A Chicago private collector paid $8,740 for this three piece clock and candlestick set that depicted the devil and fallen angels.

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring

MILLBURY, MASS. — When auctioneer Robert J. Courtney passed away in 2016, he left behind a sizeable personal collection. His widow, Nancy, and one of his four children, Thomas, have resurrected the firm — formerly Bob Courtney Auctions, now Courtney Auctions — and on November 2, offered an initial group of pieces from Courtney’s collection alongside a few other consignments from other local estates in a 266-lot auction (an auction on September 2, 2023, debuted the firm’s new name but did not include any of Courtney’s estate). Late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century furniture, Shelley china, clocks and fine art were among the offerings; Tom Courtney tried to reach as many of his father’s existing clients as possible.

“Dad was a little unusual in that, unlike many other auctioneers, he sometimes owned some of the things he was selling. He did not mind taking some hits on some of his purchases and if someone did not honor a sale on these types of pieces, he would take them home and, after 30 plus years of doing this, he had his entire home furnished with these high end, unusual and rare pieces. I was glad LiveAuctioneers let me keep the same account but I’m hoping folks can follow us so that we can get up to 500 followers to be able to send out notifications to prior clients.”

As it was, Courtney had nearly 350 registered bidders; while most were from the US, he had nine from Canada, three from Egypt, two from China, two from the United Arab Emirates, one from Belgium, one from France and one from Mexico.

“I’ve never seen this before,” Tom Courtney said of the fish and serpent carving that decorated the inside of this 38-inch-tall white marble fountain. A New England buyer won it for $2,588.

A rare three-piece spelter and white metal clock and candlesticks set achieved the highest price of the day: $8,740. Mephistopheles embellished the clock while fallen angels playing instruments decorated the candlesticks. According to the catalog notes, finding just the clock on its own is hard to do and to have the accompanying candlesticks is particularly difficult. It sold to a private collector in Chicago.

Topping off at $2,588 and securing a second-place finish was an antique carved marble fountain that had a bowl unusually carved on the interior with fish and serpents, and an exterior with dolphins along the base. Courtney said it was not part of his father’s collection, rather one privately consigned by a seller who found it at a yard sale.

Antique lighting was an area of particular interest to both Robert and Tom Courtney, and several of the highest selling lots came from that category. A 37-inch-diameter heavy cast bronze pierced theater chandelier with 24 bulbs rose to $2,070, the same price earned by a large Empire style bronze and alabaster six-light chandelier. A trade buyer took those two lots, as well as for $1,955 a pair of acanthus cast-bronze sconces that survived with their original white shades that had been removed from a New Haven, Conn., mansion.

The white shades on this pair of exterior cast bronze acanthus-form sconces once adorned a mansion in New Haven, Conn. Tom Courtney confirmed they sold to a trade buyer for $1,755.

One of Courtney’s existing clients who recently purchased a house on the Great Lakes, picked up several lots of furniture, for prices he said were “about what Dad paid for them.” These would include a Victorian carved oak side-by-side china cabinet by Olbrich & Goldbeck that the catalog noted was “a rare example of Henry Detef Goldbeck (1853-1926) craftsmanship and may even be a unique one of a kind piece;” it earned $1,898. Added to the same invoice was a burled Aesthetic Movement or Victorian center table, attributed to Daniel Pabst, that featured a boldly inlaid top and shelf stretcher ($1,725) and a walnut dining table, in the Belmore pattern, by Berkey & Gay ($63).

Three other pieces of furniture by Berkey & Gay included a walnut server, also in the Belmore pattern, that had lion’s head brass pulls, which sold to a new client in Georgia, for $1,380.

The dates of future auctions of items from Robert Courtney’s collection have not yet been announced.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 508-865-1009 or bca12@aol.com.