Thursday
September 19, 2024 
This year’s edition of Stephenson’s popular Spring Decorative Arts Auction will be held live at the company’s Southampton gallery on Friday, May 31, with absentee and Internet live bidding available exclusively through LiveAuctioneers.
The nearly 500-lot sale features fine and decorative artworks; Tiffany and other American silver; fine jewelry, and period furniture, including coveted mid-century modern productions. There are many other treasures for collectors to discover, mostly sourced from Philadelphia and other Mid-Atlantic estates and collections.
Twenty lots of old silver have come to Stephenson’s directly from the Chatham, N.J., estate of Dr Lincoln Pierson Brower (1931-2018), an eminent entomologist distinguished for his successful efforts to gain legal protection for the monarch butterfly.
Also having provenance from the Brower estate are several unusual clocks, barometers and period furnishings.
One of the jewelry highlights is a 14K gold engagement ring with a central 2.4-carat diamond.
Several pieces of French Art Deco jewelry, as well as art and furniture, were sourced from the estate of Dr Joan DeJean, who was Trustee Professor Emerita of Romance Languages at the University of Pennsylvania. She previously taught French literature at Princeton and Yale.
Among the auction items that belonged to the late professor is a late 19th-century lithographic poster designed by Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860-1939) as an advertisement for JOB Cigarette Papers.
A French-made Ligne Roset “Opium” model sectional sofa of mid-century modern design by Didier Gomez comes with provenance from a Society Hill estate.
Continuing in the modern aesthetic is a pair of white Italian Murano art glass egg-form lamps with chic diagonal accent swirls, designed circa 1970s by Vetri.
Also noteworthy is a 1912 Rookwood Pottery sculpture designed by Clement Barnhorn and depicting the Greco-Roman child sea-god Palaimon riding a dolphin.
Of a more traditional style is a substantial antique tiger maple butler’s chest with cabinet top.
The 1 p.m. Friday, May 31 auction is at 1005 Industrial Blvd., Southampton. Goods may be inspected from 3-6 p.m. Thursday, May 30, and on auction day from 11 a.m. until the start of the auction. Bid absentee or live online exclusively through LiveAuctioneers. For information or to reserve a phone line, call 215-322-6182 or email info@stephensonsauction.com.
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