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Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesLEIBOVITZ PHOTO AND MORE TO BE AUCTIONED

LEIBOVITZ PHOTO AND MORE TO BE AUCTIONED

Mention the "Lady Supremes" and some will think of singers. But a photograph in the St. Thomas Synagogue's Antiques, Art and Collectibles Auction on Sunday, Dec. 10, has given new meaning to that phrase.
The "Lady Supremes" in this case refers to a color photo of the two female Supreme Court justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor, by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Leibovitz, whose mother owns a condo in St. Thomas and who has visited the island often, donated the photo to the Synagogue for this year's auction.
The photo has additional interest to island residents because Justice Ginsburg visited here in 1996, speaking at the Synagogue and at Government House as part of the Synagogue's bicentennial celebration.
This year's auction will again be at the Old Stone Farmhouse. The preview and tag sale begin at 10 a.m. and the auction will start promptly at noon. Adam Hutter of Tepper Galleries in New York will again be the auctioneer. Food and drinks will be available. A $10 donation/entry fee includes the auction catalogue.
The auction will focus on antique West Indian furniture from the Virgin Islands, Guyana and Barbados, along with estate jewelry collected by Lee Monaco (owner of Peach Bloom, an antique jewelry store here in the '80s), art from many of the islands' leading artists, and collectibles ranging from a set of Christmas china for 12 to a signed Lalique vase.
An extraordinary item for auction is a Tabriz rug woven for the royal family of Persia, now Iran. And numerous West Indian antiques from a Guyanese estate will be available, including a fourposter bedstead, a mahogany banquet table, a mahogany cabinet and wardrobe and smaller items such as mahogany drying racks and a standing brass ashtray, all of it dating back 100 years or more.
One of the Virgin Islands' most acclaimed artists, Eric Winter, is represented by three works: the large-scale oil entitled "Nude with Conch Shell," a smaller oil, "Stone Mason" and a 1985 watercolor of a market lady.
The sale table will feature items ranging in price from $5 to $100 and offers a splendid opportunity to find unique holiday gifts.
To see and read about many pieces in the auction, visit the Synagogue's website at www.onepaper.com/synagogue. The site has photos and descriptions of dozens of items.

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