Case Antiques Auctions and Appraisals
4310 Papermill Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37909
865-558-3033
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Auction PreviewCase Auctions Features Five Belle Epoque Wall Panels from Annesdale Mansion and a Continental Silver Tea Setin Upcoming Two-Day Sale
A wide range of fine art, furniture, jewelry, and decorative art items will be available in Case Auctions’ upcoming two-day sale. Among the top lots from the first session is a continental sterling silver breakfast tea and coffee service set comprising 56.56 ounces of flatware. The five-piece set includes a small oval tray, petite tea and coffee pots, creamer, and open sugar bowl. All the pieces are manufactured by the Bremen-based Koch & Bergfeld, one of the oldest operating silver manufacturers in the world. Other notable lots from the first day of the event include a 14-karat yellow gold and enamel compact and lipstick holder from Tiffany & Co. and two pairs of Hermès sneakers. The second session particularly highlights antique art and jewelry. Among these lots is a set of five monumental French Belle Epoque period carved giltwood room panels. The wall panels showcase a peacock perched atop a flower-filled urn, flowers, birds, and related subjects. Collectors can also consider a ladies' platinum ring featuring a pear-shaped diamond. The center stone weighs approximately 2.92 carats. This lot comes with a matching platinum wedding band and a separate platinum ring set with 13 square baguette diamonds. To view the complete catalog and register to bid in the upcoming Fall Fine Art & Antiques Auction - Day 1, visit Bidsquare and browse other online auctions.
Auction PreviewArtworks by Lê Phổ and George E. Hughes Come to Sale with Case Antiques
Vietnamese painter Lê Phổ was well known for his distinct paintings that combined European inspiration and Chinese influences. However, his subjects also comprised traditional Vietnamese imagery such as birds and bamboo branches. An oil painting on silk mounted on Masonite by Lê Phổ is a key highlight of the upcoming auction, offered by Case Antiques. Titled Jeunes Filles aux Bouquets, the artwork portrays three women amidst flower vases with a yellow background. George E. Hughes’ oil on board titled Couples at the Beach also leads the listings. It was an illustration for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post (August 2, 1952 edition). It depicts a high-angle view of people enjoying a sunny day at the beach. A rare historic lot may be of interest to memorabilia collectors. It is a 35-star flag of the USS Kearsarge used during battle with the CSS Alabama in June of 1864, along with commendation and photograph. It is the only US flag representative of a state admitted during the American Civil War and was in official use only for two years. To view the complete catalog and register to bid in the upcoming Summer Fine Art & Antiques Auction, visit Bidsquare and browse other online auctions.
Auction PreviewCase Antiques Presents Fall Sale With Art, Jewelry, and Artifacts From Southern Estates
The Fall Fine Art and Interiors Auction, hosted by Case Antiques, offers an extensive collection of watches, including an 18-karat gold ladies Jaeger-LeCoultre bracelet watch. Founded by Antoine LeCoultre in 1833, Jaeger-LeCoultre is a Swiss luxury watch and clock company based in Le Sentier, Switzerland. The available watch has a mechanical caliber 841 movement and a thick, textured link bracelet design. Another luxury watch available in the sale is a ladies Piaget 18-karat gold, diamond, and emerald watch with jade dial. Piaget is a Swiss luxury watch and jewelry company established by Georges Piaget in the community of La Côte-aux-Fées in 1874. Currently, it belongs to Richemont as a subsidiary. The offered Piaget watch features 32 round brilliant diamonds, weighing 0.96 carats. The clarity of the diamonds is VS2 with color grading of H. It is also accented by four natural emeralds with a jeweled mechanical movement, green jade dial, and 18-karat white gold bracelet. View more lots and register to bid for this and other online auctions on Bidsquare.
Auction PreviewExpressionist and Tonalist Paintings by American Artists Highlight Case Antiques’ Upcoming Sale
American artist LeRoy Neiman was an Expressionist painter famous for his intensely colored works. He contributed dynamic illustrations to magazines and painted murals for Playboy clubs. Neiman was best known for his depiction of sporting events and social gatherings. Dinner Party, an abstract oil on board painting by the artist, is a key highlight of the upcoming Summer Fine Art and Antique auction at Case Antiques. The large painting portrays women and men dressed in formalwear at a gathering. A banquet table is laid with glasses and wine bottles and the setting is lit by a chandelier. A Tonalist watercolor painting by another American artist, Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, also leads the listings. Smith’s The Silent Watchers depicts a low country landscape with white cranes in tree branches and marshy water replete with lily pads. Deeply inspired by her birthplace of Charleston, the self-taught artist was also influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e prints. The sale offers an antique 14-karat yellow gold bangle bracelet with engravings and enamel foliate embellishment. It measures seven inches in circumference and weighs 31.03 grams. The inscription on the inner side reads “Clark, Annie Susie Maggie To Sister Anna.” To view the complete catalog and register to bid online, visit Bidsquare and browse other online auctions.
Auction PreviewTwo-Day Summer Fine Art, Antique, and Jewelry Auction – Day 2
Silversmiths in 18th-century France revolutionized the dining table, and many of their innovations are still in use today. The period following the French Revolution saw the individualization of dining, which required fewer shared dishes. Emerging from this was the epergne, a dining table centerpiece with branching arms that held hanging baskets, circular plates, or small bowls. A Neoclassical sterling silver epergne made in the mid-1770s, nearly 50 years after the first known example, will be available on the second day of the upcoming Case Antiques auction. Made by Thomas Pitts I in London, this epergne is decorated with beading and openwork garlands. Other notable silver pieces in this auction include a 272-piece set of Reed & Barton flatware and a German Art Nouveau candelabra pair by J.H. Heimerdinger. A platinum-iridium and diamond brooch from Tiffany & Co. stands out among the jewelry lots. Marked with the company name, the brooch is accented with eight princess-cut rubies. Explore the full listings, which include furniture, pottery, and Rolling Stones memorabilia, on Invaluable.
Auction PreviewTwo-Day Summer Fine Art, Antique
William Edmondson, the first Black American artist to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, saw himself as a religious messenger rather than a sculptor: “I didn’t know I was no artist till them folks come tole me I was. Every piece of work I got carved… is a message… a sermon, you might say.” Two examples of his carved limestone sculptures will be featured on the first day of the upcoming Summer Fine Art, Antique, and Jewelry Auction, offered by Case Antiques. One shows a standing woman holding a book in her left hand while the other shows a small animal sitting back on its hind legs. Augusta Savage’s plaster and bronze patina Gamin sculpture will also be featured. Another notable Black American artist, Savage modeled this work after her young nephew. Several notable jewelry lots are available, including a 1995 necklace from Piaget. This 18-karat yellow gold piece is set with three strands of brilliant-cut diamonds and a center emerald pendant. Both vintage and contemporary Rolex watches are offered as well. Among these is an Explorer from the early 1960s and a yellow gold Cosmograph Daytona made approximately 30 years later. View each of these lots and register to bid on Invaluable.
Auction IndustryArtist to Know: Augusta Savage
Case Antiques to Offer Gamin Sculpture from Artist and Activist When Augusta Savage arrived in New York at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, she only had a few dollars in her pocket. However, she quickly found herself in the company of the prominent writers and activists of the 1920s, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey. Savage joined them while simultaneously combating poverty and racism. Her work, though often overlooked, captured a distinct era of American history. As the first African American woman to open her own art gallery, Savage divided her time between creating art and supporting the next generation. A plaster edition of Savage’s well-known Gamin will be offered on July 11th, 2020 in the upcoming Two-Day Fine Art, Antique, & Jewelry Auction, presented by Case Antiques. Learn more about Augusta Savage before the bidding starts. Augusta Savage with her sculpture titled Realization in 1938. Image from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Augusta Savage was born to a devout Methodist minister who “almost whipped all the art out of [her].” Despite this difficult start, Savage was relentless in her pursuit of education. In 1923, she applied to a summer art program in France. Though accepted into the program and corresponding scholarship, the French government refused her after learning she was Black. “As soon as one of us gets his head above the crowd there are millions of feet ready to crush it back again...”. Savage wrote in her public response, which was printed in the New York World. “For how am I to compete with other American artists if I am not to be given the same opportunity?” It took six years of activism, but Augusta Savage was eventually permitted to study in France. That struggle permanently fused her ideals with her art, which explores the African American experience in the Jim Crow era. Augusta Savage, Gamin, c. 1929. Image from Case Antiques, Inc. During the Great Depression, Augusta Savage found work by running an art school and creating portrait busts of her fellow African American activists. However, Roberta Smith, writing for The New York Times, identifies the…
Auction IndustryAfrican American Art In the Spotlight at Case’s July 11-12 Auction
Sculptures and paintings by William Edmondson, Beauford Delaney, and Augusta Savage, along with two important African American quilts, headline the Summer Case Antiques Auction, set for July 11-12 at the company’s headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee. The auction also offers a dazzling array of high-end estate jewelry and timepieces, American furniture and textiles deaccessioned by the Memphis-Brooks Museum of Art, and an outstanding collection of studio glass, along with Case’s traditional fare of Southern regional decorative arts and historical memorabilia. Case’s July 11-12 auction features two sculptures by important African American artist William Edmondson: “Lady with a Book” (est. $40,000-44,000) and a “Critter” (est. $18,000-22,000).Case Antiques Works by William Edmondson, the self-taught son of Tennessee slaves who in 1937 became the first African American artist to have a solo exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, are currently attracting a surge of interest from institutions and advanced sculpture collectors, and limestone figures carved by Edmondson have dominated the top spots at past three Case auctions. This auction features two Edmondson sculptures from the same New York estate collection, “Lady with a Book” -likely inspired by a woman in Edmondson’s Nashville community - and a “Critter” (the term the artist himself used to describe some of his slightly ambiguous animal forms). They are joined by a vivid abstract expressionist watercolor by Beauford Delaney, another Tennessee-born Black artist. Delaney established himself in New York during the Harlem Renaissance, working in a mainly representational style, but his works became increasingly abstract after he moved to Paris in 1953. Like Delaney and Edmondson, Florida native Augusta Fells Savage had to battle prejudice and economic injustice early in her career before earning international recognition. The sculpture that proved to be her breakout work, a bust archetypical of Harlem street urchins titled “Gamin,” became so popular that she created several versions. The one offered by Case is 9” high and sculpted in plaster with a bronzed patina. (Savage went on to become a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement and established the Savage Studio of Arts & Crafts in 1932). The auction also features an early to…
Auction PreviewImportant Two-Day Winter Fine Art, Antique, and Jewelry Auction
The first African-American artist to enjoy a solo exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art was self-taught, relatively unknown, and lacked professional tools and materials. William Edmondson was discovered by a photographer for Harper’s Bazaar who stumbled across his lawn full of sculptures while in Nashville, Tennessee. One of the sculptures seen in that key photograph will be offered in the first session of Case Antiques’ upcoming Winter Fine Art, Antique, and Jewelry Auction. Edmondson carved The Preacher from one of his signature limestone blocks, using a railroad spike as a chisel. The piece reflects the spiritual call that prompted Edmondson to begin sculpting late in life. Over 1,000 lots will be offered over both days of this auction, including luxury jewelry, folk art, and porcelain. Several pieces of diamond jewelry are featured. A 4.18 karat brilliant-cut diamond pendant stands out, as well as several diamond and platinum rings. An 18 karat yellow gold ladies watch band is among the highlights of the second session, in addition to sets of flatware and tea services. View the complete catalog on Case Antiques’ website.
Auction PreviewFall Discovery Auction
Gustave Baumann’s much-appreciated woodblock prints are highlighted in the upcoming Fall Discovery Auction offered by . Two of the artist’s major paintings will be included in the sale, From Hillside Gardens and Bishop’s Apricot. Acknowledged for their incredible artistry, both of Baumann’s works feature his trademark use of vivid colors, lively flowers and trees, and cream paper. This diverse sale extends beyond fine art, however, also features a set of Gorham Chantilly sterling silver flatware. The 132-piece set well embodies the class and timelessness of the Gorham Manufacturing Company, which has created beautiful table settings for almost 200 years. With estimates ranging from $200 - $4,200, this sale will appeal to buyers of all interests. Other items that catch the eye include an 18-karat peridot and diamond ring and a Kentucky Sheraton cherry sugar chest. To learn more about these items and many more, visit Case Antiques Auctions.
Auction PreviewHistoric Summer Fine Art, Antique, and Jewelry Auction
The Historic Summer Fine Art, Antique, and Jewelry Auction offered by Case Antiques is a diverse and varied collection of decorative art, fine art, and jewelry. Featured lots include a three-stone diamond engagement ring, a landscape oil painting from Henry Moret, and several luxury watches. This auction also holds numerous curiosities and collectibles, such as antique pocket pistols and a war drum dating back to the original union of the United Kingdom. With over 750 available lots and starting bids ranging from $100 to $60,000, this auction appeals to collectors of all levels of interest. View the complete auction and register to bid online on LiveAuctioneers.
Press ReleaseSculpture, Civil War Items and Estate Jewels Highlight Case’s Jan. 26 Auction
A William Edmondson sculpture, a coveted collection of Civil War material, and a large selection of jewelry – fresh from Southern estates – are expected to heat up the Winter Case Antiques Auction, set for Saturday, January 26th at the company’s headquarters in Knoxville. The 860-lot cataloged auction also features an exhibited collection of Southern pottery, paintings by listed American and European artists, and Chinese antiques, along with select pieces of art and porcelain deaccessioned by two Southern museums. Lot 130: Pair of Federal Period Girandole Mirrors Sculpture figures prominently in the auction’s fine art category. Most notable is Miss Lucy, a carved limestone depiction of a woman by William Edmondson, an outsider artist who in 1937 became the first African American to have a solo exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. The figure comes from the estate of a Nashville woman whose co-worker at Peabody College, Sidney Hirsch, is credited with helping introduce Edmondson to the New York art scene. Sharing the sculpture spotlight in this sale are three bronze figures of ballet dancers including Rudolph Nureyev, all by Richard MacDonald (a former artist in residence with London’s Royal Ballet), and a surrealist bust by Sergio Bustamante. The auction also features works from the estate of award-winning Tennessee sculptor, Olen Bryant. About a half dozen figures in wood and ceramic will be offered, along with part of the art collection amassed by Bryant and his partner, late Vanderbilt University art professor Thomas Brumbaugh, including a Jacob Epstein bronze sculpture of dancer Pola Nerenska, a small John Piper abstract, and several Spanish Colonial paintings. From the estate of Delle Brown, a longtime Nashville art and antiques dealer, comes an exhibited Gilbert Gaul oil landscape titled Tennessee Farmyard, a Thomas Hill still life, and a China Trade oil. The auction also features an exhibited view of Cape Ann by Charles Woodbury, a Hayley Lever dock scene, a large Louisiana bayou painting by Knute Heldner, 3 landscapes in oil and watercolor by Wolf Kahn, a collection of Texas landscapes including a bluebonnet scene by William Thrasher, and an Alaskan mountain landscape…
- Press Release
July 14, 2018 Auction Results Press Release
Banner Day at Case’s New Gallery Art and Historical Items Fly High KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— The July 14 auction at Case Antiques Inc. Auctions & Appraisals was all about history – in more ways than one. It was Case’s first auction in its new, flagship Knoxville gallery, representing a milestone for the twelve-year old firm. And, while there were noteworthy highlights in the categories of European and Western Art, Chinese antiques and Southern Decorative Arts, the smashing success of flags, maps, political and Civil War items made clear that Case is becoming a destination firm for historical artifacts and ephemera. The presence of many longtime customers from across the South lent a kind of housewarming feel to the event, with about 200 people attending over the course of the day-long event. More than 4,200 others, from Silicon Valley to Shanghai, registered to bid via phone, internet, and absent bid. The auction featured the estates and collections of Mr. and Mrs. H.R. Slaymaker of Nashville, Larry Casey of Jackson, Wilma and Jack Murray of Knoxville, Johnny Maddox of Gallatin, and Charles Boyd Coleman of Chattanooga, along with multiple other consignors from across the South. The open layout and enhanced lighting design of the new building allowed their items to be showcased to greater advantage in room-like vignettes, while Ipads were made available at locations across the floor to assist customers in locating item descriptions in the paperless catalogs. “When you relocate after ten years in one spot, even when it’s just a couple of miles away as in this case, you kind of wonder if your customers will make the move with you,” said company president John Case. “But it was rewarding to experience such a robust turnout, especially on a day when so many of our regional competitors were also having auctions. I think it’s a testament not just to our marketing but also to the loyalty of our customers. We saw a lot of return bidders, and experienced strength across multiple categories.” The day’s highest grossing lot was a pointillist oil on canvas of a man working at a vineyard…
- Press Release
George Washington Signed Book A $138,000 Bestseller At Case’s Jan. 27 Auction
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— A trove of historical books, documents and silver tied to George Washington and other Revolutionary War heroes helped Case ring in 2018 with one of its most successful sales to date. 4500 registered bidders from more than 60 countries participated in the January 27 auction at the company’s gallery in Knoxville, and 95% of the lots sold. Leading the auction was an important book, owned and signed by George Washington and given to his friend and biographer, the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835). Published in 1789 by printer and patriot Isaiah Thomas, the leather-bound Volume 1 of The Massachusetts Magazine contained an account of Washington’s first inauguration as President, plus his memoirs, and Washington’s coat-of-arms engraved bookplate. The intriguingly personal piece of presidential ephemera surged to $138,000, shattering its $28,000-32,000 estimate (all prices include the buyer’s premium). The anonymous buyer bid via telephone, competing against 7 other phone bidders and multiple online suitors, including institutions and some of the nation’s leading book and manuscript dealers and collectors. The book was found by dealer and consultant Carl Schow in the estate of Charles Boyd Coleman, Jr. of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Coleman was a direct descendant of Justice Marshall, and his family tree also included General Henry Dearborn and General Elias Dayton, along with distinguished Civil War soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Company president John Case likened the discovery of material from the estate to “finding a time capsule full of pivotal moments from American history” and noted that more objects from the estate will be sold in Case’s summer auction. Justice Marshall’s personal copy of his biography of George Washington (second edition, 1832) reached $21,600 (est. $5,000-7,000), and a 1799 letter from George Washington to John Marshall congratulating him on his first election to public office tallied $19,200 (est. $12,000-14,000). A George II silver sauceboat, which descended in the John Marshall family with oral history of having a connection to Washington, served up $11,040. It bore a coat of arms attributed to the Bassett family, and likely belonged to Martha Washington’s niece, Fanny Bassett, who…
