Thomas Hart Benton was an American muralist and painter associated with the Regionalist art movement. Benton was famous for his portraits of everyday Americans. In his teenage years, Benton worked at a local newspaper as a cartoonist. However, a visit to his hometown in Missouri inspired him to paint in the Midwestern style. Benton’s subjects include people working in coal mines, logging camps, cotton fields, and steel mills. The upcoming Sotheby’s auction presents American Midwestern artworks by Thomas Hart Benton. One highlight is Benton’s oil painting titled Boy from Georgia. The available portrait is from his cotton pickers collection. It boasts rough brushstrokes and rhythmic forms, which are key elements of Benton’s style.
A floral still life by Impressionist painter Nicolai Fechin will also be available. The Russian-American artist learned woodcarving from his father as a boy. Around the 1930s, Fechin started painting still lifes. The offered oil on canvas features a mixed arrangement of daisies and other flowers. This auction also features sculptures by Frederic Remington like The Rattlesnake and The Mountain Man. The Rattlesnake, a 1915 patinated bronze, shows Remington’s skill with motion.
The auction will offer a selection of color portraits by Milton Avery. Bidders will also find paintings by Sanford Robinson Gifford, David Johnson, and Sigfredo Pastor. Interested collectors can explore the entire listings and register to bid online by visiting Sotheby’s.
Free Black American soldiers enrolled in the army alongside white soldiers for the first time in U.S. history during the Revolutionary War. Soldiers from many different backgrounds fought against the British colonizers. Leading the upcoming Early American History Auctions sale is a Continental Army muster roll from around 1779. It catalogs the Black soldiers who fought at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War.
This auction focuses on Black history, historic documents, and weapons. An American Philosophical Society certificate signed by Thomas Jefferson and David Rittenhouse is among the key lots. Jefferson was the third president of the United States and the lead author of the Declaration of Independence. David Rittenhouse was the president of the American Philosophical Society after Benjamin Franklin. He was also an astronomer, mathematician, clockmaker, and the first director of the United States Mint. The sale also includes historic firearms, sketches, cutlery, and more. View the entire catalog and register to bid on Bidsquare.
Widow’s mite coins, also known as “Pruta” or “Leptons,” were issued under ruler Alexander Jannacus, King of Judea, from 103-76 B.C.E. At the time, these were the smallest coins circulating in Jerusalem. The ancient coins are featured in the Biblical story of the poor widow who gives two mites to the Temple treasury. The upcoming antiquities sale, presented by Palmyra Heritage Gallery, offers 11 lots of widow’s mite coin jewelry. One side of these coins shows the king’s name and an anchor. The other side depicts an eight-rayed star.
The sale will highlight several other ancient coins. A Greek coin from Akragas, Sicily, circa 465 B.C.E., is among the featured lots. Akragas, an ancient city along the Sicilian coast, is famous for its ancient coinage. Founded by colonists in 580 B.C.E., Akragas became a wealthy city. Within a few decades, it started issuing coinage. One side of this coin bears an eagle, a symbol of Zeus. The other side depicts an open-clawed crab, symbolizing Akragas’ strength. The available piece is a silver tetradrachm. Interested collectors can view more items from the Antiquities, Islamic Art, Ancient Coins Sale and place a bid on Bidsquare.
A Japanese-American ceramic sculptor, Akio Takamori (1950-2017) carved characters from both rural and urban settings. Takamori’s works were inspired by Japanese culture and largely drew from his childhood years in his homeland. Akio Takamori’s stoneware sculpture of two figures is among the highlights of I.M. Chait Gallery’s upcoming Asian Art, Antiques, & Estates auction. The painted sculpture depicts two women. One rests her arm on the shoulder of the other.
A polychrome ceramic figure by Ralph Bacerra (1938-2008) will be available as well. Bacerra’s artwork is acclaimed for its eye-catching color combinations, which he achieved with a multi-stage overglazing technique. The available sculpture features intricate geometric patterns inspired by Imari and Kutani ware of Japan, Tang ceramics of China, and Persian miniatures. The auction also offers a 1922 black lacquer finish parlor grand piano from Steinway & Sons. To view the complete catalog and register to bid online, visit Bidsquare.
Produced in North Iran, Bakshaish rugs are widely recognized for their cultural influences. They are particularly known for their asymmetrical designs. In a Bakshaish rug, no motifs are shown in the same way twice. This February, a 19th-century Bakshaish antique rug will come to auction with Freeman’s. The available carpet has an intricate blue and red inner border with a geometric center.
A Venetian Arte Povera fall-front secretary in the Baroque style is highlighted as well. Though the Baroque style grew from Italy, its influence and popularity swiftly spread across Europe in the early 18th century. Baroque furniture is best known for its sense of motion with intricate details. A Louis XV gilt tole mirror, an Italian giltwood sofa in the Rococo style, and a 1900 sculpture by Louis-Ernest Barrias will be highlighted as well. Browse the entire collection and register to bid online on Bidsquare.
Until the early 20th century, Johns Hopkins Hospital had to build its reputation as a top-flight medical institution despite outdated operating rooms. To raise patients’ heads, for example, surgeons placed books under the legs of the operating table. When new facilities opened in 1904, Surgeon-in-Chief William Halsted decided to celebrate by operating with a full audience. A photo of Halsted’s “All-Star Operation,” as it’s now called, is among the top lots in Bonhams’ timed auction of medical literature and memorabilia. The picture is one of 60 in a photo album detailing Johns Hopkins Hospital’s progress in 1903 and 1904.
Elsewhere in the catalog, bidders will find a first-edition copy of James Yonge’s Wounds of the Brain Proved Curable, published in 1682. At the time, the medical consensus in England was that brain injuries were always fatal. Yonge published Wounds of the Brain to outline his successful brain operation on a young boy. It may have been the first surgery of its kind in England. Also unprecedented is Humphrey Ridley’s The Anatomy of the Brain, a 1695 monograph available in this Bonhams auction. It was the first monograph in the English language fully dedicated to the brain. View the full medical literature and memorabilia catalog and register to bid on Bonhams’ website.
A selection of United States postage stamps will be featured in Doyle’s upcoming Postage Stamps, Coins, and Writing Instruments auction. Lots include first-issue 5-cent and 10-cent postage stamps from 1847, with both used and on-letter offerings. The catalog also includes definitive and commemorative stamp sets, a study of the 1938 Presidential series, and more.
The numismatic section of the sale offers modern proof gold. Collectors can consider other group assortments as well, such as a 1998 platinum proof set, Franklin Mint commemorative sets, and United States Olympic sets. Among the available writing instruments are an S.T. Dupont Grande Plume Pharaoh, an S.T. Dupont James Bond 007 Limited Edition, and several Montblanc Writer Series issues. These include Ernest Hemingway, Miguel de Cervantes, and Virginia Woolf versions. Rounding out the sale is a Royal Hawaiian 1850 Agricultural Society copper medal. View any of these lots and register to bid at Doyle.
Patek Philippe’s Gondolo pocket watch collection was named after the famous Rio de Janeiro retailer Gondolo & Labouriau. Gondolo & Labouriau and Patek Philippe shared business connections from 1872 to 1927. Their successful bond led to the Chronometro Gondolo, a custom timepiece collection made especially for the Brazil-based retailer. Chronometro Gondolo pocket watches were Patek Philippe’s best-selling pieces in the early 1900s. The upcoming Intervendue auction presents a selection of gemstone jewelry and timepieces, including a Patek Philippe Chronometro Gondolo pocket watch. The 18-karat yellow gold pocket watch has the signature Chronometro Gondolo movement with a distinct gold gear-train.
The auction also showcases diamond, platinum, and gold jewelry pieces. One highlight is an alexandrite, diamond, and 14-karat white gold ring. The GIA-certified ring has 7.59-carat chrysoberyl alexandrite and tiered diamonds. Alexandrite gemstones were discovered during the 1830s in the Ural Mountains, near the Tokovaya river region. They are known for their color-changing properties. A platinum Art Deco diamond bracelet and a Victorian diamond and natural pearl brooch will be featured as well.
This gemstone jewelry and timepieces auction also presents a Tiffany & Co. Elsa Peretti 18-karat gold chain necklace. The pendant is from Elsa Peretti’s Open Heart collection. Cartier jewelry pieces, Frascarolo enamel jewelry, and Rolex, Longines, and Piaget wristwatches round out the catalog. Interested collectors can explore the full listings and register to bid online on Bidsquare.
A Gorham sterling silver matchsafe will be offered in this upcoming Doyle auction, which highlights the Joseph & Miriam Poser Collection of Silver Card Cases, Vesta & Matchsafes. In 1831, Henry L. Webster and Jabez Gorham founded the Gorham Manufacturing Company to produce high-quality silver spoons. The company went on to become one of the most famous Art Nouveau silverware manufacturers in history. Introduced in the 1890s, the offered matchsafe depicts a school of fish swimming between waves.
William B. Kerr’s novelty matchsafe is another sterling silver piece highlighted in the event. Silversmith William B. Kerr was active in the 1880s. During his long career, Kerr constantly experimented with elaborate patterns in the Art Nouveau style. The available lot, which resembles a coiled rattlesnake, is a fine example of his work from circa 1900. The auction also offers a Victorian/ Edwardian sterling silver vesta case, a set of Chinese export silver card cases, and a 20th-century matchsafe from Unger Bros. Interested collectors can browse the full listings and register to bid on Doyle’s website.
Bonhams’ upcoming Native American art sale features a quilted shirt associated with Sap-Ut-Ka-Low-Nee (White Swan), also known as “Poker Jim.” Other notable items include a Hethuska Society painted hide along with an Edward Sheriff Curtis orotone photograph and a Matthew Panana sculpture.
Sap-Ut-Ka-Low-Nee (White Swan) was dubbed “Poker Jim” by United States Army soldiers during the Bannock War of 1878. Poker Jim was a well-respected and popular Pendleton known for his love of poker games. One featured lot in this auction is a Fort Berthold man’s quilted shirt associated with Poker Jim. The shirt is made of soft pink hide. It has open sides that are secured with ties. The quillwork is consistent with the Fort Berthold style, with fringed strips running the lengths of the arms and over each shoulder. The shirt features cross and bear claw motifs and measures 32 inches in length and 63 inches in width.
A 1906 orotone photograph by Edward Sheriff Curtis is also highlighted in the auction. Titled The Scout – Apache, this orotone is presented with an original glazed Curtis Studio frame and is signed in the lower right. The orotone features a Native American man sitting on his horse.
Collectors will also find a 1995 sculpture by Matthew Panana. This sculpture, titled Watching the Dance, is made of carved onyx. It is signed and dated on the base. To view more lots and to place a bid, visit Bonhams.
