CRANSTON, RI.- Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers will bid farewell to autumn with an online-only Fall Antiques & Fine Art auction on Thursday, December 10th, starting at 6 pm Eastern time. The auction will feature nearly 400 lots of paintings, decorative arts, furniture, jewelry, silver, Asian arts, collectibles and more, pulled from prominent estates and collections across New England.

Highlights include a crayon on paper illustration drawing by Lois Mailou Jones (Mass./Haiti, 1905-1998), a Vermont landscape painting by Charles Gordon Harris (R.I., 1893-1963), a large selection of jade jewelry, 14kt gold watches, rings, bracelets, pearl necklaces and accessories. Online bidding will be available on multiple platforms. Phone and absentee bids are accepted.

“This will be a nice general sale to round out the end of the year,” said Bruneau & Co. president Kevin Bruneau. “It has something for everybody. Plus it’s a good mix for finding that last minute holiday present.” Items will be shipped in plenty of time to arrive by any holiday in the season.

Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. auctioneer and the firm’s Director of Pop Culture, added, “It’s not too often I get excited about furniture, but I look forward to seeing what the carved crane pedestal achieves. It is of a very fine quality. The gothic bench is better than average as well.”

The pedestal and bench each carry reasonable estimates of $1,500-$2,500. The 19th century European Gothic Revival figural hall bench features an ornately carved crest over acanthus leaf band over military official portrait cartouches with gargoyles, lions, griffins and mythical beasts throughout, supported by scrolled feet. The hardwood bench is 52 inches tall by 65 inches wide.

The 19th century walnut and cherrywood New York Victorian Aesthetic carved crane pedestal has an oval-shaped top over an ornate column with exquisitely carved cranes with flared wings supported by four finely carved scroll feet. The underside has a “1500” stamp. The pedestal has some minor condition issues but is in overall good shape. It’s 36 ½ inches tall by 22 inches wide.




With a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-$3,000 the crayon on paper illustration signed by Lois Mailou Jones is a candidate for top lot of the auction. The 8 ¾ inch by 6 ½ inch work (sight, less frame) depicts two women doing chores, gossiping over a fence. Jones studied painting at the Academie Julian and was the only female African American painter of the 30s/40s to achieve fame abroad.

Also carrying a $2,000-$3,000 estimate is a fine antique Kerman pictorial floral wool Persian carpet, hand-woven in the first quarter of the 20th century. The rug has an ornately detailed floral pattern with branches and birds over an ivory open field surrounded by intricate floral borders. Measuring 9 feet 9 inches by 18 feet, the carpet came from the collection of a Newport, R.I. lady.

An extremely fine horse hair bridle group of the kind made in prison in the Southwestern U.S. in the 20th century is expected to hit $2,000-$3,000. The bridle group includes a horse hair bridle with red, yellow, blue and black dyed hair with a tendril carved metal bit, two black and red geometric patterned decorative horse hair tassels and a dyed sisal whip, all in excellent condition.

A pair of New England landscape paintings by Daniel Santry (Mass./N.H./France, 1858-1915), including a plein air painting of a tree-filled field in Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire, and an impressionist view of a small house surrounded by blossoming trees, will be offered together as one lot (est. $1,000-$2,000). Both oil on board paintings are artist signed.

Leading the fine jewelry category will be an 18kt gold carved citrine pendant, made in the 20th century by David Webb (N.Y.), boasting a large carved citrine with an Asiatic inspired design inset with six diamonds encased in 18kt gold with a leaf textured frame (est. $1,500-$2,000). The pendant, weighing 65.1 grams, is 2 ½ inches by 1 ½ inches and is marked “Webb 18K” on verso.

A Masenza Roma 18kt gold coral brooch made by Franco Cannilla (Italian, 1911-1985), should change hands for $1,000-$1,500. The coral figural tree brooch with selected light green emerald leaves and a figural person toward the base, mounted on an 18kt gold frame, weighs 39.7 grams. The 3 inch by 2 ¼ inch brooch is marked “Masenza Roma” and is signed “Cannilla” on verso.

A lovely oil on board impressionist depiction of a covered bridge surrounded by vibrant fall foliage by Rhode Island artist Charles Gordon Harris (1891-1961) is estimated to reach $500-$800. The work, signed in the lower right-hand corner, is 16 inches by 20 inches (sight, less frame) and is titled and signed on verso, “Covered Bridge, Charlotte, VT C. Gordon Harris.”