Month after month, an amplified collecting world, falls more deeply in love with American artists and designers. Especially those whose remarkable works recall the creative freedom and innovation of the earlier part of the last century, when the post-industrial impulse burst before, after, and in between shattering world wars and booming economies.
The US beckoned and spotlighted enormous talent from near and far, and the status and value of these artists and their contributions go well beyond the glass ceiling at auction. Americans and collectors, the world over, long for a piece of what made this hunk of North America for many decades a most exciting and fascinating place to live, create, and consume. For more than a century, the US talent pool was unmatched in its diversity, curiosity, institutional and philanthropic support, and global influence.
In the coming weeks, Heritage celebrates a number of American-based art and design pioneers in two important auctions: Jan. 26 brings Pursuit of Beauty, which features significant offerings of Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and art glass including outstanding collections of early Tiffany Studios and Steuben Glass Works; and on Feb. 2, a Heritage Design Signature® auction brings, among other things, superb pieces of furniture, art and design by such American greats as George Nakashima, Frank Lloyd Wright, John Mason and Italian-born American artist Harry Bertoia, as well as a collection of quilts made by African-American quilters throughout the last century. On the collector front, this Design auction also offers up the thoughtful collection of a power couple whose lives and careers served as inspiration for the hit television series Mad Men, course a quintessentially American story of commerce and consumption.
The prices for early Tiffany and Steuben glass continue to rise, through the stiff competition that arose between these Tiffany’s glass studio in New York City and Frederick Carder’s Steuben Glass Works in Corning, New York at the turn of the last century.
For the January 26 Pursuit of Beauty event, an important collection of Steuben glass comes to Heritage from a collecting couple based in Waco, Texas; over the years they gathered the best examples of glass from the first few decades of Steuben’s production under its original co-founder Frederick Carder. Highlights from this rich collection include a rare Steuben decorated green aurene glass Peacock Feather vase, circa 1910, with vibrant green over opaque white glass decorated with finely detailed iridescent peacock feathers; another is an exceptional Steuben cut green cintra glass Paperweight cologne with mica inclusions, circa 1930 – one of the finest examples of Carder’s somewhat reluctant foray into Art Deco.
“It is rare that a private collection of this caliber, at once comprehensive and carefully curated, crosses the auction block,” says Samantha Robinson, Heritage’s Consignment Director of Decorative Arts & Design “It’s an important opportunity for collectors not only to expand their collections, but to continue to affirm Steuben’s place among the top glass manufacturers in today’s secondary market.”
In the meantime, 250 miles southeast of Corning, in New York City, Tiffany Studios was busy introducing its highly distinctive lamp designs, including this Tiffany Studios leaded glass Arrowroot shade with rare patinated bronze Cattail base, circa 1905. The Cattail base, streamlined and muscular with substantial proportions and fine, naturalistic detail, is rare and highly desirable; it was introduced around 1904 and discontinued by 1910. The firm retailed this base with the conical Arrowroot shade, which features a stylized pattern of white Arrowroot blossoms behind spade-form leaves. This lamp, drawn from a private estate in Montana, was likely originally sold in this configuration. Another highlight is a Tiffany Studios leaded glass and patinated bronze Peony table lamp, circa 1905, with rich purples, pinks, burgundies, and greens forming the bright and budding floral composition of its shade.
American designer, architect and furniture maker George Nakashima is considered the father of the American craft movement. He’s also the leading innovator of 20th-century furniture design, and Heritage presents six of his pioneering furniture designs including his Frenchman’s Cove II dining table from 1964, in walnut with three rosewood butterflies (acquired by Heritage’s consigner directly from the artist) and one of his iconic slab coffee tables in walnut from 1962. American architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright is represented in this event with an impressive array of his furniture designs out of his Taliesin Line, including a tall chest of drawers in mahogany (1955) and a model 450-C coffee table in mahogany (also 1955) – both of which epitomize Wright’s organic design principles.
A handful of artist and designer Harry Bertoia’s playful signature Sonambients – tonal sculptures made up of sprigs of metal rods that issue sound when struck – are in this event. Just last year the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas mounted the first U.S. Museum retrospective of the artist’s career in almost 50 years and centered his Sonambients.
Heritage’s Jan. 26 Design auction includes highlights from the estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the arts visionary and advertising pioneer who helped transform Southwest Florida into a nationally recognized cultural destination.
“While the arts were a lifelong passion for Daniels, her first career was a ground-breaking advertising executive in Chicago, where she was among the first women to head a national ad firm,” says Brent Lewis, Heritage’s Director of Design. “Her husband, Draper Daniels, was responsible for many famous ad campaigns, including the Marlboro Man, and was later an inspiration for the Don Draper character on TV’s Mad Men.”
Daniels’ eye for craftsmanship and design is reflected in the curated selection of designer furniture, art glass and decorative objects; highlights include an Andre Sornay office suite a massive Bruno Paul wall unit, a selection of Dale Chihuly glass, Ernest Tino Trova sculptures and more.
Another special American collection anchoring this event traces its provenance to Mr. and Mrs. Wayne LeCount Tyson II, who preserved, collected, and exhibited the African American quilts of Florida. Twenty-five hand-pieced quilts, created between 1900 and 1980, beautifully illustrate how Black artists have expressed personal stories, community histories, and religious ideas through the form. Unsigned quilts include Patriotic Quilt, circa 1930, with its white and blue stars-and-stripes pattern, and an unsigned Music Notes and Fields Quilt, circa 1940, in a composition that evokes both a bird’s-eye view of farmlands as well as an unnamed musical score.
Another American highlight is an earthenware sculpture by experimental artist John Mason – it is a signature geometric form from 2014. Some not-so-American highlights in this February auction include an Extruded Chair ‘W’ in Carrara marble by Australian designer Marc Newsome and a selection of Japanese ceramics, with vessels and organic forms by Yuji Ueda, works by Zenji Miyashita, Koji Kamada, Fukumoto Fuku and more.
Images and information about all lots in the Jan. 26 Pursuit of Beauty: Art Nouveau, Art Deco & Art Glass Signature® Auction can be found at HA.com/8019. Images and information about all lots in the Feb. 2 Design Signature® Auction can be found at HA.com/8110.