James D. Julia’s antiques and fine art auction at the Samoset Resort has long been the pinnacle of Maine’s summer auction season. With each passing year, the Fairfield, Maine, auction firm amazes and delights auctiongoers with an even greater offering of fine antiques than the previous year. This time, the three-day extravaganza conducted August 26′8 featured more than 1,700 lots, with a total gross of more than $5 million, making it Julia’s biggest summer antiques auction to date.
The sale featured nearly 750 pieces of fine artwork, high-style Victorian contents of a Gulf Coast mansion, early American furniture, folk art, weathervanes, pottery and fine antiques of every kind from Maine estates and collections. Included were the contents of the Richard Paine estate of Seal Cove, Maine, whose auto museum was a world renowned attraction. His tremendous collection of folk art included a variety of rare weathervanes highlighted by one in the form of a full-bodied standing mule. Circa late Nineteenth Century, this possibly unique form was a must-have for two phone bidders who refused to let it go without a fight. Only one could be victorious in the end, and that is the one who was willing to pay $117,300 with no deference to its $20/30,000 estimate.
The selection of folk art was underscored by an extraordinary carved wood figure of the Goddess of Liberty, which ended up being the top seller of the day. This rare and important, life-size polychrome carving shows the American icon draped in a red and gold-trimmed robe standing on a plinth. The figure was originally discovered by Helena Penrose, an acknowledged authority and dealer on American folk art carvings and colleague of Abby Aldridge Rockefeller. Penrose sold the figure to a wealthy, avid antiques collector in the mid-Twentieth Century, informing him that this figure originally resided in Tammany Hall in New York City during the late teens. The workmanship and provenance of this impressive folk art masterpiece added to its desirability. Never previously offered at public auction, it sold for $143,750.
Paine’s tastes in folk art extended into numerous nautical artifacts such as the actual sternboards from various ships. One from the Percy Cann , a circa 1900 steamship that was wrecked in December 1905 off Nova Scotia, featured a carved spread eagle over elaborate scrollwork. Salvaged from the wreckage, it brought $36,800 versus a $20/30,000 estimate.
The auction consisted of many other nautical items, including numerous ship portraits and an exceedingly rare American pilot chart book published by William Norman in 1803. Detailing the eastern coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Maryland and also including a chart for the West Indies, this was a must for early seafarers braving the new and unfamiliar territory. This example finished at $97,750.
From the Paine estate, ship portraits included one for the Hannah McLoon by Maine artist James Babbidge. Shown in full sail cutting through Rockland Harbor, it cut through its $2/3,000 estimate to finish at $22,425. A large oil on canvas portrait by S.F.M. Badger of the schooner Mary Curtis brought $21,850. An unprecedented offering of 18 Percy Sanborn paintings included landscapes, various domestic animal portraits and, of course, ship portraits, for which the Belfast, Maine, artist is most renowned. His portrait of the three-mast ship Ivanhoe sold for $16,100.
Furniture and Accessories
The sale’s offering of furniture boasted a variety of genres ranging from the simple elegance of early American to the high-style Victorian era. The latter category included a monumental museum-quality, circa 1860, rococo rosewood étagère attributed to John Henry Belter that featured a finely carved crest with a cherub holding a floral garland over two columns fraught with intricately carved birds, flowers, vines and leaves. This all-original piece sold well in spite of a soft Victorian market, bringing $109,250.
Nothing is “standard” about a Wooton “Standard Grade” walnut secretary that featured a three-quarter gallery with burl panels and spool finials. The gorgeous case with elegant carvings and brass hardware opens to reveal a fold-down writing surface and an interior filled with scores of cubbies and compartments. Consigned from an expansive private Gulf Coast collection, it brought $16,100.
The second session included a large quantity of early American and European furniture. A rare pilgrim century Massachusetts carved oak chest attributed to the Savell Shop in Braintree came fresh from a Bucksport, Maine, home with a $6/9,000 estimate and sold for $33,925. A Southern Federal inlaid mahogany sideboard, circa 1810, featured a bowfront central section that incorporates string-inlaid panels above the conforming case within a satinwood inlaid panel. All raised on four string-inlaid legs with banded cuffs, it originated in South Carolina, but spent many years in the aforementioned Bucksport home. It sold for $19,550.
In addition to the furniture, bidders were delighted with an array of accessories, including clocks, jewelry, Oriental rugs, jade, ivory and more. In the clock category, surprises included a fine Queen Anne burl walnut long case clock with 32-day works by Daniel Quare of London. Circa 1710, this elaborate piece with fretwork on the bonnet and gold filigree around the dial, sold for $80,500, far exceeding its $8/12,000 estimate. Another clock that left its estimate in the dust was an Aaron Willard presentation banjo clock decorated with flowers, an eagle and a harbor scene estimated at $2,5/4,000. In a seemingly unending bidding battle, it finally struck $48,300.
A selection of Oriental rugs in the sale included an exceptional Lavar Kirman example. Dating from around the late Nineteenth Century, it depicted a large tree of life within an arabesque arch set off by various flowers and vines. An outstanding example by one of the most sought-after makers, it sold for $21,275.
Other accessories included selections from the Woolworth collection, which proved to be quite popular. The family’s collection of English silver included a heavy cast silver dinner bell decorated with draping swags that surpassed its $300/500 estimate to sell for $12,650. A lot of two Eighteenth Century wood handle silver serving spoons brought $9,200, and a pair of William IV trophy loving cups engraved “Won at Duncannon Races” sold for $8,625.
Fine Art
Session III comprised an entire day of fine art and boasted Julia’s finest array of artwork to date. Of the more than 650 works in this session, bidders seemed to favor European and Russian artists, though quality American art also fared well. From the Woolworth collection, famed five-and-dime store magnates of the early Twentieth Century, a landscape scene by Belgian artist Eugene Verboeckhoven depicted a shepherd leading his sheep back home through verdant pastures before the approaching storm hits. Exquisitely rendered, it hung prominently in the Woolworths’ Monmouth, Maine, residence and sold for $95,450. Not to be outdone was Irish artist Paul Henry’s “Evening in Connemara,” an oil an panel depiction of a calm mountainside lake beside a cluster of thatched roofed houses. Fresh to the market, having descended through the family of the original purchaser, it sold for $97,750.
An oil and gouache on paper scene by Maurice Utrillo that featured several pedestrians walking the back dirt streets of Paris was seen at numerous prestigious expositions before being consigned to Julia’s. Here it brought $85,100, more than tripling its $25/35,000 estimate.
American artists included Martha Walter’s beach scene of Coney Island showing several vacationers relaxing on the shore and in the water with a pavilion in the background. This oil on board scene brought $45,425. An idyllic rural setting landscape scene by George Inness featured several cows drinking in shallow water, while a man in a small rowboat takes in the fading sunset. With a complete pedigree from artist to the most recent consignor, it sold for $39,100. Philip Little’s oil on canvas forest scene of two women out for a sunlit stroll finished at $23,000. Johann Berthelsen’s oil on canvas scene of New York City’s Fifth Avenue in the midst of a snowstorm featured several pedestrians and vehicles fighting to escape the elements. This piece went for $21,850 to a Texas collector in attendance who rarely gets to enjoy a Northeast winter.
Eastern regional favorites included Rockport-Gloucester artists Charles and Emile Gruppe. The younger Gruppe’s “Drying the Sails” depicts the quintessential New England waterfront scene with numerous fishing and sailing boats at port. This piece sold for $23,000. The Gruppe paintings also included Charles’s oil on canvas board scene of fishing boats in Gloucester Harbor that reeled in $12,650. And an unsigned chilling winter scene of lobstermen pulling traps off Monhegan Island ignored its $1/1,500 estimate to bring $12,075.
Prices reported include the 15 percent buyer’s premium.
Julia’s upcoming auctions include a firearms and military memorabilia October 6‷ that will offer between $14 million and $20 million in rare antique firearms; Julia’s toy and doll auction as well as a rare lamp and glass auction will follow in November; and its next antiques and fine art auction is scheduled for February. For more information, www.juliaauctions.com or 207-453-7125.
