Stephen Gray Collection Nets Record Prices

It was an unconventional move by an unconventional collector.

Over the course of 35 years Stephen Gray, founder of Turn of the Century Editions, meticulously assembled one of the most jaw-dropping collections of Arts & Crafts furniture, art pottery and metalware in the country. Last fall, when Gray decided it was time to move out of his rambling upstate New York farmhouse, he sent the majority of his collection to not one, but two major Arts & Crafts auction houses – with sales only 11 days apart.

It was, as one observer called it, “a calculated gamble.”

DECEMBER 6: THE TREADWAY-TOOMEY SALE

The highlight of the 67 lots which Gray selected for the December 6th Treadway-Toomey 20th Century Art and Design Auction in Oak Park, Illinois was the 1901 Gustav Stickley “Damascus” Plant Stand with an octagonal Grueby tile recessed into the dark oak top (top picture). Despite having been refinished, the 18” plant stand soared past its $12,000-$15,000 estimate, selling for $26,400 (all prices include buyer’s premium).

Nearly every other piece of early Gustav Stickley furniture from Gray’s collection sold at or above the pre-sale estimates, including a #207 crib settle ($18,000), a refinished director’s table, model #631, ($9600), a #2342 flat-arm Morris chair ($9600), a chest of drawers, #906, ($12,000), and a 1902 nightstand, #618, ($8400).

One of the surprises of the sale was an unsigned magazine stand Stickley produced in 1901 for the retail giant Tobey Furniture Company. While this somewhat common form typically sells for less than $1500, two determined bidders pushed Gray’s early, pristine example to an amazing $6000.

Stephen Gray has long been known as a collector of large, important examples of Teco, Marblehead and Newcomb College pottery, but only a few examples appeared in this sale. Three which did – a trio of tall, dramatic Newcomb vases - sold for $7200, $9000 and $12,000. Later in the sale, an 18” Teco vase designed by Hugh Garden (but not from Gray’s collection) with a stunning matte green glaze sold for $26,400.

“Teco has always been a part of my life,” Gray explained, “and will remain so. While everyone was rushing to Grueby, I went to Teco. I felt the fact that many Teco pieces were designed by so many different architects, all contemporaries of Frank Lloyd Wright, that Teco was speaking to a different design aesthetic. And it wasn’t just the forms; they had fabulous glazes as well.”

Gray did release some of his cherished Arts & Crafts lighting, however, including a Roycroft hanging copper fixture, examples of which are believed to have only been made for use on the Roycroft Campus and at the Grove Park Inn. Estimated at $6000-$8000, this near-perfect example went to a new home for $18,000.

After the sale Don Treadway commented, “We were extremely happy with the sale and the number of people it drew with varied interests. But people are pickier than ever before when it comes to condition. Prices were extremely good on wood, but also look at the Frank Morley Fletcher woodblock print [est. $2000-$3000, sold for $9600]. There was new blood for a number of items, which is always good, and we saw some familiar collectors getting back in. But with the economy being what it is, its still a rocky landscape out there, especially for gallery owners.”

DECEMBER 17: THE SOTHEBY’S SALE

Eleven days later, an additional 25 lots from Stephen Gray’s collection hit the auction block, this time at Sotheby’s in New York. The tone of the sale was set with the first piece of furniture, a 1901 Gustav Stickley somno, model #605. Estimated at $15,000-$20,000, the nightstand sold for $43,750.

A few lots later, a 1901 Gustav Stickley “Poppy” table, #26 (lower picture), with a strong Art Nouveau influence, blasted past its $20,000-$30,000 estimate, easily setting a world record for this form at $176,500.

A 1901 60-inch Gustav Stickley library table, #409, featuring faceted iron hardware and long, graceful corbels, sold for $34,375, followed by a 1902 tea table with twelve Grueby tiles that went to a new home for $25,000.

Gustav Stickley lighting remained as strong at Sotheby’s as it was at the Treadway-Toomey auction. A hammered copper table lamp, #294, with a wicker and silk shade sold for $25,000, table lamp, #541, with an oak base and a wicker and silk shade finished at $46,875, and a three-light chandelier, #594, went for $50,000.

After the sale Stephen Gray shared some of his thoughts. “While some of the prices may have been a little exaggerated by competition for certain key pieces, I feel Arts & Crafts is going to find a natural, higher level of prices than we’ve been seeing. And for collectors who have invested a lot of money in Arts & Crafts over the years, this is vindication of their commitment. This was proof that Arts & Crafts is not dead.”

Later in the sale, two pieces not from the Stephen Gray collection also soared to record levels. A Gustav Stickley twelve-candle, copper chandelier, #296, sold for $230,500, followed a few minutes later by a Harvey Ellis designed inlaid armchair made in 1903 at Stickley’s Craftsman Workshops that went for $206,500. In addition, a pair of Roycroft andirons sold for $40,625, an 11-inch Newcomb College vase went for $74,500, and a Charles Limbert oval center table #158 sold for $18,750, demonstrating that collectors were after more than just items which had come from Stephen Gray’s noted collection.

Jodi Pollock, a Senior Specialist at Sotheby’s, remarked, “We were very pleased with the interest and competition that the Stephen Gray collection attracted. Anytime you have top caliber material that combines rarity with pristine, superb condition you are going to attract collectors from other categories as well. We had a strong overlap of American painting collectors competing with traditional Arts & Crafts collectors in what was recognized as a once in a lifetime opportunity. As a result, we saw some world record prices.”

Prior to these two auctions, Stephen Gray had loaned the majority of his major pieces to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut for a 2008-2009 exhibition entitled “At Home with Gustav Stickley: Arts & Crafts from the Stephen Gray Collection.”

At the close of the exhibition, Gray donated approximately 37 pieces to the Wadsworth Atheneum’s permanent collection.

For complete auction results, go to treadwaygallery.com and to sothebys.com.

-bj

Coming Next: Collectors Meet in Colorado