A lifelong resident of the Miami, Florida area, Purvis Young was a self-taught artist who offered the art world a completely fresh perspective. He was unrestricted by formal training or conventions. Instead, he depicted his disenfranchised Black American community with grace and humanity, executed his works on found pieces of cardboard and scrap wood, and displayed paintings on chain link fences surrounding abandoned lots. Several works on paper by Purvis Young will soon come to auction with Orion Antiques. Among them is a figurative scene completed with black oil paint on paper. Human-like squiggles dominate the page, as do tiny crosses and fluid circles along the bottom edge. The catalog also offers fine art from Joseph Thony Moise, LeRoy Neiman, and J. G. Brown.
Ceramics collectors will find several notable items in this sale, including a pair of Wedgwood blue and white porcelain urn lamps. These pieces bear the brand’s iconic “Wedgwood Blue” in a deep cornflower shade. The color was developed while founder Josiah Wedgwood was experimenting with Jasperware. Decorated in a Neoclassical style, these lamps feature swooped laurels and detailed Greco-Roman figures along the sides. Other notable lots in this event include a set of Imari-style tableware, Chinese carved jade sculptures, and Kachina dolls by Alex West. View the complete catalog of this and other online auctions by visiting Bidsquare.
Birger Kaipiainen was a ceramic artist notable for his highly adorned and romantic artworks. In 1958, Kaipiainen began working on his beaded bird sculptures. These famous artworks featured rare birds and utilized hand-crafted beads. These curlew sculptures by Kaipiainen also received the Grand Prix in 1960. The upcoming Brunk Auctions sale features an avian sculpture by Birger Kaipiainen. The available sculpture utilizes patinated steel, beads, and wire. The steel base sculpture also has multiple hand-painted ceramic clock adornments.
The auction also highlights oil paintings by abstract painter Afro Basaldella. Appuntamento Dietro La Cattedrale showcases Basaldella’s signature geometric elements. It portrays the artist’s migration from a realist to a more Abstract Expressionist style. Basaldella’s work is notable for its vibrant color palette and excellent light usage. Also showcased is a John Lewis glass sofa table made from multiple cast glass sections. These cast glass tables represent the furniture maker’s inclination towards solid configurations. The sale features other John Lewis furniture pieces, including dining sets, chairs, and sofas. The Modern + Design auction will offer artworks by Pablo Picasso, Milton Avery, Alfred Stieglitz, and Rude Osolnik. Interested collectors can explore the entire listings and register to bid online by visiting Bidsquare and browse other online auctions.
The first modern edition of William Shakespeare’s complete works (Nicholas Rowe’s 1709 Works) was based on the Fourth Folio. Many editions followed suit, increasing its historical value as an original text. The Fourth Folio is the third update to Shakespeare’s works, which corrected obvious errors and modernized the English text, as had the previous numbered folios before it. A copy of this text is featured in the Early Printed Books auction on offer at Swann Auction Galleries, and the auction house says that this particular copy has “distinguished provenance,” and is “finely bound and beautifully preserved.”
Shakespeare is well-represented in the sale, as are Charles Darwin, Francis Bacon, Sir Thomas Browne, Miguel de Cervantes, and others. Individual works of interest include a first Valencia edition copy of El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha by Cervantes, a Quarto-format manuscript on parchment of The Book of Hours with illuminated miniatures, a first edition, fourth state copy of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and more. View any of these lots and register to bid at Swann Auction Galleries.
Louis-François Cartier’s right-hand woman, Jeanne Toussaint, was nicknamed “La Panthère” for various reasons, including her fascination for panther coats. As the design director at Cartier, Toussaint urged her team to create figurative three-dimensional pieces of the big cat. With designer Peter Lemarchand joining her team in 1927, the panther-inspired pattern became the signature style of the luxury jeweler and watchmaker. Three Panthère de Cartier designs highlight the upcoming sale at AAA Auction Gallery. One is a platinum bracelet set with two emerald eyes. The piece is designed with 765 brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 13.20 carats and 54 onyx spots and 1 onyx nose. Another noteworthy Panthère bracelet is made of 18-karat white gold. It is fashioned with two emerald eyes, one onyx nose and 1,827 brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 5.46 carats. A 12-inch long round pendant necklace from the Panthère collection is equally interesting. It is crafted with approximately 48 brilliant-cut diamonds, tsavorite garnet, onyx, black lacquer, and ceramic.
Two necklaces from Van Cleef & Arpels’ Alhambra collection also lead the listings. Featuring the signature clover-shaped motifs, the famed collection is named after the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. To view the complete catalog and register to bid online, visit Bidsquare and browse other online auctions.
In the culture of the Oron people of southern Nigeria, an ancestral figure or Epku Oro was presented as a status symbol to an esteemed Oron elder as a part of a ritual. The Epku represented the social standing of the elder as a guardian and keeper of a shrine, someone who would assure the well-being of their offspring. The earliest known ancient wooden carving of the Oron people dates back to 2,370 BCE. The practice stopped sometime in the 1930s. This fall, Millea Bros. Ltd. will offer a 19th-century carved wood Nigerian Epku on Day 1 of the ABC: Estate Finds Auction. It has an orb-shaped head with deeply carved facial features, a long notch-carved beard, and straight arms reaching down to a solid block base. The figure comes from the estate of Martin Wright, the Boogeyman, an American retired professional wrestler.
The highlights of the three-day sale include Americana Art and illustration, fine art, decorative objects, Asian and African arts, artifacts, antiquities, a selection of English and American silver from the estates of distinguished professor Philip Gould, noted collector Martin Wright, a New York media executive, and Charles E. Sigety. The sale also offers a wide selection of furniture, modern design, decorative objects, and artworks sourced from New York City and New Jersey estates.
A set of four 20th-century Chinese enameled porcelain items is another leading lot. These Republic-period polychrome famille rose plaques were painted by Wang Qi (1884 – 1937), a member of the renowned Eight Friends of Zhushan. Each plaque depicts two seated Buddhist figures. The lot comes from the collection of visual artist Lewis Stein. Another notable lot is a 1902 set of ten volumes of The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Frederick Simpson Coburn, who has signed under the illustrations. The volumes were printed by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. Find the complete listings of this and other online auctions on Bidsquare.
Noonans will be offering two medals that were awarded to 2nd S.A.S. ‘s (Special Air Service) War Dog Rob for his service. The collie-retriever joined the British Royal Army as a War Dog on May 19, 1942 until being demobilized on November 27, 1945. In September 1943, Rob became the first dog to be assigned to the S.A.S. Official War Office records indicate that during his time with the regiment, War Dog Rob completed over 20 parachute descents, three of them being operational. Rob was the first dog awarded the animal V.C. (Victoria Cross) – the highest and most prestigious award of the British Armed Forces – by Major the Hon. W. P. Sidney V.C. M.P., the Anzio beachhead hero, at a ceremony at the Prisoner of War Funds Exhibition in London on February 8, 1945.
Also included in the upcoming auction are medals representing the British Armed Forces and a Second World War Luftwaffe Pilot Observer’s Badge with diamonds and citation to Oberst Hermann Graf. View these items and more by visiting Noonans.
The upcoming Exceptional Auction of Antique & Vintage Rugs, presented by 1stbid, will particularly feature a fine Turkish silk Hereke rug. During the mid-1800s, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire recruited some of the best weavers in the land to establish a new royal workshop in the town of Hereke. Before long, high-quality rugs emerged. The craftspeople used a combination of silk, cotton, and wool threads to weave their masterpieces. The available Hereke rug features tightly coiled patterns of flowers, vines, and arabesques in muted shades of gold, salmon, and pale green. Another notable rug in the auction is an antiqe silk Persian Heriz rug. This example bears a bold center medallion and a triple border.
Beyond Persian carpets, the catalog brings a robust collection of French Art Deco rugs from the early 20th century. These carpets depart from traditional symmetry and subtle shades. Instead, they embrace bold patterns and spontaneity. Among them is a French area rug that references the paintings of Joan Miró. Amorphous shapes cover the rug, sometimes resembling a human face or a small picture. The rug relies heavily on the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) against a nondescript background. To bid in this and other online auctions, visit Bidsquare.
For French architect and designer Hector Guimard, harmonious design was the most important consideration. Guimard worked on the cutting edge of Art Nouveau during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. In his version of the style, lessons learned from nature could be applied to buildings and household objects, all in the service of promoting national ideals. “Nature is a big book from which we can draw inspiration,” Guimard said, “and it is in that book that we must look for principles, which, when found, have to be defined and applied by the human mind according to human needs.” A pair of 1870s Art Nouveau table lamps designed by Hector Guimard lead the upcoming Palm Beach Interiors sale from Akiba Antiques. Made of gilt bronze with hanging crystal tubes forming the shades, these lamps recall the elegance of a waterfall or the curves of a willow tree.
Another notable item in the sale is a figural oil painting from French artist Jean Marius Fouque. The artist worked closely with members of the European nobility during the second half of the 19th century. Fouque often captured the likenesses of kings and leaders, including Emperor Napoleon III and Rama V, the king of Siam (today known as Thailand). The available Fouque painting shows a young woman seated in a garden. She holds a letter in one hand but gazes absently into the distance. Other notable lots in this event include a stainless steel sculpture attributed to Marzio Cecchi, a selection of glass art pieces from Daum, and 20th-century American furniture. Visit LiveAuctioneers to view the complete catalog and register to bid.
In the upcoming Collectible Coins, Gold, Loose Diamonds, & More event, offered by MYNT Auctions, a loose oval 8.5-carat diamond is available. The GIA-certified diamond features 8.5 carats and a color grading of H. It also possesses VS1 clarity, indicating that any imperfections are unlikely to appear without magnification.
A rare collectible coin offered in the collection is an Augustus 27 BCE to 14 CE Roman Aureus coin. The piece illustrates an image of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, who ruled from 27 BCE until his demise in 14 CE. The image on the reverse side of the coin depicts a racing bull, which is an allusion to Thurium, a city that the Octavian family had ties to. After Augustus’ father’s victory over a Spartan army close to the town and subsequent rise to prominence, Augustus was given the surname Thurinus. View more details and register to bid for this and other online auctions on Bidsquare.
Photography is not just another visual source, recording a place or a moment. It is a powerful emotive tool that can delve into its audience’s minds. Good photographs are timeless and create a sense of belonging. One such image featured in the upcoming Photography sale at Phillips is a 1984 portrait of Sharbat Gula. ‘Afghan Girl’ by American photojournalist Steve McCurry shows a young green-eyed Afghan refugee in Pakistan during the Soviet-Afghan War.
George Robinson Fardon’s seven-panel panorama of San Francisco in the year 1855 is another significant lot. The black-and-white images of buildings, businesses, and residences capture the city’s industrial expansion and booming energy. ‘Water Towers’ by Bernd and Hilla Becher, works from the collection of renowned curator Peter C. Bunnell, and Walker Evans’ famous Subway Portrait, along with his Penny Picture Display, Savannah, are other lots of interest. Visit Phillips to view the complete catalog and register to bid.
