Results of Somerson Collection Auction
by Kate Nixon
A truly impressive collection of metalwork and jewelry from late silver collector Paul Somerson went up for bid this past weekend, featuring pieces from the famed Kalo Shop, a subject on which Somerson was an expert. The Oak Park, Ill.-based auction house Toomey & Co. Auctioneers held the auction this past Sunday, May 5th for the Paul & Terry Somerson Collection of 20th and 21st Century Metalwork and Jewelry, which featured 500 lots of varied metalwork art and jewelry, featuring his sizable collection of The Kalo Shop silver. The auction additionally showed pieces from the Art Silver Shop, Doris Cliff, the Handicraft Shop, Mary Catherine Knight, Lebolt & Co., Falick Novick, the Rokesley Shop, the TC Shop and more. The auction was bittersweet in nature, as the former owner of the collection was a figure known in the collecting world and a friend to many. In a statement on the auction page on the Toomey & Co Auctioneers website, the auction house said “We were deeply saddened by his passing, but we are honored to represent The Paul & Terry Somerson Collection in our upcoming sale.”
Highlights of the collection included several pieces from the Kalo Shop such as a set of flatware service, two sterling silver serving bowls, and three pendant necklaces which sold for a five figured number each. It’s worth noting that two of these Kalo Shop pendant necklaces, one made of sterling silver and the other made of 14K yellow gold, and several other pieces from the collection up for bid were featured in Rosalie Berberian’s Creating Beauty: Jewelry and Enamels of the American Arts & Crafts Movement, a book published earlier this year. Additionally joining the items that sold for five figures include a Susan Oakes Peabody ladies ring – also shown in Berberian’s book – made of 14K yellow gold with a yellow sapphire inset stone flanked by two diamonds selling for $12,500 and a decorated Peer Smed Calla Lily gravy boat made of sterling silver that sold for $11,250.
For our picks, the flatware and jewelry went for five figures, the vase sold within its estimate and the Kalo Shop candlestick holder went for slightly below the estimate. Please see the realized prices of our highlighted items below:
Lot # 10: The Kalo Shop Streamlined variation flatware service for eight, #11
Chicago, Illinois
sterling silver, stainless steel featuring stamped marks
72 items: (8) dinner forks, (8) luncheon forks, (8) luncheon knives, (8) teaspoons, (8) dessert spoons, (8) cream soup spoons, (8) dessert forks, (8) butter spreaders and (8) cocktail forks. The luncheon knives are 9 1/2″ long
Estimate: $2,000-3,000
Realized Price: $9,375
Lot #35: The Kalo Shop necklace
Chicago, Illinois
sterling silver, blister pearl with stamped marks
pendant: 1 3/16″w x 1 5/8″h; chain: 16 1/2″l
Featured in Rosalie Berberian’s recent 2019 book Creating Beauty: Jewelry and Enamels of the American Arts & Crafts Movement by Schiffer Publishing. p. 116
Estimate: $4,000-6,000
Realized Price: $13,750
Lot #253: The Kalo Shop oversized double handled candlestick / chamberstick, #C50
Chicago, Illinois
sterling silver with stamped marks
Engraved “Eleanor” / In Memory of / E. Louise Goodhue / 1933
7 1/2″dia x 6 1/2″h
Estimate: $1,500-2,500
Realized Price: $1,250
Lot #324: Herbert A. Taylor (active 1908-1937) for Arthur Stone
footed baluster form vase
Gardner, Massachusetts, 1908-1937
sterling silver with stamped marks, decorated with two linear bands and three segments of stylized clusters of flowers
2 5/8″dia x 6 3/4″h
Estimate: $2,000-3,000
Realized Price: $2,500
To see all the realized prices from this weekend’s auction, please visit Toomey & Co’s website at https://toomeyco.com/
To see the lots that were passed on and to take advantage of “Buy-It-Now” prices for items in the Paul & Terry Somerson Collection of 20th and 21st Century Metalwork and Jewelry auction, click here.