Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Estate of Edward S. Stephenson on Saturday, March 9, 2024. Featuring over 200 lots, the sale features a diverse and eclectic collection featuring two major themes: arms and armor, and Asian decorative arts, primarily from Japan. The latter are mostly from Mr. Stephenson’s time in Japan with the military at the end of World War II, before he became an award-winning Hollywood production designer. Highlights include a Franz Von Stuck nautilus cup and the coronation costume of Baron Sawada at Emperor Hirohito's coronation in Kyoto in 1928.
The part of the auction that features arms & armor includes a diverse range of items, mostly from England, continental Europe, and Japan: sets of armor, hall shields, chargers, medallions, military portrait plaques, helmets, tsuba, and more. Armaments from various countries and centuries include several swords and bayonets; a saber, cutlass, and dagger; plus a selection of Japanese tantō.
From Japan are an eclectic array of decorative arts, small furniture, works of art, household items, and more: netsuke, statues, ewers, bowls, vases, jars, Satsuma and Imari ware, hibachi, blue and white porcelain, miniature zushi, Bunraku puppet heads, early 20th-century kimonos, boxes, carved figures, a 19th-century tama sculpture, gongs, a scroll painting, groups of wooden boxes, and much more. Among the lacquerware items are picnic and other boxes, sets, games, a pear box, and miniatures. Noh items include an assortment of masks and a doll set in a fitted chest. Among the small furniture items are tansu chests, armor chests, and collectors cabinets. Works on paper include calligraphy documents, woodblock books, and temple stamp books.
From China are censers, ceramic figures, famille verte dishes, a brush pot, vases, covered jars, a marble head of Guanyin, a jade figure of fu dogs, and a bronze figure of Manjusri. From elsewhere in Asia are ceramics, textiles, mystical silk batik panels, and a collection of seals. Rounding out the sale are bronze figures and sculptures, candlesticks, platters, a 19th-century goblet, Orlando Furioso from 1967 in three volumes, and more.