This Nineteenth Century plasterwork frame, circa 1850, 41 by 36 inches, had a plaque on its front marked “Gilbert Stuart” and earned a picture-perfect $20,400, the highest price of the sale ($2/3,000).

Review by Kiersten Busch

COPAKE, N.Y. — Despite renovations and improvements that pushed the sale date back, Copake Auction still maintained its yearly tradition, hosting its 45th Annual New Year’s Auction on January 18, offering 757 lots. Categories included Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century through Midcentury Modern furniture, fine and folk art, posters and prints, period accessories, earthenware and stoneware, quilts and textiles, Nineteenth Century books and more. “I thought the sale was super strong, a lot of action. There were a few standouts” shared Seth Fallon, one of Copake’s owners. “The crowd size was decent, and we had thousands of bidders online and around 7,000 absentee bids.” With only 15 lots unsold, the auction had a 99 percent sell-through rate and realized around $470,000.

Fallon was not phased by pushing the sale back a few weeks. “I personally feel like the whole idea of doing it on New Year’s is not as crux as it used to be. We were very fortunate; the sale was well-attended and had the same vibes our usual New Year’s sale gets. We sold to five different countries and 25 different states.”

Leading the sale was a “rare and important” Nineteenth Century plasterwork frame, which contained eagle shield and American flag motifs as decorations. “I was not really sure how much the frame would bring,” admitted Fallon. “There’s not too much to compare it to, and I wasn’t sure what direction it would go. It did very well! We had a lot of inquiries about it.” The frame flew to $20,400, heading to an institution.

One of 16 offered in the sale, this copper leaping stag weathervane with stand, 29 by 20 inches, sold for the highest price, $7,200 ($3,5/4,000).

A locally-consigned copper leaping stag weathervane jumped to a second-place finish, earning $7,200. There were 16 weathervanes in the sale, all from different collections. “The weathervanes did really well. We’ve always sold tons over the years, since I was really young. It’s something we get frequently, because of the area we live in, we get a lot of country and folk art. This one was a really good form.”

An unexpected third-place finish went to a lot of various New York state maps, atlases and more. “We got a huge collection of books out of a house near us; he had over 100,000 books,” explained Fallon. “It’s something sort of out of our wheelhouse. I was happy to see that the books did really well; they can be a bit tough to deal with in terms of both physicality and research. We were not quite sure how to offer them, but there was a lot of action on them.” Ultimately, they flipped to $6,600.

Nineteenth Century furniture attracted the attention of bidders, with a Shaker table from New Lebanon, N.Y., carving out a $6,300 finish. Dated on its underside, it had provenance to the James Goodman collection. “The Shaker table did well,” shared Fallon. “That stuff can be a little all over the map nowadays, but there was competitive bidding on that, and on the apothecary cabinet.” The cabinet in mention, a 26-drawer example also from the Nineteenth Century, towered over its $300/500 estimate to achieve $6,000.
Fallon went on to share further thoughts about the vast array of furniture on offer during the auction: “The really good country stuff was appreciated and did well, which was good to see,” he explained. “It seemed like things were getting some pretty strong bids. It was a very well-rounded sale, not too many categories suffered.”

This large bronze sculpture by Bruce Ambrose Ojaanimakwa’am “Rolling Thunder” LaFountain (Chippewa, 1961-2024), 30 inches wide by 39 inches high by 8 inches deep, came with a base and was bid to $4,200 ($800-$1,200).

Fine art also excelled, led by a large bronze sculpture by Chippewa artist Bruce LaFountain. Accompanied by its base, the 39-inch-high work was signed and crossed the block for $4,200. An oil on canvas board by March Avery was also raised to $4,200, more than tripling its high estimate. Depicting a mother and child, the canvas had “Bought 1972 Jarvis Galleries, Woodstock, N.Y.,” handwritten on its reverse. “The March Avery painting came out of a local home, and I was happy to see that do well,” said Fallon.

“They came from a local guy, I wasn’t quite sure about how well-received those would be,” Fallon said about a set of four carved wooden carousel panels by Daniel Carl Muller. “They weren’t super intricate, but they did really well.” The group of four sold for $4,800.

The panels were not the only oddities that caught the attention of bidders, however. “All of the carousel things did well,” Fallon continued. “The carousel horses and the Nickelodeon.” The Nickelodeon, manufactured by Cremona Marquette in Chicago, had an Arts and Crafts design and featured stained glass panels. It played a tune to $5,700. “It came from a house in Binghamton, N.Y., that thing was really hard to move! We had to take the door frame off to get it out of the house. Its good to see the oddity stuff do well,” said Fallon.

At the conclusion of the sale, Fallon shared, “the consignors were super happy. We had really positive feedback from them and the bidders.”

Copake’s next auction — an estate auction featuring a similar selection to the New Year’s sale — will be on March 1. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 518-641-1935 or www.copakeauction.com.