Fine & Decorative Arts From Three Collections Come To Turner Auctions + Appraisals On April 26
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 14, 2025 – Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Fine & Decorative Arts on Saturday, April 26, 10:30 PST. Sourced from Northern California and Oregon, the sale features 245 lots from one collector, Alton F. Irby III, and two estates. On offer are diverse artworks, silver, and a wide array of decorative arts, including a large collection of paperweights, Asian items, religious pieces, and lots from noted manufacturers such as Tiffany, Lalique, Baccarat, Lladro, Staffordshire, and Limoges.
From the two estates are artworks that include paintings by Pegge Hopper, a highlight, Laddie John Dill, Leon Detroy, and Francois Brunery. Among the many silver items, mostly sterling, are tableware, flatware, serving pieces, and decorative items. There are several religious offerings: crucifixes, icons, and santos. There is a selection of decorative items: a Tiffany desk set; Staffordshire cottages, castles, and figures; Lalique butterflies and perfumes; figurines from Baccarat and Daum. From Asia come a wide array of offerings: from China, Blanc de Chine cups; cloisonne trays, boxes, vases and dishes; embroidered silk panels; figures of turquoise, malachite, lapis lazuli, or agate; carvings of coral or jade; cinnabar items; and more. There are also some lots from Japan, India, Tibet, and Thailand. The estate collection of paperweights from Oregon includes over 40 lots, including those by Ray Banford, Rick Ayotte, Debbie Tarsitano, Max Erlacher, Victor Trabucco, and Saint Louis.
From the Alton F. Irby III Collection are an extensive array of artworks and decorative arts. One highlight is a bronze sculpture of a water buffalo by Elisabeth Frink. Paintings include those by Marcel Dyf, Emile Godchaux, Dan Chen, Henry Louis Dupray, and Gaston Sebire. Among the works on paper are 18th-/19th-century lithographs by McKenney & Hall, etchings by Demane-Demartrais with views of Russia, and engravings of the Palace of White Hall. Decorative arts include a late 19th-century Meissen porcelain large parrot figure; pairs of Chinese export porcelain geese and phoenix figures; Chinese Kangxi blue and white plates; pairs of Chinese export porcelain immortals and Guanyins; a set of four Delft vases and plates; and much more. Completing this collection are a cased pair of custom-made Armas Garbi engraved double barrel shotguns.
Turner Auctions + Appraisals begins its online auction on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 10:30 am PST; sale items are available for preview and bidding now. The auction will be featured live on four platforms: LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, Bidsquare, and Turner Auctions + Appraisals’ free mobile app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Apps (“Turner Auctions”). Both are easily accessed through ‘Upcoming Auctions’ at the company’s website: www.turnerauctionsonline.com/upcoming-auctions/.
Here below are some highlights of the upcoming online sale (please see lot details in the online catalog):
Lot 189: Artist: Elisabeth (Dame Elisabeth) Frink (1930-1993). Title/Description: Standing Water Buffalo. Signature: Signed on underside. Edition/Numbered: 4/9. Year Created: Not given. Medium: Bronze sculpture. Size: Approx. 7 x 13 1/2″ Good condition. Very Good. Provenance: Property of Alton F. Irby III. Estimate $30,000-$40,000.
Lot 31: Artist: Pegge Hopper (Born 1936). Title/Description: Hawaiian Woman with Necklace. Signature: Lower left. Year Created: 1977. Medium: Oil on linen with mixed media colored crochet cord, feathers, and ceramic disk necklace. Size: 56″ x 56″ Approx. Good condition. Very Good. Estimate $5,000-$7,000.
Lot 34: Artist: Leon Detroy (1857/59 – 1955) Title/Description: “Paysage de Neige”. Signature: Lower right. Year Created: Not given. Medium: Oil on canvas. Size: 39 1/2 x 31 1/2 Approx. Good condition. Very Good. (Frame showing losses). Estimate $3,000-$5,000.
Lot 212: Meissen Porcelain Large Parrot Figure, c. Late 19th Century. The Meissen porcelain Scarlet Macaw holding cherries in his talon, and perched on a tree stump upon rockwork. Blue crossed swords mark inside base. Approx. 16 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ x 7″. Condition: Good, no chips/cracks. Provenance: Property of Alton F. Irby III. Estimate $2,000-$4,000.
Lot 230: Cased Pair Armas Garbi Engraved Double Barrel Shotguns. Serial No. 17117. 12 gauge/bore, barrels with fixed front bead sight. Blued and case-hardened finish. The receiver, lever, and trigger guard are elaborately engraved with a scroll and floral design. The walnut straight stock and splinter fore-end are finely checkered; the base of stock with a gold-plated oval escutcheon. With rubber recoil pad. In a factory leather-wrapped carrying case that includes cleaning tools, snap caps, etc. Together with two leather carrying cases. Provenance: Property of Alton F. Irby III. Estimate $8,000-$12,000.
Lot 206: Artist: Marcel Dyf (1899-1985). Title/Description: Wildflower Field and Figures beside a Beach. Signature: Signed lower right. Medium: Oil on canvas. Size: 18″ x 21 3/4″ (frame 26″ x 30″). Condition: craquelure in the sky area. Provenance: Property of Alton F. Irby III. Estimate $1,500-$2,500.
Lot 219: Set of Chinese Kangxi Blue and White Plates (4). Set of four blue and white plates with a similar design of large leaves, all but one with insects above the foliage, the rims with a geometric band, and linear design under the rims. Each approx. 9″ diam. All in good condition, some light surface scuffing. Provenance: H. Moog Antique Porcelains, Atlanta, Georgia (Henry Moog, 1938-2012). Property of Alton F. Irby III. Estimate $1,500-$2,500.
Lot 154: Debbie Tarsitano and Max Erlacher Primroses/Swan Paperweight, 1985. An art glass paperweight collaboration by Debbie Tarsitano (b. 1955), and Steuben master glass engraver Max Erlacher (1933-2022), featuring a branch of white/pink primroses and blue buds, over a base with engraved design of a swan swimming among cattails and lily pad. With “DT” cane signature, and etched “M.R.E.” and dated 1985. Approx. 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″. Condition good, no chips/cracks. Estimate $800-$1,200.
Lot 161: Two Chinese Cloisonne Trays, 18/19th Century. Two fine and large Chinese cloisonne trays, of rectangular form, decorated in colored enamels on a turquoise ground with gilt geometric inlay. Largest example 10-1/2″ x 18″. Estimate $800-$1,200.
Lot 190: Artist: Edward J. Fraughton (1939-2024). Title/Description: Running Elephant. Signature: Signed in base. Edition: 23/50. Date: 1984. Medium: Solid cast bronze sculpture; mounted on marble-topped wood base. Size: Figure approx. 8 1/2″ x 12″ x 7″ ; total height with base approx. 12″. Good condition. Provenance: Property of Alton F. Irby III. Estimate $800-$1,200.
Lot 124: Icon of the Crucifixion and Presentation of Christ. Russia, Circa 17th/18th Century. A panel with two iconographies: The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and The Crucifixion. Tempera on wood, with remnant gilt. 12 1/4″ x 15 1/2″ (mounted in frame 13″ x 16 1/4″). Support bar with hand-wrought nails. Condition: soiling to surface; several holes/losses; losses along edges; some cracks to wood; wormholes to verso; one support bar missing. Estimate $800-$1,200.
Lot 114: Chinese Carved Jade Guanyin Crossing the Sea. The carved pale milky green jade depicts Guanyin with flowing robes, standing with a bamboo staff on a small shell-form boat in high waves, a vase with a willow branch at the prow. Height of figure approx. 9″, width 6″. Condition: Good condition; some very tiny chips to tips of a few bamboo leaves. Together with a fitted carved wood stand. Estimate $800-$1,200.
Lot 108: Ray Banford Yellow Basket/Iris Bouquet Paperweight. An art glass paperweight by Ray Banford (1918-2003), in the form of a yellow over white double-overlay diamond motif cut basket, with a bouquet of purple irises. With black “B” signature cane. Approx. 2 1/4″ x 3″ diam. Good condition, no chips/cracks. Estimate $600-$800.
Lot 180: Besler, Basilius (1561-1629). Two Botanical Plates. Two original hand-colored engraved botanical plates from Hortus Eystettensis. (Eichstatt, 1613 or later). Depicting “Helleboraster maximus” and “Spatula foetida.” Each 19 1/2″ x 16″ (sight); 30 1/2″ x 26 1/2″ (frames). Condition: both with toning; the first with central horizontal creasing, and some rumpling at margins/matte; the second with scattered light spotting/soiling (not examined out of frames). Provenance: Property of Alton F. Irby III. Estimate $500-$700.
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Based in South San Francisco, Turner Auctions + Appraisals was founded by Stephen Turner to expand and complement the capabilities of Stephen G. Turner Associates, an auction and appraisal consulting firm founded in 2004. Turner Auctions + Appraisals presents online auctions in diverse categories of personal property (www.turnerauctionsonline.com). Among them are Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, Asian Arts, Toys, Jewelry, Militaria, Ethnic Arts, and others. The company offers a range of auction and appraisal services for buyers, sellers, and collectors. Online auctions are held several times a month. Working with leading live and online auction houses on the West Coast since 1991, Turner is a professional appraiser of personal property and seasoned auctioneer. His areas of expertise include fine art, decorative arts, antiques & residential contents.
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