John Moran Auctioneers

History

After years of working independently in the local art world and estate business, John Moran founded his auction company in Pasadena in 1969. Our first estate sale featured the complete contents of a prominent early California family's residence, which had remained largely intact since the 19th century. The great success of this inaugural auction laid the foundation for the next four decades: to date, we have been entrusted with thousands of estates, large and small. Our sale records have set benchmarks in many specialty markets, particularly in California & American Paintings. As one of America's top auctioneers, John Moran has successfully sold tens of thousands of California and American paintings over the past forty years and ranks among the country's most senior specialists in this field. In 2001, John Moran became the first auctioneer in the world to sell a California painting in excess of one million dollars.

Specialties

John Moran Auctioneers conducts seven to eight Estate Auctions per year featuring the best selections from estates and private collections both large and small. These sales typically offer 200 or more lots of fine European and American art works, and superlative antiques and decorative arts: silver, bronzes, ceramics, furniture, jewelry, watches, clocks, metalware, glass, Oriental rugs, Native American artifacts, and more. We feature Arts and Crafts items from makers such as Van Briggle, Rookwood, Gustav Stickley and Dirk van Erp; Art Nouveau and Art Deco including Lalique, Daum and Louis Comfort Tiffany; and mid-20th century design by luminaries such as Otto Natzler, Tapio Wirkkala, Seguso, Walter Lamb and Charles and Ray Eames. With one of the top markets for silver, we regularly offer pieces from Georg Jensen, Tiffany, Gorham, Wallace and many others, as well as older British, Continental, and Russian pieces.