Seeler, who died in 2018, was well known in New York interior design circles. She bought her English and American furniture, ceramics and sporting and other paintings from various renowned dealers including Earle Vandekar, Peter Tillou and Graham Arader, as well as purchasing at auction.
Just like the interior designer Mario Buatta’s collection, sold at Sotheby’s New York a few days earlier, botanical-decorated English porcelain was a strong suit in this auction.
A pair of Longton Hall reticulated and moulded dishes decorated with foliage was a case in point, selling for $7500 (£5770) against a $500-700 estimate.
A similarly estimated pair of 8½in (21.5cm) Chelsea plates of Hans Sloane type painted with various vegetable specimens and brown/ red anchor marks, acquired from the London porcelain dealer Klaber and Klaber, realised $4750 (£3655).
Particularly keen interest emerged for some 18th century gilt metal mounted English porcelain etui or needlecases.
One, 5in (13cm) in length, was ascribed to Chelsea, c.1760, with gilt-metal (possibly gold) mounts fashioned as a tree trunk with a cover topped by an exotic long tailed bird. It realised a multi-estimate $4000 (£3075).
However, there was even more competition for the following lot containing two similar-sized gilt-metal mounted cases, one formed as a tree trunk entwined with roses, the other with the cover fashioned as parrot tulip flowerhead.
These were catalogued as English naturalistic porcelain, probably Chelsea and estimated at $700-1000, but ended up selling for $14,000 (£10,770) – the kind of price paid these days for mid-18th century Chelsea or the sought-after products of the St James’ factory of James Gouyn.
£1= €1.3
