“Evening Still” by Lanford Moore, 24 by 36 inches, oil on Masonite, achieved $6,765 and the sale’s highest price ($2/4,000).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring

VALATIE, N.Y. — Autumn is closing in, at least that’s what Old Kinderhook Auction Company (OKAC) thought and made it the title of its most recent auction on August 27. Promising “a massive single owner collection of club couture and preppy chic, Chinese antiques, fine art and bronzes,” the 914-lot event was just the thing to close out the summer, with less than a dozen lots failing to sell from the podium. The sale was advertised as no-reserve, with many of the featured lots scoring the highest prices of the day.

“It was all superior quality; it wasn’t just things that looked good but weren’t,” said Errol Farr, co-owner, who confirmed the single-owner collection was from New England. He also noted a good portion of it sold to buyers in the New York City area.

Lanford Monroe’s (American, 1950-2000) oil on Masonite “Evening Still” depicted a foggy landscape with geese alighting on the water of a pond at dusk and perfectly captured the spirit conjured by the sale’s title. Some bidders may have seen it in the company’s pre-event advertising. The exposure may have helped garner interest, and bidders took it to the sale’s high price of $6,765, with a buyer in New York City having the prevailing bid. Farr noted, it came to auction from a Connecticut estate.

A new client at Old Kinderhook Auction Company paid $6,150 for this watercolor depicting gentle waves on the shore by Charles H. Woodbury ($400/800).

Five lots all gaveled down for $5,000 — $6,150 with buyer’s premium — and shared the second-highest price. Achieving this first was “Waves on the Shore,” a watercolor on paper composition by Charles Herbert Woodbury (American, 1864-1940). It was part of the single-owner collection but Farr said it sold to a buyer who had not previously acquired anything from OKAC.

A few lots later, the same result was achieved by a group of six framed, pen and ink Doonesbury comic strips, dating from 1971 to 1977, by Garry Trudeau (American, b 1948). The group covered various topics, including the military, Jackie Onassis and Marxist theory and came from a New York City collection; a private collector won them for $6,150.

The price of $6,150 was again matched a couple hundred lots later by Tim Shinabarger’s (American, b 1966) “Black Timber Bugles,” a striking bronze of a bugling 12-point elk that also hailed from the single-owner collection. It was the highlight of the selection of nearly two dozen bronze sculptures in the sale and had also featured in the event’s ad.

The Chinese furniture from the single-owner sale came along about half-way through the sale but interest was still strong and pockets were still deep enough to earn several pieces the same $6,150 price. A red lacquer opium bed, that was catalogued as Nineteenth Century and had heavily carved and pierced woodwork and gilt accents as well as mother-of-pearl inlay, sold to a New York City buyer, who also paid $6,150 a few lots later for a Chinese hardwood altar table.

This “immense” Chinese red lacquer opium bed stood 98¾ inches tall and 84 inches wide and was the centerpiece of the firm’s pre-sale ad. It sold for $6,150 to a New York City buyer ($2/4,000).

A rare 60-piece service of Le Tallec gilt porcelain, made for Tiffany & Co., in the Directoire pattern, rose to $4,613. According to Farr, “It was never used, or maybe just once. Tallec is unique even among Tiffany; everything is signed with a message and is a higher level of quality. You almost never see it; it probably retails for $500 per plate.” The service had also been included in the firm’s pre-sale promotional materials.
Old Kinderhook Auction Company’s next sale date has yet to be announced.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 518-912-4747 or www.oldkinderhookauction.com.