Several collections and estates from around the Greater Toronto Area as well farther afield from Woodstock and the Niagara Peninsula are brought together in this auction. Not only does this auction cover a wide geographic area, but it includes a diversity of antiques and collectibles from early Chinese artifacts to contemporary Caribbean and Canadian art. This certainly presents challenges to the auctioneer responsible for cataloguing and describing everything as accurately as possible. We have made our best efforts to do so.
Here are two such examples. A local consignor had inherited items from relatives who had in the early 20th C collected brass, copper, and pewter antiques both in England and while travelling across India and the Middle East. One of the items was a Chinese bronze censer. It is very well constructed, has heavily oxidized low areas, and age-appropriate wear. It carries the inscription in Chinese which translates as “made during the reign of Ming Xuande Emperor”. He ruled 1425-1435. While the piece has the right elements can it be definitively identified as a 15th C antiquity or is it a later (antique) copy? Hopefully the pictures tell the story to the discerning collector. A second cataloguing challenge came from the same collection. An unmarked elephant censer, without markings, could possibly be a significant 17th/18th C altar vase or again a later antique.
On the other hand, there are many readily identifiable high value items in the auction. One family collected many pieces of sterling in the early 20th C. They kept in the family until now a magnificent sterling tea service from Walker & Hall, fish services, a large sterling trophy cup, as well as elegant sterling cutlery by Wallace. Other families collected Birks sterling in the Louis XV pattern. One family obviously entertained a lot in the early 20th C and there are many place settings of cobalt and gold porcelain by Wedgwood, Limoges, Spode, and Royal Worcester.
Several estates had art collections. Art ranges from contemporary Canadian and Caribbean art to historic prints to early European art. Many of the pieces are untouched since their creation and the canvases have darkened over time. If you prefer, these can be enlivened with a cleaning which would dramatically alter their appearance.
One of the highlights of the auction is a mixed media painting by Hortense Gordon, 1886-1961, Hamilton, whose later abstract paintings define her legacy. The painting is very similar to one of her most famous works Horizontals and Verticals, painted in 1955. She was a member of Canada’s second most famous art movement, Painters Eleven.
Rounding out the auction there are gold rings, necklaces, some with precious stones, a very large stamp collection organized into several binders, pre-Centennial coins and coin sets, an excellent French mantle clock and an impressive Moorcroft Hibiscus lamp.
Please call Barry at 519-803-3945 to make an appointment if you would like to preview this auction.
