By Susan Emerson Nutter PHILADELPHIA — Kamelot Auction House’s May 18 event featuring decorative art to enhance the great outdoors was met with much enthusiasm if the prices realized are any indication. Up for sale were garden statuary, benches, urns, fountains, furniture and the like; everything one might need to make the outside and surrounding areas of one’s home even that much more inviting. With that said, the top lot of this auction had nothing do with being outside and everything to do with the interior of a structure. Actually, the top lot was a room; a very big room. Selling for $30,000 against an estimate of $10,000 to $20,000 was a lot of approximately 158 running feet of walnut paneling recently removed from the WaWas Public Ledger building in Philadelphia. Included in this lot were also 28 pilasters with carved corbels at the top of each. Add to this 10 feet of crown molding, a pair of wood doors; two carved overdoors and four large fluted pilasters and you definitely have a room. But let’s head back outside. A circa 1900 antique bronze French, double-tiered garden fountain and limestone surround from the estate of the late Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, Durham, N.C., brought $13,000. The fountain was 99 inches tall and the surround was 99 inches by 99 inches. The stone socle supports a finely cast-bronze sculpture of two putti flanking an urn standard upon which a large stone basin rests. The upper stone basin was supported by a cast-bronze standard with acanthus motif. Then the fountain was enhanced with a Renaissance-style shaped limestone pool surround. It is interesting to note the fountain originated at “Pinecrest” on Forest Hills Blvd. in Durham and was designed in 1927 by local architect George Watts Carr Sr. for the developer of Forest Hills, James O. Cobb. Mary Duke Biddle purchased the home in 1934. As with any outdoor décor, flora and fauna are often the subject matter. A 29 ¾ inch high, 45 ½ inch wide bronze sculpture of a swan with outstretched wings was bid to $3,600, while an iron garden sculpture in the form of a snail having a copper washed surface was bid at anything but a snail’s pace to $4,200 against an estimate of $100 to $200. This mollusk was 11 ½ inches high, 24 inches wide and 13 inches deep. A white painted cast-iron garden sculpture of Ariadne reclining on a tiger was 37 inches high and sold for $3,400. A heavy pair of cast-iron benches having oak leaf and pine cone decorations also greatly surpassed their pre-sale estimate of $1,200 to $1,800 when the duo realized $15,000. A pair of limestone sphere form garden finials with an acanthus leaf design was bid to $3,000, and a pair of bronze Neoclassical style urns having reticulated baskets surmounting three male figures on round plinth bases and lion paw feet sold for $4,000. These urns stood 37 inches high and were 19 inches in diameter. Other interesting items worth noting have to include the great circa 1960 mid century modern wicker settee having a bamboo frame which went for $1,500. This bench was 28 inches high, 55 inches wide and 28 ½ inches deep. A decorative three-part glazed porcelain stove fashioned in the Rococo style and resting on an iron base sold for $4,800. Large in scale, this stove was 87 inches high by 31 inches wide and 24 inches deep. Contact: 215-438-6990 www.kamelotauctions.com |