Bonhams & Butterfields, Sunset Estate Auction will feature the Jennifer Berry Collection on March 30.

“The Jennifer Berry collection truly celebrates one woman’s love for animals and confirms that man’s passion for dogs has existed for many generations. It is the firm’s hope that the auction does justice to her lifetime’s dedication to the art of the dog. Berry would be pleased to allow others to partake in the same enjoyment she has had assembling the collection.” said Carolyn Mani, Director, Sunset Estate Sales.

Over the past five decades, Los Angeles collector and animal lover Jennifer Berry has amassed what is surely one of the largest collections of dog-related memorabilia in the world. Housed in her prestigious Brentwood Hills, California home, it has remained virtually unknown but to close family and a handful of collectors. The estate is remarkable not only in its number of items but in the variety of works Berry collected. Her stated goal was to have at least “one of everything.” Ultimately, Berry and her husband catalogued over 1,900 entries in the rare collection.

Within the highlights is photography, embodied by highly sought after daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes. Almost all of images feature dogs sitting for a portrait. Considered highly desirable to both photography collectors as well as dog art lovers, these seminal images document not only the practice of early photographic portraiture, but accurately depict the state of various breeds in the 19th century.

March offerings from the Jennifer Berry Collection include a highly decorative 9 _ x 7 _ inch KPM lithophane image of a young girl and a bloodhound in a cast-iron frame, circa 1900 (est. $1,000/1,500); a stunning collection of English transferware in classic blue and white (est. $300/600) and a picturesque Waldoboro hooked rug depicting a black-and-tan terrier surrounded by a boarder of leaves and flowers, circa 1850-60 (est. $600/800). Other highlights from the collection include several lots of porcelain glass, smoking articles, decorative arts and examples of metal and silverware.

Los Angeles preview events are scheduled for March 28-29, 2008 at Bonhams & Butterfields’ Sunset gallery. The illustrated catalog will be available online for review and purchase at www.bonhams.com/us in the weeks preceding the sale.

Posted: 02|15|08 at 11:30 pm. Filed under: US News.