Rookwood Vase and Unsigned Enameled Box Highlight Treadway Auction

by Bruce Johnson

 

The February 7 Treadway Art & Design auction featured several examples of American art pottery, plus a modest unsigned copper box, which attracted a good deal of attention from collectors. Among the highlights of the auction are the following lots:

 

 

Rookwood Pottery “Poppies Vase” by Kataro Shirayamadani

This monumental 15”h. x 8.5” diameter vase with an Iris glaze was signed, numbered, and dated 1907, which explains why bidders pushed the bidding beyond the pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$15,000 to an impressive $40,625.

 

 

 

 

 

Newcomb College by Marie Levering Benson 

This 13”h. x 5” diameter vase by the famed New Orleans art pottery also came well-marked, as it is artist signed and numbered, and has the Newcomb impressed marks and original label. As the catalog reported, it surfaced in “very good original condition, beautifully executed. A small drill hole in the bottom middle was professionally restored and is virtually invisible. An exceptional example of early Newcomb by an uncommon artist. Nicely carved with good detail.”  The drill hole may account for the conservative pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$15,000 for this size of a vase, which went home with the winning bidder for $15,000.

 

 

 

 

Newcomb College by Anna Frances Simpson

This 7”h. x 4” diameter vase is also signed and numbered. As the catalog noted, the artist “sometimes signed her work using her middle and last name, it’s certainly the type of quality you’d expect from her. Beautifully executed, nicely detailed.” This vase came into the auction with a pre-sale estimate of $4,000 – $6,000 and sold for $5,200.

 

 

 

Marblehead Vase

This 7”h. x 4” diameter vase bears the initials “HT,” for Hanna Tutt (1860-1952), a key decorator at Marblehead Pottery. It exhibited no crazing and arrived in excellent original condition and exceptional quality. It started with a pre-sale estimate of $3,500 – $4,500 , but it required $8,450 to take it home.

 

 

 

 

 

A Boston School Enamel and Copper Box

Proving that collectors were looking for more than art pottery, this unsigned copper and enamel box measuring nearly six inches in diameter and standing just two inches tall surprised many people. When you combine excellent original condition with incredibly detailed execution, collectors are apt, as they were this day, to push the bidding beyond the pre-sale estimate of $3,500-$4,500 to a final price of $15,000.

 

 

 

 

 

For more information, please go to www.TreadwayGallery.com.