This 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Roadster Convertible was far and away the highest-selling lot in all three days of the Summer Splendor auction, speeding off with $81,250 ($80/120,000).
Review by Z.G. Burnett
THOMASTON, MAINE — The Summer Splendor auctions at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries is an annual event that draws international bidders and collectors in nearly every category of fine and decorative arts. This year’s edition featured consignments from the collection of pioneering American talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael (b 1935) and the estate of Herb Belkin (1938-2001), the visionary music executive and arts benefactor who supervised the high-fidelity remastering of original records from artists such as Frank Sinatra, The Beatles and Queen. The auctions were conducted from June 27 to 29, with an accumulated total of $1.3 million and an 88 percent sell-through rate of more than 1,500 lots.
Racing far past every other lot during the three days of auctions was a 1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SL Roadster Convertible that sold for $81,250, to an online bidder. Developed from the 280SL Pagoda in 1967, the last Roadster iteration is widely regarded as the model’s best. Within its handsome cream and chrome-accented exterior, the vehicle had an automatic transmission, gear selector and a burgundy leather and fabric interior. The lot included its hard top and fabric convertible canopies, as well as a spare tire stored in the trunk that retained its original leather cover. The convertible was in overall excellent condition and only showed 61,685 miles on the odometer.
Asian, primarily Chinese, art showed the best numbers per category, starting the first day off with strong sales. First was an eight-character Chinese astrological fortune in gouache and gold on paper mount, known as a GanZhi BaZi, which achieved $18,750. Based on the traditional Chinese “stem-branch” calendar that records the year, month, day and hour with “heavenly stems and earthly branches,” its characters show a person’s “year stem, year branch, month stem, month branch, day stem, day branch, hour stem and hour branch” that are known as “pillars” when paired. The chart was marked “From Yellow Temple, Peking” and was formatted to hang over a door.
Known as a GanZhi BanZi birth chart, this gold-gouache fortune led the first day’s auction and the Asian art category at $18,750 ($200/300).
Another fortunate bidder won a bronze goat head sculpture, one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, for $4,375 and far past its $400/600 estimate. The charming image resembled that of another sculpture in the Qing emperors’ gardens. Originally made to be mounted on a stand, the goat’s head showed traces of plaster but was in otherwise great condition.
Animal motifs were multiplied in the finely detailed dark wood carvings of an Anglo-Indian sofa, created in Burma circa 1880. It carried an impressive provenance as a gift from a Norwegian ambassador and was once in Raphael’s private collection. The sofa found a new home for $3,750 and more than doubled its high estimate of $1/1,500.
The second day’s top lots were a survey of Nineteenth Century American art, almost all Romantic landscapes, except for a portrait: “Mrs Leyland, Speke Hall, Liverpool” by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), which led its category at $18,000. Unlike dramatic, sweeping scenes of rural splendor, Whistler worked for an accurate, subtly detailed depiction of his subjects. “Mrs Leyland” sat between color blocks of black and white, referenced by her cloak, hat and pearl necklace. Whistler composed his paintings through color, using musical terminology to explain his palettes and compositions. Though the hands are indistinct, almost dissolving in shadow, the lady’s flushed face is full of expression as if she and the artist were sharing a private joke. Leyland was married to a “new money” Liverpool shipping magnate as well as friends with Whistler and Dante Gabriel Rossetti (English, 1828-1882), whose model she was for his “Monna Rosa,” now in a private collection. The artists had extended visits at Speke Hall, periodically being thrown out for arousing Mr Leylands’s suspicions of his wife’s infidelity.
“Mrs Leyland, Speke Hall, Liverpool” by J.A.M. Whistler was the highest-bid work of art in the second day’s auction at $18,000; though somber in tone, the subject’s almost teasing manner belies a series of misadventures involving her, Whistler and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Next in oil paintings was “Mount Katahdin” in current day Northeast Piscataquis, Maine, by Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900) that sold for $13,200. The canvas only measured 9 by 12 inches, yet the space that Church created between the viewer and the mountain, the mountain and the sky, shows a reverence for the view and the land, itself.
No less captivating was “The Great Fire of New York, June 16, 1835,” an oil on canvas by Nicolino Calyo (1799-1884), who was known for his scenes of this subject. Although Calyo’s painting showed much more action than Church’s, the viewer is still far removed from the main event. The tiny firemen and onlookers are next to powerless against the flames, and their buildings diminutive when enveloped in smoke that rises into flame hundreds of feet above. Like other Romantic paintings, “The Great Fire” hints at the power of natural elements and their ability to decimate human civilization without warning or compassion. This event occurred during an economic boom for New York City that was counteracted by the estimated $20 million of property damage (about $624 million in 2024) wrought by the fire. Estimated at $5/7,000, Calyo’s painting achieved $10,200.
The third day’s offerings were more eclectic, including the 1971 Mercedez-Benz Roadster and other antique vehicles, fine jewelry, decorative and contemporary art. Many of these were consigned from the Herb Belkin estate, such as a Rock-Ola Bubbler CD-8 Jukebox, one of the maker’s most well-known designs that perpetuated a staple of American pop culture imagery. This model was inspired by the Wurlitzer 1015, the first “original jukebox,” sharing its grille and earning its own name from the bubbles traveling through eight translucent tubes bordering the jukebox’s walnut case. With a 100-CD capacity, its disc loader was modeled after the older versions that played 45 rpm vinyl records but instead contained Belkin’s personal playlist and record prints featuring The Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, Frank Sinatra, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. Its high estimate of $3/5,000 was doubled to $12,000.
Prices quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ Summer Grandeur auctions will be conducted August 29-31. For information, 207-354-8141 or www.thomastonauction.com.
