A Collection of Modern Prints at Bruneau & Co.'s Eclectic Sale on June 23

Cranston, Rhode Island - A pair of outstanding Rhode Island collections - one of gorgeous Tiffany pieces pulled from a home in Providence and the other the modern prints collection of Lucille Comes out of Warwick, all purchased from Multiple Impressions in New York - will be just part of Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers’ next big sale, planned for Saturday, June 23rd, at 10 am Eastern.

The auction will be held online as well as in Bruneau’s gallery, located at 63 Fourth Avenue in Cranston. Internet bidding will be available via Invaluable.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, ePaiLIVE (in Asia), Bidsquare.com, Bidlive.Bruneauandco.com, the Bruneau app, Auctionzip.com and eBay. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. Doors will open at 8 am on auction day.

“This sale will not disappoint,” Kevin Bruneau announced proudly. “As owner of the company I take pride in seeing such a comprehensive catalog come to be. Whether you collect Asian art, period furniture, modern prints or more, there is definitely something for you in the catalog.”

Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. specialist and auctioneer, added, “You name it, this sale has it. From Tiffany Studios to ancient Roman glass, American Fauvism and even a 1962 Rolls-Royce, there’s something for every collector. I can’t wait to see who takes home the Tiffany table lamp.”

He was referring to the circa 1905 Tiffany Studios (N.Y.) table lamp having a poppy shade consisting of variegated blue, green, red, purple and yellow Favrile glass with reticulated bronze overlay, supported by a twisted vine base. The 20 ¼ inch shade is impressed “Tiffany Studios 1537” and the base is impressed “Tiffany Studios 443”. The lamp should bring $30,000-$50,000.

Also from Tiffany Studios in New York is a beautiful circa 1910 paperweight Favrile glass vase, 10 inches tall (est. $15,000-$20,000). The piece is prolate form, with a thick rolled rim decorated with a freeform bleeding heart pattern in hues of red and purple throughout the iridescent amber Favrile glass. A lovely faint blue swirl pattern is cast over the entirety of the paperweight’s body.  

The Rolls-Royce is lot #1 and a strong contender for top lot of the auction, with an estimate of $30,000-$50,000. It’s a 1962 Silver Cloud II Standard Saloon, one of only 2,417 built between 1959-1962. The velvet green over sand left-hand drive car has a 380 cubic inch V-8 engine and is in remarkable condition. It once resided in the Yankee Candle Car Museum in Massachusetts.

A Fauvist landscape painting by the Swedish-born American artist Birger Sandzen (1871-1954), depicting Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, with two sloped trees amongst rockery on the edge of a river, with mountains in the background, carries an estimate of $20,000-$30,000. The work is signed lower right “Birger Sandzen” and comes in a 21 ¾ inch by 18 ½ inch frame.

In March, Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers made headlines in the trade papers when a gigantic 19th century Chinese archaic poem scroll painting - 24 feet wide by 29 inches tall - sailed past its estimate of $800-$1,200 to command $72,500. From the same estate, two more massive Chinese scrolls will be offered in the June auction, each one with a pre-sale estimate of $10,000-$20,000.

The first is a 26-foot-wide ink and watercolor depiction of three cliffside landscape scenes of robed scholars by the Chinese artist and poet Gai Qi (Chinese, 1773-1828). The Qing dynasty scroll is a masterpiece and museum-quality, signed throughout with calligraphy red seal chop marks. Gai Qi painted in Shanghai and was associated with Fei Dangxu (Chinese, 1801-1850).

The second is a Ming dynasty scroll painting by the Chinese artist Zhimian Zhou (1550-1610), a monumental ink and watercolor scroll depicting a panoramic landscape with birds perched amongst bamboo, foliage, pink flowers and rockery. Measuring 17 feet 4 inches long and 10 ½ inches high, it is museum quality, signed throughout with calligraphy and red seal chop marks.

The centerpiece of Lucille Comes’ modern prints collection is a portfolio of work by Joan Miro (Sp./Fr., 1893-1983), titled El Inocente (est. $4,000-$6,000).  Included are three etchings and an aquatint in color on Arches paper. Each work is signed and numbered (165 of 170). The portfolio is published by Robert Lydie Doutrou (Paris, 1974) with accompanying text by Xavier Domingo.

Also from Ms. Comes’ collection is Pablo Picasso’s Suite 347 No. 106 (Bloch 1586, Baer 1602), etching #47 of 50, signed by Picasso lower right and numbered lower left, with the date within the plate. Framed, the etching measures 22 ½ inches by 24 ¾ inches. It’s accompanied by the original receipt, dated Feb. 20, 1982 from Multiple Impressions. The estimate is $3,000-$5,000.

A circa 1880 room-size Persian Sultanaban rug, 16 feet 1 inch by 11 feet 10 inches, having a central field with burnt sienna ground with ivory and blue floral decoration surrounded by multiple bands of geometric and floral borders, is expected to change hands for $8,000-$12,000.

Also, an early 17th century Northwest European allegorical hand-woven Renaissance tapestry after The Nativity by Peter Paul Reubens (1577-1640), measuring 8 feet 1 inch by 7 feet 3 inches and most certainly from that period, exhibiting routine wear from age, should hit $2,000-$3,000.

Download the Bruneau app on Google play and iTunes. Phone and absentee (left) bids will also be accepted. Previews will be held on Thursday, June 21st, from 9-5; on Friday, June 22nd, from 12 noon until 9 pm; and on Saturday, June 23rd, the date of auction, when the doors open at 8 am.

Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers has announced a new schedule for 2018. There will be no pre-sale with the estate auctions, as before. They will usually be on the first Saturday of each month and will start at 11 am Eastern. Monday night auctions will be held the third Monday of every month.