Artwork from the estate of philanthropist Nancy M. Daly brings nearly $1.3 million at auction

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Paintings and decorative arts pieces from the estate of philanthropist Nancy M. Daly were sold for nearly $1.3 million at Bonhams & Butterfields’ two spring auctions in Los Angeles this month.

Overall, the California and western paintings and sculpture sale and the 20th century decorative arts sale brought in $4.5 million, a Bonhams spokeswoman said.

Daly, who was 68 when she died last year, was a longtime collector who favored early 20th century art with an emphasis on the California aesthetic.

Eleven works from her estate were presented in the painting sale. The auction’s marquee lot was Joseph Kleitsch’s impressionistic ‘Woman in a garden sewing’ (c. 1928), which sold for $230,000. William Wendt’s 1926 ‘Houses in the mountains (resort)’ brought $115,900.

Ninety-four pieces were offered from Daly’s extensive decorative arts holdings. A Tiffany Studios Favrile glass-and-bronze ‘Lotus’ lamp, whose estimated value was $40,000 to $60,000, sold for $85,400 and a set of 10 Tiffany & Co. sterling and turquoise Mayan-style figural salt and pepper shakers, estimated at $1,500-$2,000, went for $48,800.

Also exceeding their estimates were two Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre pieces, including a covered vase titled ‘Demon Tree of the Ghostly Wood’ that sold for $36,600, as well as a number of vases from Daly’s major collection of Rookwood pottery.

--Karen Wada

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