Recent auction results from around the country, compiled by Antiques and The Arts Weekly Staff and Correspondents. All prices include buyer’s premium.
Rare Chinese Lime Green Vase Brings $70,000 at Kaminski
BEVERLY, MASS. – A rare Chinese “lime green” vase surprised at Kaminski’s January 15 estate auction, realizing $70,000 on a $8/12,000 estimate. The globular form elegantly rises to a tall, slightly flared, columnar neck, applied overall with a lustrous enamel of bright lime-green hue. Featuring Yongzheng six-character marks in underglazed blue within double circles and of the period (1723-35), it came on its original Eighteenth Century wooden stand. For information, www.kaminskiauctions.com or 978-927-2223.
Revolutionary War Book Fragment Sells At Alderfer’s
HATFIELD, PENN. – On December 8, a letter copy book belonging to Jonathan Williams (1751-1815), first superintendent of the US Military Academy and grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin, soared to $35,965 at Alderfer Auctioneers & Appraisers. Williams kept the book while serving as a commercial agent for the US Navy in France during the American Revolution. The copies of the letters contained in the book dated from January 1780 to February 1785. For information, www.alderferauction.com or 800-577-8846.
Landscape Beats $400/600 Estimate; Brings $10,000 At Clarke Auction
LARCHMONT, N.Y. – Despite a snowstorm that snarled travel plans for many in the tri-state area on the previous day, there were more new faces in the packed hall at Clarke Auction than in recent memory. Adding that to 1,000 registered bidders online, Clarke saw success across all categories in its January 8 auction. Top lot of the sale was a Shmuel Charuvi oil on canvas landscape that left its $400/600 estimate far in the distance, climbing to $10,000. For information, 914-833-8336 or www.clarkeny.com.
Trio Of Loose Diamonds Stands Out At Worth Auctions
FREEVILLE, N.Y. – Worth Auctions offered an extensive collection of vintage jewelry and gemstones from an upstate New York estate November 27. Leading the sale was a trio of loose, round brilliant-cut diamonds that together brought more than $6,700. A collection of Native American turquoise and sterling pieces, men’s watches and cuff links, and other group lots of vintage costume jewelry and accessories, exceeded $30,000. For information, www.worthauctions.com or 607-330-0358
Rare & Racy, Mark Twain Volume Exceeds $4,000
FREEVILLE, N.Y. – A scarce, privately printed work by Mark Twain fetched more than $4,000 at National Book Auctions’ February 4 sale. Only four other copies of this volume have sold at auction over the last four decades. The volume was number five of 100 copies of Twain’s 1601, published by the Derrydale Press in New York in 1926. The satirical squib purported to be an extract from the diary from one of Queen Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting was, due to its scatological and sexual content, considered unprintable by mainstream publishers prior to the 1960s and was circulated clandestinely in privately printed limited editions such as this.
Fiesta Collection Leads At Witman Auctioneers
MOUNT JOY, PENN. – A collection of vintage Fiesta was the top lot at $6,700 at Witman Auctioneers Inc during its January 27 auction that saw 145 registered bidders in attendance. Breininger redware also performed well, led by a punch bowl at $770. For information, www.witmanauctioneers.com or 717-665-5735.
Montoya Painting Highlights Strong Sale At Clarke
LARCHMONT, N.Y. – Francisco Montoya’s oil on canvas “Nino Parado No. 26” more than doubled its high estimate at Clarke’s February auction, settling at $12,500. “We were very pleased with the result on the Montoya,” said the firm’s Keane Ryan. “This was a great example from this series of works by the artist, and while we are satisfied with this result, we are even more excited by the two additional works by Montoya coming up in our March 5 sale.” For information, 914-833-8336 or www.clarkeny.com.
Carved Jade Buddha Dragon Ascends At The Benefit Shop
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. – It is common for Asian antiques to far outstrip expectations at auction, and such was the case with an intricately carved lavender jade Buddha dragon offered recently by The Benefit Shop. Property of a Greenwich collector, the vintage sculpture depicting Buddha encircled by a large dragon with detailed face and carved lotus flowers and Asian characters was estimated $100/300. The 11-by-6-by-4-inch piece, however, finished at $3,175. For information, www.thebenefitshop.org or 914-864-0707.
Rare China Notes Top Archives International Sale
FORT LEE, N.J. – Two rare notes from Shanghai, China, topped Archives International Auctions’ September 26 sale: a rare 1901-02 Russo-Chinese $1 Mexican dollar banknote sold for $10,200, making it the top lot of the a two-session public auction; and an attractive Sino-Belgian Bank 1908-12, $10 Mexican dollars, uniface specimen proof rarity changed hands for $6,000 at the 740-lot sale. For information, 201-944-4800 or www.archivesinternational.com.
