Buatta was an interior designer who created his own distinctive brand of English country house style for his clients. This sale of nearly 1000 lots comprised the contents of his Upper East Side apartment and his Gothic-style home in Connecticut.
This was an ensemble where 18th and 19th century English pottery and porcelain rubbed shoulders with its Continental counterparts from France and Germany alongside furniture and silver, paintings and Oriental works of art.
Keen interest at the auction on January 23-24 emerged for a group of four lots of mid-18th century Chelsea botanical-decorated porcelain, three of which exceeded their estimates several times over.
Dishes of unusual form
The most expensive at $11,000 (£8460) was a pair of dishes which are of unusual deep fluted form. They measure approximately 8½in (22cm) in diameter with brown anchor marks are dated to 1758-60 and are painted with large leaves, yellow flowers, fruit and scattered insects.
The pair had a lengthy provenance back to the collection of Mrs Humphrey Cook, sold at Christie’s in 1967, then via dealers Delomosne and Tilley and Co to Margorie Wiggin Prescott, from whose collection it was sold in 1981.
Staffordshire selection
A Staffordshire bust of Queen Caroline sold for $11,000 (£8460) in Sotheby’s auction of the Mario Buatta collection.
A small selection of Staffordshire pottery also featured in the Buatta sale. One distinctive piece was a white pearlware portrait bust of Caroline of Brunswick (1768-1821), the consort of George Prince of Wales (later George IV). The 9in (23cm) high bust dated to c.1820 – just before her death – easily outstripped its $2000-3000 guide to take $11,000 (£8460).
