inscribed “copyright reserved,” and signed “J.S. Noble” on the reverse, according to the salesroom notice.

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