LARCHMONT, NY.- Evolving as countless other businesses have in recent weeks, Clarke Auction Gallery has shifted to an online-only bidding model for its upcoming auction on Sunday, April 26, at 10 am. Some things remain the same though as the auction is jam-packed with quality merchandise ranging from fine paintings to Asian art, jewelry, silver and more. Online bidding is available through
ClarkeNY.com, LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, and Bidsquare.
Because we already had a strong online footprint, we can continue to service our buyers and consignors and communicate with our audiences, said owner and auctioneer Ronan Clarke. People are already comfortable with online bidding and they enjoy being able to continue to participate in auctions. The auction house is delivering and picking up items as normal and is also offering curbside pickups. Video chat appraisal services are also available via several online platforms.
Clarke noted the auction features fine art and decorative items from European paintings to contemporary bronzes. Expected to lead the sale is a Gerald Laing bronze titled An American Girl ($20/50,000) that is signed and #2 in an edition of three. The 1978 work came out of a Larchmont estate and measures 25½ by 26 by 31 inches. An American Girl can be seen as the culmination of the Galina series of sculpture in which I worked through various formal and abstract figurations, the artist said in 1999.
Rounding out the fine art category is a signed oil seascape by Daniel Hermann Anton Melbye ($8/12,000) and a portrait after Hippolyte Flandrin depicting Napoleon III in uniform of Major General at Tuileries, 1862 ($3/5,000).
René Lalique works figure prominently in this sale, including two large glass chandeliers estimated at $4/6,000 and $3/5,000). An (attributed) Vladimir Kagan Comete sofa suite ($3/5,000) would look striking underneath either.
Asian art offerings feature an Akio Takamori ceramic figure ($2/3,000), signed, 25½ by 18 inches, and a Kinkozan signed porcelain Satsuma vase ($600-900), 9½ inches tall.
When it comes to jewelry, its usually the three Cs (cut, color and clarity) that matter to buyers but here its the three Ds: designers, diamonds and diversity. Highlights include a Bvlgari Tubogas 18K yellow gold watch ($2/3,000) with a Favre-Leuba Swiss movement, from the familial estate of founder and longtime owner of the Buffalo Bills and a platinum and diamond bow form ring ($1,5/2,500) having a central round brilliant cut diamond flanked by tapered baguettes and single-cut diamonds. In the silver category, a shining star is an International sterling Avalon flatware service for 12 ($1,400-1,600) with serving pieces.
Rounding out the auction will be an antique Continental bronze mounted marble top console ($2/3,000) with carved and gilded griffins; an 18th Century Continental tapestry ($1/1,500), 8 feet 7 inches by 8 feet 1 inch, and a vintage life-size patinated bronze figural candelabra ($2/3,000), 20th Century.