A rare centaur weathervane became the subject of a great deal of attention at Fairfield Auction this past Sunday, September 12, as it sold for more than a quarter-of-a-million dollars.

The fresh-to-the-market vane had been picked “in the countryside,” according to Fairfield’s Jack DeStories.

Bidding on the lot opened at $10,000 with several in the gallery competing with four phone bidders. Woodbury dealer David Schorsch and his partner Eileen Smiles, who were standing near the bank of phones, “jumped in a little over $100,000” stated DeStories, with the pair claiming the lot at $253,000.

“We bought it for stock,” declared Schorsch, “It is one of three examples that I have seen and is in by far the best condition of the three.” The dealer stated that the unusual weathervane had a “neoclassical feeling about it” with a “great balance between elegant and delightful. It’s one of the rarest weathervanes I have seen in years,” he said, “and it just surfaced out of nowhere.”

-DSS