A good assortment of antiques and decorative arts created quite a bit of interest in lower Westchester County on March 28, bringing strong prices throughout the daylong sale at Clarke Auction Gallery. Buyers rolled into the gallery throughout the morning on Sunday, and by sale time at 2 pm, a standing-room-only crowd filled the auction hall.
Merchandise was fresh to the market, having been culled from numerous estates throughout Westchester and the tri-state area, although the main attraction proved to be the select merchandise offered from a “prominent New Jersey estate” that has been in storage for the last 30 years.
C&C Auctions, also known as Clarke Auction Gallery, was started in 1998 and is owned and operated by Ronan Clarke, an Irishman who began his career in Ireland and came to New York in 1988 via London. Since his arrival, Clarke has moved from being a picker to owning two retail antiques stores and All Boro Estate Liquidators, to opening his own auction gallery, which he says quickly became “Westchester’s premier” auction facility.
Clarke surveyed the capacity crowd and then began to tend to the details of the sale, explaining that he had changed the date of the auction so as not to conflict with the Holy week of Passover and Easter. Scanning the crowd for reaction, the auctioneer reminded everyone that he was indeed a “good Irish Catholic.”
Among the other pertinent news related by the auctioneer, Clarke announced that the auction house will be relocating to a new facility on the Post Road in Larchmont sometime in May, or, as the auctioneer quipped, “As soon as we can make enough room in there to have a sale.”
The auction was well received, with Clarke indicating to the crowd that his usual blistering pace might be slowed slightly as more than 650 phone bidders were registered, along with a host of absentee bids. Setting a quick pace, the auctioneer offered a small oil on canvas winter scene from a Long Island estate as the opening lot. Estimated at $200/300, Clarke moved it out briskly at $58. An Old Master-style painting that had been in the New Jersey cache was offered a few lots later, with it going out above estimate at $1,880.
The top lot of the auction came as a rare tulipwood and rosewood ormolu-mounted and inlaid French marble top commode was offered. Another of the items to have been discovered in the storage unit housing the New Jersey estate, the lot attracted global attention, with numerous international phone bidders participating. Clarke commented that a couple of the bronze mounts had been removed by the gallery during the inspection and the initials “B.Y.” were discovered. Attributed to the maker Beurdeley, the rare piece measured 7 feet long and stood on dore bronze claw feet. Clarke estimated the lot at $20/30,000, despite some of the bronze mounts having gone missing over the years.
Clarke opened the lot for bidding at $10,000 and got it right away from a phone bidder. Three of the ten-plus phones active on the piece hammered away at the lot as the auctioneer advanced the bids in $1,000 increments. At $20,000, the auctioneer raised the advances to $2,000 and the action remained quick paced, and it slowed little when he jumped the bids to $2,500 at the $30,000 mark.
At $40,000 a new phone bidder jumped into the fray and he appeared to have won the lot at $50,000, when Clarke asked for $55,000 as the next advance. All was quiet for a moment until another new telephone bidder hit the lot and claimed it at $64,625, including premium. Pleased with the price, Clarke quipped that there would be other items from the storage unit of equal quality coming out in the near future.
Other furniture sold included a burlwood bronze mounted parlor set comprising a center table and three carved chairs that sold for $5,581, and a pair of Louis XVI-style bronze vitrines on stands and a Gothic-style Victorian center table each realized $4,112,
An Empire Trumeau mirror with a large oil painting of a salon scene depicting women in period gowns did well at $2,575.
Midcentury Modern furnishings saw competitive bidding, with a Charles Eames-designed “La Chaise” by Vitra selling to a phone bidder after competitive action from the floor at $4,406.
A black and white lacquered credenza more than doubled estimates at $1,645, as did a Gucci umbrella stand when it, too, sold for $1,645.
“Lionne de Senegal” by A.L. Barye, a bronze of a lioness, sold for $2,820. A couple of lots later, a bronze of a Russian Cossack signed in Cyrillic “Lanceray” was offered; brisk phone action pushed the price to $11,750.
Other items sold included a selection of lighting, with a pair of large bronze sconces from the New Jersey estate selling at $5,581, while a set of four silvered Rococo-style sconces brought $3,172. A pair of lamps in the form of knights saw quite a bit of bidding, with the lot going out at $2,585, as did an ornate brass chandelier.
A large marble planter with carved ram’s heads did well, bringing $4,700, a Parisian architectural-form street sign realized $1,175, and a cast iron and polychrome Dutch crest made $1,057.
A couple of estate-fresh carpets saw active bidding, with a large Sarouk bringing $2,820, while a carpet with a large center medallion sold for $1,527.
Prices include the 17.5 percent buyer’s premium charged. For further information, 914-833-8336 or www.clarkeny.com .
