Stickley Furniture and Art Pottery at Rago’s Tomorrow PLUS Grueby Fetches Six Figure Price
by Kate Nixon
Legacy of Style: Works from a Private Collection
Wednesday, May 24th
11:00 AM EST.
Rago / Wright presents Legacy of Style: Works from a Private Collection on Wednesday, May 24th. This curated collection includes works from Gustav Stickley, and special ceramic works from noted Arts and Crafts providers Cathers and Dembrosky. Several of these works have been shown in manufacturer’s catalogs collector’s guides and other publications including The Craftsman, The Gustav Stickley Photo Archives, and The Craftsman Workshop Catalogs. It should be noted that a few of these lots will be No Reserve lots, included a few Roseville Pottery and Fulper Pottery works.
Click here to the Stickley Spindle Morris Chair
Click here to see the Stickley Magazine Stand
Click here to see the Roseville Pottery Chloron buttressed jardiniere
Click here to see the Gustav Stickley Rare and Early Eastwood Table
Click here to see the Fulper Pottery Ring-Handled Jar
Click here to see the Grueby Faience Company Vase with leaves and buds
Aside from a number of Gustav Stickley pieces of furniture, ceramic works will include Grueby Faience, Teco Pottery, Van Briggle Pottery, Fulper pottery and Roseville Pottery scattered throughout the curated 141-lot auction.
The auction will start Wednesday, 11:00 AM EST. Interested buyers may bid online at the Rago website or LiveAuctioneers.com, in-person (333 North Main Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530), or over the phone bids.
To see the whole catalog, click here.
Grueby and George Ohr Vases Dazzle in May 11th Early 20th Century Design Auction
A Rare and Exceptional vase with calla lilies from Grueby Faience Company ($15,000–20,000) took home the most impressive hammer price at $107,100.
In another strong showing for David Rago, the May 11th Early 20th Century Design auction brought in strong results for interest in art pottery as works from George Ohr, Grueby Faience, Fulper Pottery, Newcomb College and others in the Arts and Crafts era of design sold far above their estimates in several bidding battles.
Far and away one of the most impressive bidding battles of the night came in the form of a rare and exception Grueby Faience vase with a calla lily design – the ultimate hammer price coming in at a whopping $107,100, sailing past the high estimate of $20,000. The vase was shown during the 1999 exhibition The American Century: Art & Culture 1900-1950 in New York City’s own Whitney Museum of American Art and came from an important private collection. The vase was also highlighted as a “Masterpiece” item in a video featuring David Rago talking about his top picks for the auction and mentioned the special shape of the vase as well as the customized design that was most likely a custom order. In another boost for Grueby Faience, a rare and exceptional Grueby Faience Company vase with Irises ($10,000-15,000) also featured on the David Rago video, sold for $23,940.
A number of exceptional George Ohr works sold expectedly well; an exceptional vase with two ribbon handles, folded rim, and mottled glaze in gunmetal over green, carmine and ochre ($35,000–$40,000) sold for $52,920, another exception Ohr vase with a raspberry, gunmetal, green, and grey volcanic glaze ($25,000–35,000) which also featured in Rago’s video sold for $75,600, and another two ribbon handled vase with a mottled indigo glaze ($15,000-20,000) featured in the book George Ohr: The Greatest Art Potter on Earth, sold within the estimates at $16,380.
Fulper Pottery was well-represented as a rare Vasekraft vase ($2,000-3,000) eminating from Rago’s own collection and another important collection in New York sold for $16,380 and a unique pink vase on a stand ($2,000-3,000) from the collection of Robert A. Ellison, sold for $11,970. Newcomb College did exceedingly well as a beautiful featured early and tall vase with Irises ($19,000-24,000) sold for $35,280 while an early and tall vase with stylized lillies ($7,500-$10,000) sold for $21,420.
The usually humble offerings of the Saturday Evening Girls/Paul Revere Pottery took home an impressive selling price as one of Sara Galner’s exception and tall vases ($15,000-20,000) featuring the Cuerda Seca method sold for $35,280 and Frances Rocchi’s Important and Early bowl with a rooster design ($10,000-15,000).
Other highlights include works from Ssuan Frackelton, Adelaide Robineau, Taxile Doat of University City, Elizabeth and Hannah Overbeck, Van Briggle, Pewabic Pottery, and Frederick Hurten Rhead.
Click here to see all results from the Early 20th Century Design Auction