FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 14, 2004

Striding into 2004, Neal Auction Company’s February 7th and 8th Winter Estates Auction generated solid bidding for fine antique furnishings, decorative objects, and art works, especially by Southern Regionalist artists. Over the weekend, a crowd of local, national and international collectors and dealers filled Neal Co. galleries. The February Auction also premiered Neal Auction’s live online bidding through a partnership with LiveAuctioneers.com. With an expanded online audience bidding in real-time, Neal Auction captured new sales for a range of items.

Neal Auction Company was pleased to present selections of estate property from the renowned collection of Mr. and Mrs. David F. Dixon of New Orleans, from the Succession of Mrs. George Springer from 11 Rosa Park in New Orleans, from the Estate of noted Nashville hostess Mrs. Rufus E. Fort, Jr. (including excellent pieces of silver and porcelain), from the McBride Plantation Home of designer John Pecoraro, and from a New Orleans Gentlemen’s lifetime collection of paintings and decorative arts depicting barnyard fowl.

Highlights from the Neal Auction Company’s Winter Estates Auction are as follows:

American Furniture throughout the sale attracted strong bidding. A Renaissance Giltwood Overmantel Mirror from the Titus-Edmondson Estate, rallied to $10,868.75. A Federal Mahogany Inlaid Serpentine Front Sideboard, c. 1790, from Baltimore brought $12,650.00, while a Rosewood Bedstead, probably from New Orleans, sold for $17,825.00. Antique American Chippendale-Style pieces attracted solid bidding including a Mahogany Chest-on-Chest that brought $5,175.00 and a Mahogany Slant-Front Desk that realized $3,680.00. An Antique Chippendale Mahogany Serpentine Chest also fetched $5,175.00. An American Classical Stenciled, Ebonized and Gilded Pier Table, attributed to J. & J.W. Meeks, New York from the early 19th c., achieved $8,518.75 and a Good Late Federal Mahogany Two-Part Dining Table, c. 1820-1830, Baltimore, and attributed to John Needles, sold for $5,060.00. An American Renaissance Burled Walnut, Ebonized and Inlaid Center Table, mid- 19th c., secured $4,410.00.

English and Continental Furniture also did well. A Fine Continental Neo-Classical Mahogany Linen Press, from early 19th c., sold for $11,500.00, and a Northern Italian Walnut Refectory Table from late 18th c. / early 19th c. brought $10,800.00. Outstanding

English pieces included a 19th c. Fine Set of Twelve Antique George III-Style Carved Mahogany Dining Chairs in the Hepplewhite Taste that captured $26,500.00. Other English period pieces were a Fine Mahogany and String-Inlaid Breakfront/Bookcase, c. 1790, realizing $23,000.00, a Mahogany Bowfront Secretary/Bookcase fetching $9,300.00 and a Hexagonal Mahogany Cellarette-on-Stand from the late 18th c. bringing $4,993.75. Notably, a Fine Anglo-Indian Highly Carved Rosewood Davenport Desk and Chair, c. 1890, achieved $8,625.00. A Fine Antique William & Mary Inlaid Oyster Walnut and Laburnum Chest-of-Drawers sold for $13,225.00 and a Fine Antique Adam-Style Crème and Verte Paint-Decorated and Parcel Gilt Overmantel Mirror from the late 19th c. and set with Wedgwood plaques brought $7,475.00.

Important American art works included Harry Humphrey Moore (American, 1844-1926), “Portrait of a Young Shepherdess with her Lamb,” a signed oil on canvas, fetching $18,300.00 with a winning online bid. The signed oil on canvas by William Keith (Scottish/American, 1839-1911), “Palo Alto Oaks Stanford, California” achieved $8,050.00. A signed watercolor and pencil on paper by William Forsyth (American/Indiana, 1854-1934), “Across the Whitewater River, Brookville, Indiana”,
c.1899-1900, sold for $2,875.00.

Several Southern American Regionalist art works produced solid bidding. From the Estate of Kurt and Edith Vonnegut, the oil by Wayman Elbridge Adams (American/New Orleans, 1883-1959) entitled “Still Life: The Remains of the Portfolio Club Supper” and signed “1917” achieved $4,887.50. “Icarus”, a welded bronze, 1954, by Lin Emery (American/New Orleans, 20th c.) realized $6,462.50. Ida Kohlmeyer’s (American/New Orleans, 1912-1997) “Cluster 2-16”, an oil on canvas, signed and dated “1977”, fetched $12,925.00, and Robert Wadsworth Grafton’s (American, 1876-1936, active New Orleans 1916-1920) “Courtyard with Hollyhocks”, an oil on canvas, signed and dated “1925”, achieved $ 8,050.00. Works by Emil Holzhauer (America/Florida, 1887-1986) included “At Bayou La Batre, Alabama”, a signed oil on masonite, selling for $4,370.00. “Mississippi Watermelon Truck”, a charcoal drawing by Henry Casselli (American/New Orleans, b. 1946), signed and dated “1977”, secured $1,495.00. Theodore “Fonville” Winas’s (American/Louisiana, 1911-1992) “Rainy Day”, a vintage gelatin photograph, signed and dated “1940”, brought $1,610.00. Alberta Kinsey’s (American/New Orleans, 1875-1968) “French Quarter Courtyeard,” a signed oil on canvasboard, 14 ¾ in. x 12 in., sold for $ 1,410.00, while a pencil signed lithograph by John McCrady (American, 1911-1968), “The Robert E. Lee and the Natchez”, for $1,725.00.

European paintings stimulated the buyers, including Henri Houben’s (Belgian, 1858-1931) “Aphrodite Presenting a Rose to Cupid” that sold for $21,850.00.
The paintings “ Still Life with Roses and a Blue Fan”, signed and dated “1879,” by Albert Tibulle Furcy DeLavault (French, 1847-1915) fetched $13,512.50 and Pierre Francois Bouchard’s (French, 1831-1889), signed “ Pensive Moment” brought $8,050.00. William Mellor’s (British, 1851-1931) signed “On the Scarsdale” achieved $9,487.50, while Vicente Nicolau Cotanda’s (Spanish, 1852-1898) “Sharing the Light”, signed and dated “89”, sold for $7,360.00.

Throughout the auction, several Fine Arts items and Decorative Objects depicting barnyard fowl, from a New Orleans Gentlemen’s Lifetime Collection, generated great interest. “A Proud Rooster”, an oil on canvas in the Manner of Melchior de Hondecoeter (Dutch, 1636-1695), fetched $8,10.00. Fine Art bronzes included “Combat au Coq”, a patinated bronze by Louis-Emile Cana (French, b. 1845), achieving $8,050.00 and Prosper Lecourtier’s (French, 1855-1924) “Striding Rooster”, a gilt bronze with cast signature, bringing $1,610.00. Decorative Objects included a Large English Majolica Figure of a Rooster, c. 1890, for $7,130.00, an Antique Continental Porcelain Figural Group of Two White Bantam Roosters for $4,600.00, and a Large Art Pottery Vase, c. 1890, for $2,400.00.

Other strong Decorative Objects include a Pair of Chinese Glazed Pottery Incense Burners, probably Ming, in the form of temples with the height of 21 inches, that brought $2,467.50. A group of Three Steuben Crystal Figurines including a large koala bear, a standing cat, and a tall giraffe, each signed, fetched $3,795.00. A Large and Impressive “Sevres” Porcelain and Gilt Bronze Centerpiece from the late 19th c. realized $4,887,50 and was sold for the benefit of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana.

Among a large selection of textile samplers, a stand out piece was an American Silk-on-Linen Alphabet Sampler, selling for $3,600.00, made in December 1857 by Sarah Abigail Levy, a descendant of Rabbi Gersham Mendez Seixas. An English Silk-on-Silk Figural Embroidery of a Religious Scene from the late 18th c. brought $1,495.00.

Neal Auction Company’s Spring Estates Auction will be held April 3rd and 4th, 2004. If you have further questions, please contact Ms. Rae Jung Wilburn (800.467.5329).