As the temperatures were rising, so where the prices at Alderfer Auction’s sale on Aug. 23, with the top lot soaring to $30,000. The 1956 signed painting by Paul Cadmus, “Male Nude TS12,” was a highlight of the single-owner Hellyer collection auction.
James “Jay” Hellyer Jr. of Wyndmoor, Pa., was the founder of Hellyer Lewis Inc., an architectural and interior design firm in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Rittenhouse Club and Franklin Inn Club, as well as an avid gardener who kept an impressive English garden on his grounds. Hellyer was a bibliophile and a supporter of the Pennsylvania SPCA.
The 320-lot catalog sale featured paintings from various artists and collections including books, decorative arts, sterling, clocks, decorative furnishings and fine art. Among the larger groupings included over 80 tall case and mantle clocks, which attracted a global audience. Alderfer reported a record number of both phone and absentee bids.
American, English and French timepieces such as an 1810 French Allegorical seated figure bronze mantel clock (lot 49) sold for $6,600. An 1800 French Hercules fighting the Nemean Lion mantel clock (lot 119) went for $6,300, and a Martin Schreiner, Lancaster, Pa., walnut tall case clock (lot 125) realized $10,200. The energy in the salesroom was invigorating as the day went on and interest in the art mounted.
Work by contemporary and Mid-Century artists included Daniel Adel, Robert M. Kulicke, Wes Hempel, Bo Bartlett III, Robert Liberace, Louis-Albert Lefeuvre, Wade Shuman, Martha Mayer Eriebacher, Jacob A. Pfeiffer, Adam Vinson, Harvey Dinnerstein, Thomas Chimes, Patricia Traub, Anne Packard, and others. Attracting attention was “Sirocco,” a fine trompe-l’oeil painting by David Adel (lot 267), selling for $8,400; “Jar of Green Olives on a Dark Grey Background” by Robert M. Kulicke (lot 228) achieved $7,800; and “Suspension of Disbelief” by Wes Hempel (lot 226) amazed the crowd at $7,200.
Other auction highlights included a bronze sculpture by Louis-Albert Lefeuvre, “Les Fondeurs du Moyen Age” (lot 173), reaching $6,000; "The Architecture of Sir Edwin Lutyens: The Lutyens Memorial Volumes" (lot 5) sold for $2,520; and Jacob A. Pfeiffer’s whimsical still-life of asparagus and red licorice (lot 281) tempted taste buds and sold for $4,500.
Alderfer Auction will also be holding an online-only onsite auction for Hellyer’s Wyndmoor estate. The auction will close Thursday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. This sale will feature garden statuary and furniture, books, and various art and collectibles.
Alderfer Auction is located at 501 Fairgrounds Road, Hatfield, Pa.
For additional information, call 215-393-3000 or visit www.AlderferAuction.com.