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Rare bronzes and paintings highlighted a major two-day sale at Brunk Auctions over the weekend of September 15. Among the top lots were works by Frederic Remington, Henry Moore, Nicolai Fechin, Eugène Boudin, and Jane Peterson.

Leading the charge in the sale was Frederic Sackrider Remington’s iconic bronze, The Bronco Buster. As both Remington’s debut cast as a sculptor and one of his most iconic works of art, castings of the Bronco Buster are prized by institutions and collectors alike. Over the weekend, Brunk Auctions offered an 1899 casting by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Foundry, numbered 51 of an approximate edition of 64. The rare casting was consigned by a Private North Carolina Family, who acquired it in 1966. Initially estimated at $150,000 to $250,000, serious interest from dozens of bidders brought the final sale price to $510,000. Brunk Auctions is happy to note that the buyer of the bronze is the Wadsworth Atheneum, the oldest public art museum in the United States.

From the same private collection, Henry Moore’s Maquette for Spindle Piece, from 1968, sold for $312,000. The staff at Brunk Auctions had a cell phone in one hand and a land line in the other assisting phone bidders with this lot. An anonymous private phone bidder was the successful bidder of the lot by the important British Modernist.

Two works by Russian-American artist Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Tooley of Brevard, North Carolina crossed the auction block in the sale. Both paintings brought exceptional prices. The first, a still life with Hollyhocks, sold for $264,000. The second, a portrait of Baby Eya, the artist’s daughter, completed in Russia, sold for $144,000. Also from the Tooley Collection was a Jane Peterson painting entitled Fishing Boats, Gloucester Massachusetts, selling for $120,000, Indians at Taos by Laverne Nelson Black, selling for $60,000, and Conversation by Julius Gari Melchers selling for $38,400.

Overall, the sale brought $3.36 million during the Friday and Saturday auction. Other notable results include $288,000 for a Eugène Boudin painting entitled Fécamp, Le Bassin from 1892 and a rare 9.82 carat Padparadscha Sapphire Gemstone selling for $90,000. In total, 91.7% of lots sold at auction. All prices listed include appropriate buyers premiums. Brunk Auctions next sale will take place over three days on the weekend of November 11.

Brunk Auctions held an auction of Fine and Decorative Arts on July 21-22, 2017. Over one thousand lots were offered in the two-day, two-session auction, with significant interest coming from buyers of Cut Glass and Southern objects.

The top lot in the auction was a Fine and Rare Green Cut to Clear Dorflinger Montrose Punchbowl Set. The piece was one of the gems of the Collection of George Siek, Founder of the Museum of American Cut and Engraved Glass. Included in the exceptional punchbowl set is thirteen cups and ladle with Dorflinger marks. The final selling price for the Pennsylvania-made piece was $114,000, to a private bidder.

Several lots from the Collection of George Siek piqued the interest of cut glass buyers over the weekend. Among the top lots from the collection in the sale are Brilliant Period Blue-to-Green Cut Glass Tray selling for $26,400, a New England Amberina Cut Glass Cologne selling for $38,400, and a Queens Pattern Hawkes Cut Glass Punch Bowl and Cups selling for $11,400. The collection consisted of 138 lots and featured a 100% sell-through rate.

Southern objects performed well over the course of the weekend. The top lot in the category was a Rare Edgefield Face Pitcher, which sold for $60,000. Consensus indicates production of these vessels was undertaken by working African slaves of the period. A Fine Southern Federal Inlaid Cherry Bottle Case, attributed to Mason County, Kentucky sold for $48,000. Created 1790 – 1810, the lot features MESDA Provenance and was illustrated in the Magazine Antiques. Other top Southern lots include a Rare Kentucky Federal Cherry Sugar Desk selling for for $38,400, a Maud Gatewood acrylic entitled Herd Spring Storm selling for $18,000, and a Rare Richmond, Virginia Federal Inlaid Mahogany Sideboard circa 1800 selling for $16,800.

Other top lots in the sale include a John Emms painting of beagles, entitled After the Chase, selling for $45,600, a Hermann Herzog landscape of a High Country Lake selling for $20,400, and a Monumental Claire du Lune Moon Flask selling for $21,250. In total, the auction brought $1.55 million over two days and featured a 92.5% sell-through rate. All prices listed include applicable buyers premiums.

Nearly 1300 lots were offered over two days at the May 2017 Premier Auction at Brunk Auctions. Fine estates and collections graced the auction block, with bidders showing substantial interest in rare jewelry, fine art, and furniture.

Dazzling jewelry from the Estate of June Montague Ficklen of Greenville, North Carolina brought staggering prices during the first session on Friday. The top lot from the Ficklen Estate, as well as in the sale, was an Important Cartier Platinum and Diamond Bracelet. Consisting of 143 round, pear, and marquise diamonds, the 60-70 carat vintage bracelet brought considerable interest from an assortment of active bidders. When the hammer dropped, the stunning Cartier piece sold for $204,000 to a phone bidder. (Lot 0517)

Mrs. Ficklen served on several boards of directors including the North Carolina Art Museum, North Carolina School of the Arts, Greenville Art Museum, and Kenmore. She was also a fervent supporter of her community, and founded Women for Women in 2005, an organization dedicated to promoting women and girls near Greenville. Mrs. Ficklen somehow found time to travel the globe with her husband, and was known for her refined taste in jewelry.

A few of the other impressive lots from the Ficklen Estate include:

• • A 2.32 Carat Diamond and Platinum Cartier Ring, D color, selling for $26,400 (Lot 0492)

• • Platinum, Sapphire, and Diamond Earclips, each with a central 6 carat natural Sapphire, selling for $31,200 (Lot 0518)

• A Platinum and Diamond Brooch with a total diamond carat weight of 14-20 carats selling for $22,800 (Lot 0515)

A Jeremiah Theus (1716-1774) portrait of Young William Branford (1753-1776) of Charleston, South Carolina sold for $180,000. This marks a new record for Theus at auction, surpassing the previous record total of $123,900. That record was set by Brunk Auctions in May 2012 with the portrait of Elizabeth Allen Deas, a relative of William Branford.
(Lot 0842)

In the portrait, Theus depicts Branford as a young boy with a battledore and shuttlecock. Presumably after the portrait, William Branford was sent to England for his education. While there, he met with a terrible fate, dying as a result of falling from a window, either by accident or suicide at the age of 23.

Other exceptional results in the auction include:

• • Jean Dufy (French, 1888-1964) Le Jardin des Tuileries et l’Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, selling for $36,000
    (Lot 0766)

• • A Bust of Daphne by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (Massachusetts/Italy, 1830-1908) selling for $43,200. This lot was featured on the catalog cover. It was purchased by an institutional buyer. (Lot 0935)

• Jack Saylor (Beaufort, NC, born 1960) a painting Running for Cover from 1999 (Lot 0815) which sold for $16,800, a new record for the North Carolina artist at auction. Brunk Auctions is proud to hold the record at auction for Saylor, who joins the likes of Maud Gatewood and Claude Howell as renowned North Carolina artists with recent record prices at auction set by Brunk Auctions.

In total, the sale brought over $2.3 million. All prices include applicable buyers premiums. Brunk Auctions will hold their next premier auction on the weekend of July 22.

This weekend saw a bidding jamboree in our two-day, two-session auction on July 8-9. The sale focused predominately on American Furniture and Fine Arts with exceptional results and record-breaking prices coming for Southern objects.

The top lot in the summer auction was an Important Daniel Huger Horry/Rutledge Family Chinese Chippendale mahogany arm chair. The chair, attributed to 1765-75 Charleston, South Carolina, was met with profound interest by in-house and phone bidders. The prized piece of Southern furniture ultimately sold to an anonymous phone bidder, realizing $120,000.
A museum letter from 1923 accounts for the existence of a pair of these chairs, but their whereabouts were an uncertainty until recently. They are illustrated in Rauschenberg and Bivins, The Furniture of Charleston 1680 – 1820. The mate to this important chair was previously sold at Brunk Auctions in March 2013 for $47,200.

View From My Window, an architectural scene by prolific North Carolina artist Claude Howell sold for $36,000. This price marks a new record for the Dean of North Carolina Artists. The previous record for the artist was set in July 2013 at Brunk Auctions with the coastal scene entitled Weighing Shrimp, selling for $23,600. Howell, who was active for seven decades, was the first North Carolinian to show his works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Down Church Street, Charleston by Alfred Hutty sold for $90,000 during the second session of the July auction. The lot was accompanied by an old photograph of the painting and a 1951 letter from Hutty to the original buyer. The balcony of white house depicted in the painting, 78 Church Street, is said to have been the site where George Washington addressed the residents of Charleston, South Carolina during his week-long visit to the city in 1791.

Other Southern objects to achieve exceptional results include a pair of North Carolina/Virginia Cellarets selling for $60,000, a signed and dated 1845 North Carolina painted table selling for $33,600, and a Tennessee townscape by Will Henry Stevens selling for $31,200.

Significant jewelry also sparked attention at the auction block during the auction with a fine 5.39 carat diamond ring selling for $45,600 and a storied Cartier Platinum, Sapphire, and Aquamarine Brooch Clip selling for $64,800. The brooch was presented to Mrs. John King Lucey by the Sun Shipbuilding Dry Dock Company as a gift for christening the ship Sea Serpent during WWII. The Sun Shipbuilding Dry Dock Company was one of the major shipbuilders of the day and presented gifts to an estimated 6000 women sponsors including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The brooch offered in the auction was consigned by the estate of Mrs. John King Lucey, and was accompanied by the original Cartier case.

All prices listed include appropriate buyers premiums. In total, the July Catalog auction brought $2.16 million, with a sell-through rate of 92.1%.

ASHEVILLE, NC – On May 12-14, Brunk Auctions held a three day sale consisting of over a thousand lots of fine art, furniture, and decorative arts. The successful auction drew interest from across the globe culminating in strong results for the regional auction house.

A view of Vermont Hills by influential American artist, Rockwell Kent was the top painting in the auction. The oil on canvas, signed in the lower right, “Rockwell Kent 1923-27”, was met with heavy bidding on the phones and in the room. The Vermont painting sold for $141,600 to a phone bidder.

American paintings garnered considerable interest in the spring auction. The Garden Party by Martha Walter from the Zelle collection of Nashville, Tennessee and Gulf Stream, Florida sold for $42,480. A view of McCall’s Ferry by Hermann Herzog from the Thalhimer Estate of Richmond, Virginia sold for $35,400. Milton Avery’s White Horse from the Thalhimer Estate also sold for $35,400.

In addition to great paintings from the Thalhimer estate was a very fine 18th century Chippendale side chair from Boston, selling for $33,040 and an 1805 Simon Willard tall case clock selling for $35,400.

The top lot in the sale was a pair of very fine Millefiori Enameled porcelain cups with iron red Qianlong marks and highly incised decorations. They were consigned from a private Georgia collection. The pair of two-inch cups sold for $177,000.

The sale totaled in at $1.79 million over the three sessions. All results listed include buyers premium. Brunk Auctions will hold their next catalog auction on the weekend of July 9th.

Estate of Charles G. Thalhimer, Richmond, Virginia

Lots 0234 – 0386

Charles Thalhimer, whose family founded the former Thalhimers Department Stores in 1842, has been custodian of a private art collection that is largely unknown outside of Virginia. Two generations of Thalhimer collectors traveled the country and world to build their collection. In Richmond, Virginia they enthusiastically opened their home to friends and philanthropic organizations, sharing the objects and ideas that they had acquired.

The epitome of 20th century collectors, they worked with the most reputable dealers of early American furniture and decorative arts. They sought out the very best of Fine Art and they knew the intrinsic value of superior objects – whether that was a painting, a tea table or a silver pitcher.

The items offered in this collection will provide a glimpse into the private rooms of this family, known for their broad community involvement and philanthropy at home.

The Estate of Sarah Temple Moore

Lots 0387 – 0438

Sarah Temple Moore’s love of art began with her interest in painting as a teenager on the Lookout Mountain, Tennessee property, where she was born, lived, and died at age ninety two. After studying art at her alma mater, Sweet Briar College, during the World War II years, she married family friend and returning Air Force combat pilot, Tom Moore, Jr. For the next twenty five years their focus was raising five sons. Sarah then returned to her interest in art as an entrepreneur in partnership with her husband and to her love of painting family and pastoral scenes.

In 1972 Sarah and Tom opened Mont Crest Art Gallery, one of the first galleries in Chattanooga to market original art by local, national and international artists. They later opened Gallery 210 one of the first businesses in the Bluff View area of the Hunter Museum of Art. Sarah also was appointed to the initial board of the Tennessee Arts Commission by Governor Winfield Dunn. This collection was amassed over forty years of representing and working with known and unknown artists.

Collection of Anne and Robert K. Zelle, Nashville, Tennessee and Gulf Stream, Florida

Jewelry: Lots 0142 – 0195 — General Collection: Lots 0694 – 1068

Robert K. Zelle was a dashing, Yale educated, World War II pilot from St. Louis, Missouri. Anne Zelle was a beautiful St. Louis debutante, who graduated from Fairfax Hall, Waynesboro, Virginia and attended Holton Arms School in Washington. It was love at first sight, and a brief courtship led to marriage. Their lives were filled with friends and travels. They shared interests in golf, skiing and collecting art and antiques. Much of their art and antique collection was acquired from their travels. Each piece in their collection triggered a story of places they travelled, artists they met or simply a memory too good not to share.
The Zelles were active in social and community affairs. They were devoted supporters of educational institutions and philanthropic causes and were committed volunteers. They were both avid animal lovers and supported animal rescue and related charities. Mrs. Zelle served on the advisory board for the Nashville Antique and Garden Show. Mr. Zelle served on the boards of Darlington School, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, The University School of Nashville and Alive Hospice. Mr. Zelle was a former president of Junior Achievement of Nashville and one of the founders of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
For those of us who knew and loved the Zelles, we hope that these items will continue to be a part of a cherished collection and a new story.

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA – APRIL, 2016

Over 150 lots of Contemporary and Modern Fine Art, sculptures, and more sold at Brunk Auctions on Thursday, April 7th. The objects offered were part of a Southern Corporate Collection before they were sold by the Asheville-based auction house. Many of the artists whose works were represented in the auction are living, and are active and heavily exhibited across the globe. More than 99% of lots sold, with several exceptional results during the night.

The high lot in the auction was an oil on aluminum painting entitled Vulgaris by British artist Jason Martin. Even at the time of the auction, the paint on this work was still in the process of drying. It sold for $56,640 to an internet bidder. Other exceptional results for two-dimensional art include an oil painting entitled Maple Silhouette by German-born artist Wolf Kahn selling for $33,040, and a large-scale Pat Steir oil from 2011 selling to a phone bidder for $29,500.

Three-dimensional works also produced strong prices at Brunk Auctions. Parabolic Verde by Fred Eversley of Los Angeles sold for $20,060, Imbrogliare by Massachusetts-native Toots Zynsky sold for $18,880, and an untitled ceramic work by Japanese artist Jun Kaneko sold for $17,700.

All but one of the 172 lots sold for a total of $481,440. Brunk Auctions will host their next cataloged auction over three days starting on May 12. All prices listed include buyer’s premium.

If the term, “Corporate Collection” conjures up images of portraits of founding fathers and perhaps some fine and useful furniture, then this collection will surprise you.




Brunk Auctions will be liquidating the Contemporary art holdings of a regional corporation. Also included in the auction are the contents of the corporate kitchen – which reads like a dream wedding registry.


The paintings and sculpture are almost all non-representational, and many convey an elemental feel: the fiery reds and yellows of Robert Striffolino’s “Waterscape” series, the celestial glow of Julian Lethbridge’s painting, “Noon,” and the implied light on earth of Audra Weaser’s “Green Glance.” There are names that most will recognize: Jasper Johns, Picasso, Salvador Dali and Wolf Kahn. Then, there are stunning works by less well-known contemporary artists whose careers are gaining momentum. These works represent a tremendous opportunity to invest in quality paintings and three dimensional works.


Highlighting the paintings are those by Pat Steir (Est. $50,000-80,000), Moon Beom (Korean), Matthias Meyer and Jason Martin. They are monumental in scale and a feast of color.


The digital catalog is currently available online. Live bidding will begin at 5:00 pm on April 7th. You can join us in the Asheville saleroom or bid online by registering with Bidsquare.com.

Blues, an oil on canvas painted in 1986, belies the decade in which it was created – and sold over the weekend of March 18, for a record price of $28,320.

Maud Gatewood has a body of work ranging from complete abstraction in the 60’s through landscape, to flattened pattern and portraiture in the 80’s and 90’s. She found humor in the trends on follies around her. Born in rural North Carolina and the daughter of a sheriff, she had her feet firmly planted on the ground. Her paintings combine that vantage point with tremendous talent and training to create social commentary.

Gatewood was born in 1934, received her undergraduate degree from Woman’s College of North Carolina (Now UNC Greensboro) and in 1963 she won a Fulbright Scholarship to study art in Austria, under renowned painter Oskar Kokoschka. Having painted, taught and supported her local community, she died in North Carolina in 2004. Her works have been exhibited extensively and hang in museum collections across the country.

The 1986 acrylic on canvas was consigned from a Private North Carolina Collection and measured in at 40 x 36 inches.

A new auction record for North Carolina artist, teacher, and activist Maud Gatewood was set over the weekend. The previous record at auction, set in 2011, was eclipsed when her 40 x 36 inch acrylic entitled Blues sold for $28,320. It sold to a private bidder after rigorous bidding in-house, on the phones, on Bidsquare, and by absentia.

The only known painting of third and last Georgia Royal Governor James Wright sold for $40,000 hammer price. The painting, by Andrea Soldi, sold to an institutional bidder to be named at a later date.

Three watercolor and ink scrolls from contemporary master Fan Zeng brought exceptional results during the auction. The three scrolls, offered in three separate lots, were all purchased by the consignor in Beijing in 1986. They brought $64,900, $82,600, and $40,120 respectively. Fan Zeng was born in 1938 in Nantong, China is currently a Professor at the University of Glasgow. The scrolls all sold to a private bidder on Bidsquare.

Antiquities brought outstanding prices over the course of the auction. The high lot in the sale was a Fine Egyptian Limestone Relief probably from the 19th Dynasty (1292-1190 BCE). The limestone relief sold for $165,000. Other Egyptian objects with like provenance sold above estimates as well. A 6th Dynasty Alabaster Headrest sold for $33,040, a 30th Dynasty Limestone Relief sold for $20,060, and a 19th/20th Dynasty Limestone Relief sold for $49,560. The catalog cover lot, an Ancient Roman Mosaic Panel depicting various sea creatures, sold for $51,920.

The two-day, 800 lot auction, brought $1.64 million and achieved a 92.3% sell through rate.

All prices listed include buyer’s premium unless otherwise noted.