KESTENBAUM & COMPANY AUCTION REVIEW: 2016
Now that we are well into 2017 - and accepting consignments for this season's series of auctions - it is appropriate to look back on the events at
Kestenbaum & Company over the past twelve months:
A distinct portion of 2016 was devoted to auctions specializing in the Fine Arts - signaling a future at Kestenbaum of increasingly diverse auctions.
Nonetheless our firm commitment to rare books, manuscripts and Judaica remains
unsurpassed.
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The auction, our first in this specialized field, featured the collection of the late Stanley I. Batkin, the well known philanthropist and gentleman of culture of Scarsdale, New York.
Illustrated here is the top selling lot: Yaakov Agam's From Birth to Eternity estimated at $30,000-50,000 it was sold to a South American collector for $186,860.
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A number of particularly fine artworks appeared at Kestenbaum this season: Two dramatic rabbinic portraits by Isidor Kaufmann were each sold at $255,300; and the complete set of eight original gouache and ink illustrations by Arthur Szyk to his Book of Job (1943-45) made $135,300.
However the most spectacular appearance to auction this season was the grisaille painting Freitag Abend ("Friday Night Blessing") Moritz Daniel Oppenheim's masterpiece, which sold for a record $455,900 the highest price achieved at auction for this German-Jewish master, the most outstanding of all Jewish artists.
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2016 saw the continuation of sales of rare books and manuscripts held by Kestenbaum on behalf of the Execution Office of the District High Court, Tel Aviv. Having now conducted a total of four auctions in this series, entitled "A Singular Collection," sales totaling more than $3 million have been reached. Season 2017 will see a further portion offered from this fascinating source.
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We
were honored to present at auction exemplary Ceremonial Objects from the
celebrated collection built by Michael & Judy Steinhardt. Paradigms of good taste and connoisseurship, the Steinhardts were scrupulous in making the most aesthetic selections for their storied collection.
Among the many exemplary items offered in our
Steinhardt
A
uction
was this Polish parcel-gilt silver and gem Torah Shield, inscribed 1754, which was
bought for $36,900 against its pre-sale estimate of $10,000-15,000.
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We continued to offer a broad range of important materials in this very popular collecting area. This season we were entrusted with the library of the late Rabbi Dr. David de Sola Pool, the revered Sephardic leader and scholar.
A highlight was a scarce copy of Isaac N. Cardozo's Discourse Delivered in Charleston (1827) inscribed and signed by the author which sold for $98,400. A second copy (unsigned) sold recently at another auction house for just $10,000.
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Offerings here included selections from the extensive collection formed by the attorney Nathan
Lewin of Washington DC; as well as highlights from the Palestine collection of a gentleman
resident in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Illustrated here: T
he celebrated clover-leaf map of the world depicting
Jerusalem at center,
by
Heinrich
Bünting (
1581). This hand-colored example realized $22,140.
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* Other
collections handled this past season included Hebrew manuscripts from the
Sinzheim-Auerbach Rabbinic Dynasty; artwork formerly in the collection of Lady Charlotte Rothschild of London; deaccessions from the Rare Book Room of the Hebrew Theological College, Skokie, Ill and the estates of two eminent rare book-dealers.
* We are now accepting consignments toward our 2017 season of auction sales, featuring Fine Judaica: Rare Book, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters & Ceremonial Objects. Additionally, Holy Land Maps, Israeli and Fine Jewish Art.
* We are also seeking
appropriate consignments for our new departments focusing upon Jewish
Antiquities, Numismatics and Palaestiniana.
* Please contact us directly should you wish to discuss your property and determine its suitability for auction-sale.
* Sending best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017!
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Kestenbaum
& Company
242 West 30th Street, New York NY 10001
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