Thistle Pattern stemware service brings $35K during Holiday Table sale

Heritage Auctions’ inaugural ‘Holiday Table’ themed auction,Dec. 8-10, saw decorative and fine art and dinnerware finish ahead of estimates.

DALLAS, Texas -- More than 1,200 lots pushed Heritage Auctions’ winter Fine & Decorative Art Auction past $1.8 million Dec. 8-10 in Dallas. The auction’s theme focused on The Holiday Table, which presented full dinner and stemware service sets from private collections. Nearly 1,700 bidders participated during the three-day event.

“In our first, of what certainly will be a tradition, The Holiday Table brought a fresh take and appeal to a broad range of bidders,” said Karen Rigdon, Director of Silver and Decorative Arts at Heritage Auctions.

Holiday Table Auction Captivates

Sample of a 75-piece St. Louis Thistle pattern glass stemware service, that commanded $35,000. (All photos courtesy of Heritage Auctions)

Auction highlights were diverse and, in many cases, well exceed expectations. An oil on canvas from a Dallas collection by Lowell Nesbitt titled Three Iris on Blue, 1978, sold for $40,000.

An iconic piece of Wall Street history, Charging Bull, a rare prototype for New York’s iconic Wall Street Bull sold for $37,500. The 14-inch bronze is one of 10 known that artist Arturo Di Modica produced as he was solving the engineering feat to create the now-famous 18-foot sculpture that stands in New York’s Bowling Green.

Leading the selection of Holiday Table settings, a 75-piece St. Louis Thistle Pattern Glass Stemware Service, realizing $35,000 against a $5,000 estimate.

Chinese Decorative Art Shines

Leading decorative art offerings is a Louis XV-Style gilt bronze sixteen-light chandelier. From a private Dallas collection, it sold for $30,000. In addition, two separate lots of large Chinese Carved Coral Groups both sold for $21,500 each. An abstract acrylic on canvas titled Sunrise, 1972, by Kenneth Young, sold for $20,000. In addition, a Chinese Carved and Polychromed wood Buddha sold for $15,000.

A hand-selected group from The Ritter Antik Collection finishes at $135,000. Additional examples of the collection’s well-known Biedermeier furniture will be on offer in Heritage’s March 10-11, 2018, Fine & Decorative Arts Auction.

In conclusion, an important collection of fine walking sticks also sold. The items were from the estate of Texas oilman Kenneth W. Davis. All told the canes sold for a combined $61,000.

For more information, visit www.ha.com.