Important Dining Table Custom Designed by Wendell Castle Brings 70110 USD

Posted by Dinesh Kumar on June 3rd, 2021

An important and beautiful dining table custom designed by Wendell Castle (American, 1932-2018) soared to ,110, and vibrant still-life oil paintings by Lê Phổ (Vietnamese/French, 1907-2001) and Claude Venard (French, 1913-1999) sold for ,910 and ,990, respectively, in Neue Auctions’ online-only Modernism auction held on May 15th.

The auction was packed with 424 lots gathered from regional estates and longtime collectors, including selections from the late Cleveland concert promoter Mike Belkin and his wife Annie. Items covered a wide range of mediums and categories, to include paintings, sculpture, works on paper, furniture, art glass, ceramics, enamel work and jewelry, plus many undiscovered finds.

The Wendell Castle dining table sailed past its pre-sale estimate of ,000-,000 to earn top lot honors. It featured an oval top in holly veneer, inlaid with purpleheart triangles and inlaid dots spelling "The Check's in the Mail” (the table’s title). It had a leather covered edge with a purpleheart substructure supporting six gold plated brass rings.

Mr. Castle created a similar table for his own residence titled Never Complain, Never Explain, in 1981. It’s pictured on the cover of the book Furniture by Wendell Castle (Hudson Hills Press, NY, 1989). The Check’s in the Mail (1988) was 120 inches long and 59 inches wide and signed and dated. It came from the Mike and Annie Belkin collection.

Neue Auctions is accepting consignments for future sales. For purchases or inquiries about consigning, please call 216-245-6707; or send an email to cynthia@neueauctions.com. Neue Auctions invites everyone to be added to its email list to receive notifications and information regarding all current and future sales. For info, visit www.neueauctions.com.