The second part of the collection of the late Seymour Stein went under the hammer at Bellmans (25% buyer’s premium) in August following a first instalment in June this year.
The American entrepreneur, music executive and vice president of Warner Bros Records was instrumental in launching the careers of many famous bands and musicians such as The Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna.
Like the June offering, this two-day sale, held on August 7-8 at Wisborough Green in West Sussex, was an eclectic mix that took in advertising memorabilia, posters, Art Deco and other ceramics, decorative objects and paintings.
Two Continental 20-tile panels measuring 2ft 8in x 3ft 4in (82cm x 1.02m) described as probably 19th century were decorated with maps of the world after Dutch cartographers. This example, based on a map by Abraham Ortelius (1527- 1598), featuring texts from Seneca and Cicero in the corners, sold for £3800 against a guide of £300-500. The other, decorated with a double sphere map after Henricus Hondius (1597- 1651), with corner portraits of Julius Caesar and the cartographers Claudius Ptolemy, Gerard Mercator and Jodocus Hondius, sold for £1400 against a guide of £200-400.
Strong ceramics sums
The August offering included some particularly strong results for ceramics, especially some of his tile panels.
One high-flyer was an especially large panel of Doulton Lambeth tiles from c.1910 composed of 72 tiles and measuring 3ft 1in x 6ft (94cm x 1.84m) with a depiction of five ships at full mast.
This was a design by William Rowe, an artist who worked at the factory for over half a century and was responsible for ceramic tile designs that appeared on many public buildings. It was signed Wm Rowe and Doulton Lambeth lower right and estimated at £1000-1500 but came in at £4800.
Part of a group of 20 French tiles decorated with designs of Tarot cards, £1800 at Bellmans.
More unexpected were the prices paid out for some groups of French tiles modestly guided in the low three figures.
A group of 20 French stoneware tiles measuring 10 x 5in (25 x 12.5cm), each representing a different Tarot card that had been acquired from a 1994 auction at Christie’s South Kensington, realised £1800.
Part of a group of tiles decorated with signs of the Zodiac, £1200 at Bellmans.
A set of 12 pottery tiles, each 8in (20cm) square and painted with a sign of the Zodiac on a yellow ground, made £1200 and a set of 22 faience yellow ground tiles, each measuring 10¼ x 6¼in (26 x 16cm) and decorated with a design of a different named playing card (with some breaks and repairs), sold for£1300.
Both the latter two lots were thought to be possibly French and dated to the late 19th/20th century.
Italian figures
Pudore Africano, an Essevi figure of 1937 designed by Sandro Vacchetti, £4000 at Bellmans.
The Italian ceramic figures produced by the Turin firm of Essevi in the interwar period are much sought after.
The models by Sandro Vacchetti epitomise the colourful and stylish characteristics of their products that make them so popular.
A good example featured in the Stein collection. Dating from c.1937, sizeable at 20in (51cm) high, it was modelled as a naked woman with her arms lifted to her face about to bathe in a pool by a palm tree and titled Pudore Africano.
Fully signed, titled and dated on the base Essevi, Made in Italy, Torino, 18- 5-1937 XV, Il Pudore Africano Di Sandro Vacchetti, and incised M30, this had some losses and areas of restoration but was moderately estimated at £600-800 and took £4000.
Travel posters
Poster from c.1937 advertising transatlantic travel by Graf Zeppelin, £1200 at Bellmans.
Among the travel posters included in this second Stein sale was an early, c.1910, flying poster measuring 5ft 2in x 3ft 11in (1.58 x 1.2m) designed by Charlies Tichon advertising a Semaine D’Aviation de Lyon which realised £2600 against a guide of £500-800.
A c.1932 poster for transatlantic travel by Graf Zeppelin designed by Ottomar Anton, measuring 2ft 1in x 3ft 4in (65cm x 1m) and advertising L’Amerique du Sud en 3 jours went for £1200. The poster promoting travel from Paris to Algiers on the Ville D’Alger ship that was previewed in ATG No 2598 sold within estimate at £450.
