Rachel Davis Fine Arts, Cleveland, Ohio
Photos courtesy Rachel Davis Fine Arts
Rachel Davis Fine Arts, Cleveland, Ohio, is known for selling works of art and prints with an Ohio connection. Art pottery, Outsider art, sterling silver, and art glass are also often sold. But the September 21 online fine and decorative arts auction had different headliners this go-around.
Furniture.
It isn’t that Rachel Davis Fine Arts rarely sells furniture. It often does. But usually artworks lead a sale. That was not the case for this auction.
Made of brown faux leather and chrome, the Kem Weber sofa and two armchairs sold for $8960 (est. $1000/2000).
Coming out on top was a Kem Weber brown faux leather and chrome set of a sofa and two armchairs. They were worn from use, especially the arms and upholstery, but the set obviously struck a chord with more than one bidder. Estimated at $1000/2000, the set sold for $8960 (with buyer’s premium).
“All the Art Deco lots in this auction came from a man in Elyria, Ohio, who is downsizing,” Rachel Davis stated. “What we had were the items he had stored in his basement. I’m not sure why this set did so well. It sold to a gentleman who took it a few streets over to his offices on West 76th Street in Cleveland. There were several online bidders from around the country that helped push the set to this final sale price.”
Made of oak, this prop chair with a swivel seat was used in the third-class areas of the ship in the 1997 movie Titanic. It is 32" high and sold for $8320 (est. $200/400).
Another furniture lot with a story to tell was a prop chair with a swivel seat used in the 1997 movie Titanic that sold for $8320 (est. $200/400). Made of oak, the chair appeared in some of the scenes in the third-class area of the ship. It sold with a certificate of authenticity and a wonderful back story.
“The Titanic swivel prop chair came to us from a Cleveland estate,” Davis noted. “The consignor bought the chair around 1999 from a J. Peterman Company catalog for $650.”
The J. Peterman Company puts out catalogs (the newest available is Owner’s Manual No. 234, Holiday 2024) featuring clothing and accessories and obviously movie props, accompanied by stories written to enhance the romance associated with each item.
Davis also noted, “Peterman must have acquired a good number of props from the movie Titanic. I had the Peterman catalog, and you could have purchased some china and other props from the movie as well. The swivel chair is going to a collector in Colorado. The underbidder contacted us and said if the sale of the chair fell through, he would be happy to purchase it, adding that he should have bid more.”
This circa 1895 R. J. Horner & Co. mahogany sofa with griffins has a turned crest rail, griffin supports, a bowed front rail, and melon-carved bun feet. It measures 33" x 88" x 32" and sold for $6080 (est. $6000/9000).
Other furniture included an R. J. Horner & Co. mahogany sofa with griffins that brought $6080 (est. $6000/9000). The circa 1895 piece boasted a turned crest rail, griffin supports, a bowed front rail, and melon-carved bun feet. The sofa came to auction from a Brecksville, Ohio, home. “The gentleman bought it many years ago from an antiques dealer in Lakewood, Ohio,” Davis stated. “The carving was beautiful, and I sold the identical sofa with different upholstery about 12 years ago for $10,000. That reflects the way tastes have changed. The buyer of this auction’s sofa was from Lakewood and said he was thrilled to have won it, that he has been looking a long time for a Horner sofa.”
This set of six DCM dining chairs by Charles (1907-1978) and Ray Eames (1912-1988) for Herman Miller sold for $1152 (est. $300/600).
Consisting of a love seat, four chairs, and a table, this six-piece Orange Slice iron patio set by Maurizio Tempestini (1908-1960) for Salterini sold for $1280 (est. $700/1000).
Two mid-century modern furniture lots received strong interest. A set of six 1950s Eames DCM dining chairs sold for $1152 (est. $300/600). Charles Eames and Ray Eames created these chairs for Herman Miller, Zeeland, Michigan. A six-piece Orange Slice iron patio set by Maurizio Tempestini for Salterini was bid to $1280 (est. $700/1000). This set included a love seat, four chairs, and a table.
“Both sets came from the same Cleveland, Ohio, collector,” Davis stated. “The Eames chairs have always been popular, and having six was a major selling point. These went to a collector in Georgia. The patio set is going to Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. Mid-century modern furniture is staying strong.”
This stone-cut print with stencil by Kenojuak Ashevak (1927-2013) of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Canada, The Sun’s Return, 24½" x 30", signed, dated 1993, titled, and numbered 64/100 in pencil, sold for $3840 (est. $1500/2500).
Decorative arts also did well. The Sun’s Return by Kenojuak Ashevak (1927-2013), a stone-cut print with stencil, sold for $3840 (est. $1500/2500). Signed, dated, titled, and numbered 64/100 in pencil, the 24½" x 30" work also had a character mark at the lower right.
“All the Inuit art in this auction came to us from a private Berea, Ohio, collection,” Davis noted. “Ashevak is one of the more desirable Cape Dorset artists, and I find ones with bird images are always sought out.”
This four-piece silver tea and coffee set from Shanghai or Canton, China, decorated with a cherry blossom motif, includes a coffeepot, teapot, creamer, and sugar and sold for $2944 (est. $100/200).
Marked “L. C. Tiffany-Favrile 6273 E,” this red glass footed vase, 6½" high, sold for $2432 (est. $200/400).
A four-piece silver tea and coffee set decorated with a cherry blossom motif and partially gilded on the inside, hailing from Shanghai or Canton, China, was bid to $2944 (est. $100/200). In the art glass category, a red glass footed vase in an egg form with zigzag decoration on the foot sold for $2432 (est. $200/400). The 6½" high vase was marked “L. C. Tiffany-Favrile 6273 E.”
This Tiffany & Co. table service for 13 consists of six pieces per place setting (a dinner plate, salad plate, bread plate, dessert plate, and a cup and saucer), a pitcher, two bells, and a trinket box. All are marked “Tiffany Holiday / Tiffany & Co.” The group sold for $6400 (est. $2000/4000).
And speaking of Tiffany, a holiday table service for 13 with all pieces marked “Tiffany Holiday / Tiffany & Co.” sold for $6400 (est. $2000/4000). Each six-piece place setting included a 10" dinner plate, a 9" salad bowl, an 8" dessert plate, a 6½" bread plate, and a cup and saucer. The lot also included a pitcher, two bells, and a trinket box to match.
“This set is a very popular pattern made by Tiffany and Company,” Davis noted. “It is a discontinued pattern, and compared to the asking prices of online sites like Replacements, Limited, the collector in California who purchased the set got a great deal.”
Rachel Davis Fine Arts continues to bring to the auction block interesting pieces with even more interesting stories to tell. For more information, visit (www.racheldavisfinearts.com).
Sheila Napaljarri Brown (Australian, 1940-2003), oil on linen, signed “Sheila Napaljarri Brown 102/94” on the back, 42" x 29¾", sold for $1088 (est. $200/400) to a collector in Australia.
Linda Craige Henri (1875-1905), oil on panel, Seascape, 3¼" x 5 5/8", sold for $1664 (est. $100/200). Davis explained, “This was not signed, but it came from a retired art dealer out of Columbus, Ohio, who bought it years ago in either New York or Chicago and felt it was by Linda Craige Henri, who was the wife of Robert Henri. It was bought by a collector out of upstate New York who is a distant relative of Robert Henri.”
Two framed 20th-century American school works, an oil on canvas of two goats, 16" x 21½", and an oil on board (not shown) of a pair of workhorses, 14" x 16", sold together for $768 (est. $80/150). Davis noted, “These two oils came from a local art dealer who has retired and is selling off his inventory. I felt they were by the Cleveland artist Henry Keller [1869-1939], but they were not signed. Their selling price indicates to me other people felt they were Keller’s work as well.”
Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980), Portrait of Clifton Webb, watercolor on paper, signed “Beaton” lower right, 14½" x 12½", in fair condition, from a private collection from Kent, Ohio, sold for $1920 (est. $500/800). Beaton was a photographer and costume and set designer who won three Academy Awards and four Tony Awards. “More than twenty years ago, the consignor—a woman and her husband (an antiques dealer who has since passed)—bought all of actor Clifton Webb’s papers and the remains of his estate,” Davis explained. “She recently found a few other items from this purchase, and this was one of those. Cecil Beaton is a well-known name. I was not sure if the younger generation would know who the actor Clifton Webb was. This sold to a New York collector.”
American school 20th-century oil on panel, Men of Steel, in a 15 1/8" x 19" frame, from a retired Cleveland, Ohio, art dealer, marked on the back “Pittsburgh, CWA,” sold to a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, collector for $1920 (est. $300/600).
Bobbi Koplow (1936-2021), oil on canvas, The Pasture, signed lower right, 36" x 48", sold for $1024 (est. $200/400). “This work came to us from a Cleveland estate,” Davis noted. “Koplow was a Cleveland painter whose work has not really come on the secondary market, so I was surprised by the interest. It sold to a buyer in eastern Pennsylvania.”
This glass sculpture by John Littleton (b. 1957) and Kate Vogel (b. 1956), titled Three Bags, signed by both artists and dated 1988 on the bottom, is 16" high and sold for $1408 (est. $2000/4000). “Another piece from the Wallace estate of Gates Mills, Ohio,” Davis noted. “I was a little disappointed in the price. Littleton works usually bring more. It sold to a very happy local buyer.”
Maurice Quef, cast-wax sculpture, Bust of a Woman, signed on the base, from the collection of Craig and Allie Wallace of Gates Mills, Ohio, sold for $960 (est. $200/400). “This work was a mystery to me,” Davis stated. “It was signed Maurice Quef, but in researching the name, the only Quef I found was a French artist born in 1878, and I don’t think it was by him.”
This 20th-century Art Nouveau marble and alabaster sculpture, Rebecca at the Well, stands 36" high and had been electrified. It sold for $1280 (est. $1500/2500).
This 1998 mold-blown covered hexagonal-form glass box by Kyohei Fujita (Japanese, 1921-2004) with gold and silver leaf sold with its original wooden storage box for $2048 (est. $1500/2500). It measures 3 3/8" x 3" x 3" and has the artist’s etched signature on the underside. “This box came from the consignor’s parents’ estate,” Davis pointed out. “His parents bought the box from Riley Hawk Galleries of Cleveland, Ohio, which was located in Little Italy for years and represented contemporary glass artists.”
This Charles Walter Clewell (1876-1965) copper-clad pottery vase, a baluster form with a footed base, is 14½" tall and marked “Clewell / 257-2-9” on the base. It sold for $960 (est. $600/900). “This vase was consigned by a North Canton, Ohio, woman who found it at a yard sale in Canton, Ohio,” Davis explained. “And this makes sense since that is where Clewell was from. The consignor spotted it across the yard and drove it right up to the gallery. It sold to a collector in California.”
Originally published in the January 2025 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2025 Maine Antique Digest
