Auction Blog
Schwenke September 16th Auction Features Home Décor and Fine Art, Plus Fashion and Couture: Estate of Bobbie Hainline Howrey - Part Two
Posted September 15, 2025
Woodbury, CT – On Tuesday, September 16th Schwenke Auctioneers will offer over 480 lots of fresh estate property from estates and collectors from Fairfield, Hartford, and Litchfield Counties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, and feature Part Two - Fashion and Couture comprising over 180 lots from the Estate of Bobbie Hainline Howrey. The first section of the sale includes 300 lots of diverse and eclectic antique, vintage, contemporary and MCM decorative arts, including over 70 fine artworks from a single collector in Morris County, New Jersey. Over 100 lots are being offered for an estate on Round Hill Road in Greenwich CT; several lots of American country items from a collector in Boston MA; several lots of fine English formal furniture and Asian furniture from a collector in Fairfield County CT; two Louis Vuitton steamer trunks from a Stonington CT collector; and several fine MCM items from a Newtown CT estate. The couture items from the Howrey Estate comprising the second section of the sale offer a wide range of fashions including purses and handbags, scarves, ladies' formal dress and sport fashions, shoes, hats, belts, accessories and other items. Hermes, Gucci, Chanel, Ferragamo and other fine designer pieces are among the offerings. Please visit our website for specific preview and bidding information. In person preview is by appointment, and the deadline for absentee and phone bids is noon on Monday, September 15th. The sale will be "live online" through Live Auctioneers and Invaluable and will begin at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, September 16th.
The standout offering among the decorative arts lots is a very rare .950 silver flatware service in “Normandie” Pattern by Puiforcat. The partial set is signed with the French Minerva mark, and the Emile Puiforcat hallmark. It tested .950 by xray. This service was originally designed by Jean Puiforcat in 1934, named after the ocean liner Normandie. The set comprises 11 place/oval soup spoons, 11 table/serving spoons, 11 salad forks, 12 dessert forks, 11 forks, 5 tea or dessert spoons, ladle and pie server. Total weight: 123.395 OZT. The service was originally owned by the consignor's father, who was a member of the French resistance group Morhange. According to family tradition, for a time he lunched daily with two heads of the Gestapo of Toulouse, and ironically during those lunches an American pilot and Jewish citizens were being hidden in his cellar.
Other sterling silver lots include a rare Korner & Proll .800 silver bowl with inset coins. The hammered silver "revere" style footed bowl has six inset 18th and 19th century Austrian and German States silver coins, and is marked on the foot. Dimensions are 2 1/4" high, 4 5/8" diameter, weight 7.735 OZT.
A collector in Stonington Connecticut is offering two Louis Vuitton monogram courier trunks, both purchased many years ago by her parents at Freeman’s Philadelphia. The larger trunk is 27 1/2" high, 40" wide, 23 1/2" deep and fully fitted, with some age and use wear.
Over 70 pieces of fine art are being sold for a collector in New Jersey, including American, English and European artists. Of particular note is an oil on canvas board of Canyon de Chelle, New Mexico by Arthur William Best (Am.1859-1935), frame size: 18 1/2" high, 22 1/2" wide. Authentication information and provenance from Matthews’ Galleries, Lake Oswego, OR.
A Boston collector is selling several country collectibles including a folk-art sheet iron horse weathervane and a salesman’s sample Columbia washing machine. Items of furniture and decorative arts from Round Hill Road in Greenwich include two Jacobean style large refectory tables, an English oak bachelor chest, a multi-drawer English oak mule chest, a set of six Venetian style dining chairs, several English Queen Anne lowboys and side tables, a campaign chest and two primitive punchwork metal pie safes.
Several mid-century modern pieces are being sold for the same estate and another estate in Newtown, Connecticut, including a Pietro Costantini MCM glass and wood dining table, a set of six Pietro Costantini dining chairs, a glass and teak mid-century coffee table, a copper and glass modern coffee table, a pair of mid-century chrome and glass round adjustable end tables, an MCM chrome and leather Breuer Wassily style arm chair, a curved glass side table with angular wooden legs, and a pair of mid-century steel and glass end tables.
The sale has a second section of over 180 lots of fashion and couture items being sold for the Estate of Bobbie Hainline Howrey. Thomas Schwenke commented that “this is indeed a bitter-sweet honor to be offering my late life partner Bobbie’s fine personal couture items which she collected with such passion and pleasure over the tenure of our wonderful twenty-year relationship and before. Bobbie was a true collector with a well-founded background in fashion including several years working with Ralph Lauren and also many years spent in design and decoration. The overall selectivity and quality of her acquisitions is remarkable, and this sale of fashion and couture pieces should not be missed.”
The Howrey Estate comprises several groups or classifications of items, including purses and handbags, scarves, ladies' formal dress and sport fashions, shoes, hats, belts, accessories and other items, with Hermes, Gucci, Chanel, Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, Manolo Blahnik, Roberta di Camerino, Nancy Gonzales, and other fine designer pieces being among the offerings.
Bobbie Howrey’s extensive couture collection of fashions also included a large quantity of other accessories, housewares, home-goods and decorations which will be offered in a comprehensive Part Three Online Only Auction to be held shortly after this auction. Interested bidders are encouraged to watch the firm’s website for further information.
The catalog for the sale is viewable at www.woodburyauction.com and online on each platform site. Absentee and phone bidding are available for this “live-online” auction by registering directly with Schwenke Auctioneers. The sale will be broadcast for live internet bidding on Live Auctioneers and Invaluable. Preview is by appointment. Interested bidders should contact the firm by phone or email to arrange preview. Please consult the firm’s website for additional information. Schwenke Auctioneers’ email is info@woodburyauction.com and the phone number is 203-266-0323.