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1840s Navajo first phase blanket tops Moran auction at $132,000

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
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Consigned from a private Pennsylvania collection, this Navajo Ute-style first phase chief’s wearing blanket was expected to bring $100,000 to $200,000 during John Moran’s Art of the American West session. Bidding topped out at $132,000. John Moran Auctioneers image

 

MONROVIA, Calif. – John Moran Auctioneers’ ambitious three-session auction lineup on April 25 proved a successful endeavor, earning a nearly 90 percent sell-through rate by value and realizing more than $850,000 in hammer prices. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

Composed of only 76 lots, Moran’s Art of the American West featured an array of Western-genre bronzes, paintings and prints alongside Native American objects dating from the 19th century and beyond.

Two highly anticipated 19th-century Navajo weavings, each from a long-held private Pennsylvania collection, were brought to the block and performed respectably. The first of the two, a transitional second phase chief’s blanket dating to the third quarter 19th century, was offered with a $30,000-$50,000 estimate, and found a buyer via telephone for $33,000. A circa 1840s first phase Ute-style chief’s blanket later came to block with a $100,000-$200,000 estimate, earning $132,000 (above).

Western works of art did well throughout the session, including Howard Rogers’s (b. 1932, Cave Creek, Ariz.), painterly oil composition titled They Find the Damnedest Places, depicting a cowboy leading horses across a stream (estimate: $1,000-$1,500; price realized: $1,680).

 

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Realizing $1,680, ‘They Find the Damnedest Places’ by Howard Rogers (b. 1932, Cave Creek, Ariz.), was also offered during Moran’s Art of the American West Session on April 25 (estimate: $1,000-$1,500). John Moran Auctioneers image

 

Lon Megargee’s (1883-1960, Los Angeles) pastel-toned landscape depicting Camelback Mountain in Arizona proved particularly popular, easily outstripping its $2,000-$3,000 estimate with a final $5,300 selling price.

The first of three sessions slated for Moran’s auction, the 20th century and contemporary design catalog featured modern and contemporary paintings, a wide selection of art glass and pottery by well-known makers, and select examples of mid-century modern furniture design.

Earning top-lot status among first-session offerings, an abstract lacquer painting on panel by Japanese artist Shiryu Morita (1912-1999), which was originally conservatively estimated to bring $10,000-$20,000 at the auction block, earned an astounding $84,000 including Moran’s 20 percent buyer’s premium (below).

 

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This abstracted dragon in lacquer on panel by artist Shiryu Morita (1912-1999, Japanese) realized $84,000 (estimate: $10,000-$20,000). John Moran Auctioneers image

 

Top-earning pottery lots included a Pablo Picasso for Madoura Femme de Barbu pottery pitcher, one of an edition of 500 hand-painted, glazed and knife-engraved pieces, which brought $25,000 (estimate: $12,000-$18,000), in addition to a group of five small Rose Cabat “feelie” vases consigned from the Studio City, Calif., collection of Gerald and Georgia Brommer, which earned $4,600 (estimate: $700 to $900).

 

Navajo
This Pablo Picasso for Madoura ‘Femme de Barbu’ art pottery pitcher was offered during Moran’s April 20 Century and Contemporary Design Auction session, achieving a $25,000 price realized (estimate: $12,000-$18,000). John Moran Auctioneers image

 

John Moran’s Traditional Collector session rounded out the evening’s offering, and was geared toward collectors of Continental porcelain, art glass, sterling silver and objets de vertu.

Trumpeter Draped by Monterey, Calif., artist Richard MacDonald (b. 1946) from the artist’s Joie de Vivre series was one of the highest-earning lots of the third session, bringing $9,600 (estimate: $8,000-$10,000). As is typical of MacDonald’s work, the sculpture features a muscular figure in a dynamic pose raising a trumpet to her lips. Competition for the work was stiff, with bids coming in live on the floor as well as online.

 

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Richard MacDonald’s (b. 1946 Monterey, Calif.) energetic sculpture ‘Trumpeter Draped’ was featured in John Moran’s Traditional Collector session and achieved $9,600 (estimate: $8,000-$10,000). John Moran Auctioneers image

 

Other more contemporary selections included a rather rare Lalique Abondance art glass centerpiece tazza in clear and frosted colorless glass – modeled with a fruit-form stem, the piece earned $4,200 (estimate: $3,000-$5,000).

One dark horse highlight came in the form of a very finely decorated 19th century Japanese porcelain vase. Conservatively estimated to bring $600 to $900, the petite vase (below), elaborately painted with sumo wrestlers and a sea of spectators, brought an astounding $9,375.

 

Navajo
This highly detailed hand-painted Japanese sumo-motif vase, consigned from a Pico Rivera, Calif., collection, earned 10 times its high estimate, realizing $9,375 (estimate: $600-$900). John Moran Auctioneers image

 

Chinese antiques continued to bring strong prices during Moran’s April auction session; a Hongmu wood drum table and stools, dating to the late 18th century or later, found a buyer for $7,800, well over the $4,000 to $6,000 estimate.
For details contact John Moran Auctioneers at 626-793-1833 or info@johnmoran.com.

 

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