Habatat auction tonight features rare historic work

Harvey Littleton, Mobile Arc, 1986. Hot-worked glass. H 13 3/4, W 12 1/2, D 8 3/4 in. Estimate: $38,000 – $45,000. courtesy: habatat galleries, michigan

Tonight at 8 PM, Habatat Galleries will hold its eighth contemporary glass auction, timed to coincide with the gallery’s 38th annual international invitational exhibition (download a PDF of the exhibition catalog here). This year, the auction will get special attention as it includes 40 historic works to be bid on in-person at a Michigan banquet hall, online, and via telephone. It will include several important works from the personal collection of Frances S. Merritt (1913–2000), who served as director of the Haystack School until 1977. Merritt’s collection includes several works of special significance including pivotal pieces by Harvey Littleton, Richard Marquis, Dan Dailey, Marvin Lipofsky, and Dale Chihuly. A complete list of the 40 works up for auction, including estimated prices, can be seen on a page of the Habatat Website with detailed information about each piece’s provenance available via a downloadable PDF here.

William Morris, Fox, 1995. Hot-worked glass sculpture. H 24, W 30, D 8 in. Estimate: $60,000 – $75,000. courtesy: habatat galleries, michigan

The piece with the highest estimate is William Morris’s Fox (1995), seen at left. Hot-worked with great detail, the work is expected to sell somewhere north of $60,000.

Limited to 40 works, with several rare pieces from the Merritt estate, and rounded out with work from other private collections, this auction will be a closely-watched indicator of the strength of the secondary market for contemporary glass. The quality of the Studio Glass work and the historic significance of many of the pieces will make this an important event to bid on, and to watch as a gauge of what prices the market can bring.

Mark Peiser, Afternoon Storm, 1991. Cast and polished glass sculpture. H 14, W 7, D 3 in. Estimate: $18,000 – $22,000. courtesy: habatat galleries, michigan

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