Bronze Fountain by Edith Parsons (1878-1956), Titled Frog Baby, Brings $33,825 in Neue Auctions'

Beachwood, OH, USA, November 10, 2023 — A bronze fountain with greenish-gold and brown patina signed by Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons (American, 1878-1956), titled Frog Baby (1917), 40 inches tall, sold for $33,825 in an online-only Fine Art & Luxury Décor auction held October 28th by Neue Auctions. The fountain had the foundry mark for Roman Bronze Works (New York City).

Ms. Parsons studied with Daniel Chester French in New York and at the Art Students League. After marrying and starting a family, she began the series of garden sculptures for which she is best known, beginning with Duck Baby, which was the popular hit of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, and later Turtle Baby, now on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The 335-lot auction was packed with paintings, sculptures, Cleveland School, antique and luxury designer furniture and objects. The fine custom designer furnishings, in pristine condition from local estates, featured Dennis and Lean tables, Brunschwig & Fils furniture, Rose Tarlow, Minton Spidell, Patina Italia and Vladimir Kagan. The Parsons fountain was the sale’s top lot.

Following are additional highlights from the auction, which was clerked live on auction day by Neue Auctions team members and featured online bidding by LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Phone bidding was also available on selected lots. All prices quoted include a 23 percent buyer’s premium. All of the auction’s top 12 lots exceeded even their high estimates.

An impressive and large pair of late 19th or early 20th century Delphin Massier (French, Vallauris 1837-1907) majolica floriform jardinieres and pedestals, each jardiniere modeled in the form of a chrysanthemum flower with petals in striated pink and white glaze, gaveled for $8,610. Both pieces were hand-signed to the jardiniere and base and each stood 46 inches tall.

A large, circa 1910 Nampeyo of Hano Hopi baluster form pottery jar in yellow slip, decorated with pictographic designs in brown and burnished, 7 inches tall, rose to $7,995. Also, an acrylic on board painting by Helen Hardin, aka Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh (Santa Clara, 1943-1984), titled Plumed Serpent of the Hopi, signed lower right and nicely framed, finished at $4,059.

An 18th century Italian Baroque walnut two-part cabinet, 93 inches tall by 80 inches wide, the interior painted light blue and the doors flanked by engaged Corinthian capitals, made $4,059; while a Rose Tarlow mahogany Pemberley side table / bookstand, with a rectangular galleried top over a writing slide and three open shelves with x-form cross members, brought $2,706.

An oil on canvas painting by Joseph B. O’Sickey (American, 1918-2013), titled Serenade in Madame Addy’s Garden (1981), signed and dated, 36 ½ inches by 31 inches, went for $2,952. Also, an acrylic on paper by Pablita Velarde (1918-2006), titled Santa Clara Women and Children Selling Wares, artist signed, 8 ½ inches by 14 inches (less frame), realized $1,845.

A Curtis Jere circular form wall mirror welded with various sizes of circular formed patinated “raindrops ” centering a conforming mirror plate, 32 inches in diameter, commanded $2,829; while a pair of 19th century Italian gilt and cream painted mirrors with arched scalloped tops and antique mirror plates, 58 ½ inches tall by 31 ½ inches wide, changed hands for $2,829.

Multi-volume sets of books proved attractive to bidders. A few examples are as follows:

- Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln’s Life and Letters, 12 volumes, by John J. Nicolay and John Hay (The Century Co., New York, 1890), black leather with marbled boards, the spine with colored tabs and gilt, marbled end papers, and the top ruled edge gilt ($2,460)

- The Selected Works of Charles Darwin by Charles Darwin (New York and London: D. Appleton and Co.), Westminster edition, 15 volumes, # 16 of 1,000, illustrated, brown leather with marbled boards, gilt spines with raised bands, marbled endpapers ($2,460)

- Speeches by the Right Hounorable Winston Churchill (London, Toronto, Melbourne and Sydney: Cassell and Company, after 1941), 7 volumes, black leather, gilt spines with raised bands, dates 1941-46, first edition, with a gilt ruled top edge. ($2,091)

- The Works of Benjamin Franklin (Boston: Hilliard, Gray and Company, 1836), 10 volumes, illustrated, half-calf with marbled end boards, gilt spine with leather inserts and raised bands and a gilt ruled top edge ($1,845).

Antique and vintage carpets also attracted interest, led by an antique Persian Heriz wool carpet, 10 feet by 16 feet, sporting geometrics with a red field and wide exciting border ($2,091); and a hand-woven wool Navajo carpet from the 1930s, 9 feet by 6 feet 4 inches, woven with zig-zag designs and stylized geometrics and feathers in brown and tan ($1,722).

Rounding out this short list of auction highlights is a Brunschwig & Fils Amalfi faux bois painted chest of drawers, Modern, Italian Neoclassical form, with rectangular top over three graduated long drawers raised on tapering square legs, painted in an allover pattern ($2,583).

Next up for Neue Auctions is an online-only Fine Estates and Collections auction on Saturday, December 2nd, featuring art, bronzes, miniature paintings, European collections of antiques and antiquities, carpets and furniture from fine estates and collections, starting at 10 am Eastern time.

To learn more about Neue Auctions and their upcoming auctions, please visit www.neueauctions.com. Cynthia Maciejewksi and Bridget McWilliams can be reached by phone: 216-245-6707; or via email: [email protected], [email protected].

About Neue Auctions:
Neue Auctions invites everyone to be added to its email list to receive notifications and information regarding current and future sales. The firm is always seeking quality consignments. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, Cynthia Maciejewksi and Bridget McWilliams can be reached by phone at 216-245-6707; or via email at [email protected], [email protected]. To learn more about Neue Auctions, please visit www.neueauctions.com.