This Week’s Top Lots: November 30 – December 4

Editorial Staff Calendar

Sotheby’s London/November 30, Romanov Heirlooms
Total: £7 million
* 25th wedding anniversary four-color gold cigarette case by Fabergé for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, 1899 £612,450  (estimate £50,000-70,000)
* Jewelled three-color gold cigarette case by Fabergé, 1899-1908 £601,250  (estimate £25,000-35,000)
*  Two-color gold and enamel box by Fabergé with a note from Emperor Nicholas II, c. 1896 £601,250 (estimate £70,000-90,000)

Sotheby’s London/November 30, Russian Art Evening Sale
Total: £4.1 million
* Alexandra Exter, Venice,1925 £1 million  (estimate £900,000-1,200,000)
* Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin, Café D’Angleterre £337,250 (estimate £200,000-300,000)
*  Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, The Bay of Yalta £325,250 (estimate £170,000-250,000)

Sotheby’s London/December 1, Russian Art Day Sale
Total: £4.3 million
* Grigory Gluckmann, Composition £223,250  (estimate £100,000-150,000)
* Alexei Alexeevich Harlamoff, Young Girl in Profile £217,250 (estimate £120,000-180,000)
*  Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky, Portrait of Prince Alexander Prozorovsky, 1779 £193,250 (estimate £50,000-70,000)
Christie’s London/December 1, Russian Art
Total: £8.8 million
* Nicholas Roerich, Legend, from the series Messiah,1923 £993,250  (estimate £700,000-900,000)
* Filipp Maliavin, A sleigh ride, 1933 £517,250 (estimate £180,000-220,000)
*  Two-handled porcelain vase by the Imperial Porcelain Factory, 1854 £361,250 (estimate £150,000-250,000)

Sotheby’s London/December 1, Russian Works of Art, Fabergé and Icons
Total: £3.8 million
* Attributed to Vasily Petrovich Vereschagin, Saint Pelagia and Saint John Klimakos, 1879 £445,250  (estimate £40,000-60,000)
* Silver-gilt and niello case by Ivan Zuyev with a portrait bust of Emperor Alexander I and the coat-of-arms of Count Ivan Paskevich-Erivansky, c. 1825 £145,250 (estimate £12,000-18,000)
* Nephrite repeating carriage clock with silver-gilt mounts by Fabergé £139,250 (estimate £50,000-70,000)
* Silver-gilt presentation kovsh, Moscow, 1753 £139,250 (estimate £30,000-50,000)

Christie’s New York/December 2 American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture
Total: $32.3 million
*  Andrew Wyeth, Above the Narrows, 1925 $6.9 million (estimate $3-5 million)
*  Mary Cassatt, Study for “Young Mother Sewing” $2.4 million (estimate $800,000-1,200,000)
*  Charles Prendergast, Three-Panel Screen, c. 1916-17 $1.2 million (estimate $1-1.5 million)

Bonhams New York/December 2 American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture
*  Norman Rockwell, The Crossword Puzzle, 1925 $578,000 (estimate $400,000-600,000)
*  Paul Manship, Dancer and Gazelles, 1916 $434,000 (estimate $150,000-250,000)

Christie’s London/December 2, Jewels
Total: £2.4 million
* Art deco diamond and emerald bracelet £133,250  (estimate £50,000-70,000)
* Early 20th-century 8.35 carat diamond single-stone ring £121,250 (estimate £30,000-40,000)
*  Three-strand natural pearl necklace, c. 1930 £115,250 (estimate £30,000-40,000)

Sotheby’s New York/December 3 American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture
Total: $25 million
*  Childe Hassam, The White Dory, Gloucester, 1895 $3.6 million (estimate $2.5-3.5 million)
*  Thomas Hart Benton, Little Brown Jug, c. 1941 $2.4 million (estimate $600,000-800,000)
*  Marsden Hartley, Mountains No. 22, 1930 $2 million (estimate $800,000-1,200,000)

Christie’s New York/December 4 William E. Self Library II
Total: $4.8 million
*  Edgar Allan Poe, autograph manuscript verses, 1849 $830,500 (estimate $50,000-70,000)
*  Edgar Allan Poe, Tamerlane and Other Poems, 1827 $662,500 (estimate $500,000-700,000)
*  Edgar Allan Poe, autograph manuscript of two poems, c. 1827 $362,500 (estimate $60,000-80,000)

Christie’s New York/December 4 Books and Manuscripts including Americana
Total: $6.3 million
*  George Washington, autograph letter to Bushrod Washington (4 pages), 1787 $3.2 million (estimate $1.5-2.5 million)
*  Cormac McCarthy’s Olivetti manual typewriter, used 1958-2009 $254,500 (estimate $15,000-20,000)
*  John James Audubon, The Birds of America (2nd folio edition), 1860 $194,500 (estimate $150,000-200,000)

Images from above: Cigarette case by Fabergé, workmaster August Holström, 1899; Portrait of Prince Alexander Prozorovsky by Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky, 1779; Both courtesy of Sotheby’s. Study for “Young Mother Sewing” by Mary Cassatt, before 1900; Olivetti typewriter owned by Cormac McCarthy, before 1958; Both courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2009.

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