The highest price of the sale went to this Gibson L-00 acoustic guitar made circa 1936-37, which came with a soft case for storage; it played a tune to $5,185 ($1,5/2,500).
Review by Kiersten Busch
WINDSOR, CONN. — September 6 saw 440 lots cross the block in Nadeau’s Auction Gallery’s Jewelry, Art, Furnishings & Décor Auction. “Overall, we think the sale did pretty well,” shared office staffer Alexis Burleigh. “We had some lots that definitely surprised us in how much they sold for, which is always a good thing!” With 92 percent of lots sold, the sale took in more than $205,000.
“A lot of our bidders for this sale were online, although we did get some great back-and-forth bidding with those who attended in person,” Burleigh said of the bidding pool. As for the buyers of the top-selling lots? “Those bidders were a mix between various online platforms, phone bidders and in-person bidders,” Burleigh noted.
Strumming past its $1,5/2,500 estimate to earn the sale-high price of $5,185 was a Gibson L-00 acoustic guitar. The instrument had a black finish with a flame-patterned pickguard and was made circa 1936-37; it came housed in a soft case. Seven additional guitars found new homes, with prices ranging from $375 for a 1970s Ovation custom Legend Model 1117-4 acoustic guitar, to $2,440 for a Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, which came with a hard case and surpassed its $1/2,000 estimate.
This pair of custom-upholstered Earl’s of High Point club chairs, 33 inches high by 32½ inches wide by 37 inches deep, had provenance to an East Longmeadow, Mass., estate and were bid to a comfortable $3,355 ($250/450).
A pair of custom-upholstered Earl’s of High Point club chairs led a large selection of chairs of various shapes and sizes. Both chairs had rolled arms and were set on casters. The pair had provenance to an East Longmeadow, Mass., estate and sold for more than seven times their $450 high estimate, achieving $3,355. Other notable finishes in the category included $875 for a country-style five-piece dining set, as well as $500 for six coastal Francois Carre sunburst chairs sold with a round iron table.
Earrings and bracelets seemed to be the type of jewelry to collect, as several pieces finished with high prices. A pair of 18K yellow gold Tiffany & Company clip-on earrings totaled $3,050, tripling a $800-$1,000 estimate. The floral form earrings had clusters of sapphires in their centers to mimic the center of a flower and weighed 13 grams total. While no other individual lots of earrings were sold, two groups of assorted 14K gold earring pairs — one containing five and the other four — found new homes for $1,750 and $1,250, respectively.
Leading bracelets was a lot of four 14K yellow gold examples, including a bangle, one bracelet with a name plate engraved “Jackie,” another with a tag engraved “MMY” and the final with an oval-shaped clasp. The group earned $2,250, just ahead of a 14K yellow gold charm bracelet that sold for $1,952. Said bracelet, measuring 7½ inches long, had eight charms, including three shaped like hearts, one horseshoe and three additional charms.
Earning a charming $1,952 was this 14K yellow gold charm bracelet, 7½ inches long, which included three heart-shaped charms, among others ($1,5/2,000).
Other notable jewelry included an Omega Seamaster automatic watch with a solid 14K gold bracelet and 14K gold filled case, which ticked to $2,318. The watch’s face was marked with a Freemasons symbol, and its dial had a date window. Gold continued to be a popular trend with bidders as a 14K yellow gold necklace and pendant surpassed its $800-$1,200 estimate, blooming to $1,708. The pendant had a unique design, set with multi-colored gemstones positioned in the form of a bushel of flowers, which made it a perfect lot to advertise the sale at the top of the firm’s page on LiveAuctioneers.
Silver was represented by a small but choice selection, ranging in price from $63 for a five-piece group including two pairs of hand-hammered Persian saltshakers and a Heintz sterling on bronze Love Birds card tray, to $2,745 for an assorted lot of sterling silver flatware. Weighing approximately 78.4 troy ounces, the lot included a partial Tole service as well as additional pieces of silverware.
An oil on canvas titled “Babes in the Woods” was painted after Walter Hunt and signed “E.M. Harrison 1897.” The forest landscape depicted two calves, had provenance to a prominent New York City collector and led nearly 50 oil on canvas paintings at $2,745. A rocky coastal seascape by Alice Mary (Beach) Winter also performed well, more than doubling the high end of its $400/800 estimate to earn $1,830.
“Babes in the Woods,” signed “E.M. Harrison,” after Walker Hunt (British, 1861-1941), 1897, oil on canvas, 60 by 40 inches framed, trotted to $2,745 ($400/800).
Frank Vincent DuMond (American, 1865-1951) was the most represented oil artist in the sale, with four of his works finding new homes. “The Sorceress Circe Transforms Odysseus’s men into pigs after they land on her island” led the group at $1,125, followed by “Autumn in Lyme” ($625), “Farm in Old Lyme with Flower Blossoms” ($438) and “Rose’s Farm with Rollings Hills and Evergreen Trees” ($94).
The Asian category had about 50 lots and only three lot — a rug, a Burmese bronze Buddha and a Chinese porcelain punch bowl — failed to sell. A large Qing dynasty famille verte planter with motifs of precious objects and a character mark poem earned the highest price, almost quadrupling its $400 high estimate to make $1,586. Other high prices in the category included $1,625 for a near pair of large porcelain immortal figures, $1,375 for a Kangxi-style powder blue planter with a carp design and $1,250 for a lot of three porcelain cylinder vases.
Naudeau’s will host a general sale in the beginning of October, with its Major Fall Americana & Chinese sale to follow at the end of October. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 860-246-2444 or www.nadeausauction.com.
