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  Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Visage de Femme (A.R. 192), 1953

  Gray's Auctioneers

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  Nathan "Nate" Dunn (1896-1983) Red, White & Blue, 1959

  Gray's Auctioneers

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  Vicky Marshall (Canadian, b. 1952) Three Pomegranates

  Gray's Auctioneers

July 31 at 11am, Auctioneer Deba Gray will be offering 387 lots at her eponymous auction house with live bidding provided by LiveAuctioneers.com, including a stamped, marked and numbered, partially glazed ceramic pitcher by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) entitled Visage de Femme.  Conceived in July, 1953 and created at the famed Madoura Pottery in Villauris, France where he met his second wife Jacqueline Roque, this curvaceous Picasso ceramic is listed in the auction at Lot 206. Numbered 71 from an edition of 200 it is catalogued in Alain Ramié's catalogue raisonné of Picasso's ceramic editions.  Alain Ramié is the son of Suzanne & George Ramié, the owners of the Madoura Pottery.  Picasso spent more than 20 years there experimenting and perfecting his ceramic techniques. Between 1947 and 1971 Picasso produced 633 different plates, bowls, vases and pitchers, in limited editions ranging from 25 to 500. At auction these sought after Madoura Pottery ceramics have fetched up to $1M for a single piece (Christies, June 25 & 25, 2012).

Also at this auction Gray's is delighted to present Lots 1 - 15A, a collection of 36 Nathan "Nate" Dunn (1896 - 1983) paintings.  Dunn was an American modernist painter born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology with Arthur Sparks, Alfred Taylor, and George Sotter.  He exhibited extensively in the tri-state area, winning many awards, and his works are in many private and museum collections, including the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio.  Notable lots include Lot 11 a vibrant oil on canvas, Red, White & Blue signed and dated 1959, and Lot 9, an abstract oil on board of sailboats in a sea of colorful shapes and geometric patterns.

An oversized contemporary still life, Three Pomegranates by the Canadian modern expressionist Vicky Marshall is being offered at lot 30. Measuring 66 inches tall by 84 inches wide, Marshall's dynamic painting is visually arresting with its bold strokes of color and deceptively simple subject matter. The auction includes many works on paper including watercolors, prints, etchings, photographs and documents. Most notable among these lots are lot 101 Armin Landeck's (1905-1984) Window on 14th Street, a drypoint etching from 1949, and lot 153 an illuminated manuscript of vellum leaf from 13th century France, of the Biblia Sacra Latina, form the Otto F. Ege collection.

A wide ranging collection of English, French, Italian, American, Chinese and German porcelain pieces are included in the auction starting at lot 201. Lot 204 is a large 18th century Meissen figural group, The Surprise, after a model by J.J. Kandler from an engraving by Hogarth.  It is signed under glaze with Meissen's  blue painted crossed swords with a scratched line underneath indicating that this piece is Defective Porcelain,  incised number 382. This piece is modeled as three card playing figures with a lawyer, accompanied by a child-carrying young woman, about to serve a paternity order to the man seated at left.  As the French say, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" (The more things change, the more they stay the same).

A large and diverse collection of glassware runs from lot 154 to lot 197 and includes a whimsical collection of glass paperweights including some Murano, Baccarat and St. Clair millefiore pieces. Lot 191 is a Charles Lotton blown glass vase which is signed and dated 1984. With a rich red ground and an elegant pattern of white flowers, this sophisticated vase is a gorgeous addition to the designer glass on offer at Gray's.

The Summer auction also includes several furniture lots most notably a collection of Italian wrought metal pieces including Lot 285, a striking Diego Giacometti inspired, 20th century, metal and bronze table with a walnut top and bronze horse head decorations. Lot 288 is an enormous George III mahogany breakfront, secretary, library bookcase. This is a magnificent piece of furniture constructed in eight sections, from the 1760's.  Rounding out the sale are a collection of 28 rug lots featuring a 20 foot by 13 foot Tabriz in excellent condition and fit for a palace. 

This truly mid-summer auction will take place in Gray's auction showrooms at 10717 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio where plenty of parking and refreshments are provided. Condition reports and shipping quotes are provided on request. Live online bidding for this auction is offered by LiveAuctioneers.com, together with telephone bidding and absentee bidding offered directly through Gray's. The auction showrooms will be open for preview July 23 through 30, 11am - 6pm, Saturday, July 28 by appointment, and closed on Sunday, July 29.

Gray's Auctioneers and Appraisers are the only licensed, bonded, and insured auction house in Cleveland holding monthly live auctions, and offering complimentary valuations every Friday between 11am - 4pm. Deborah J. Gray, auctioneer, opened Gray's house in 2007 after two decades in the industry, with her partner Serena Harragin, and together they have transformed the abandoned building that used to house a Citroen dealership into a driving force in the vibrant Cleveland Fine Art and Antiques auction market.

Auctions are held live monthly in our Cleveland auction showrooms with simultaneous global on-line bidding and telephone bidding.  Live on-line bidding is available through Gray's Live and LiveAuctioneers.com. Gray's also offers other convenient options which include absentee bidding on our website, by phone, in person, via email, or by fax. The complete illustrated catalog for this auction can be found on Gray's web site at www.graysauctioneers.com and also on Live Auctioneers.

For more information please contact Serena Harragin at 216.458.7695 or by email at serena@graysauctioneers.com.

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