A truly superior work by George Inness titled “The Villa Borghese, Rome, 1871†depicts 40-plus individual figures in colorful dress strolling through the park along marble steps beneath a canopy of trees. The piece, with its provenance to Stanford White, a famous New York City architect, found a buyer at $132,250.

For more than 30 years, James D. Julia has conducted an annual major end-of-summer auction, usually at various coastal resorts. This year, Julia’s decided to bring this major auction home, and saw solid results.

The August 25′9 auction sale of more than 2,000 lots was the largest grossing antiques and fine arts sale Julia’s has had in-house. With 1,225 registered bidders (live and absentee) representing 17 countries, bidding was robust and proved that fresh, conservatively estimated goods can fetch strong prices. The capacity crowd along with active Internet participation and a telephone bank helped push the final tally to exceed $3.1 million against a preauction estimate of items sold of approximately $2.7 million.

Featured was a recent discovery of an oil on canvas by Martin Johnson Heade titled “Apple Blossoms,” fresh from a New York home and formerly part of the collection of William Mason, Esq, who purchased it from the artist. It more than doubled its low estimate to attain $126,500.

The auction featured a recent discovery of an oil on canvas by Martin Johnson Heade titled “Apple Blossoms.†This strikingly realistic floating image of a blooming apple tree branch made a strong showing. Coming fresh from a New York home and formerly part of the collection of William Mason, Esq., who purchased it from the artist, it exceeded its $50/75,000 estimate to sell for $126,500.

Another major offering was a work by George Inness, “The Villa Borghese, Rome, 1871,” depicting more than 40 individual figures in colorful dress strolling through the park, going out at $132,250. From the same collection came a large interior scene by Marguerite Pearson of a young woman in a well-appointed room with an Oriental influence. “The Blue Kimono” sold for $37,950.

Rounding out the art offerings were Anthony Thieme’s “Entering Port,” which brought $32,200, and two paintings by Emile Gruppe, one a winter forest scene and another showing a brook with rocks and boulders in the early morning sunlight, each fetching $24,150. European and other international art was led by British artist Edward Seago’s “Morning Mist, Pin Mill” that doubled its high estimate to achieve $59,800.

The focus of Session III centered on folk art, nautical antiques and an array of historical and political items.

An outstanding carved Northwest Coast cedar oil dish in the form of a bird was a showstopper, bringing $39,100, well above its estimate of $8/12,000.

An American pictorial hooked rug by Nancy Shippee, circa 1851, of a floral arrangement saw active bidding and realized $32,200 against a $10/20,000 estimate, while another key find was a rare diorama of nearly 60 linen panels with watercolor scenes or vignettes depicting historical scenes sewn together in a panorama that sold for $11,500.

Of historical interest was a rare and important crossover piece for collectors of folk art. A Washington family silk embroidery wrought by Mildred Gregory Washington, niece of General George Washington, depicting a young woman and man holding haying implements beneath a large willow was a bargain at $16,100.

Other folk art included several Nineteenth Century figural copper weathervanes. A bull and a full-bodied codfish headed the selection and sold for $10,350 apiece. A life-sized zinc statue of an Indian warrior holding a bow and arrow, standing atop a rock and stump plinth, took $28,750.

Also included was the largest collection of Lawrence Irvine fish carvings to come to auction and hailed from the Marie and Don Stone collection. Highlights included a salmon mounted to a backboard carved in the shape of the state of Maine at $4,300, a 26-inch char at $2,800 and a fat brook trout on a birchbark State of Maine plaque for $4,100.

The selection of folk art included this American pictorial hooked rug by Nancy Shippee. It saw very active bidding, bringing $32,200.

An offering of Oriental rugs and Chinese Export porcelain from the William Hoeschle estate included a pair of classical-style urns in the Lowestoft taste that sold for $9,487 and a semiantique Peking Oriental carpet that brought $8,050.

Furniture standouts include a smoke and paint decorated Maine Sheraton stand on turned legs and in original red paint, selling for $12,075. Other period furnishings consisted of a Fred Wingate tall clock of Augusta, Maine, signed and numbered 171, for $13,800 and a pair of classical mahogany card tables by Anthony Quervelle of Philadelphia at $6,325.

Rounding out the sale were a carved Northwest Coast cedar oil dish in the form of a bird at $39,100, well above its $8/12,000 estimate; a bronze by Harriet Frishmuth depicting a nude woman with outstretched arms, selling for $11,787; and a botanist’s scrapbook containing examples of algae pressed on to individual pages at $9,200.

All prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For more information, www.jamesdjulia.com or 207-453-7125.