Top-lot status was earned by “Stopping for Prayers” by Richard Karlovic Zommer (Russian, 1866-1939), oil on canvas, 16 by 23¼ inches, which rode past its $5/8,000 estimate by tenfold, making $80,000.

Review by Kiersten Busch

EAST MORICHES, N.Y. — South Bay Auctions kicked off the month of October with its Fine Art, Antiques, Modern Design & Sporting auction conducted on the first of the month. The 211-lot sale featured items from estates and private collections, including the estate of Arthur C. and Barbara Westman Danto, among others. “We were pleased with how the sale did,” reported gallery director Sarah Reynolds. While Reynolds chose not to disclose a sale total, she did share that the sell-through rate was 92 percent.

Surpassing its $8,000 high estimate 10 times, “Stopping for Prayers,” an oil on canvas by Russian artist Richard Karlovic Zommer earned the sale’s highest price of $80,000. Signed in Cyrillic to the lower right, the work was unframed, with its canvas measuring 16 by 23¼ inches.

Four paintings by American artist William Aiken Walker earned top prices, led by “Cabin Scene,” an oil on board signed to the lower left and depicting an African American sharecropping family doing tasks outside of and around their cabin. The work earned $7,808, eclipsing its $3/5,000 estimate. Another work titled “Cabin Scene,” this one an oil on academy board, made $7,250, while a pair of full-body portraits of an African American man and woman sold together for $5,250.

Prints from global artists also attracted bidder interest, including Shiko Munakata’s “Self Portrait with Boat on the Hudson River,” which was bid to more than two times its $2,000 high estimate at $4,758. The woodcut on rice paper work was a gift from the Japanese artist to the owners of the consigning estate: Arthur C. and Barbara Westman Danto. It was signed and dated in both English and Japanese on its lower left margin and was inscribed to “Dr Danto” in Japanese to the upper right.

A gift from the artist to Arthur C. Danto, “Self-Portrait with Boat on the Hudson River” by Shiko Munakata (Japanese, 1903-1975), 1959, woodcut on rice paper, 24¾ by 20¼ inches framed, was bid to $4,758 ($1/2,000).

A color aquatint and etching on Fabriano wove paper by Spanish artist Joan Miró titled “Per Alberti, per la Spagna” also made waves, far surpassing its $600/800 estimate to earn $3,750.

A 29½-inch-high figural Cupid mantle clock by Victor Paillard led the decorative arts at $7,320. The Nineteenth Century patinated bronze clock was made in Paris and depicted Cupid holding a mallet and drum. The clock, which was embedded into the drum, had a dial marked “Victor Paillard, Ft de Bronzes, A Paris” in a cartouche.

Eagles seemed to be a popular theme, with two carved and painted wooden eagle-form objects earning high prices. The first was a stern board by Maine-based artist Peter Q. Libbey, which soared to $6,832. The spread-winged eagle was clutching several American flags in its talons and had a wingspan of 58 inches. It was followed closely behind at $5,125 by an unattributed carved eagle ship’s figurehead, which still had original polychrome and gilt remnants.

The second highest price of the sale went to a pair of chinoiserie side chairs with provenance to the Phipps family of Long Island, N.Y. The chairs’ frames were done in red lacquer and had gilt-painted chinoiserie scenes; each crest rail was also carved, pierced and topped with a central shell motif. They surpassed their estimate of $250/450 by more than 21 times, realizing $9,516. Furniture from the Phipps family agreed with bidders, as the next highest price from the category — $4,758 — was also awarded to a piece consigned from their collection: a Regency-era round tilt-top rosewood breakfast table by the Gillows of Lancaster.

This pair of side chairs consigned by the Phipps family of Long Island, N.Y., had red lacquer frames with carved and gilt-painted chinoiserie scenes and were bid to $9,516 ($250/450).

A pair of sterling silver trumpet vases by Tiffany & Company made circa 1907-47 were the front runners for the silver category, earning a polished $5,002 against a $1/2,000 estimate. The body of each 17-inch-tall vase was engraved with script monograms and marked on its underside. Fewer than 10 additional Tiffany lots were offered, but every one sold, ranging in price from $688 for a set of four Makers sterling silver columnar form candlesticks, to $2,000 for a four-piece coffee set in a scrolled silver pattern which included a coffee pot, a covered sugar pot, a creamer and an oval tray.

Sterling silver flatware services were not in abundance, but two sets in particular earned notable prices. The first was a 138-piece set for Theodore B. Starr by Whiting Manufacturing Company in the Lady Baltimore pattern, made in New York City circa 1890-1924. Weighing approximately 112.6 troy ounces and with all pieces marked and monogrammed, the service eclipsed its $1,8/2,200 estimate to set the table for $4,375. Following close behind at $4,000 was an S. Kirk & Son service for 14 in the Signet pattern. Made in Baltimore in the mid Twentieth Century, the set contained 105 pieces and were mostly all monogrammed.

South Bay Auctions’ next sale will take place on December 3. The firm will also conduct a timed, online-only sale on November 22. For information, 631-878-2909 or www.southbayauctions.com.