Frederick W. MacMonnies, “Nathan Hale,” circa 1890, bronze, 28 inches tall, the base signed and with foundry marks, achieved $54,900, the highest price of the day ($75/125,000).

Review & Onsite Photos by Madelia Hickman Ring

WINDSOR, CONN. — Edwin “Ed” Nadeau, Jr, has been conducting a sale on New Year’s Day for long enough that he couldn’t remember exactly when the tradition started, only that it was “probably 35 years ago.” At the time, he was still in Colchester, Conn., and he got an estate from West Hartford and thought, “let’s do it on New Year’s Day and see what happens. While the sale might have totaled $80,000, it was jam-packed. We looked at each other and said ‘we’re on to something here,’ and that was that.”

The sale is usually comprised of between 700 and 800 lots or so, and often takes all day to sell, but the house keeps bidders supplied with food: donuts and coffee in the morning and catered lunch in the afternoon. And when we say “all day,” we do mean that: with a starting time at 10 am, the sale was just closing 11 hours later, around 9 pm. More than 96 percent of the 731 lots in the sale traded hands, for a total of $2.5 million. Nadeau noted that the lots that sold had an aggregate low/high estimate of $1.8-2.4 million so they did better than expected. “We were very pleased with the sale overall,” he declared.

A 28-inch-tall bronze of Nathan Hale by Frederick William MacMonnies (American, 1863-1937) was at the top of the sale with a $54,900 result. The piece, which came to Nadeau’s from the Farmington, Conn., estate of Dr Eric Van Rooy, had at one time been handled by Colchester, Conn., dealers, Nathan Liverant and Son Antiques. It had foundry marks and a deep brown patina and was acquired, Nadeau said, by a private collector.

“Le Genie de la Mer” by Carlo Sarrabezolles, 1936, patinated bronze, 50 inches tall, came to auction from a New York City estate and sold for $36,600 ($6/12,000).

Another bronze that also did well was “La Genie de la Mer,” by Carlo Sarrabezolles (French 1888-1971). Executed in 1936, the figure of the sea god Triton was the model for a larger model originally meant for the ocean liner Normandie, which is presently installed outside the line’s corporate headquarters in Marseille, France. It measured 50 inches tall and came to auction with an estimate of $6/12,000; with interest, it brought $36,600.

The jewelry and watch category is usually a strong one at Nadeau’s and this sale was no exception, with nearly 350 lots that got the sale off to a strong start. A 7.15-carat diamond engagement ring, accompanied by a GIA report, achieved $51,850; the price was the second-highest finish and the highest in the category. Nadeau noted it was part of a “big group of jewelry” from San Francisco that his son Edwin “Eddie” Nadeau III flew out to get. “It had been originally appraised as cubic zirconia, but when we got it here and started testing it, we realized it was a diamond.”

It was followed at $34,160 for a Graff 18K yellow gold and diamond necklace with 111 marquise diamonds weighing 35.5 carats, and $25,620 for a Chopard Imperiale chronograph wristwatch with 18K yellow gold band and case.

Despite selling nearly at the end of the day, this Nineteenth Century West Persian Ziegler Sultanabad palace-sized carpet — 16 by 20 feet — brought the third highest result of the event: $45,140 and nearly doubled its $15/25,000 estimate.

Rugs brought up the rear of the sale, so to speak, but even at the end of the day, the high prices some of them achieved proved Nadeau’s bidders came with money to last throughout the auction. Achieving the third highest price of the sale at $45,140 was a Nineteenth Century Ziegler Sultanabad palace-sized carpet that measured 16 by 20 feet and had a blue, orange and red floral designs on a tan palette. A similarly aged and only slightly smaller Oushak example realized $12,200, while a room sized Serapi from a Bloomfield, Conn., estate rounded out the category at $7,930.

Two-dimensional fine art is also a typically strong category. Exceeding expectations at $30,500 was Frank Earle Schoonover’s (American, 1877-1972) “He Got Lawson on his Powerful Back,” an oil on canvas original illustration that was not only included in the artist’s catalogue raisonné but was published by Lawrence Mott twice, the first time in the May 1906 issue of Outing magazine and again in 1907. It came to auction from the collection of Mr and Mrs Jeffery D Hall and had been fully restored.

Other pieces of fine art of noteworthy result included “Au Champ de Mars, Paris,” a small (4 by 6 inch) oil on board by Robert Henri (America, 1865-1929) that came from a Park Avenue (New York City) estate. Previously auctioned at Christie’s in 1991, where it sold for $12,100, it also listed in its provenance exhibitions at the Parrish Art Museum (Water Mill, N.Y.), Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), the Albany Institute of Art (Albany, N.Y.), the Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse, N.Y.), the New Britain Museum of Art (New Britain, Conn.) and the Williams College Museum of art (Williamstown, Mass.). Nadeau’s more than doubled its last selling price, gaveling it down for $29,280.

This 105-by-136-inch black and gold lacquered wood panel was made in 1953 by Paul Etienne Sain and Henri Tambute and depicted a forest landscape. It sold for $29,280 ($20/40,000).

A three-part decorative panel that evoked a tapestry-like forest landscape with foliage, birds and animals within a stylized border traded hands for $29,280. The piece had been painted in 1953 by Paul Etienne Sain (French, 1904-1995) and Henri Tambute (French, 1911-1987) and was published in the January/February 2024 issue of Veranda magazine. Its price seems like a good bargain, considering the piece brought $47,000 when it was auctioned at Christie’s in 2008 and was recently listed on 1stDibs, for $165,000.

A selection of antiquarian books and maps from a Manhattan collection included the two-volume The Complete Angler, written by Izaak Walton in London in 1836 and bound in Cosway bindings. The set was gaveled down at $21,960 by Gavin Nadeau, Ed Nadeau’s grandson, a budding auctioneer who we interviewed in a Q&A (Antiques and The Arts Weekly, August 11, 2023) when he was 12 years old.
Nadeau’s next auction will take place on January 25.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For additional information, 860-246-2444 or www.nadeausauction.com.