LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. — A large bird tobacco jar by Robert W. Martin of the London-based Martin Brothers studio was the top lot at Rago Auctions two-day September sales as it flew away to $112,500, square between estimates. The salt-glazed bird was 16¾ inches tall and was executed in 1894. Other Martin Brothers works also found competitive interest, including another bird tobacco jar executed three years later, 10 inches tall, which took $26,250, and an 1888 salt-glaze creature tobacco jar by the same hand, which went off at $16,250.
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