The 132 Forbes items will open the Oct. 27 session, to begin at 11 a.m. at the gallery, 333 N. Main St. They feature more than 50 lots of Roycroft furnishings and metalware, starting with Lot 1, an extraordinary Roycroft hall chair made between 1904 and 1906 by Dard Hunter and carved with a coat of arms and the phrase "Sit Down & Rest Thy Weary Bones." It has a presale price estimate of $20,000 to $30,000, according to the online auction catalog, accessible at www.ragoarts.com.
Forbes, director of Forbes Media L.L.C., has been buying furniture, lighting, and accessories made by the Roycroft community for three decades, Rago said earlier this year. After taking charge in the 1970s of a pair of rundown 1915 houses on the family ranch in Colorado, he filled them with arts and crafts furniture that he felt was undervalued.
Also from the Forbes collection are a Liberty Hall bench and cabinet made around 1900 in England with the carved motto "Well Befall Hearth and Hall," bought at Sotheby's in London in 1985 ($8,000 to $12,000); taxidermy, Navajo blankets, and pottery designed for Roycroft by Dard Hunter; and a leaded glass window, also made by Hunter ($20,000 to $30,000).
Other top items in the Oct. 27 session include an early 1900s Tiffany Studios glazed earthenware milkweed vase ($12,500 to $17,000); a circa 1910 hammered copper Dirk van Erp table lamp ($10,000 to $15,000); and a large, four-part tile panel with peacock made in 1910 by Frederick Hurten Rhead for a Weller Pottery colleague ($35,000 to $45,000).
More top items are featured in the sale's third session, beginning at 11 a.m. Oct. 28, with 21 lots of George Nakashima furniture, notably a Minguren II coffee table of walnut and French olive ash burl (named after the group that produced his shows in Japan; $30,000 to $50,000). Twenty more Nakashima pieces will be offered later in the session.
Other big-ticket top lots include a Phil Powell wall-hanging cabinet ($13,000 to $16,000); a Paul Evans deep relief wall cabinet made in 1962 of bronze, slate, and welded and polychromed steel ($20,000 to $30,000); a Dale Chihuly five-piece sapphire Persian glass set with red lip wrap, signed and dated Seattle, 1993 ($7,500 to $11,000), one of the session's four Chihulys; a Harry Bertoia tall "sonambient" sculpture, made in the 1970s ($35,000 to $45,000), one of a dozen Bertoias; and a Wharton Esherick walnut double pedestal desk with letter holder signed and dated 1951 ($60,000 to $80,000), one of three Eshericks in the session.
The first session, beginning at noon next Friday, will offer about 350 lots of pottery and glass, starting with 50 lots of Roseville, followed by Rookwood, Clewell, Fulper, Stangle, and Weller, including two Dickensware pieces. Glassware includes pieces by Tiffany, Steuben, Durand, Galle, and Lalique. Most have three-figure presale estimates.
Previews: noon to 5 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday, noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, and 9 a.m. to sale time on sale days. For further information, call 609-397-9374.
Dolls, toys at Stephenson's. Beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, preceding its regular afternoon sale, Stephenson's will offer 359 lots of dolls, including Madame Alexanders and Steiff figures; toys, including cast iron trucks, banks, and aircraft; and trains, including Lionel and Maerklin, at the gallery at 1005 Industrial Blvd., Southampton. The sale is also being carried online at www.Liveauctioneers.com.
A few highlights: Two rare Dinky Toys Nimrod aircraft in original boxes ($200 to $400); a nine-piece Maerklin train set with G800 steam locomotive and tender, rolling stock, and an extra electric locomotive ($300 to $500); and a cast iron girl in Victorian chair mechanical bank attributed to the J&E Stevens Co. ($4,000 to $8,000).
Preview: 8 a.m. to sale time Friday. For further information, call 215-322-6182.
Estate auction at Slosberg's. Barry S. Slosberg Inc.'s first Quality Auction of the new season, beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday and continuing at 2 p.m. Monday at the gallery at 2501 E. Ontario St., will feature property from the estate of Winifred Dodge Cheston of Philadelphia, including several paintings.
One is Portrait of a Fashion Model - 1954, by the continental society painter Reynaldo Luza, which depicts Cheston, herself a model in New York and Europe in the 1930s and '40s. It has a presale estimate of $300 to $500, according to Slosberg associate Rob Goldstein.
Other paintings from her estate: Africaine by Geoffrey Holder ($4,000 to 6,000); Ready for Breakfast, by George Wright ($2,500 to $4,000); and a large-format, prepublication work-up for Alfred Bendiner's noted Tear It Down image of City Hall, which eventually graced the cover of his 1964 book, Bendiner's Philadelphia ($400 to $600).
Previews: noon to 5 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to sale time Sunday, and noon to sale time Monday. For further information, call 215-425-7030.
Contact David Iams at daiams@comcast.net.
