Robert Mapplethorpe (American, 1946-1989), Cock, gelatin silver print; signed and dated Robert Mapplethorpe '86, l.r.; numbered 2/10; 19 x 19 inches; framed: 33 1/2 x 32 inches . Lot 75 . Estimate $8,000-12,000. Photo Grogan and Company

DEDHAM, MASS.- In addition to fine art, Grogan and Company’s May 20th auction will include a large collection of European decorative works of art and an impressive selection of Fine Oriental Rugs and Carpets. The auction, which will begin at 12 noon on Sunday, May 20th, will be comprised of over 600 lots of American and European Paintings, Prints and Sculpture of the 18th, 19th and 20th century, Old Master Drawings, American and Continental Furniture, Decorative Works of Art, Jewelry, Silver and Oriental Rugs and Carpets.

The fine art includes two provocative Black and White Photographs by New York artist and AIDS activist Robert Mapplethorpe include Ron Simms and Cock, and are estimated at $3,000-5,000 and $8,000-12,000 respectively.

Robert Mapplethorpe (American, 1946-1989), Ron Simms. Photo Grogan and Company

gelatin silver print; signed and dated Robert Mapplethorpe '78, l.r.; numbered "?/10" (scratched out) and inscribed For Ron, l.l.; 14 x 13 1/2 inches; framed: 26 x 25 inches. Lot 74. Estimate $3,000-5,000

Notes: Robert Mapplethorpe grew up in New York and studied at the Pratt Institute of Art. With financial support and encouragement from Sam Wagstaff, former curator of the Detroit Institute of Art and his lover, the artist held his first exhibition at New York's Light Gallery in 1973. Mapplethorpe is regarded as one of the most important and provocative photographers of the second half of the 20th century.
During the 1980's, he produced a series of erotic and sometimes pornographic photographs, which sparked an International debate over censorship of the arts and media during his 1989 "The Perfect Moment" Solo exhibition tour. Despite the ensuing controversy, Mapplethorpe was admired for his technically masterful execution of the photographic medium.
In 1989, Mapplethorpe succumbed to complications due to aids in a Boston Hospital. A year before his death, he helped found the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, which currently functions as his official estate and has raised millions of dollars for AIDS research. 

The featured, Josef Alber’s Homage to the Square, ‘Late Sound’, a 40 x 40 inch oil on masonite created in 1964 is estimated at $200,000-400,000 and Milton Avery’s Bird in Bay, a 22 x 28 inch oil on canvas is estimated at $50,000-10,000.

Josef Albers (German/American, 1888-1976), Homage to the Square, ‘Late Sound’. Photo Grogan and Company

 oil on masonite;  incised A64, l.r.; signed, dated and titled Josef Albers 1964, Homage to the Square, Study for 'Late Sound', on verso; bears artists color notes on verso; 40 x 40 inches. Lot 50. Estimate $200,000-400,000 

Provenance: Sidney Janis Gallery, inventory #10137;
J.L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit, 1969;
Private Collection, Grosse Pointe, Michigan;
By descent to current owner

Notes: Josef Albers began his art career at the Royal Art School of Berlin, in his native Germany. In 1933, he and his wife immigrated to the United States, where he became a U.S. citizen in 1939. Between 1950 and 1959, while Albers was the head of the Yale University Art Department, he began his iconic series 'Homage to the Square', an exploration of the interaction of color using overlapping squares.
There are currently two Homage to the Square works by Josef Albers on loan in the Obama White House: Elected II and Midday, both courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum.
This work is listed with the Alber's Foundation, Bethany, Connecticut.

Condition: overall good condition; U.V. shows minor touch up in grey ground, 2 small spots of touch up in blue ground, along top edge, and a 1 1/2" restoration in black ground, visible under raking light.

An important work by Robert Koehler, At the Café, which was exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, has a presale estimate of $10,000-20,000 and a rare view of Baltimore Harbor by Italian artist Nicolino Calyo is estimated at $10,000-15,000.

Robert Koehler (German/American, 1850-1917) , At the Café. .Photo Grogan and Company

oil on panel; signed and inscribed Rob.t Koehler Munchen, u.r.; circa 1887; bears three original labels from International Kunst , a U.S. Customs label and the Advisory Committee Submission form with stamp from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition; 19 5/8 x 15 inches. Lot 26. Estimate $10,000-20,000 

Provenance: Private Massachusetts Collection;
By descent to the current owner

Exhibitions: World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 -1920, American Paintings, Exhibit #649, Fine Arts Building;
National Portrait Gallery, American Art from the 1893 World's Fair, Smithsonian Institute, April 16, 1993-August 15, 1993, No. 84

Literature: World's Columbian Exposition, 1893 Official Catalogue. Part X. Department K - Fine Arts, Chicago, 1893; Exhibit #649, page 22.
Carr, Carolyn. Revisiting the White City, Washington: Smithsonian Institute, 1993; illustrated on page 276

Condition: the panel has been extended on either side by 1/4" to fit the current frame; U.V.: shows inpaint in shrinkage cracks and touch up along edges.

Decorative Arts highlights include a fine Pair of Yellow Ground Ormolu Mounted “Sevres” Porcelain Vases, with figural reserves from a Newport, Rhode Island Lady, estimated at $10,000-15,000; a rare Cartier Miniature Enamel Travel Clock or “Pendulette de Voyage”, estimated at $3,000-5,000; and a Rare Chelsea Keramic Fish Platter, stamped Robertson & Sons, is estimated at $2,000-4,000. Hugh Robertson, one of the foremost American potters of the 19th century, established Dedham Pottery after Chelsea Keramic Art Studio closed in 1889. Native American offerings include a Navajo Wedge Weave Sash, possibly Bayeta, late 19th century, estimated at $4,000-6,000 and a Polychrome bird form decorated Pottery Storage Jar, is estimated at $3,000-5,000. A sparkling collection of fashionable Judith Leiber animal form handbags, from a Maine estate, have estimates ranging from $300 to $700. 

Fine Pair of Yellow Ground Ormolu Mounted “Sevres” Porcelain Vases, 19th century. Photo Grogan and Company

painted with figural and landscape decorated reserves and with figural ormolu mounted handles; the lids bearing interlaced L's marks in underglaze blue; overall height: 21 inches. Lot 360. Estimate $10,000-15,000

Provenance: Property of a Newport, Rhode Island lady

Cartier Miniature Enamel Travel Clock or “Pendulette de Voyage”, Paris, circa 1910. Photo Grogan and Company

the green guilloche enamel clock with gilt and white enamel beaded decoration on an agate base and with original fitted red tooled leather case containing key; clock face signed Cartier; the case cover with gilt stamp Cartier, 15 rue de la Paix, Paris and Loncon 4, New Burlington St.; height of clock: 2 inches. Lot 470. Estimate $3,000-5,000

The Chinese offerings are highlighted by a rare Qing dynasty Black Kesi Imperial Dragon Suit of Parade Armor expected to fetch $8,000-10,000 and a Pair of Chinese Blue and White Meiping Dragon Vases with a presale estimate of $2,000-4,000. In addition there are Chinese jades, ivories and cloisonné wares.

Black Kesi Imperial Dragon Suit of Parade Armor, Qing dynasty. Photo Grogan and Company

elelven pieces, comprising: a jacket, chaps, two sleeves and seven detachable panels, with brass studs and pierced brass plates on shoulder pieces; length of jacket: 28 inches; length of chaps: 30 inches. Lot 354. Estimate $8,000-10,000

Pair of Chinese Blue and White Meiping Dragon Vases, 18th/19th century. Photo Grogan and Company

height: 15 1/4 inches. Lot 163. Estimate $2,000-4,000

Provenance: Property of Lawrence G. C. Maguire, Wellesley, Massachusetts and Rye, New Hampshire

Property from the Estate of Lawrence Maguire, a Wellesley, Massachusetts Collector, includes a large collection of Old Master Drawings, including works in the manner of Guercino, Guido Reni, Hubert Robert and Nicolo Bambino, as well as Russian icons and fine European decorative works of art. Highlights from the estate include a pair of 40 inch Louis XVI Style Patinated and Bronze Figural Candelabra, estimated at $5,000-8,000, and a 19th century French Bronze and Marble Figural Mantle Clock, bearing a $5,000-7,000 estimate. An Empire Carved Giltwood Firescreen with a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-4,000, may have been part of a suite of furniture ordered by President James Monroe in 1817. The fifty three piece suite of furniture was commissioned from Parisian cabinetmaker, Pierre-Antoine Bellangé, after a fire in the White House destroyed the Elliptical Drawing Room (now the blue Room) and included two firescreens. In 1860, the Blue Room was renovated and each piece of the entire Bellangé suite was auctioned off individually to fund the project, however, in 1960, one of the pieces was discovered in White House storage, sparking Jacqueline Kennedy’s white house tour and her effort to return the Blue Room to it’s Monroe period splendor. Today several original, as well as, reproduction pieces from this suite have been reunited in the White House Blue Room. 

American furniture highlights a Rare and Unusual American Carved Figured Mahogany Patriotic Center Table, circa 1840, with eagle carving and inlaid star top. Estimated at $10,000-20,000, experts have surmised that the exquisitely crafted table was possibly made for a prominent New England family with strong political connections. A circa 1820 Federal Carved Mahogany Fall Front Secretary, attributed to William Hook of Salem, Massachusetts, has an estimate of $5,000-10,000 and bears a plaque stating it was the property of Joseph Peabody (1757-1844), a merchant and ship owner who dominated trade between Massachusetts and the Far East in the early 19th century. 

The auction will conclude with over 100 exceptional Rugs and Carpets from various owners and collectors. A Rare West Anatolian Village Rug from the late 17th century is expected to bring $10,000-20,000, while a Yellow Ground Kuba Long Rug has a presale estimate of $8,000-12,000. A circa 1825 Chinese Dragon Rug on an unusual apricot field with floating dragons is estimated at $2,000-4,000, and one of two 19th century French Aubusson Carpet’s is estimated at $8,000-12,000. 

The auction will take place at Grogan and Company’s Dedham Gallery located at 22 Harris Street, Dedham, Massachusetts. The exhibition is open to the public and begins Thursday, May 17th. Hours: Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m – 6 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. – 12 noon.