Catalog: Sold Items (421)

A fine and rare Chinese Bronze portrait bust of a young woman. In excellent condition with a nice rich brown patina measuring approx. 5.5 in tall with rosewood stand 7 in. or 14 x 18 cm. A fine addition to any collection.

Japanese mixed metal bronze censer with gold silver and brass inlaid details of a rooster and hen with chick and a blossoming flower motif. In excellent condition no damage some slight variations in bronze patina. Measures approximately 7 inches tall or 18 cm. a fine form with tripod feet. This is beautiful example of Japanese Meiji period metal work.

A fine Original Drawing with color by Alexandre Gabriel Decamps 1803-1860. A north African scene of a mosque and minaret signed with monogram lower right. In good antique condition some minor restored edge tears 1 cm each paper discoloration with age. Image measuring approx. 9.5 x 12.5 framed in a quality antique frame overall size 17 x 19.

Biography Decamps, Alexandre Gabriel 1803-60, French genre and historical painter, engraver, and lithographer. First known for his caricatures and illustrations, he turned to painting in thick impasto and strong color. One of his richest sources was the Middle East, which he depicted in vivid detail. His Good Samaritan and Night Patrol at Smyrna are in the Metropolitan Museum New York.

A fine vintage Ivory netsuke of a tiger and cub masterfully carved signed Hiroaki in excellent condition.

Sterling Tea Pot Hester Bateman London 1780 A beautiful Georgian silver teapot by Hester Bateman Of oval form with beaded rims and the sides and shoulder and lid decorated with bright cut and wheelwork decorations. The front side with a period monogram centered in a continious ribbon tied floral swag and drape garland. In excellent condition the lid hinge is a bit loose and the silver finial is probably a 19th century replacement. Measuring approx. 5 3/4 inches tall 11 inches excellent clear hallmarks overall weight 15 oz 10dwts.

Hester Bateman 1708 - 1794 Hester Batemans's long career began after the death of her husband John Bateman(1704-1760. John was a chainmaker in London, but little is known about him. After his death, Hester began to build the business, entering her first silver mark in 1761 and continuing to expand the business and went on to be one of the best known of the female silversmiths working in London during the 18th century.

An original oil on canvas of a early American trotter horse and buggy by Thomas Kirby Van Zandt oil on canvas signed and dated measuring approx. 24 x 30 in good antique condition.

Biography

Van Zandt, born in New Scotland, Albany County, New York in 1814, was a well-known painter of the horses of wealthy New Yorkers, including Leland Stanford. The Stanford Museum has a half dozen of T.K. Van Zandt's work in its collection. In 1859 he was awarded a silver medallion for "Best Animal Painting in Oil" by the New York State Agricultural Society. His son, William Garrett Van Zandt, was also known for his equine subjects. A second son, Bleecker (1855-1915) was a sculptor. Thomas Kirby Van Zandt died in 1886.

An original oil on board by Alexander Nepote signed lower right and signed and titled on the reverse "River Edge" Milbre Ca. 1959 measuring approx. 24 x 30 inches image size.

Biography

A painter known for mixed-media abstractions, Alexander Nepote was born on a ranch in California near Stockton. He studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, at Mills College, and at the University of California from where he received a Master's Degree. From 1945 to 1950, he was Dean of the Faculty at the California College of Arts and Crafts and served in the same capacity at San Francisco State College from 1950 to 1977. Memberships included the West Coast Watercolor Society, the Bay Region Art Association, and the California Watercolor Society.Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"

A fine antique Greek pottery kylix a grand tour example c.1890. Decorated in Classic greek figures two handles and pedestal stand. Measuring 18 x 14 x 8 inches. A beautiful example would enhance any interior.

"Eutoxeres Aquila" An original John Gould Hummingbird lithograph published in 1861 Beautifully hand colored with watercolor and added iridesence. Hallmandel and Walto printers London in good antique condition some age toning and light foxing. Slightly trimmed measuring approx. 14 x 21 overall size. A fine example of this important work one of the finest images. A Monograph of the Trochilidae, or Family of Humming-Birds Written by John Gould
Published by John Gould (London, England)
5 volumes and supplement, 1861-1887 John Gould (1804-1881) was a British ornithologist, artist, and successful businessman. Sometimes referred to as the "English Audubon," Gould had an illustrious career in which he served as official taxidermist to King George IV and established himself as Queen Victoria's favorite illustrator of birds. Gould was so devoted to the study of birds that he asked for his epitaph to read: "Here lies John Gould, the Bird Man." Though he chronicled a wide variety of bird species, from partridges to toucans, spanning all corners of the globe from Great Britain to Australia, Gould had a particular interest in hummingbirds. He developed a personal collection of 1500 mounted and 3000 unmounted specimens, containing at least 300 different species of hummingbird. A Monograph of the Trochilidae represents Gould's stunning effort to create a comprehensive guide to all the varieties of hummingbird with a high degree of accuracy, detail, and beauty.Gould's five volumes on the hummingbird contain 360 hand-colored lithographic illustrations. Gould would draw rough pencil or watercolor sketches of hummingbird specimens, which then served as guides for a team of artists (including his wife, Elizabeth). Gould also worked with lithographers, who used pure gold and silver leaf (applied underneath the watercolor) to achieve a lifelike illustration of the hummingbird's iridescent feathers.

Claude Buck still life of a rope and sea shells 1966 oil in masonite signed and dated lower left. Measuring Approx. 28x48 inches in excellent condition. A masterful painting by this remarkable American artist. Provenance; the artist’s wife Leslie Buck.

Biography

A leading member of the avant-garde symbolist artists in Chicago, Claude Buck moved there from his birth place of New York City in 1919. He was known for his "fantastic, sometimes disturbing images with allegorical and literary themes" (Kennedy 97) drawn from writings of Edgar Allen Poe, operas by Richard Wagner, classical mythology and New Testament writings from the Bible. Some of these early paintings had nude figures rendered in classical style to express abstract themes developed through dream-like landscapes and disregard of relative scale or relatedness between the figures. These paintings had luminist elements achieved with light-toned paints worked with transparent glazes. In the 1920s to earn money by gaining public favor and also expressing his increasing disdain for modernism, Buck did a number of "hyper-real" portraits, figures and still lifes. These proved popular and aligned him with the opponents of abstraction and their "Sanity in Art" movement whose headquarters were in Chicago. Buck taught drawing and painting at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art from 1921 to 1926, and at the Art Institute, where he took over classes of George Bellows. In New York City before coming to Chicago, Buck had a reputation as a radical artist. He took his first art training from his father, William R. Buck, from the time he was ages three to fourteen, and then until he was twenty-two, he studied at the National Academy of Design where he was nicknamed "Kid Hassam" because his painting reminded viewers of that of Claude Hassam. Buck worked as a scene painter in the theatre and at the Willet Stained Glass company, and in 1914 began portrait commissions to earn money. In New York he founded a group named the Introspectives, which reflected his own problems with melancholy during that period. Members, holding their first exhibition at the Whitney Studio in 1917, were artists who expressed their personal feelings and experiences and included Raymond Jonson and Emil Armin. In this phase of his career, Buck was focused on Old World styles of Leonardo da Vinci, Ralph Blakelock and Albert Pinkham Ryder. In 1929, the Arts Council of New York voted him one of the top one-hundred painters in the United States. In 1949, Buck and his wife, Leslie, moved to California to a studio-home in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and ten years later they settled in Santa Barbara where he died on August 4, 1974. In California, he was a member of the Carmel Art Association, the Santa Cruz Art League that he served as President in 1953,and the Santa Barbara Art Association. His paintings are in the collections of the Santa Cruz Public Library; the Santa Cruz City Museum as well as the Spencer Museum in Lawrence, Kansas; the Brigham Young University Museum; and the Museum of Elgin, Illinois.

A fine Cliff Fragua original sculpture "Spirt Woman" hand carved from a marble stone measuring approx. 15 inches tall.

Native American sculptor Cliff Fragua, of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, IACA Artist of the Year for 2005, has learned the secret of stone through his cultural and ancestral teachings. "My connection with the stone involves spirituality and reverence for the spirit that dwells within. It has been on this earth much longer than man and for this reason the stone becomes the teacher, it is simply what my ancestors believe. I am the mediator between the stone and the tools: the stone and the viewer." "I visualize what the stone wants to become and I strive to help it emerge." Cliff Fragua's sculptures are featured in such public locations as the Albuquerque Sunport International Airport, the National Statuary Hall in Washington DC and in permanent collections throughout the country.

Beautiful American oil painting of a portrait of a young girl with a parrot. American school 19th century. Measuring 8 x10 inches overall framed size 10.5" x 12.5". Original antique frame. In excellent condition oil on canvas laid down on board some minor flaws to frame.

A Beautiful work of art by this highly regarded California painter Patricia K. Jones. Oil on canvas signed lower right measuring 8 x 10 inches framed in a quality gallery frame overall size 14 x 16 inches in excellent condition. A nice addition to any collection. Biography Patricia is especially drawn to the familiar objects and sights that we usually take for granted. In her paintings, she strives to translate the essence of the everyday, the ordinary and the overlooked into works of art. This approach has allowed her to reach out to a wide audience, and today her paintings can be found in private collections in the U.S. and Europe. Education and Background: Bohemian House of Fine Arts: Carmel, California ,2001-2004 Russian Impressionism, 2003 Landscape Painting - Tuscany, Italy ,Academy of Russian Realism: St. Petersburg, Russia, 2002 Landscape Painting en Plein Air, California Academy of Painters: Provence, France, 2001 Painting in the Lavender Fields, Sauveterre-de-Bearn, France, 1999 Painting the Colors of Southwest France, Pacific Art League and Palo Alto Art Center: Palo Alto 1995-2002 Plein Air Oil Painting, Figure Drawing,Still Life and Portrait Painting, Scottsdale Artists School, Scottsdale, Arizona 2006, 2008 Workshops in Still Life Painting, Stanford University : Florence, Italy, 1995 Drawing in the Renaissance City Stanford University: MBA - 1976 Member, Oil Painters of America Member, American Impressionist Society

A fine antique Chinese gilt bronze censer or planter with intricate design foo dog feet and a angelic figure with clouds measuring approx. 12 inches tall and 12 inches wide.

An exquisite gilt bronze Buddha Thailand circa 1840 in very fine condition measuring approx. 14 inches tall. A fine and beautiful image.

A fine vintage African Dan mask. a beautiful piece of fine form and carving and patina. Provenance From The Late Phillip Kirkeby Collection. Custom display mount overall 15.5 inches the mask is 9 inches in length in excellent condition a fine addition to any collection.

A Japanese Bronze Water dropper Suiteki in the form of a Samurai Helmet. Meiji period c. 1900 measuring 3 1/4 L x 3 W x 2.5 H. in excellent condition nice patina.

"Summer at the 18th Pebble Beach "

A fine original watercolor painting of Pebble Beach Golf course Carmel California by James March Phillips a renowned California watercolorist. Measuring approx. 12 x 20 inches in excellent condition beautifully framed.

biography

James March Phillips was born in Fresno California in 1913. His art career began in the 1940's while attending Jean Turner Art Academy in San Francisco where is studied under such prominent artists as Louis J. Rogers, Alfred Owles, and J. Paget Fredricks. His paintings were sold in numerous galleries in the west during the 1940's and 1950's. In recent years his paintings have become quite valuable and have reached prices as high as $13,000 at San Francisco auction house Bonhams Butterfields. This is one of a pair please view the other listing of the 7th hole Pebble Beach.

A fine Ban Chiang pottery bowl in very good condition no restorations original polychrome decorations. Measuring approx. 5 inches tall a museum quality piece.

A fine Mayan Jade classic period pectoral chest ornament plaque. From a Stanford collection measuring 11.5" x 7".

Fine Antique American Victorian drawing of a young boy, circa 1880. Image, 10"L x 16"H. Matted and in quality frame 20 X 26 overall. Wear to edges under the mat minor flaws to surface. In a quality gallery frame.

A magnificent large Japanese Imari porcelain bowl exquisite in size and quality beautiful painted court scenes and traditional Imari decorations with 24k gold highlights. overall size 18 inches in diameter and 4 inches deep or 46 x 10 cm. A fine example would be a nice addition to any interior or collection.

A beautiful landscape of a clearing storm over the French country side. A fine impressionist painting contrasting the storm clouds with the sunlight on the landscape. Oil on board signed lower right measuring approx 13 x 19 inches framed in a quality gallery frame 17 x 23 inches overall. A fine painting by a listed and highly regarded French and Belgian painter.

Biography

Painter of landscapes and marines. inspired by the landscapes of Brabant Wallon. Deceased about 1945. Exhibited at the Triennial "Exposition of Antwerp "in 1901 ("Mill in Dordrecht"). Lived in Saint-Gilles at that time. Listed in BOTTOM II and "Two Centuries of Signatures of Artists of Belgium". ...

Chinese Ivory carved reclining beauty or doctors model circa 1900 measuring approx. 6.5 inches in length 16.5 cm. In excellent condition yellowing from age this piece would make a fine addition to any Ivory collection.

A fine antique Chinese carved zitan wood statue of Buddha or a Bodhisattva beautiful patina and fine carved details. Finest quality one solid piece of rare Zitan wood measuring approx. 16.5 inches tall or 42 cm. A fine addition to any collection.

San Francisco Bay Area Modernist watercolor ink painting by Harold Christopher Davies, signed lower right. Provenance: Estate of the artist and Hoover Gallery, San Francisco. Davies' work was exhibited at the San Francisco Art Association, Oakland Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum, Southampton Museum, University of Long Island Museum, Parrish Art Museum, Hoover Gallery (San Francisco), Haggin Museum and Huntsville Museum. Image, 6"L x 4.5"W. Matted and framed. Minor wear.

A beautiful masterfully drawn Standing Female Nude French c.1800. Drawing on blue gray hand made paper some age discoloration. Image 20"L x 12.5"W matted and framed in a quality gold frame overall 28" L x 21" W.

A fine Chinese Famille Rose Porcelain Bowl, Qianlong mark Circa Late 19th Century early 20th. The Exterior all intricately hand painted decorations with two senic painted panels and large and small flower design all on a blue sgraffiato floral ground of the most beautiful detail and color. Interior of bowl is robins egg blue color glazed. Everted mouth rim Circular raised foot with underglaze blue Qianlong reign mark, although we believe this piece to be late 19th century early 20th. Foot rim remains unglazed. Measuring 7.5 in diameter and 4 inches tall or 19 x 9 cm. The Condition is excellent no chips cracks or restroations. An exquisite example would make a fine addition to any collection.

A Beautiful antique S Kirk and Sons sterling silver covered urn with heavy chased repousse a floral finial and ram head finial handles monogramed with a letter P measuring approx. 9.5 inches tall marked 11 oz. In very fine condition.

Chinese Chinoiserie lacquer box with scenes of temple houses and figures in landscape circa 1860. A beautifully all hand painted scene on a red lacquer background the box is made of wood and the clasp of brass. A fine example in very good antique condition.

A beautiful Japanese Art nouveau carved wood urn or vase stand finely carved details of Iris flowers measuring approx. 28 inches tall. A fine decorative piece.

Japanese bronze Ichibana bowl circa 1900 signed with a rich dark patina and relief design of Japanese figures gathering blossoms for ichibana floral arrangement shishi dog feet and elephant handles. In excellent condition measuring approx. 11” wide 8” deep and 3.5” tall.

A fine pair of early American portraits of a Handsome young man and beautiful woman. Oil on canvas relined some minor restorations nicely framed Measuring 22 x 18 inches framed size 26.5 x 22.5 inches. A wonderful decorative pair would enhance any interior.

James Everett Stuart sunset glow Mt. Hood Oregon from near Portland. Oil on canvas signed lower left and dated Jan 11, 1917 signed and titled priced and dated on reverse. A fine example of this highly regarded American artists work measuring 12x18 inches in good all original condition some minor age cracking framed in a contemporary gallery frame measuring overall 20x26. A fine example of this great American artists work.

A painting Sunset Glow Mt. Hood sold for $12,000 at Santa Fe Art auction 11/14/1998 lot no. 121

Biography

Born in Bangor, Maine, James Everett Stuart became known for his panoramic landscapes from Maine to California to Alaska to the Panama Canal, but especially of the American West with focus on Northern California and Oregon. Reportedly he painted more than 5000 paintings during his lifetime and originated a method of painting on aluminum and wood with a special adhering process that he thought made his work quite durable but proved not to be so. He also wrote on the back of most of his paintings His parents took him to California at the age of eight, and the family settled in San Francisco where he attended the public schools and studied art with Virgil Williams, Raymond Yelland, Thomas Hill, and William Keith at the San Francisco School of Design. His early work was dramatic California landscape including the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and in style the works were moody and mysterious and suggestive of the French Barbizon School. He first traveled to the Northwest in 1876, and in 1881, he opened his studio in Portland, Oregon and from there traveled throughout the West and East Coast and into Mexico. Subjects included Yosemite as well as California missions and adobes. He painted landscapes whose sales ultimately were financially remunerative and which established his reputation. Of those years, he expressed that he much preferred being in the park to studio painting, but he stopped visiting in 1889 and instead traveled to Alaska and the Coastal Range. During much of the 1890s, he lived in Chicago, but in 1912 returned to San Francisco until his death in 1941. There, from his studio near Union Square, he was highly successful and popular among his peers, underscored by his membership in the Bohemian Club. Many of the owners of old homes in California have his paintings on the wall, suggestive of a time of grandeur. One of his paintings is in the White House, and his work is in the historical societies of Oregon, Washington, and Montana.

Japanese Ivory Netsuke of a turtle finely carved artist signed in excellent condition. Measuring approx 2.5 inches long 6 centimeters. a fine addition to any collection.

A fine original oil painting on board 18 x 26 inches signed lower left J.W. Curtis and dated 1893. A scene of the Australian blue mountains and the famous three sisters mountain. excellent condition. A fine example of this important Australian artists work. Known for his paintings in black and white which he exhibited at the Victorian Academy of Arts, in the 1880s.

Biography

James Waltham Curtis (1839-1901) was an eminent Australian colonial artist whose work lives on as a tribute to Australia’s early days of European settlement. His approach is of technical, poetic and historical interest, emphasizing man’s battle with a primeval landscape and nature, his picturesque landscapes being fine examples of the late 19th century period which preceded the Heidelberg School. Curtis was an English painter and illustrator who it is believed, came to Australia during the Gold Rush. Curtis’ work plays an important part in the preservation of Australian history and is an excellent reminder of how life was in the latter part of the 19th century.

The Three Sisters

The Sisters were formed by erosion. The soft sandstone of the Blue Mountains is easily eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers and the cliffs surrounding the Jamison Valley are being slowly broken up. [edit]Aboriginal legends The commonly told legend of the Three Sisters is that three sisters (Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo') lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe). They fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe (the Nepean tribe), but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back. This legend is claimed to be an Indigenous Australian Dreamtime legend.[1] However, Dr Martin Thomas, in his work "The artificial horizon: imagining the Blue Mountains",[2] clearly shows that the "aboriginal" legend is a fabrication created by a non-Aboriginal local Katoomba, Mel Ward, presumably to add interest to a local landmark. The story originated in the late 1920s or early 1930s and is unknown prior to that date. The Aboriginal traditional owners, the Gundungurra, have a legend that includes the Sisters rock formation. They are currently[when?] developing a website which will include these traditional stories.