French Empire Bronze 12-light Victory Candelabra Bring $27,225 At Ahlers & Ogletree Auction

By Author: Natalie Ahlers
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A pair of early 20th century French Empire (or Neoclassical-style) bronze 12-light Victory candelabra sold for $27,225 at a two-day, two-session auction of the estates of prominent Atlanta area figures Fred Bentley, Sr. of Marietta, Ga., and Vectra Orkin Barnette of Atlanta, held November 10th and 11th by Ahlers & Ogletree, online and live in Ahlers & Ogletree’s Atlanta gallery.

Fred Bentley, Sr., was a cherished local politician, art collector, patriarch and philanthropist. His estate boasted important American paintings, fine antique furniture, decorative arts, Chinese export porcelain, antiquities from Rome and Greece, and gorgeous paintings by Thomas Worthington Whittredge, Herman Herzog, Charles Peale, Thomas Sully, Hugh B. Jones and Edward Hopper.

Items from the Bentley estate were offered on November 10th. More items from his estate will be sold at future Ahlers & Ogletree auctions. Day 2, November 11th, featured the estate of Vectra Orkin Barnette, an avid lifetime collector of fine antiques and decorative arts from Italy, France and China. The 12-light figural candelabra came out of the Vectra ...
... Barnette estate.

The candelabra ended up being the overall top lot of the two days, as bidders were drawn to the figural depictions of a standing winged Victory with outstretched arms holding two torches, each supported on a cream marble base having repeating bronze wreaths and raised on a gilt metal plinth. The candelabra were apparently unmarked and measured 55 ½ inches tall by 23 ¾ inches in width.

Following are additional highlights from the 843-lot auction, which attracted around 50-100 live bidders, while online bidding was made available on Ahlers & Ogletree’s popular online bidding platform, bid.AandOAuctions.com, plus LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Approximately 50 phone bids were also recorded. All prices quoted in this report include a 21 percent buyer’s premium.

Another Day 2 lot also sold for $27,225. It was a pair of large 18th century Chinese Export famille rose enameled porcelain jardinieres having lion mask handles and decorated with blooming florals and birds, the interiors decorated with koi. The jardinieres, apparently unmarked, stood on wooden stands. Together, the jardinieres and stands were 29 ½ inches tall; the jardinieres were 16 ½ inches.

A large Chinese Export, gilt bronze mounted, blue ground porcelain jardiniere, having reserves decorated with birds in a flowering garden, the underside stamped '51165', 24 ½ inches tall (excluding the handles) made $24,200.

A late 19th century pair of French Louis XVI style six light gilt and patinated bronze figural candelabra in the manner of Michel Claude Clodion (French 1723-1814), depicting a male and female satyr each holding a cornucopia transforming into acanthine arms, and raised on foliate and wreath decorated round bronze plinths, unmarked, 50 ¾ inches tall, changed hands for $20,570.

A late 18th to early 19th century Chinese Export Mandarin palette porcelain punch bowl, having Rococo reserves decorated with figures in a landscape alternating with roosters and other birds, the well with a figural scene, having no apparent marks, perched on a wooden stand, realized $11,495.

A set of four Sevres (French), gilded soft paste porcelain plates, 1784, having a gilded Bleu Celeste lip with reserves containing various floral sprays encircling a maroon roundel framed by a band of pearls surrounding three roses, likely from a 288-piece dinner service presented by Louis XVI to his brother-in-law Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Governor of Lombardy, in 1786, brought $10,890.

A pair of Henry Dasson (French 1825-1896) attributed Louis XVI Revival gilt and patinated bronze and malachite veneer Athenienne brule-parfums, each having a foliate and fruit finial, reticulated band, the bowl supported by three female hern with monopodia holding floral garlands, resting on a gadrooned concave plinth, and rising on toupie feet, apparently unmarked, commanded $9,680.

The top lot from the Fred Bentley, Sr. estate on Day 1 was an oil on canvas laid to board painting by John Joseph Enneking (American 1841-1916), titled Spring Landscape (1901), depicting a spring scene of blossoming trees in the foreground and a small valley in the background, signed and dated lower right, in a gilt frame measuring 28 ½ inches by 36 ¼ inches. The work was sold for $9,075.

A large patinated bronze bust depicting Benjamin Franklin (American 1706-1790) after Jean-Antoine Houdon (French 1741-1828), on a socle plinth base, marked in mold 'F. Barbedienne Fondeur Paris France' to right and 'Houdon' to left of the figure, 22 inches tall, rose to $7,260.

An oil on canvas painting by Hermann Herzog (German/American, 1832-1932), titled Fisherman on a Mountain Lake, depicting two fishermen on the banks of a lake with snow-capped mountains in the background (possibly Lake Lucerne), signed to lower right, with a Chapellier Galleries (N.Y.) label on verso, housed in a gilt frame measuring 22 inches by 28 ¾ inches, gaveled for $6,050.

A Chinese rosewood and jade ruyi scepter, the undulating rosewood frame inset with three pale celadon jade plaques, the top plaque of ruyi form, the middle of rectangular form and the final plaque of ruyi form, each carved with figures in landscapes, the whole mounted in a custom shadow box frame, found a new home for $3,932. The scepter measured 3 ¼ inches tall by 5 ½ inches wide.

An oil on canvas painting by Enoch Wood Perry, Jr. (American 1831-1915), titled The Lonely Monk (Cloister in Palermo) (1905), depicting a single monk seated amongst flowers outside an Abbey, signed and dated lower left, measuring 25 inches by 30 ¼ inches (canvas, less frame), hit $3,328.

Ahlers & Ogletree has three auctions planned for December and January. These include a Fine Studio Jewelry & Designer Accessories auction on Friday, December 1st; a Fine Jewelry & Timepieces auction on Saturday, December 2nd; and a New Year’s Signature Estates & Collections auction and Rare Books & Important Documents auction from the estate of Fred Bentley, Sr. in January 2024. All will be held online and live in the Atlanta gallery. Watch the website for details.

To learn more about Ahlers & Ogletree and the four auctions in December and January, please visit www.aandoauctions.com. You can follow Ahlers & Ogletree via social media on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.

About Ahlers & Ogletree:
Ahlers & Ogletree is a multi-faceted, family-owned business that spans the antiques, estate sale, wholesale, liquidation, auction and related industries. Ahlers & Ogletree is always seeking quality consignments for future auctions. To consign a single item, an estate or a collection, you may call them directly at 404-869-2478; or, you can send them an e-mail, at consign@AandOauctions.com. To learn more about Ahlers & Ogletree, please visit https://www.aandoauctions.com. You can follow Ahlers & Ogletree via social media on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.