PITTSFIELD, MASS.- Proving again that anything Tiffany is gold at auction, Fontaine’s important two-day fine and decorative arts auction May 18-19 was a powerhouse, hitting a grand total of $2.2 million. Tiffany Studios items — lamps, windows, vases and desk pieces — accounted for just over a million dollars alone. “It was a very strong sale. The Tiffany items, as expected, were all very desirable and did well. Anything with the Tiffany name received a lot of interest and bidding was highly competitive,” said auctioneer and owner John Fontaine. “The sale was good all across the board; all the categories were covered.”

Setting the tone for how the sale would go was the very first lot across the block — a Tiffany Studios circa 1910 “Tulip” table lamp having an 18-inch shade impressed "Tiffany Studios, New York, 1596.” Bidders drove the lamp past its $70/90,000 estimate to $131,250, making it the top lot of the auction. Tiffany lots dominated the sale, securing all but two of the top 20 places. Lamps were one of buyers’ most competitive categories with all hitting or exceeding their estimates. Coming in close behind the Tulip lamp were a circa 1920 “Drophead Dragonfly” table lamp with a “Roman” base and a 22-inch shade impressed "Tiffany Studios, NY, 1507," and a “Peony” table lamp, circa 1915, having an adjustable base and 22-inch shade impressed “Tiffany Studios, New York, 1505-14.” Both attained $100,000 each.

The market has been very keen on ecclesiastical Tiffany leaded and stained glass windows, which were mostly commissioned by churches at the turn of 20th Century. Four pairs of Gothic Revival windows made by Tiffany Studios commissioned for St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia crossed the block. Ranging in size from three to seven feet tall, all the larger windows had vibrant mottled glass and depicted a Gothic Revival design of an arched window with four columns and shield. The top pair tripled its high estimate when it fetched $50,000 and as a group, the windows totaled $149,375.

The Tiffany outlier in the top 10 was a Steinway & Sons Mahogany Model B Grand Piano, which was part of the Crown Jewel Collection, circa 1995. It sold comfortably within estimate at $56,250. Another standout was the late 19th Century Black Forest carved wood musical clock, which was surmounted by a hunter with a goat over his shoulder and holding a rifle. Well carved, the clock brought $26,250. Also noted for its fine carving was an R.J. Horner & Co. and a mahogany partner’s desk with winged griffins, circa 1890, that also hit its estimate at $15,000.

Highlighting the small but choice selection of paintings was a pleasing Barbizon hunting scene by Constant Troyon, “The Gamekeeper And His Dogs” that performed well at $18,750.

Rounding out the auction were an Anton Chotka cold-painted bronze Orientalist lamp that blew past its $2,500/3,500 estimate to bring $10,000 and a Chinese Northern Qi polychrome-painted limestone standing buddha in the Abhaya Mudra pose, 39 inches tall, which made $7,500.