The fascinating stories that emanated from the most recent sale at Northeast Auctions were as varied, numerous and interesting as the nearly 2,000 lots of merchandise that auctioneer Ron Bourgeault cycled across the auction block during his February Weekend Auction.
Taking place February 22′4, the auction resembled the days of old with a standing-room-only crowd filling the auction hall. More than one observer, including Bourgeault, remarked on the evenness of the auction and the solid prices achieved from top to bottom.
There was a little bit of something for everyone at the sale †great country items from the old-time collection of Priscilla and Howard Richmond, deaccessioned furniture from Colonial Williamsburg, a collection of furniture that had been purchased in the 1960s from Israel Sack, a large group of pottery and porcelain deaccessioned from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) and a huge cache of important paintings †many from the Seybolt family of Boston.
Although the final totals revealed that art ruled the three-day auction, significant prices were achieved at each and every level.
It was all fun and games when the auction began on Friday morning as Bourgeault got things started with the first six lots consisting of marble games and marbles. Denying that they were his, Bourgeault set the first lot of marbles into action, offering a round game board with a set of swirl marbles that hammered down at $234.
Four turned round marble game boards, two in paint, were among the offerings, more than likely the result of last February’s heated battle for a similar example that resulted in a price of $5,800 established for a large 14-inch board with swirl marbles, ex-collection of Charles Derby.
A lot filled with onion skin and swirl marbles was up next, and it brought $555, with the remaining three board games, all with Bennington or clay marbles, selling at $585, $396 and $351.
While everyone still seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially John Lapinski, who stood alongside Bourgeault recording bids and who was about to make his premier showing as one of two new auctioneers added to Northeast’s stable, business became serious in short order. The first lot to raise eyebrows was a cigar store Indian chief figure attributed to carver Samuel Robb. Listing a provenance of Hyland Granby, the attractive figure hammered down at $42,120.
A neat apple tray with tapered sides and pierce-carved vine and leaf border around the top and heart-carved handles created quite a stir when it crossed the block. Several waited in lurk as the lot opened at a couple of hundred dollars, and one bidder after another jumped into the action as other competitors dropped out. Bidding came to a halt when a persistent buyer in the room claimed the lot at $9,067.
A Maine painted tole document box attracted attention, with it going out at $4,212.
After a brief lull, the crowd was startled back to attention when a dark blue Staffordshire pitcher by Ralph Stevenson and Williams was offered. Decorated with “Four Portrait Medallion” and “Canal Views, Urn, Floral and Scroll Border,” Jefferson, Washington, Lafayette and Clinton were emblazoned across the front medallions, and they seemed to watch with interest as the piece was bid to $14,040.
It might as well have been Presidents’ Day weekend, actually celebrated the weekend prior, as presidential likenesses (and those of their wives) and historical materials sold extremely well. Shocking the crowd was a mid-Nineteenth Century portrait of George Washington by Jane Stuart, after her father Gilbert Stuart.
Exceptionally well done, the painting had once resided in the collections of the Denver Art Museum and it had passed through Christie’s in 1995, slipping through the cracks at $2,760. A sleeper among numerous Washington items offered, the unassuming lot opened at $5,000 and was hammered down moments later to a telephone bidder for $194,000, a record price for the artist. The previous record price paid for a Jane Stuart painting was $8,000, according to sources at Northeast.
Rembrandt Peale’s portrait of Martha Washington also did well, realizing $67,860. The Peale listed a provenance of Knoedler & Company, and it had overshadowed the Jane Stuart portrait at the same Christie’s auction more than a decade ago.
A second Washington portrait by Jane Stuart sold at $49,140, while a miniature portrait on ivory depicting Washington realized $7,020. A portrait of George Washington in uniform by James Sharples was also among the offerings, with it quadrupling estimates by selling at $141,200.
Ceramics deaccessioned by MESDA, sold to benefit the institution’s collections committee, totaled 97 lots. A bear-form salt glazed Staffordshire tobacco jar, circa 1740, exceeded estimates, bringing $4,212; a delft plate dated 1715 did well at $11,115; a Brislington delft bowl did $4,914; and a redware puzzle jug realized $4,212. A nice combware charger went out at $5,148, and a stoneware jug with incised fish decoration sold at $2,340.
There was excitement in the air as the auction got underway on Saturday morning with the offering of the collection of noted pioneer collectors and dealers Howard and Priscilla Richmond from Southbury, Conn. The Richmonds were among the early exhibitors at the Eastside Settlement Winter Antiques Show.
With the Richmonds’ daughter, Abby, present among the crowd, Bourgeault approached the auction block and took a few moments to reminisce about days gone by. Of special note was the auctioneer’s recollection, dating back more than four decades, of when he first met the Richmonds in 1962 at the Russell Carrell-managed Riverton Antiques Show.
Bourgeault defined the collectors with the assistance of a series of articles that first appeared in this publication more than 30 years ago, a compilation orchestrated by a then-student of Americana, editor and a close personal friend of the Richmonds, R. Scudder Smith. Bourgeault quietly summed up the collection as quintessential in both “Richmond style and color.”
Among the opening lots of the day was a New England pine country cupboard in simple form with two-over-two doors, painted in a well-worn slate blue paint. An attractive lot that defined the stylistic tendencies of the collectors, it sold after active bidding at $14,625. A primitive corner cupboard in old red wash was another lot to do well at $9,945.
The top lot of the painted furniture came in the form of a New York State blanket box in blue paint with paint decorated border with leaf and vine and a large central wreath painted around an urn flanked by vases of flowers on each side. The attractive piece opened for bidding at $1,000, with several hands in the gallery shooting up. Bids bounced back and forth around the room until it stalled at $9,500, which triggered a bid from Elliott Snyder, standing at the rear of the room. Set into motion once again, bidding continued until Snyder claimed the lot at $17,550.
In “Richmond blue,” a rare Harvard stacking bookcase with graduating shelves above was termed by Bourgeault as his “favorite thing in the auction.” Stacked on a lower unit with two-over-three drawers and a tall stylized cutout “bracket” base skirt, the shelves opened at $2,000. A flurry of hands waved from all about the gallery; in the end, however, it was all telephone action, with the lot hammering down at $17,550.
Bourgeault’s second favorite item from the Richmond trove was a wonderful five-tier desert tray in great green paint with red trim. Phones dominated once again, with this lot selling at $2,691.
Other Richmond goodies included a New Hampshire Sheraton wing chair that sold for $6,727; a nice oval top tavern table in paint did well at $4,972; and a William and Mary two-drawer blanket chest in red paint with ball feet brought $4,680. Accessories included a banded mocha pitcher that hammered down at $9,126, a set of three paint decorated wooden document boxes in paint, $5,382, and a small lot of painted tole at $5,148.
Three small pantry boxes in yellow paint caught the eye of several in the crowd, with the lot bid to $6,318, while a lot of two additional pantry boxes went to dealer John Sideli for $2,106.
The first session featuring property from Colonial Williamsburg came shortly after the Richmond session concluded, and several of the pieces sold well above estimates. A Mid-Atlantic walnut tavern table in a great old natural finish was the first of the lots to be sold, and it hammered down at $4,914, followed by a Pennsylvania Queen Anne two-drawer worktable that realized $5,200.
A select grouping of Americana crossed the auction block shortly after lunch, with a boldly shaped Sheraton dressing table in a bolder Maine grained paint getting the crowd primed up. The vibrantly painted piece with elegantly turned legs adding to its appeal created quite a stir as it left the auction block at $14,040.
A Sturdevant Hamblin portrait of a child opened for bidding at $6,000, with several Americana dealers chasing the lot on its way to a selling price of $21,060; a couple of lots later, a portrait of a young girl with a doll brought $12,870.
A stunning vinegar painted blue two-drawer blanket chest hammered down at $22,230; a cast iron Rochester horse weathervane brought $17,550 from a bidder seated in the front row; and a nice Hepplewhite tiger maple Pembroke table was plucked from the assortment of furniture at $18,720.
The names of Carol and Stephen Huber were being whispered among the crowd as a telephone bidder pushed the price of a schoolgirl needlework sampler into the mid-five-figure range. It was executed in silk and chenille with a lower scene featuring a shepherd with a dog at his side, sheep in front of him and a lady with a parasol on the opposite side. Flying fowl and potted flowers filled out the needlework. The lot opened for bidding at $5,000 with three telephone bidders, Grace Snyder and a bidder in the front row hammering away at the lot. It went to the telephone at $45,630.
Paintings once again took center stage with the first major work setting the pace. “Liberty Freeing the Shackles of Slavery,” an oil on canvas by Thomas Prichard, handily exceeded estimates as it sold to a buyer in the room for $90,675, while a large William Lester Stevens Rockport farmhouse scene went out at $28,080.
A Charles Courtney Curran watercolor and gouache depicting children playing in tranquil waters by the shore was another lot to do well, bringing $23,400.
It was the third and final day of the auction, however, that provided the most excitement. Beginning with a assortment of jewelry, Bourgeault hammered through the selection, topped by a sapphire, diamond and platinum cluster ring at $24,570, as he anxiously anticipated introducing a former employee, and now the newest in his stable of auctioneers, Sara Pratt. In earlier years, Sara met her future husband while working at Northeast, the late Wayne Pratt, and left the auction business. She now has eagerly resumed a position at Bourgeault’s podium.
Pratt whisked through the large group of English silver with a George III set of dinner plates by various makers selling at $12,285. A set of four George II armorial candlesticks did well at $19,890, while another set, probably by John Priest, went out at $8,190.
A George III silver trowel by Thomas Daniell saw spirited bidding, with it going out at $7,020, and an Arthur Stone flatware service brought $6,435.
Several Oriental carpets did well, with a small Kuba, approximately 3 by 4 feet, selling at $51,480, a 3-by-4-foot Shirvan sold at $30,420, and a room-sized Serapi brought $22,230.
Another large group of paintings started off on the right foot as an Irish landscape by Hans Frederick Gude brought $25,740. A Dutch skating scene was offered a couple of lots later, with it bringing the same price.
Lapinski, although getting some time on the block on Saturday, was also called to action on Sunday, relegated, however, as Bourgeault mused, to “selling the dogs.” The auctioneer humorously referred to the large collection of dog paintings that were sold. Included was an American pointer portrait that sold well above estimates at $4,212. Cats followed the dogs, with a Charles Van Den Eycken painting of kittens bringing $10,530.
The selection of art continued with a Marc Chagall monotype still life depicting fruit selling at $44,460.
Topping the auction was a pair of John Singleton Copley pastel portraits of Mr and Mrs Joseph Greene from 1767 that realized more than double their presale estimate when they hammered down at $326,000. Copley’s bust-length portrait of Daniel Henchman sold at $236,000, and a Henry Benbridge portrait of an unknown gentleman in his library brought $63,180.
Furniture included a wonderful inlaid mahogany Federal four-drawer chest with exquisite rectangular and central oval veneered panels on each of the drawers. Attributed to Saco, Maine, cabinetmakers Cumston and Buckminster, the chest sold well above the $30/50,000 estimates at $199,500.
Numerous pieces of furniture originally purchased from Israel Sack Inc in the 1960s were sold, with a Massachusetts inlaid card table attributed to William Lloyd the first item to cross the block, selling at $7,605. A Massachusetts Chippendale mahogany reverse serpentine four-drawer chest led the way for the Sack materials as it hammered down at $150,000. A Massachusetts Federal mahogany breakfront sold at more than double the presale estimates, garnering $81,900; a Massachusetts Chippendale blockfront four-drawer chest went out at $74,880; and a Chippendale reverse serpentine four-drawer chest brought $46,800.
All prices include the buyer’s premium. For further information, 603-433-8400 or www.northeastauctions.com .
