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Ruggiero & Associates, LLC is a fine art and antique appraisal and auction firm serving the entire Southeast U.S.
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Our Spring Sale features the wonderful Barbara Toth collection of American furniture, Chinese Export porcelain and ceramics, folk art, and other decorative arts, including over 20 pieces of tiger maple furniture primarily from Pennsylvania. Barbara grew up in the Finger Lakes region of New York where she developed her appreciation for early American furniture and decorative arts. The daughter of a German immigrant and cabinet maker, her initial focus was tiger maple and early painted surfaces. Over the years, she became more interested in Chinese Export porcelain, and the sale includes some monumental punch bowls and other very fine examples. She was afflicted by the collector’s “disease” and continued to buy into her eighties. She wanted to learn as much as she could and, like many of us, couldn’t stop learning! Recently moving closer to her family here in North Carolina, Barbara is offering her collection to the public so she can spend more time with her family including a newly adopted granddaughter from China. “I hope they love my things as much as I did,” she said with stern determination on her face, not sadness. “We are all just caretakers!”
We also have in the sale a very special collection of 18th/early 19th Century Chinese Blanc de Chine porcelain from a Florida Collector. After collecting from fine galleries in New York City for over 40 years, and now dovetailing with a “time to simplify”, we are very happy to offer a number of very fine and rare examples including two standing figures of Kuan Yin, a large figure group of an Empress on a raft with her entourage, as well as a rare conch shell figure among others.
A large group of American and English tall case clocks comes from the Richmond, Virginia, Estate of an avid collector of clocks. Talking about the “disease”, this man had clocks everywhere! In addition to the tall case clocks, there are numerous New England shelf clocks and others found in his attic that he was hoping to restore before his death.
We have many items included in the sale, but three other groups are of note. Firstly, items from the Collection of C.C. Worthington, founder of the Shawnee Country Club in Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania, and one of golf’s PGA founders. Besides a rare Robert Forgan driver and Lawrence "Laurie" Auchterlonie iron, we have other golf memorabilia including a lot of over 30 original photographs taken at the 1938 PGA Championship at Shawnee. Also from this group is a very unusual Haida inlaid argillite bowl, two early portrait miniatures of Mardecai M. Noah (Phila., 1785-1851), as well as photos of many of golfing’s greats.
From a Michigan Estate comes a wonderful watercolor by Charles Burchfield and another by John H. Twachtman of the Greenwich, Connecticut harbour, along with a complete folio of (50) lithographs and correspondence with William Gropper.
For our Southern collectors, we have a small but choice group of property from the Estate of Mary Louise Kidder Gadsden. It includes a well-documented Charles Fraser (1782-1860) miniature portrait of Gen. James Gadsden (1788-1859), a John Mood (worked 1813-1864), Charleston silver sauceboat and spoon, and a miniature portrait of Phillip Gadsden (1761-1824), attributed to Edward G. Malbone (1777-1807), as well as a number of other portraits of members of the Gadsden Family.
All in all, a great sale for American collectors with some nice collectibles as well as unusual items of interest. Give us a call if you have additional questions: 828-627-3706.
Happy Bidding!
Bob Ruggiero
A great sale for American collectors and some other unusual items of interest- it should make for a terrific auction. We hope that you will participate and enjoy!
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