Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers, Boston, Massachusetts
Photos courtesy Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers
Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers’ February 7 “Boston Collects” auction in Boston, Massachusetts, sold fine art and decorations with connections to the Boston area by origin, creator, and collection. Silver and artwork pleased bidders enough to boost many of the lots’ prices well above the estimates.
The George III mirrors made in Ireland, circa 1790, are set in oval frames with large square cut-glass beads. Each measures 23¼" x 15¼", and the pair sold for $11,520 (est. $2000/3000).
The silver butter dish, 1850s, has a circular body, a pierced liner, loose ring handles with cow masks, and hoof feet. The cover has an acorn and oak leaf finial. The dish brought $1536 (est. $400/600). It came from Jones, Shreve, Brown & Co., which operated in Boston, Massachusetts.
A pair of George III mirrors made in Ireland, circa 1790, set in oval frames with large square cut-glass beads sold for $11,520 (including buyer’s premium) against an estimate of $2000/3000. An 1850s silver butter dish with a circular body, a pierced liner, loose ring handles with cow masks, and hoof feet brought $1536 (est. $400/600).
Picture Gallery of the Boston Athenaeum, 1877, by Enrico Meneghelli (1853-after 1912?), signed and dated, sold for $4480 (est. $800/1200). The oil on canvas, 13" x 21", came from the collection of Alan W. and Suzanne C. Feld. Not much is known about the artist, who was born in northern Italy in 1853 and immigrated to the U.S., where he exhibited in New York, at the Boston Art Club from 1879 to 1889, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Five or six of his paintings (accounts vary) are held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Sea Eagle, 1883, by Scottish artist Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935), gouache on paper, 21½" x 15¾", realized $7680 (est. $2000/3000). It has labels on the reverse for the Glenbow Foundation, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and W. Graham Arader III.
Golden Moon by Robert Remsen Vickrey (1926-2011), egg tempera on panel, 5½" x 7¾", brought $5440 (est. $1500/2500). The artist has inserted one of his favored icons, a nun, into the scene with lights and shadows on a wall.
Picture Gallery of the Boston Athenaeum, 1877, by Enrico Meneghelli, oil on canvas, signed and dated, sold for $4480 (est. $800/1200). Sea Eagle, 1883, by Scottish artist Archibald Thorburn, gouache on paper, realized $7680 (est. $2000/3000), and Golden Moon by Robert Remsen Vickrey, egg tempera on panel, brought $5440 (est. $1500/2500).
Doyle Auctioneers & Appraisers began in 1962 when Newton, Massachusetts, native and recent university graduate William “Bill” Doyle (1940-1993) determined that his newly launched Wall Street career was not to his liking. He had attended auctions in his off hours and was intrigued sufficiently to establish his own auction house in New York City.
Fast forward to 2023 when Doyle opened a gallery in Boston’s Back Bay and mounted its first auction in June in the town where it all began. Now, two years later, the auction house is moving around the corner in the Back Bay. The new location is 290 Dartmouth Street, in the elegant 1871 Vendome building. The new space is being refitted, and the gallery will be ready in late spring; look for the next “Boston Collects” auction in early June.
For more information, visit the website (www.doyle.com) or phone (617) 999-8254.
Two 19th-century sand timers with spiral-carved columns of inlaid bone and twine-wrapped glass bulbs, one with triangular feet and the other with circular feet, sold for $1216 (est. $300/500). Both stand 4¾" high and came from a Brookline, Massachusetts, collection.
The handsome pair of wrought-iron andirons by French designer Edgar Brandt (1880-1960), each marked, “E. BRANDT,” from the first half of the 20th century, standing 27¾" high and decorated with grapes, sold for $3200 (est. $2000/3000).
From the collection of Alan W. and Suzanne C. Feld, the patinated bronze figures on marble and bronze stands, 45½" high overall, after French sculptor Charles Cumberworth (1811-1852), are signed “Cumberworth” and bear the foundry mark “Susse F.” They have been mounted as lamps, and the pair sold for $1664 (est. $800/1200).
Partially shown, a stemware service by Moser in the Splendid pattern with gilt decoration to the rims and the crests included 12 glasses of each size, the largest 8¾" high and the smallest 6". It sold for $1088 (est. $500/700). Provenance includes the E. F. Hutton estate.
Hard to resist was this impressive sinuous 19th-century Classical récamier, 7'6" long, of gilt and ebonized wood with large gilt feet and leopard print upholstery. Estimated at $700/900, it sold for $896.
The Neoclassical mahogany center table, 30½" high x 37½" diameter, possibly made in France, circa 1825, with a marble top and three carved giltwood and verte antique posts on a triangular pedestal, on gilt ball feet, sold for $2880 (est. $2000/3000).
A partial dinner service of 12 dinner plates (10¾" diameter) and 12 soup plates (8¾" diameter) by Christian Lacroix in the Follemont pattern was estimated at $500/700 and brought $1408. French artist Christian Marie Marc Lacroix (b. 1951) intended to become a museum curator or costume designer but instead became an assistant at Hermès, collaborated with the couturier of the Tokyo imperial court, joined the couture house of Jean Patou, and ultimately opened his own couture house in 1987.
This early 20th-century Louis Vuitton canvas cabin trunk, 13" high x 35½" long x 19¾" deep, with a lift-out basket was estimated at $2000/4000 and realized $3840. Provenance includes the Bardwell family, Boston.
This assembled five-piece Victorian sterling silver tea and coffee service, 1863-65, by Charles and Daniel Houle, London, brought $3200 (est. $2000/3000). The brothers entered their own mark in partnership in 1845 and worked until 1884.
Ten gold demitasse spoons by Gorham for J. E. Caldwell & Co., Philadelphia, brought $5760 (est. $4000/6000). The 14k gold spoons retain the initials “W / M N” and a maker’s mark. They had been the property of the founder of a Brooklyn, New York, department store.
The Tiffany & Co. sterling silver tray from the early 20th century, approximately 168 ounces, 28" long over the handles, sold for $5440 (est. $5000/7000). It came from the estate of Ralph and Madge Matthiessen.
The George III sterling silver tea urn by Hester Bateman (English, 1708-1794), London, 1789, with reeded loop handles and on a square base, 18¼" high, was estimated at $1000/1500 and sold for $1920.
The 14k gold necklace, 18" long, with a pendant and a pair of ear clips with gray Tahitian pearls and diamonds, each piece signed “SL,” realized $2048 (est. $1200/1800).
This 20th-century silver tea and coffee service by Fratelli Peruzzi, Florence, Italy, from the estate of LeGrand Mellon sold for $3200 (est. $1500/2500). The lot included a Reed & Barton silver-plated double-handle tray.
The oval sterling silver dish by Tiffany & Co. in the Chrysanthemum pattern, circa 1880, 8" long, sold for $1280 (est. $300/400).
Originally published in the May 2025 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2025 Maine Antique Digest
