Boston-area dealers and collectors in the know keep the Antique Co-op and Auction House in their sights for the treasures that show up there.
Auctioneer Tonya A. Cameron runs auctions on a semiweekly basis and has gathered a strong and dedicated following. A Washington, D.C., native, Cameron has been an auctioneer for about ten years and her collecting dates to her childhood. Her January 13 sale of a Boston marine art collection drew a good crowd despite the frosty night, and successful buyers were rewarded with objects that will bring them some very good money. They needed encouragement, though, and after a series of passed lots, Cameron stopped the sale and told the bidding audience to select the items they did want to bid on. No one moved at first, but then they reconsidered and all but about 20 lots were selected and the auction resumed. Cameron said she takes her responsibility to her consignors very seriously and she was not about to give away anything.
A collection of ship models dominated the sale and provided some great buying opportunities. A planked model of the English first rate ship of the line HMS Prince , launched in 1670, was complete with its 100 guns and sold for $1,840. A cased model of the yacht America , the first boat to win the America’s Cup, known originally as the One Hundred Guinea Cup, sold for $1,610. A lithograph by contemporary English marine artist Tim Thompson of that 1851 yacht race sold for $920.
A cased model of the gaff-rigged catboat Sunset brought $920
A model of the English J-class yacht Endeavour, which was a 130-foot racing sloop built in 1934 for the America’s Cup, attracted $690 from an absentee bidder, while an oversized model of the 1895 America’s Cup yacht Defender fetched $460.
A cased model of a fully rigged clipper went to an absentee bidder for $575, while a model of a three-masted ship was $173, and a carved and detailed model of a Chinese junk brought $259.
A working pond sailboat with some good wear was desirable and drew $115, and a large model of a sloop was $104, while a handsome 36-inch mahogany half-hull model brought $416.
A cased model of the tanker Esso Trenton sold for $178 and a very appealing folky marine diorama went to a Sudbury, Mass., dealer for $115.
A 75-inch fiberglass figure of a pirate with a hook and a peg leg was a strong $489 from a retail buyer who intends to use it outside his place of business, which is not nautically related. The same collector got a small sea chest for $207 and a larger, older dovetailed example for $104.
Marine lighting proved to be another area of interest; antique and relatively new pieces were equally attractive. A single starboard lantern with very little wear sold for $224, while a pair of port and starboard lanterns sold for $98 to a buyer who also paid $52 for a single ship’s lantern made in Hamburg, Germany, by J.H. Peters and Bey. A large ship’s lantern went for $98. A copper and brass bulkhead lamp was electrified and realized $144, and a lantern that had old green paint over old red paint and a nice crusty surface went for $190.
A pair of dock lights drew $115, while a highly polished pair of copper port and starboard lights drew $93.
A cased sextant made by the Japanese firm Tamaya went to a phone bidder for $920, and a brass telescope on a tripod went for $184, while another example marked “Ross, London” fetched $115. A cased spyglass was $86.
A brass porthole was $115 to the same buyer who paid $29 each for a small brass binnacle, a model of the Titanic and a model of a sloop. The same buyer took a pair of portholes for $63. A heavy bronze cleat attracted $150, and a brass Willet-Bruce steamship whistle went for $98
A silvered bronze ship’s bell on a pedestal realized $173, and a chrome ship’s spotlight made $126.
A US Navy diving helmet was marked 1941 and went for $328.
Instruments of interest included an English brass telegraph by J.W. Ray and Company of Liverpool and London that brought $489. A brass binnacle fetched $161, while another example marked W. Hartmann, for the Hamburg, Germany, maker, was $92.
A shipmaster’s oak cabinet that had seen some use realized $230. A teak dining table from a sailing vessel was $115, and a ship’s wheel with inlay attracted $184. A nice old pair of wooden oars with locks attracted $52, while a pair of dory oars was $184. A wooden oar suspending a metal life ring enameled “Port of Boston” sold for $230. A box lot of old wooden drop lines and fishing hooks that was found in a warehouse attracted $138.
An Oriental rug woven with a whale and ship design sold for $132, and a hooked rug with nautical elements realized $104.
The selection of nautical paintings and prints gave buyers some good values.
An oil on board whaling scene signed H. McCabe drew $230, and an unsigned oil on canvas depicting yachts racing sold for $230. A watercolor view of a shoreline and sailboats was signed Birdsey and sold for $144, while a framed watercolor seascape signed A. Zandberg realized $115. A framed print of the engagement between the US frigate Chesapeake and the HMS Shannon that had been owned by the late Haley and Steele gallery in Boston sold for $115. A map of the city of Boston in a silver gilt frame was $81.
A scene of ships sailing offshore by Otis Weber was $259, and a lot of two glass floats with interesting knotting realized $69.
All prices reported include the 15 percent buyer’s premium. For information, 781-388-9878 or www.tacauctioneers.com .
