From Antiques and the Arts Weekly – DETROIT, MICH. — Two days of auctions at DuMouchelles, June 29-30, collectively featured more than 1,100 lots, from the graceful yet dynamic form of a leaping gazelle by Marshall Fredericks (American, 1909-1998) to the intriguing Carl Kauba (Austrian, 1865-1922) dore bronze mechanical sculpture, a hinged torso revealing a female nude. Interspersed with these were Asian art, choice timepieces and jewelry, American folk art, porcelains, European fine and decorative art and more, bearing out the company’s boast that “There’s something for everyone in DuMouchelles’ monthly auctions.”
Property of a Birmingham, Mich., private collector, the gazelle, exhibiting a green patina, was mounted on a marble base, 56 inches high. Finishing at $80,600, it was offered on the second day along with another collection of mesmerizing creations by Fredericks, five lots of bronze “Seated Baboons,” showing a unique blend of strength and contemplation.
The top highlight on the first day, selling for $37,200, was a Chinese Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, gilt bronze Buddha Shakyamuni, circa Seventeenth Century. Accompanied by a carved wood and lacquer stand and 7½ inches high, it was adorned with a semiprecious stone inlaid urna, the concave circular dot, and tiara. Seated atop the lotus throne in a Bhumisparsha Mudra, or earth-touching gesture, the pose represents the moment of the Buddha’s awakening and claiming the Earth to bear witness. Like many of the key lots crossing the block on the first day, the buddha had provenance from the estate of prominent collector Leon Zielinski of Macomb County, Mich.
