An abundance of gorgeous Newcomb pottery created before 1930 was showcased March 24 and 25 at the New Orleans Auction Galleries for a special auction to benefit the Save Newcomb College organization.
But pottery was not the only coveted works up for bid. Paintings, engravings, metalwork and drawings were also among the prized items auctioned by Ruthie Winston, the event’s auctioneer and New Orleans Auction Galleries’ director of business development.
The event’s preview party (where these photos were taken) on March 22 attracted close to 200 guests, including out-of-towners devoted to Newcomb’s cause. Generous donors include Kathryn Fleck, class of ’83; Joan Morrison Tupper, class of ’52; Murray Cleveland, the great grandson of artist and former Newcomb College art department head William Woodward; Jean Bragg of the Jean Bragg Gallery of Southern Art and Dianne Ayers, who came from Oakland, Ca.
The auction raised $27,500 for the Friends of Newcomb College. One piece, a
13-inch-wide blue platter, went for $13,000 to an anonymous bidder via the telephone.
Newcomb supporters are optimistic about the results of the auction—which they hope will bolster the efforts to save the first degree-granting women’s college within an American university. The Tulane University Renewal Plan may have shut down the college, but it has certainly not crushed the spirit of those who cherish it.
Mignon Faget, Renee Sebladnigg and Jean Bragg
Margaret Kelly, Shawn Holahan and Jean Cooper
Ruthie Winston, Patricia Heatherly Gay, Wendy Delery Hills and Linda Torrence Muir
