Aspire Auctions May Pre-Auction Highlights
by Cynthia Colling

Cleveland, OH/Pittsburgh, PA: The May Fine Art & Antiques online auction by Aspire Auctions, Inc., starts Friday May 8th and lots close over a three day period (May 14,15 and 16) because there are over 1200 lots in this auction. Many of the fine paintings in this auction are from a Gates Mills Ohio bankruptcy case, so approximately 60 paintings are offered without reserves or minimums. 

There are 14 different categories in the auction: paintings, works on paper, sculpture, silver, porcelain & ceramics, fine watches, fine jewelry, glass, orientalia, decorative arts, furniture, books/maps & ephemera, vintage & fine photography and oriental carpets.

In the painting category is a rare oil on canvas by Abbott HandersonThayer. It is a profile portrait of Alice Rich circa 1917 with an estimate of $15,000.00-$20,000.00. A larger 3/4 version of Ms. Rich was sold by Sotheby's in 1995 for $107,000.00.

Another great painting is by Hungarian modernist painter Vilmos Aba-Novak. This work is illustrated in the 2006 monograph about the artist by Peter Molnos. The estimate for this rare painting is $20,000.00-$40,000.00, conservatively.

A rare 1895 Pan edition lithograph of Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender en Buste is available with an estimate of $10,000.00-$15,000.00. This particular image is iconic of the Belle Epoch period.

The sculpture category has a nice offering of Animalia bronzes by Bayre, Fremiet, Lecourtier, Sandoz and recently deceased Laurence Isard. Two important American artists in this category include Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons pair of Nubian bookends and Edward Francis McCartan pair of figural candlesticks, both estimated $8,000.00-$12,000.00. A pair of French soldiers by Henry Etienne Dumage came out of an estate in Lakewood Ohio, estimated $4,000.00-$6,000.00 and offered without reserve. 

The silver and porcelain highlights of the auction included a Buccellati sterling horse head walking stick, Georg Jensen, Tiffany, London and Russian silver items, Pablo Picasso Madoura plate, Claude Conover pottery, Dr. Wall porcelains, fine export Amorial porcelains, and a pair of Royal Worcester potpourri containers decorated by John Freeman.

The glass section of the auction is most impressive with names like Tiffany, Galle, Quezal, Muller Freres and Loetz. Of particular interest is a rare Tiffany Studios paperweight of green glass encased in bronze, estimated $3,000.00-$5,000.00. Also, there are two rare Loetz Art Nouveau table lamps, both estimated $2,000.00-$4,000.00. There are six mint Argy-Rousseau pate de verre glass pendents, all estimated $1,200.00-$1,500.00. It's the best glass category Aspire has offered in years.

As always, Aspire has as many jewelry lots in this sale as some other's total auction; 363 lots to be exact and not including the 52 fine watches in their own category. There is a nice selection of French enameled pocket watches, vintage watches such as Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoutre, and fine time pieces by Patek Phillipe, Corum and Rolex.

All of the bidding is online and there is no live floor audience or third party companies to deal with.  Last minute bidders tend to drive the prices up within seconds of the lots closing, so watch the excitement on the 14th, 15th and 16th.

For information call 216-231-5515 or visit www.aspireauctions.com. 

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