SOUTHAMPTON, PA.- At Stephenson’s Annual New Year’s Auction, it is not unusual to see a parking lot lined with cars bearing out-of-state license plates. The family-owned auction house is known for setting aside outstanding estate consignments specifically for its first sale of the year, a lively, well-attended event that’s “worth the drive,” as one bidder remarked at last year’s edition.

The 2018 lineup of antique and decorative art has been divided into a January 1 session featuring approximately 450 lots of crystal, fine porcelain, art glass and silver, including Tiffany sterling silver vases and sterling flatware sets by Reed & Barton and Gorham; and a 200-lot January 2 session brimming with pottery, stoneware, bronzes, sculptures, lighting furniture and clocks.

Throughout the two-day event bidders will have the opportunity to acquire superb pieces from the 45-year collection of Byron Fink. A retired magazine art director, Mr. Fink’s impeccable taste was reflected artfully throughout the rooms of his former residence in Philadelphia’s Society Hill. The best of the Byron Fink collection has been consigned to Stephenson’s, with nothing held back. Additionally, the auction features art, silver and furniture from the personal estate and Lambertville, N.J., gallery of the late Hrefna Jonsdottir; plus a sizable jewelry consignment from a Delaware estate, and elegant Louis XV-style furnishings from an Elkins Park (Philadelphia) living estate.

Almost as soon as the auction catalog appeared online, enquiries started coming in regarding a 19th-century Meissen reticulated, tureen-form porcelain dresser box with ornate designs and gilding throughout. An exquisite embodiment of Meissen artistry that appears very similar to a reference-book example, it is estimated at $8,000-$16,000.

An impressive selection of studio art glass, much of it from the 1970s and ’80s, includes designs by such notable artists as John Nygren, Mark Peiser, Dominick Labino, John Lewis, Joel Philip Myers, Roland Jahn, Gilbert Johnson, Charles Lotton, Samuel J. Herman, David R. Huchthausen, Tom McGlauchlin, and Carl Radke, among others.

A standout in the sterling silver section is a Stephan Mayerhofer (Vienna) urn-form hot water dispenser with cabriole legs, paw feet and a pineapple finial. Hallmarked and weighing 42.920 ozt inclusive of its wooden base, it is expected to make $500-$800.

The Rolex brand is synonymous with quality and status, and in the case of an 18K gold Rolex Cellini gentlemen’s dress watch entered in the sale, one might also add “high style.” The handsome oval-face timepiece makes quite a fashion statement with its 18K gold mesh band and case. Examined by a certified jeweler, it weighs 85.2g including its works (68.7g without works). It comes to auction with a $2,500-$4,000 estimate.

The height of luxury on any dinner table is fine crystal by Saint-Louis. Stephenson’s will auction four consecutive lots of Saint-Louis creations in the Thistle pattern, including a 16-inch claret decanter with stopper, $400-$800; 12 water goblets, $1,000-$2,000; 12 stem glasses, $1,000-$2,000; and 10 sherbet/champagne glasses, $600-$1,000. “Saint-Louis is the oldest glass manufacturer in France, with roots going back to the 16th century,” said Stephenson’s Auctions owner Cindy Stephenson. “It’s not common for this many pieces of older Saint-Louis to appear in the same auction. We could see some serious competition on auction day.”

Perhaps the ideal companion for the Saint-Louis crystal ware would be a Minton dinner service for 12 in the Riverton pattern. The set to be auctioned includes 12 each of dinner plates, salad plates, teacups, saucers, and bread plates, as well as two vegetable bowls, a gravy boat with underplate, creamer, sugar bowl, and coffee pot with lid. The lot will cross the auction block with a $2,000-$3,000 estimate.

Byron Fink’s prized collection of studio art features prominently in the January 2 session. Highlights include a ceramic Moon pot by Toshiko Takaezu, estimate $500-$1,000; a 1993 Chris Staley pinched art pottery and iron sculpture on stand, $400-$800; and a 27½-inch glazed redware stand with cityscape motif by Boston artist Linda Huey. Mr. Fink purchased the piece from the artist at the Philadelphia Museum Craft Show in 1988. Linda Huey, who commented that it was one of her favorite pieces, explained the imagery as being about “a city undergoing decay along with a construction boom at the same time,” adding, “This was what was happening around my Boston studio (in the Fort Point neighborhood) at the time.” Estimate: $400-$800

Leading the fine art selection are several artworks by Jane Gilday (American, b. 1951-), with a timeline from the 1990s through early 2000s, as well as a 3-panel screen and box she painted. From the Byron Fink collection comes a beautiful oil-on-canvas painting by D. (Daniel)(Bennett) Schwartz titled The Rower. Measuring 22 by 33 inches (sight), the work is signed at lower right and has a Kenmore Galleries artist’s label on verso. This masterful painting is expected to make $2,000-$4,000.

Another auction star is a circa-1900 Tiffany Studios harp desk lamp with damascene glass shade. It is double-signed and estimated at $2,500-$5,000.

Mantel glamour comes in the form of a Louis XV-style dore bronze garniture set consisting of a clock marked Tessier Rue St. Honore 362 on its dial, and a pair of matching six-branch candelabra. The set is estimated at $600-$1,200.

Stephenson’s Jan. 1-2, 2019 New Year’s Auction will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern Time on both days. The inspection will be held on Friday Dec. 28 from 2-6 p.m., Monday Dec. 31 from 1-4 p.m., and on both auction days from 10-11 a.m., prior to the session’s commencement. For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Cindy Stephenson at 215-322-6182 or e-mail info@stephensonsauction.com.