List of Unsold Lots Availble at their Reserve Price
CLICK THIS AUCTION WEBSITE LINK TO PLACE BIDS
CLICK THIS AUCTION WEBSITE LINK TO PLACE BIDS
List of Unsold Lots Availble at their Reserve Price
For a limited time unsold lots from the Winter 2017 Auction are availble at their reserve price. This is a buy-it-now event, lots can be instantly purchased. The above link is to a LIST of the reserve prices posted to dropbox. We recommend using the list alongside the digital copy of the catalog posted for easy reference. You can also go directly to the auction website and click the tab RESERVE PRICES to take any action or peruse what is availble directly on the auction website.
First the facts…
L.H. Selman, Ltd. is pleased to announce our Winter 2017, 65th Glass Paperweight Auction, featuring 336 lots, antique and modern, as well as choice paperweight-related objects. Initial Bidding commences on Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 20th. The auction is fully online, hosted on our AUCTION WEBSITE. A web friendly digital e-catalog can be viewed at E-CATALOG, while a printed copy of the catalog is for sale at PRINT-CATALOG. If you see something to your liking, please do not fail to place an initial bid in order to ensure that you have a position in the competitive bidding that follows in the second half of the auction. Initial bidding ends and competitive bidding begins on Monday, March 6th. We recommend that you give the catalog’s Conditions of Sale a careful examination for a full understanding of the protocols or give us a call to inquire about our unique auction format. You can also make an appointment to see every lot in person at our gallery in Chicago, 410 S. Michigan Ave., suite 207. We would love to see you all in person! If you prefer to place any or all bids by phone, or have any questions, just give us a call at 1-800-538-0766.
That said…
Dear lovers of that most difficult and rewarding fine glass art form…
As you read this at the beginning of February, the L.H. Selman Winter 2017 auction catalog is winging its way to your door, and we think you will be quite pleased with the scope and quality of the offerings. Catalog #65 is also notable for its continuation of the more expressive and dimensional photography utilized in our September, 2016 catalog for the very successful and historic auction of weights from the holdings of the Art Institute of Chicago. Great job, Marty!
(Copies of the catalog from the historic sale, including works from the Arthur Rubloff Collection, are still available for your reference library.)
And now a few remarks about just a sprinkling of the highlights from our upcoming auction!
Rule Britannia…
Lot #1 leads us into the festivities – an extremely rare and well-documented Bacchus mushroom bouquet magnum. Never intended to be a production piece, this pastel-colored masterpiece is a feat of bravado, embellished with multiple torsades and representing the “personal best” by the Bacchus glassworker. This weight has also resided in the collection of Bill Volkman, who was known to possess the finest Bacchus collection in the country.
Extremely rare antique Bacchus millefiori mushroom paperweight.
No less stunning are the following examples of antique and rare artworks from the three great French houses: Saint Louis, Baccarat and Clichy all have contributed eye-catching, top-tier examples of the art form to these pages…
Prettier than a French dessert…
Lot #2 offers an extremely rare Saint Louis – a highly unusual pair of feathery pompoms presented against a hypnotic double-swirl latticinio cushion with an inner layer of translucent ruby. And that’s only part of the description of this gorgeous objet d’art!
Extremely rare Saint Louis pompoms swirl paperweight.
As fine as any wine it would ever hold…
Lot #10, an antique Clichy looped millefiori garland and rose cane decanter is a stunning example of how far the French would go to store their finest libations in a magnificent home. Five continuous loops of contrasting complex canes, including one of edelweiss and one of 12 white roses, form a stunning millefiori garland that encircles a central pink rose cane over a sky blue ground at the base of the decanter. The pink rose and sky blue echo above in the stopper, encircled by a ring of stardust canes and a ring of purple pastry molds. The cutting of the decanter itself is amazing with elegant fancy-cut windows that allow easy viewing of the design. These are two works of art for the price of one!
Antique Clichy garland and rose cane decanter.
Dance to the music of time…
Lot #19 this unusual and intricately painted Pinchbeck is a pastoral delight. The costumes are difficult to pin to a specific period, which helps the timeless quality.
Pinchbeck “Pastoral Scene” painted metal paperweight.
Better than the “Pear King” looked when he was alive…!
Lot #31; if you collect sulphides, this is amongst the most sophisticated and regal weights you will ever come across. This rare antique Baccarat encases a silvery cameo of the French king radiating inside a gilded dome surrounded by a ring of blue enamel beads and resting atop a ruby melon-cut footed base. Louis Philippe I had to abdicate the throne after the 1848 French Revolution. He is best remembered today for facing the artistic wrath of the artist Daumier, in a series of caricatures where the aristocrat king morphs convincingly into a pear. Vive “La Caricature”
Rare Baccarat Louis Philippe sulphide gilded paperweight.
Nothing beats a hard-to-find classic…
Lot #34 is an exquisite and extremely rare example of the art of millefiori. This 1849 dated, tightly packed assortment of canes sports Gridel silhouettes of a half dozen domesticated animals scattered amongst a panoply of more traditional shapes and symbols. A surprising interior cushion of more complex millefiori can be seen through the occasional and very slight spacing of the surface canes. Looks like you’ll have to come in and see this one!
Rare and unusual Baccarat 1849 millefiori paperweight.
And Just a Bit more Recently….
I feel the earth, move, under my feet…
Lot #78 is the first of over a dozen works in Auction 65 created by the grand master of the modern paperweight, Paul Stankard. It is a floating world of fecundity delicately harbored within a transparent monolith of fine crystal. Pink-speckled blossoms and buds nestled with green leaves and tendrils comb through the soil to relate to humans who are as much a part of the earth as any root system. A sense of weightlessness is enhanced by the addition of a second patch of earth supporting a gathering a three blue-speckled blossoms.
Paul Stankard botanical paperweight.
Ripe, and ready for your table…
Lot #90 finds David Graeber in fine form with a lavish but compact and careful arrangement of succulent raspberries and other fruits and delicate mosses and leaves entwined with purple lilac clusters and three dominant white calla lilies.
David Graeber 2014 fruit and floral paperweight.
A well represented modern master…
We must mention that Rick Ayotte is wonderfully represented here by no fewer than 18 works, ranging from his studies of single birds to a celebration of a royal blue butterfly to a homage to a very robust yellow spider and then on to lush floral studies.
Lot#102 by Ayotte is slightly atypical with an American beauty red rose floating elegantly and forever within a clear lozenge.
Rick Ayotte 1996 American Beauty rose paperweight.
Lot #120 offers three luminous modern Saint Louis perfume bottles. Delicately engraved and sporting classic latticinio and millefiori canes, these works are an exuberant celebration of the decorative arts.
Saint Louis 1985 & 1995 millefiori perfume bottles.
Fine art for the armchair traveller…
Lot # 201 offers fine gold, the thrill of history, travel and the chance to own your architectural wonder! This 24-karat gold inclusion of the mask of Agamemnon presides over a turquoise tinted Acropolis, and was designed by Gilbert Poillerat.
Saint Louis 1981 gold mask Greek temple paperweight.
This ladybug will never leave you…
Lot 317 presents a Caithness ladybug, by William Manson, that will never leave your hand (provided you don’t put the weight down) and her coat is perfectly complemented against the rich teal background and green leaves with lavender berries. A delight.
Caithness Glass “Ladybird” paperweight, by William Manson.
The world at the end…of our catalog
Lot #336 is the world at the end of time – that’s right, our final entry for this auction. The sense of depth achieved in this vast tiny sphere is close to unbelievable; it’s a complex, multicolored vortex that draws your eye in and pulls it around to explore the edges of the solar system without having to leave home!
Gateson Recko 2004 solar system marble.
The rest of the auction comprises a who’s who amongst the contemporary field including Tarsitano, Grubb, Trabucco, Richardson, Kaziun, Hunter, MacNaught, Ysart, Ebelhare… and THE LIST GOES ON! Our apologies for the lack of time and space to mention everyone, but we tried hard to properly showcase all the works with carefully crafted photographs and thoughtfully considered descriptions that should please our artists, our consignors, and especially you- our clients and collectors. Please enjoy the catalog and do call us with absolutely any questions. Also know that we will, upon request, send you extra photographs providing multiple viewpoints to help you in your considerations.
And as the motto above the entrance to the over 130-year old Fine Arts Building states “ALL PASSES…ART ALONE ENDURES.” We thank all of you for sharing this passion with us. And…good hunting!
Your friends at L.H. Selman,
Ben, Penelope, Marty, Paul and Molly…and DJ.