New Year's Day Sale

January 1st, 2016

Nadeau’s Auction Gallery, Windsor, Connecticut

Photos courtesy Nadeau’s Auction Gallery

Nadeau’s Auction Gallery in Windsor, Connecticut, was selling to a packed house on January 1. Part of the reason could have been the Americana collection consigned to Nadeau from Credit Suisse. That massive collection included a full-length portrait of Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), painted from life by Ellis Meyer Silvette (1876-1940) in 1929. It was signed, dated, and inscribed “Ellis M. Silvette / 1929 / Copyright by Ellis M. Silvette” and opened with a $2500 phone bid. With quick bidding from the phone and Internet, it sold for $15,600 (with buyer’s premium).

Another of the Credit Suisse Americana offerings was a Francis Lathrop (1849-1909) portrait of Collis Potter Huntington (1821-1900). This oil on canvas was “painted from life” in the 1890s. The painting is 40½" x 32" and in an American frame. It sold for $16,800. An oil on canvas portrait of Felix Moritz Warburg (1871-1937) by Arthur von Ferraris (1856-1928), signed on the lower right “Ferraris,” in an American frame, and measuring 30" x 25", brought $6600. Part of the Credit Suisse collection, it was painted from life in 1922. Warburg was a banker and senior partner in Kuhn, Loeb and Company.

From the Credit Suisse Americana collection, this oil on canvas portrait by Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862-1947) of James Jerome Hill, circa 1902, has a plaque reading, “James J. Hill, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, 1908-12, presented by the artist Adolfo Muller-Ury.” Hill was a Canadian American railroad executive, CEO of Great Northern Railway, and president of the St. Paul, Minnesota and Manitoba Railway Company. The painting had an estimate of $2000/4000 and sold for $15,600.

Another painting from the Credit Suisse collection was this striking full-length portrait of Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) that was painted from life by the artist Ellis Meyer Silvette (1876-1940). The painting is signed on the lower right, “Ellis M. Silvette / 1929 / Copyright by Ellis Silvette,” and on the lower left, “OK T. A. Edison.” Bidding opened at $2500, and with the phone and Internet bids pushing the price, the portrait sold for $15,600.

Another portrait from the Credit Suisse Americana collection was this depiction of Andrew William Mellon (1855-1937) by Philip de Laszlo (1869-1937). According to notes from the catalog, the portrait was painted from life in 1926. It depicts Mellon in his role as secretary of the Treasury. The portrait sold for $25,200.

A painting by William Lester Stevens (1888-1969), an oil on canvas titled Town Streets after Snowfall, signed “W. Lester Stevens, NA,” 25" x 30", brought $6000. Another painting offered at the auction was the landscape scene entitled The Uplands of Ceres, an oil on canvas by Scottish painter Edward Arthur Walton (1860-1922). It is signed on the lower right “E.A. Walton” and measures 24½" x 31". The painting sold for $10,200 (est. $10,000/15,000). A Ralston Crawford (1906-1978) colored lithograph, Overseas Highway, 4/25, 9 7/8" x 15 7/8", signed in pencil on the lower right “Ralston Crawford,” brought $10,200.

A sensational 21¼" long strand of Tahitian black South Sea pearls was offered early in the auction. The pearls ranged in size from 11 mm to 14.5 mm and sold to a buyer at the sale for $5100. A diamond bracelet, set in platinum, with a total weight of 13 carats, brought $12,000.

A rosewood gueridon with a round marble top over an elegant brass-inlaid frieze, mounted with gilt bronze and on gilt carved paw feet, brought $5100. A bucolic landscape by William Lester Stevens (1888-1969), Mountainous Spring Landscape, a 25" x 30" oil on canvas, brought $2400.

A silk Oriental prayer rug with animals and birds, 7' x 4'8", sold for $4200 (est. $1500/2500). A massive Bidjar Oriental carpet, 11' x 18', brought $12,000. An 18th-century Louis XIV commode in burlwood with three drawers and star and banded inlay, retaining the original brasses, brought $3480.

The top lot of the auction was an oil on board painted by African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937). According to notes from the catalog, he was America’s first internationally renowned African American artist. He studied for a time at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia under artist Thomas Eakins, who ultimately became a friend. Flight into Egypt, oil on artist’s board, 17½" x 20½", was signed on the lower right “H.O. Tanner.” Bidding opened at $20,000, and with competition from the floor and the phones, the price rose quickly to $84,000.

The top lot of the Nadeau sale was this oil on board by African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) He was, according to catalog notes, America’s first internationally renowned African American artist. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Thomas Eakins, who became a friend. Bidding for Flight into Egypt, 17½" x 20½", opened at $20,000, and with a rapid succession of bids, reached the selling price of $84,000.

The auction hall was packed throughout the day. There was plenty of interesting material for the auction attendees to consider, and the Credit Suisse Americana collection added an interesting historical and artistic dimension. Prices were solid throughout.

For more information, contact Nadeau’s Auction Gallery at (860) 246-2444 or check the website at (www.nadeausauction.com).

This engraving with etching, aquatint, and hand coloring, titled and marked “Black-billed Cuckoo, Male 1. F.2…Drawn from Nature and Published by John J. Audubon,” with a J. Whatman, Turkey Mill watermark, sold for $16,800 (est. $3000/5000). It is also marked on the lower right, “Engraved, Printed and Coloured by R. Havell & Son London, 1828.” The plate size is 18½" x 26". This Audubon engraving came from the Credit Suisse collection, the source of much of the material offered at the auction.

This trompe l’oeil depiction of money, an oil on canvas, is signed on the lower left “V Dubreuil.” It has a Berry-Hill Galleries, New York City, label on the back. Measuring just 10" x 12", it sold for $25,200 (est. $4000/8000).

Arthur Hill Gilbert (1894-1970) painted Hills of Carmel Highlands, a view of Doud Peak and Big Sur, California. The oil on canvas is signed on the stretcher, “Hills of Carmel Highlands by Arthur Hill Gilbert, Monterey Calif.” In an outstanding Foster Brothers frame (with a paper label), it measures 25½" x 30" and sold for $25,200, far surpassing the $6000/10,000 estimate.

This oil on canvas by John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872), Stream in the Thick Woods, 14" x 12" and initialed on the lower right “JFK,” sold for $7200, surpassing the $1000/3000 estimate.

Originally published in the March 2016 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2016 Maine Antique Digest