J. MORGAN". Circa 1886, American. We are offering this hardbound copy of the auction catalog for the collection of Mrs. Mary J. Morgan, sold at auction March 1886 at Chickering Hall and at the American Art Galleries of New York. The auction was under the management of the American Art Association. At the time of the auction this was the most notable auction sale in the history of auctions in the U.S. The auctioneer Thomas Kirby was instrumental in establishing this new company in 1883 with the goal to conduct honest auctions in New York with few to no reserves. The company was in business 1883 to 1923 and evolved into Parke Bernet Auctioneers which was eventually acquired by the international auction house Sothebys. Mary Jane Morgan (1823-1885) was the young widow of shipping mogul Charles Morgan. After his death she quietly began to collect all forms of fine art and was essentially unknown amongst the wealthy citizens of New York. The success of her estate sale propelled Kirby's company to become the leader in the world for fine art. One of her paintings set a new world record for art at auction. Her record selling Chinese peach blow vase was the impetuous for the Mt. Washington Glass Company to develop a new line of peach blow glass. This was truly an important auction. This catalog has many hand written notations of prices for most. SIZE: 9 1/2" x 6". CONDITION: very good with in use wear. (05-482/TG). $200-400.