The highest price of the sale — $19,680 — was awarded to this emerald ring with an 18K yellow and white gold custom-designed jacket by David Webb. The jacket was set with 16 diamonds (0.05 carats each) and almost quadrupled the high end of its $3/5,000 estimate.
Review by Kiersten Busch
TIMONIUM, MD. — On June 26, Richard Opfer Auctioneering conducted an eclectic 425-lot sale, its Antique & Estate Live and Online Auction, which was split between the firm’s physical location and one of the consigning estates, located in Parkton, Md., where a selection of carriages, sleighs, stoves, carpets and select primitive furniture made up lots 351-425. With only 16 lots passing, the sale had a 96 percent sell-through rate and earned $319,437.
Office manager Laura Gast reported the firm was “Very satisfied overall” with the sale. “It was overall a strong auction due to the honesty of the merchandise and its freshness to the market. The majority of the items in the estate had come from a historic inn. The last owner, who is now deceased, had added honest furniture and furnishings to the home during his lifetime and the prices reflected that. The items that passed did not have reserves — they were mostly farm items in rough condition.”
Gast also shared information about the bidding pool, explaining, “We had registrants from all over the world, but most, if not all of, the key lots were purchased by domestic bidders. Some were in attendance, some were online, some were via phone bid. Many of the bidders were already known to us as established clients.”
Slipping onto its new owner’s finger for $5,228, this platinum ring was set with a 1.01-carat natural fancy round brilliant-cut yellow diamond, two transitional-cut round diamonds and six baguette-cut diamonds ($6/9,000).
Leading the sale was a platinum ring set with a 6.01-carat emerald, encased in an 18K yellow and white gold custom-designed ring jacket by David Webb. The jacket, which had a foliate design, was set with 16 diamonds. The ring slipped onto its new owner’s finger for $19,680, almost four times the high end of its $3/5,000 estimate.
Six other rings found new hands and homes, with prices as low as $431 for a star sapphire and ruby ring, and as high as $5,228 for canary yellow diamond ring with a platinum setting. The latter’s center stone was the aforementioned canary yellow diamond, which was GIA-certified as a 1.01-carat natural fancy, round brilliant cut yellow diamond. It was set between two transitional cut round diamonds and six baguette cut diamonds.
A selection of four watches, three wristwatches and one pocket watch, also attracted bidder attention. A 14K yellow gold Oyster perpetual Presidential Rolex men’s wristwatch went for the highest price of the five, surpassing its $6/8,000 estimate to tick to $9,225. The watch was set with 32 round diamonds and 12 round emeralds around its face, weighing approximately 106.8 pennyweights total. Also selling were a Tag Heuer Autavia wristwatch ($3,444), a diamond and sapphire ladies’ wristwatch ($185) and a pocket watch marked “18K” ($2,706).
This flip-top, faux grain Sheraton card table, 29 inches high 26 inches long 18 inches deep, had various painted gilt designs such as cornucopias, staffs and arrows and stood tall at $13,530 ($500-$1,000).
Furniture was led by a painted card table in the Sheraton style. The painted designs on the flip top table consisted of gilt-painted cornucopias, staffs and arrows, among others. It had brass circular rosettes and foot caps. Crossing the block for more than 13 times the high end of its $500-$1,000 estimate, the table stood tall at $13,530. A Sheraton upholstered chair made in Baltimore earned the next highest price at $12,915. Made of mahogany, the barrel-backed chair had scrolled arms and reeded turned legs.
Forty-five lots of paintings crossed the block, with prices ranging from $49 for a group of three small oil on Masonite street scenes by Amie Willer, to $2,829 for an oil on panel by Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen (German, 1813-1886) of a young girl gathering flowers and vines.
A subcategory of paintings by Haitian artists made up 22 lots and was led by Castera Bazile’s (1923-1966) “Combat de Coos,” an oil on Masonite that depicted a chicken fight. Signed to the lower right, the work surpassed its $500-$1,000 estimate to achieve $1,845. Franek Louissaint (1949-2021) was represented by two works, an oil on canvas street scene ($923) and an oil on canvas with Masonite backing depicting a woman and young man working with baskets ($615). Haitian master sculptor and painter Jasmin Joseph (1923-2005) had four works in the sale, with prices as low as $160 for a depiction of an angel retrieving water from a tree for a worker, and as high as $677 for a work with rabbits, birds and a hunter.
Opfer’s next auction will be a timed, online-only sale closing on July 24. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 410-252-5035 or www.opferauction.com.
