Shattered records livened up the already lively Northeast Auctions’ Marine and China Trade sale as no fewer than four world record prices were achieved on a single sultry summer afternoon. Speaking early on the morning after the sale auctioneer Ron Bourgeault was euphoric, “I am on cloud nine. It was the most exciting auction I’ve ever had in my life!” At $9.7 million it was Northeast Auction’s best sale ever, beating out the $9.1 million of two weeks earlier

The previously undocumented Fitz Henry (the artist known previously as Fitz Hugh) Lane portrait of the bark “Eastern Star off Thatcher’s Island, Gloucester,” a circa 1853 oil on canvas, was the star of the day when it brought $913,500. The 24-by-36-inch ship portrait went to a Boston-area agent bidding for a private collector. The painting had a provenance of the Norman Flayderman collection. Despite a visible signature, the painting was an undisputed treasure.

John Singleton Copley’s particularly fine portrait of Benjamin Loring, a Boston physician who served in the Royal Navy, was a record $473,500.

As he offered the carved Bellamy eagle that brought a record$666,000, auctioneer Ron Bourgeault said simply, “The best.” Then,after he hammered it down, Bourgeault smiled and confided to hisaudience, “For 50 years in the business, I’ve always dreamed aboutgetting the record [for a Bellamy].” Now he has. The 48-inch eaglebore a banner with the inscription, “God is our refuge andstrength.”

A Bellamy carved plaque with the banner “Don’t Give up the Ship” was another record, this one for a plaque, at $165,500 from a phone bidder.

The action persisted throughout the nearly 1,400-lot sale. Two bidders slugged it out late in the second session for lot 1283, a small (8 inches) pair of Chinese Export famille rose bottle-form vases with lotus blossoms that they drove to a stunning $545,000. The vases carried a modest estimate of $400/600. As it turned out, the vases were made in the imperial factory for the domestic market and not for export, as previously thought.

A Chinese Export porcelain covered cider jug decorated on both sides with an American eagle was a remarkable $127,000. It, too, sold on the phone. Bidding on a 171/2-inch Chinese porcelain moon flask painted with a dragon on either side opened at $30,000 and raced away to $172,000. The flask came from the collection of Thomas E. Kirby who founded the American Art Association as did a 191/2-inch Chinese blue and white porcelain gourd-form vase that was estimated at $900-$2,500 and fetched $17,400.

Two record prices for scrimshaw were achieved. The sperm whale tooth pictured at the top of the picture was carved by Edward Burdett of Nantucket and represents the Nantucket whaler Pacific. It sold for a record $203,000 for Burdett to a phone bidder. The large sperm whale tooth pictured below was carved by the Pagoda/Albatross artist depicting whales, a Federal house, foliage, stars and a moon. It brought a scrimshaw record of $303,000.

John Singleton Copley’s circa 1785 portrait of the elegantBenjamin Loring was yet another record when it sold for $473,500.Loring, a Loyalist from Boston, served as a physician in the RoyalNavy during the Revolutionary War.

A scrimshawed whale’s tooth carved with the image of a whale ship and four whale boats harpooning five whales by the Pagoda Albatross artist fetched a whopping $303,000.

A second tooth, with an image of the whaler Pacific by Nantucket carver Edward Burdett, sold on the phone for $193,000, eclipsing the record $182,500 set at Bonham & Butterfields’ May 31 sale in Brookline, Mass. Both teeth came from the families of the original owners.

A handsome narwhal tusk carved in the form of a staff went to a determined bidder who outlasted all competitors and took the cane for $12,180. The piece was carved in the form of a knotty branch entwined with snakes.

Figureheads from the collection of George F. Harding, Jr, and the Harding Museum created frenzied bidding. A carved elm figurehead of a woman in a purple and blue dress trimmed in gold came from the brig Martha and went for a compelling $270,000 to the same agent who bought the Lane painting.

A Chinese porcelain moon flask painted with dragons drew determined bidding and sold for $182,000.

An English pine figurehead carved in the image of LordPalmerston in about 1820-1830 brought a substantial $204,000 whileanother English example, a full-length carved pine figure of awoman holding a nosegay and wearing a gilded tiara, realized$81,200.

Six phone bidders chased the 1848 marble “David and Goliath” by Thomas Crawford, one of four known examples, that went to an impressive $128,000.

Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait’s 9-by-12-inch “Six Baby Chicks” drew a spirited competition between the phones and a room bidder. The picture sold for $75,400 to William Samaha bidding in the room. Theodore M. Wendel’s 1890 oil on canvas “Haystacks, Giverny” also brought $75,400.

An American sailor’s woolwork of an American ship near a lighthouse beneath an eagle with a vivid stars and stripes shield and four flags sailed to a woolie record of $71,920. As he sold it, Bourgeault admitted, “I know it’s high, but I’ve never seen as good a one.”

An exceptional oil on canvas portrait “Three-masted Ship in a Harbor” by Irish artist George M.W. Atkinson was dated 1858 and sold for $83,520. An Antonio Jacobsen picture, “The American Steamer Concho on the East River, Passing the Brooklyn Bridge,” was a historically interesting depiction painted in 1895 and sold for $67,280.

An American market Chinese Export porcelain covered cider jug was decorated boldly with American eagles, stars, a banner, cannons and military symbols. It sold on the phone for $127,000 but only after Bourgeault reminded the underbidder in the room, “The hearse is not followed by the Brink’s truck.”

A ship painting of historic interest, “The ShipBrooklyn Approaching Liverpool,” sold for $34,800. The shipleft New York in 1846 with 230 members of the Church of Latter DaySaints aboard, bound for California, which was part of Mexico atthe time. Six months later the ship arrived in Yerba Buena (theearly name of San Francisco) where the passengers settled in until1848 when all relocated to Salt Lake City. The successful bidder isa descendent of a passenger on the ship.

Prisoner-of-War bone ship models from the Lloyd collection attracted very solid money. The star of the collection was an 11-inch Napoleonic model of a 70-gun ship sold for $72,500; another Napoleonic example that was 121/2 inches long was $69,600. Both ships carried estimates of $5/8,000.

Bidders really wanted two canes and were willing to pay for them. A carved ivory and mahogany cane with ivory and abalone inlay opened at $9,500 and ended only at $31,160. A whale bone example with ebony inlay realized $24,360.

A small (7/8-inch) George Washington mourning pin after the pencil drawing that Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Memin made in about 1798 was rare enough to command a final price of $34,800. The piece was inscribed “Geo. Washington, ob, 14 Dec. 1799, ae. 68.” Saint-Memin made miniature engravings of the portrait after Washington’s death.

All prices reflect the buyer’s premium.

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