Real Estate

Corrie Dyke • October 10, 2013

**SOTHEBY?S**
*Junko Mori
Plants Exotica, Chatsworth Chandelier
Modern Makers*
As part of the Devonshire Collection, Sotheby?s will host Modern Makers, a selling exhibition
of contemporary art in Chatworth?s galleries. Leading international artists have created furniture,
textiles, ceramics and metalwork for the exhibition. Featured is ?Plants Exotica,? one of two chandeliers
designed by Junko Mori, this one created in response to the Devonshire family?s history of
and passion for collecting exotic plants. The collection is currently on sale through Dec. 23.

**BONHAMS**
*An antique turquoise and diamond brooch,
circa 1840
Auction Date: Oct. 17
Estimate: $ 8,000 – 10,000*
**What?s selling**: Bonham?s Fine Jewlery auction will feature
an antique brooch from the early 19th Century. Estimated total
diamond weight: 10.00 carats; mounted in silver and 14 karat
gold; length: 1 ? in. **What sold**: Chased brass overlaid teak side
chairs designed by Lockwood de Forest estimated at $50,000-
$80,000 sold for $242,500.

**CHRISTIE?S**
*Dewitt Limited Edition Semi-Skeletonized
Tourbillion Wristwatch
Auction Date: Oct. 29
Estimate: $40,000 ? $60,000*
Christie?s Important Watches auction will feature
modern and vintage watches, from leading
brands such as Cartier, IWC, Rolex and Tag
Heuer with estimates ranging from $1,500 –
$60,000. This rare 18K pink gold and titanium
limited
edition
semi-skeletonized
Tourbillion
watch with
a 5-day
power reserve
and
signed by
Dewitt and
was made
around
2011.

**FREEMAN?S**
*Stanley William Hayter
?Tangram I?
Auction Date: Nov. 3
Estimate: $1,500 – $2,500*
**What?s selling**: Freeman?s will auction selected
works from the distinguished collection of
Domini Morrell in a Modern & Contemporary
Art auction on Nov. 3. This oil on canvas by
British artist Stanley William Hayter is signed
and dated ?83, from the estate of Robert G.
Luckie, Tuscon, Ariz.

**DOYLE NEW YORK**
*Classical Carved Mahogany
Settee
Height 37 inches; length
82 1/2 inches; depth 24
1/2 inches
Auction Date: Oct. 16
Estimate: $5,000
– $10,000*
**What?s selling**:
Doyle New York?s
will auction American Furniture,
Decorative Arts & 19th Century Paintings from the Colonial period through the Federal
and Classical styles. This settee, attributed to Samuel Field McIntire (1780-1819), Salem,
Mass., features intricate carved detail above a loose cushion seat with acanthus carved arms.
The sette is raised on reeded acanthus carved sabre legs ending in brass paw casters. **What
sold**: Cartier, Diamond Bracelet-Watch, estimated at $6,000 – $8,000, sold for $34,375.

Marie Loiseau • September 12, 2013

The apartments and houses of Georgetown are classic, luxurious and stylish. To optimize your space in smaller or more narrow rooms while still staying true to chic Georgetown style, try these sleek modern storage items or modular furniture options. Organization at it’s finest – and classiest.

Tillary Modular Seating
West Elm (WestElm.com)
$149 – $2196
Modular furniture is an easy way to save space in a narrow Georgetown apartment. The pieces of this Tillary seating can be rearranged to fit any space, whether they are together or separate. Try placing both pieces together in a corner or one piece on each wall for a conversation-conducive arrangement. The weighted back supports can also be moved or removed to create an impromptu guest bed for visitors.

Peekaboo Clear Nesting Tables
CB2 (CB2.com)
$199
These clear nesting tables are perfect for use when table space is sparse while entertaining. Position the tables around the room during parties laden with appetizers and drinks and then simply stack them away in the corner to save space.

Julius Grass Storage Ottoman
CB2 (CB2.com)
$499
Need extra storage space for winter sweaters or bulky blankets? The Julius Grass Storage Ottoman can be placed at the end of your bed or under a window as a bench seat (just add pillows). It looks stylish while adding space. Casters on the bottom also allow for an easy move.

6-Piece Cubist Modular Wall Shelf Set
CB2 (CB2.com)
$199
A beautiful sculptural industrial wall shelf set displays six different dimensions that can be used to store books, photos, or any other interesting room decor. Group together or separately, or even display as free stands on tabletops or a desk for extra storage space.

Savannah Under-bed Baskets
Pottery Barn (PotteryBarn.com)
$24 – $44
The ultimate organizational tool: baskets. Use these rustic Savannah Under-bed Baskets for additional storage space that is out of the way and unseen. You can even substitute these baskets for a dresser and store your clothes under the bed for easy access. Replacing a dresser or bureau with these country-chic baskets will free up additional space in a room as well; the perfect solution when attempting to style a small space.

Destination Boxes-New York and Paris (Set of Four)
ZGallerie (ZGallerie.com)
$119.80
A stylish addition to any room, use these Destination storage boxes for important paper work on desks or stack on book shelves or wall units. They could even be used on the coffee table as the perfect place to store the remote controls.

Design-Your-Own-Wine-Racks
The Container Store (ContainerStore.com)
$29.99 – 99.99
Have an expanding wine collection but no wine cellar to store your favorite vino? Not a problem with this natural, unfinished wood wine rack. The modular design assembles either vertically or horizontally with little to no hassle. The best part: additional sections can be added easily when your collection grows. [gallery ids="100262,106989,106998,106984,107002,106979,107006,106974,107010,106969,106994" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

**Sotheby?s**
*Giuseppe Penone ?Lignes D?Eau?
Bronze sculpture, 157 ? in.*
Beginning on Sept. 20 and running through October, Sotheby?s will host a selling exhibition of works by globally renowned Italian sculptor and conceptual artist, Giuseppe Penone, entitled ?When Man Meets Nature.? Presenting 36 works showcasing Penone as a modern artist integrating art with nature and member of the modern Italian art movement Arte Povera, the show will feature all mediums of his work, including bronze, stone, photography and works on paper. This selling exhibition will be one of the biggest shows of its kind in New York, as part of Sotheby?s S|2, the private sale and gallery arm of Sotheby?s global Contemporary Art department. The works on display in S|2 are available for private sale, offering an exciting new dimension to the Sotheby?s experience. In addition to gallery programming, the S|2 team also facilitates bespoke private acquisitions and sales.

**Weschler?s**
*Austrian Ormolu Mounted Parcel Ebonized and Gilt Gesso Elmwood Piano Forte
Auction Date: Sept. 20
Estimate: $10,000 ? $15,000*
Weschler?s will auction this Elmwood piano as part of its Capital Collections Auction on Friday, Sept. 20. This rare Viennese pianoforte was possibly made by Johann Fritz (1810-1820), a prolific builder with very few surviving pieces. The six-octave keyboard?FF to f4?has four pedals, including a Turkish music pedal (cymbal and drum) and a bassoon knee level. Made of Elmwood under gold leaf, this piece is originally from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss of Dumbarton Oaks.

**Christie?s**
*Federal Satinwood-Inlaid and Verre Eglomis? Mahogony Cylinder Desk and Bookcase
Auction Date: September 24
Estimate: $150,000 ? $300,000*
Christie?s Sept. 24 auction of American Furniture, Folk Art and Decorative Arts spans from the 17th to the 20th century, featuring property from three major collections. The collection includes a magnificent Federal desk-and-bookcase, embellished with 47 verre ?glomis? glass panels and probably made for the Van Ness family of Washington, D.C. Selections from the estate of the late Americana collector Eric Martin Wunsch include an elaborately carved New York card table from the Chippendale period. Highlights to be offered from the Westervelt Company, perhaps the most significant collection of Classical American pieces ever assembled, span the mediums of furniture, silver, paintings and Audobon prints.

**Bonham?s**
*Pair of chased brass-overlaid teak chairs, designed by Lockwood de Forest
(1850-1932). India, 1881-1882.
Auction Date: Sept. 25
Estimate: $50,000 – $80,000*
Bonhams will offer an exceptional pair of chased brass-overlaid teak chairs, designed by Lockwood de Forest in the Fine American & European Furniture, Decorative Arts & Silver auction to be held at the Madison Avenue galleries on Sept. 25. Made in Ahmadebad, India, circa 1881-1882, de Forest modeled the chairs after one he had discovered while visiting an ancient Indian palace during his honeymoon. De Forest was an instrumental figure in the Aesthetic and Orientalist movements during the last decades of the nineteenth century, leading a revival of East Indian techniques within American decorative arts. When de Forest moved to California in the early 1920s, the chairs were purchased at auction by William Randolph Hearst, who at that time was spending millions of dollars annually to acquire the most extraordinary art and antiques available.

**Potomack Company**
*George III Armorial Silver Epergne
London, 1768. 13 x 25 ? in.
Auction Date: Oct. 5 ? 6
Estimate: $6,000 ? $8,000*
Potomack Company will auction the Harry Z. Isaacs Antiques and Fine Art Collection from Long Branch House. Located in the Shenandoah Valley, the estate is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register. The auction will feature more than 250 lots from the collection, including English and American antiques, furniture, decorative arts, and artworks acquired from the most respected dealers in the United States and England, including Israel Sack, N.Y. and Mallet, London. An art historian and decorative arts specialist who was a close friend of Isaacs commented, ?He bought only the best.? This George III armorial silver epergne, features a central oval basket, the spiral gadrooned rim above shaped bands of pierced foliage, circlets, stars and crosses, above a waisted support fitted with eight scroll arms with similarly pierced alternating baskets and dishes.

**Doyle New York**
*Gold, Cabochon Gem-Set and Diamond Bracelet-Watch, Cartier, France,
circa 1945. From the Estate of Margaret Truman Daniel
Auction Date: Sept. 25
Estimate: $6,000-$8,000*
Doyle New York will auction property from the Estate of Margaret Truman Daniel (1924 ? 2008) as part of its Important Jewelry auction on Sept. 25. The only child of President Harry S. Truman and his wife Bess, Mrs. Daniel graduated from George Washington University in 1946, and embarked on a classical singing career, performing at venues such as Washington?s Constitution Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall. When her father left office in 1953, she moved to New York where she worked for NBC, conducting interviews for radio and television, and even substituting for Edward R. Murrow on his television program, ?Person to Person.? She later became an acclaimed author, writing biographies of her father and mother, and publishing the best-selling novel, ?Murder in the White House,? in 1980. Until her death in 2008, she served on the board of trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, created by Congress in 1975 to award scholarships to college students planning careers in government.

Marie Loiseau •

Metallic is shining on this season?s home d?cor trends. Gold-, silver- and brass-tinted accessories or smaller furniture items create the perfect glint of chic. Match them with larger pieces of dark leathers and woods to fashionably blend the cool with a glimmering pop.

Gary Tischler • August 15, 2013

The Dodge Mansion on P Street, although elegantly and imaginatively renovated by architect Dale Overmyer, is very old. It has the look of old Georgetown history and wealth about it. It is the kind of house, manse, mansion that ends up on the Georgetown House Tour, which it has been.

On the other hand, Bill Dean—the businessman who lives here by himself except for his two bounding dogs, Shredder and Splinter—looks brand new, shot out of the 21st-century entrepreneurial cannon, full of energy and enthusiasm, insouciant in a contemporary way.

Add to another side of him, the word “philanthropreneur” for Dean’s work with non-profits. It’s an all-too-new descriptor that seems to fit the bill. (Seriously, look it up.)

Fresh from an early morning business meeting and scheduled to head out late morning to Pittsburgh for a presentation on trolley cars, Dean is armed with charm, an iPad and an iPhone and ready to seat for a mid-morning interview and photo shoot with the Georgetowner.

Why today? Dean has signed on with the Citizens Association of Georgetown to be a patron and head booster of its 2012 Georgetown Gala, Putting on the Glitz, scheduled for Oct. 26 at the Embassy of the Russian Federation. Such a celebration, which is the group’s main fundraiser, needs planners, volunteers and donors with money.

If you google Dean by name, a couple of things come up right away, almost like warring images, which have already attached themselves to his name and reputation. There’s the single guy about town, most eligible bachelor cool guy who throws terrific parties at his mansion. There, he has been captured photographically leading the revel in the company of stunning women or hanging out with best bud Michael Saylor, another single entrepreneur, author and guru of the digital-cum-communications age, whose book, “The Mobile Wave,” is getting big buzz in the digital brainiac culture and is on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Right next to the party and social reports is what you might call the other Bill Dean—the president and CEO of M.C. Dean, Inc., a big contract and big client technology and electronics communication outfit headquartered in Dulles, Va., which describes itself as “the nation’s expert electrical design-build and systems integration firm for complex, mission-critical organizations.” When interviewed by ExecutiveBiz.com, a government contracting sector news site, it headlined its article on the Georgetown businessmen: “Bill Dean, CEO of M.C. Dean, on his passion for workforce development and more.”

Of course, the contrast and dichotomy are obvious. It’s only natural to bring it up: playboy and party-hearty with work force development, competing interests that don’t seem to jive. “Yeah, I get that all the time,” Dean says, like Bryce Harper watching a curve hanging over the center of the plate. “I mean, sure, I’m single. I like to enjoy life. You’ve sort of got to. So, yeah, I throw parties or go to parties, and they’re fun. But they’re usually about something, the community, Georgetown, a good cause. It’s not incompatible with what I do, who I am or what I care about. It’s part of who I am.”

Looking at the party pictures, one might come to some conclusions about Dean, and those would be wrong. In conversation, he’s easy to talk with, well met, with a regular guy kind of demeanor, dressed casually, short hair, goatee—and with his dogs. You relax almost instantly, forget the house you’re in and the fact that Dean runs a billion dollar company with offices all over the country and the world from Baton Rouge to Ukraine.
He’s not out to impress you. He’s out to engage you. Dean is a man in tune—like a tuning fork—with the times he lives, plays and most expressly works in. He has an almost gleeful curiosity, a passion for the electrical impacts on life and people of electronics and communications, the new and shape-shifting digital world.

M.C. Dean, Inc. has a lot on its plate: there’s the big contract with the new Walter Reed Hospital, there’s the company foray into robotics, there’s the new offices in Louisiana and Texas—and there’s what everything means.

“People still don’t realize how instant, how small, everything has become,” Dean says. “It changes everything in life, the connectivity. People want to be more and more connected with more and more people and the latest information. It’s in a pad, in a phone. I understand the idea of print media, but you can see how technology has changed everything. I did it for a while. We had a regular newspaper in Loudoun County, and I liked it. But it’s just not that pragmatic a thing to do.”

As conversation flows into talk of technology as a game changer and wherever that might lead, we talk about a 60 Minutes episode on Steve Jobs. At that point, Dean jumps up from the couch, grabs his iPad and flips it open. “It’s right here, that show, that segment,” he says, as he taps on a link. There it is, the 60 Minutes segment from the night before, Jobs on a screen. “See, it’s instant, and it’s permanent, all at the same time,” he says. It seemed elementary, that thought. And it’s a big thought, too. Part of it is as ordinary as saving a file, but another part of it is magic.

Talking with a master of multitasking, who can go in a heartbeat from playing with his two dogs to explaining the presence of the keyboards by a big living room window and a friend who co-wrote the musical, “Memphis,” to his feelings about community and neighborhood and a swift aside to the Roman emperor Hadrian. “Memoirs of Hadrian” is one of his eclectic collection in the downstairs library, along with original Wizard of Oz books and “In Cold Blood”—little things tend to stick out (at least, they do to me.) No doubt, Dean has a lot of books on his Kindle, but he appears to like the presence of books.

“That’s amazing,” Dean says of the Truman Capote book. “For him to go out there to Kansas, get what he got and pull it together, it’s an amazing book.”

Dean—William H., formally on the bio—is the third Dean to head M.C. Dean. The first and founding Dean was Marion Caleb Dean, a World War II U.S. Navy veteran who started out working as an electrician in the shipyards and turned the skills and spirit of adventure into a career in electronics and electrical engineering, founding the company, which soon became adept at riding the technology advances of the second half of the 20th century and working with the government, especially the Department of Defense.

Besides running the founder’s company, and adding significantly to its wealth and enterprises, Dean got something else from his grandfather: a sense of place and neighborhood, the importance of community and a desire to be a part of the greater community in a big way.

“He grew up in the old U Street neighborhoods of Washington, went to Central High School [now Cardozo],” he says of his grandfather. “He loved the area, the city, and that’s what I love about Washington. I grew up in the suburbs, and you didn’t really have neighborhoods, the sense of place that we have in the neighborhoods of Washington.”

Georgetown, as a neighborhood, obviously agrees with him. He’s totally involved and says, “I’ve helped with Rose Park. I was on the House Tour, and I’m doing the 2012 gala with the Citizens Association of Georgetown because it’s a great group with involved, smart people who think about the community and its future. I love the sense of the past you get here—and the sense of the future with new people and kids.”

One of the articles about Dean talks about him as a CEO who cares. The company’s founder did that, too, creating an electrical apprenticeship program which still exists. Dean himself believes firmly in adding to the community by way of his business. It’s one of those ongoing commitments where you get, give back and it comes around again. We’re talking about work force training and creation, getting involved in education, creating opportunities for young people in other parts of town which might not have them.

“Education is the key to everything,” Dean says. “There are a lot of jobs in electronics, tech, engineering. And, in fact, there’s often not enough people with the training to fill them. You look for young people and students, who might not have seen the opportunities in school—but have the math or science skills and the talent but not the training.”

Dean serves on the D.C. Workforce Investment Council and the Virginia Apprenticeship Council. He has donated money for the Loudoun County Katrina Relief Fund, to the Child Rescue Centre in Sierra Leone by way of helping Children Worldwide. He has worked with the D.C. Center for Therapeutic Recreation, helped with construction needs of School Without Walls and continues to be involved in the apprenticeship program founded by his grandfather.

No doubt, too, there will be more Fourth of July and Halloween parties.

“Do I want children and a family?” he asks. “Sure, sure. You have to know when the time is right and the person is right.”

Right now, Bill Dean seems to like being Bill Dean, forward-looking entrepreneur, CEO, thinker and reader, and tinkerer and thinker. In his way, he is a man of his time and the time that’s coming just around the corner.
The doorbell rings.

It’s a group of Georgetown realtors and business folks arriving for a photo shoot, including developer Herb Miller. Patrons and sponsors involved with the Citizens Association’s Georgetown Gala are heading to the pool area.

The doorbell rings again. Shredder barks. The phone rings. They’re waiting at the airport. And it’s not yet noon.

PARTY ACTIVISTS
Sponsors, patrons and volunteers met a few weeks ago at Bill Dean’s P Street home to prepare for the upcoming 2012 Georgetown Gala — Putting on the Glitz — to be held Oct. 26 at the Russian Embassy on Wisconsin Avenue.

The gala is the main fundraising event for the Citizens Association of Georgetown, the nonprofit which protects and promotes the oldest neighborhood in Washington, D.C. And thanks to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and his wife Natalia, it will again be at their nation’s embassy up the avenue. The evening will honor Pamela and Richard Hinds as “Champions of Historic Preservation and Guardians of Georgetown Public Safety.”

Along with cocktails, buffet, a live auction (items include that house in France, apartment in Florence or spa in Mexico) and gaming tables, oh yes, there will be dancing. This time to the sounds of Big Ray and the Kool Kats. Cutting up with the movers and shakers, the evening’s fun always generates buzz, especially when it persuades the Mayor of Washington to dance with a boa and in the conga line.

Such an undertaking requires hefty support from residents, businesses and other planners and players around town. There are people to meet and money to match. Georgetown is blessed to have such a fellowship of givers, young and old, who always show up to help and are as tried and true as the day is long.

This year’s list of supporters and sponsors begins with three U.S. senators (Roy Blunt, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman) and their wives (Abigail, Teresa and Hadassah, respectively), a university president (Jack DeGioia of Georgetown), a chief of protocol (Selwa “Lucky” Roosevelt), a techie CEO (Mark Ein) and master architect (Hugh Jacobsen). Impressive. All right, they are honorary chairs, who are nevertheless quite effective in helping with the invitations.

As for the really big sponsors, they include “Community Pillars,” namely, Long & Foster, Exclusive Affiliate of Christie’s International and Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust (on behalf of the Shops at Georgetown Park).

Add to that patrons Nancy Taylor Bubes (Washington Fine Properties), Georgetown University, Jamestown Properties, the Levy Group, M.C. Dean, Inc., MRP Realty and Western Development Corporation.

Now, we’re cooking. But, wait, there’s more: Beasley Real Estate, Gregg Busch (First Savings Mortgage Corporation), EastBanc Technologies, LLC, Georgetown University Hospital, PNC Bank and Securitas Security Services USA, Inc.

There are even more involved, whether it is Clyde’s Restaurant Group, EagleBank or, even, this newspaper and its media group.

This year’s gala co-chairs include Nancy Taylor and Alan Bubes, Michele and Jack Evans and Patrice and Herb Miller, assisted by a slew of neighborhood friends and influencers. Stay tuned for updates in the few weeks ahead.

Party Activist Photo Credits below:
Front row: Herb Miller, board chairman and CEO, Western Development Corp.; Jennifer Altemus, president, the Citizens Association of Georgetown; Bill Dean, CEO, M.C. Dean, Inc.

Middle row: Stacy Berman, manager, Long & Foster Georgetown office; Nancy Taylor Bubes, Washington Fine Properties.

Back row: Jim Bell, founder and managing partner, Beasley Real Estate; Gregg Busch, loan officer, First Savings Mortgage; Paul Foster, senior vice president and regional manager, Long & Foster Real Estate. [gallery ids="102471,120617,120608,120605" nav="thumbs"]

Jordan Hellmuth • August 9, 2013

As summer comes to a close, you can always find ways to keep the season going in your home. Turquoises and driftwood add beachy décor necessary to keep you loving summer even as the breeze and the temperature get a little cooler. Summer never truly goes out of style. [gallery ids="101411,154873,154849,154869,154855,154865,154860" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • August 7, 2013

Amidst a graciously mild Washington summer, we are beginning to see the first signs of autumn coming around the bend. The weather will be warm and the sun will be out for at least the next month or two, but true Washingtonians are looking for signs of fall in other ways. Announcements for major fall museum exhibits are creeping into our inboxes. Theater tickets are going on sale for upcoming shows. And, of course, the auction houses are rousing from their brief summer hibernations of sorts, preparing to kick off the holiday season with a series of not-to-bemissed auction events, featuring a variety of collections of international interest.

While many are still preparing their lots, here is a peek at what?s coming from a few of our area?s major auction houses. With the New York auction houses participating in Asia Week during the week of Monday, Sept. 16, the over-arching theme feels a little like ?Treasures of the East,? with a breathtaking collection of Chinese and Japanese works, as well as items from Eastern countries.

**Bonhams**

*Ivory netsuke of a recumbent kirin by Okatomo*

*Japanese, 17th century*

**Auction Date: September 17**

**Estimate: $25,000 – $35,000**

Bonhams is pleased to offer the James A. Rose collection of Netsuke and Sagemono on Sept. 17 at the Madison Avenue salesroom. Netsuke are 17th century traditional Japanese miniature sculptures that doubled as small containers to store personal belongings. The sculptures evolved over time from being strictly utilitarian into objects of great artistic merit and craftsmanship. As one of America?s most dedicated and knowledgeable netsuke enthusiasts, James A. Rose, M.D., (1931?2011) was a member of the board of directors of the prominent International Netsuke Society and served for 23 years as the president of its Washington, D.C., chapter. His esteemed collection will be offered in its entirety. This mythical animal (1 7/8 in. long) shown reclining, forms a compact design, the details finely carved and stained dark, eyes inlaid in dark horn.

**Sotheby?s New York**

*Ritual Bronze Food Vessel, ?Zuo Bao Yi?*

**Auction: September 17**

**Estimate: $2 – $3 million**

This autumn, Sotheby?s will present a dedicated sale of ten extraordinary ritual bronzes from the famed collection of Julius Eberhardt, as part of their popular Asia Week auction sales. Distinguished by their provenance, which includes A.J. Argyopoulos, the Greek Ambassador to China after World War II, as well as the legendary Shanghai dealer T.Y. King, the group is estimated to bring more than $5 million. The offering comprises works of incredible rarity and importance including the ?Zuo Bao Yi? Gui, an important food vessel, Early Western Zhou Dynasty 11th-10th century BC. An additional highlight is the ?Mu Xin zun?, an exceptionally beautiful wine vessel, also Early Western Zhou Dynasty. Both pieces were included in the seminal 1954 Marco Polo Seventh Centenary Exhibition in Venice.

**Doyle New York**

*Xu Beihong (Chinese, 1895-1953)*

*Horse Signed (ur)*

*Seal Ink on paper, mounted on silk Imag*

**Auction Date: September 16**

**Estimate: $100,000 – $200,000**

Doyle New York will hold an auction of Asian Works of Art on Monday, Sept. 16, at 10 a.m. The auction presents the arts of China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia, dating from the Neolithic Period through the 20th century. Offerings include porcelain, pottery, jade, ivories, scholar?s objects, snuff bottles, bronzes, screens, furniture and paintings. This horse painting is by artist Xu Beihong, a renowned Chinese painter from the early 20th century best known for his shuimohua (Chinese ink paintings) of horses and birds. Beihong formed a style that reflected a new modern China at the beginning of the 20th century, exhibiting his proficiency and knowledge of Western artistic technique with a stylethat expressed a native artistic expression of his homeland.

Donna Evers • July 18, 2013

It seems nearly impossible to suppose that two of the Founding Fathers and ex-presidents could have both died on the Fourth of July, exactly 50 years after their signing of the Declaration of Independence. But, that’s just what happened. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who made history on so many levels, forged a great friendship when they worked together during the drafting of the Declaration. Jefferson, Adams and his wife Abigail, were neighbors and confidants in Paris right after our revolution and at the beginning of the French Revolution. But, the two men were very different personalities, and their political views on how to run the country and deal with foreign affairs grew further and further apart during the 25 years between 1775 and 1800, when their rivalry and resulting animosities grew with Jefferson pursuing a more liberal stance with his Republican Party and Adams taking over leadership of the more conservative Federalist Party.

The rift became complete when Jefferson defeated Adams in a very bitter and tight presidential race in 1800, which many historians believe to have been the worst time in American history for extreme partisan politics in Washington.

Adams retired to his family home in Massachusetts, and the two men, who had exchanged hundreds of letters and hours of conversation over the years, literally stopped talking to each other for the next ten years.

A mutual friend, Dr. Benjamin Rush, also a fellow signer of the Declaration, was pained by the animosity between the two men which had lasted so long.

He said he had a dream about Jefferson and Adams and woke feeling that he had to intervene. So, he wrote to each and brokered peace between them, asking them to forget and forgive and remember their former friendship which had carried them through such turbulent times. That broke the ice and the two men resumed a remarkable epistolary friendship. Although they disagreed on many topics, their admiration for each other allowed them to discuss their differences without losing the friendship.

Shortly after the rapprochement, Benjamin Rush died and both Jefferson and Adams expressed their gratitude to Rush for bringing them together again. They continued to correspond for the next 15 years.

When the government decided to have a huge 50-year celebration of the signing of the Declaration in Washington, the two men were invited to speak at the anniversary.

But, it was not to happen, because by the time summer came, they were both too weak and sick to make the trip.

As the anniversary approached in Washington, D.C., Adams in Quincy, Mass., and Jefferson at Monticello in Virginia were both critically ill. On the morning of July 3, Jefferson woke up long enough to ask what day it was. When he found out it was only the 3rd, he managed to hang on until 1 p.m. of July 4th, when he breathed his last. Adams, in his sickbed in Quincy, Mass., would not have known that Jefferson had just died, and his last words were “Jefferson survives,” even though Jefferson had already died five hours earlier.

But it must have been a great consolation for Adams to die knowing that, 50 years after he helped to change the world, his own son, John Quincy Adams, was President of the United States.

Donna Evers, devers@eversco.com is the owner and broker of Evers & Co. Real Estate, the largest woman owned and run real estate firm in the Washington metro area; she is also the proprietor of Twin oaks Tavern Winery in Bluemont, Virginia, and a devoted student of Washington area history.

Georgetowner •

In the Internet age, auctions might seem outdated and irrelevant. Yet auction houses continue to be effective marketplaces for everything from fine art to gourmet wine to bejeweled dog collars.

For those unaware, auction houses are intermediaries between buyers and sellers — the original eBay. If, for example, you want to sell a diamond-encrusted Barbie, you could contact a house and arrange for the doll to be auctioned. These arrangements involve setting your minimum selling price, transporting your item to the saleroom, settling on the commission amount to be taken by the auction house, and signing a contract.

Or, if you wanted to buy an original Steve Jobs’s Apple computer, you could work with a specialist from the auction house to find your dream work. Then, when the auction takes place, you would bid in-person, over the phone, or online and pay.
This specific example is actually on auction through Christie’s until July 9.

Some of the most prominent auction houses include Weschler’s, Potomack Company, Sotheby’s, Bonham’s, and Doyle New York. Weschler’s and Potomack Company are the only ones located in the Washington area. The other companies have sales rooms in New York City and across the world.

To become an auction buff, here are the key words to know:
Auctioneer – the trained professional who conducts the auction
Lot – an object or group of objects being exhibited in the auction
Sale number – a lot’s identification code
Provenance – the history describing the object’s chain of ownership since creation
Chattel – the physical goods of an estate, such as furniture and cars
Auction block – the object currently being auctioned
Paddle – the instrument bidders use to communicate their bid to the auctioneer
Bidder number – a bidder’s identification number used on the paddle
Reserve price – the pre-established, minimum amount the owner will accept
Hammer price – the amount of the winning bid
Buyer’s premium – the amount paid between the hammer and total purchase prices
Ring – the auction location

Whether you’re searching for that perfect Roman sculpture to complete your living room or Moscato to complement your favorite dessert, these terms will help you raise that paddle confidently. Check out a few upcoming events for the summer and happy auctioning.

Sotheby’s London
Château Pétrus 1967
Auction Date: June 20
Estimate: $10,000-$14,000
Sotheby’s London will offer a unique day for wine lovers to experience a taste of the Finest and Rarest Wines. This sale will feature extraordinary collections from Bordeaux and Burgundy to the Spanish Vega Sicilia. Wine lovers can enjoy a tour of wines from the 1960s, all the way to the 21st century. These exquisite wines will be available in bottles and magnums. Don’t forget to look out for the Château Pétrus 1967, a wine that will leave you wondering and wanting more. This wine is known by experienced wine tasters, who recognize it by its rich, sweet and complex taste. It has a lingering “sweet” taste with a low concentration and density.

Christie’s
Tubogas “Serpenti” quartz wristwatch by Bulgari
Auction Date: July 17
Estimate: $3,050 – $4,575
(£2,000 – 3,000)
This jewelry sale at Christie’s is sure to be huge. There are 262 lots in the sale, with pieces from designers, such as Tiffany & Co and Chanel to Van Cleef & Arpels. In particular is the “Serpenti” wristwatch from Bulgari that expresses the elegance that Bulgari stands for and is a design that is being revived by designers today. The specialists at Christie’s explain the watch has a silver dial with Roman numerals and a bezel set with diamonds. There is a pink sapphire crown with a five-jewelled quarts movement to a sprung bracelet and 22mm wide case. The dial, case and movement are all signed Bulgari. The wristwatch is an iconic model from the Bulgari collections and would be a perfect addition to one’s own collection. [gallery ids="119049,119062,119058" nav="thumbs"]