Rago Craftsman Auction

Rago Arts and Auction Center, Lambertville, New Jersey

by Lita Solis-Cohen

Photos courtesy Rago Arts and Auction Center

David Rago said it took half a year for him to pull together the June 13 Craftsman auction of early 20th-century design. "I turned down two for every piece I took in," he said. "It's a different market now, and I took what I thought would have the best chance of selling."

Rago offered 436 lots in a Saturday afternoon sale held in Lambertville, New Jersey, that began at noon and ended at five, and he managed to sell 73% of the offerings for a total of $1,716,300 (includes buyers' premiums). The presale estimate was $1.7/2.2 million.

The sale started slowly with Standard glaze Rookwood decorated with portraits of Indians that sold for about a third less than prices at the top of the market. Some portrait mugs did not sell at all. As the sale progressed, art pottery and Arts and Crafts furniture provoked solid competition.

"We didn't hit a lot of home runs, but we hit a lot of singles," said Jerry Cohen, who is responsible for the furniture in the sale. "Some prices were higher than I expected, and it was good to see a full house."

Even though two Gustav Stickley bookcases failed to sell, about 85% of the furniture found new homes. A Gustav Stickley armchair designed by Harvey Ellis with stylized floral inlays of copper, pewter, and fruitwood sold for $21,600, and a double-door Gustav Stickley china cabinet with a paper label went at $9000 (est. $5000/6000).

Metalwork performed well, but Lalique offered at the end of the sale was weak. Some Tiffany brought strong prices. A jeweled Venetian bronze table lamp sold for a very strong $81,000, well over its $34,000 high estimate. A small (5¼" x 6½") Tiffany enameled copper box, however, embossed with green, purple, and amber olive leaves failed to sell. Rago thought the nice but not colorful box might sell for $47,500/57,500, but it failed to sell. Six phone lines were reserved for bidders, but no one bid. "A lower estimate may have done it," said Rago.

Tiffany with turtleback tiles is popular with collectors. A bronze fernery decorated with turtleback tiles, complete with its liner, sold for $25,200, but a Tiffany Studios Turtleback chandelier with original bronze hook and chain (est. $60,000/80,000), unsigned, failed to sell. It was recently passed at a Bonhams sale.

The art pottery that was brought in on one of Rago's weekly Monday appraisal days and was fresh to the market provoked the most heated bidding battles. Absentee bidders, bidders in the salesroom, and two phone bidders competed for an 8" tall North Dakota School of Mines vase carved by Margaret Cable with turkeys on a tree branch under a full moon. It sold for $14,400. A large Marblehead vase, incised and painted with stylized brown and yellow roses, sold on the phone for $27,600 and got a round of applause. A Redlands vase carved with eucalyptus leaves and covered in a burnished finish sold on the phone for $16,800.

Several rarities might have brought more in a different market. Fresh to the market from a suburban New York basement, a 12¾" tall 1902 Newcomb College vase decorated by Marie Odell Delavigne with a band of prancing geese in a landscape of tall pine trees sold for $48,000 to New Jersey dealer Beth Cathers in the salesroom. Newcomb vases with animals are seldom seen. Cathers said the prancing geese may be unique. A Grueby tile incised and embossed with a family of elephants sold on the phone for $26,400. It is a rare one.

Two large Martin Brothers stoneware bird-shaped tobacco jars, both marked "R.W. Martin Bros, London & Southall," one dated 1895, the other 1897, brought more than they sold for in the landmark single-owner sale of the Harriman Judd collection at Sotheby's in New York City in 2001. One sold for $39,000, a considerable increase over the $26,050 paid for it in 2001, and the other sold for $20,400. Two smaller birds, 7" and 6½" tall, sold for $10,800 and $14,400. Eight years ago they sold for $10,800 and $12,000, respectively.

It is hard to tell what will sell these days. Rago called the market a moving target and acknowledged that it is hard to hit it right. The good news is, a market is there. There was a buzz in the salesroom, which was full of private buyers and some dealers with bids in their pockets. Some said they thought the market has bottomed out and pointed out how some good things are bringing good prices. This sale was for furnishers and collectors, and some of them left happy, saying that they are glad the excesses of a few years back are gone, and that the reasonable estimates made things affordable again.

Rago said he had carefully edited this sale to offer the best he could find, and in addition to his longtime specialty in American art pottery, Arts and Crafts furniture, and metalwork, he now includes European art glass and art pottery and Arts and Crafts metalwork in these early 20th-century sales. This sale was about a third of the size of his traditional two-day Craftsman weekend sales, reflecting a changed marketplace but one where there is still an enthusiastic audience looking for good things at fair prices.

The photos and captions tell more of the story. Rago's next early 20th-century sale is a midrange sale scheduled for September 25 and 26. For more information, call (609) 397-9374; Web site (www.ragoarts.com).

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