Multiple international bidders were in pursuit of this painting of an Italian peasant boy, which was cataloged as “after Camille Corot.” It sold to an international buyer, bidding on the phone, for $93,750. It was the highest price achieved in the two-day sale ($300/500).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring, Photos Courtesy Everard Auctions

SAVANNAH, GA. – Everard Auctions and Appraisals presented its Spring Southern Estates auction in two sessions, June 1-2, during which nearly 600 lots spanning multiple categories were offered. With an excess of 80 percent of the lots successfully crossing the block, and more than one quarter surpassing high estimates, the sale achieved a total of $438,127.

When we caught up with Amanda Everard after the sale, she said there had been very active bidding and they were “very happy.”

International bidders were out in force to compete for the sale’s top lot, a painting of an Italian peasant boy after Camille Corot (French Italian, 1796-1875), which is a copy of the original that is at the National Gallery in Washington DC. It came to Everard from a private Savannah estate collection. In the end, it found a new home with an international buyer who was bidding by phone, for $93,750.

The same private Savannah estate collection sold the sale’s second highest lot, a luminous seascape by Francis Augustus Silva (American, 1835-1886) that sailed to $12,500 from a phone bidder. Titled “Early Morning Sailing,” the 11½-by-19½-inch oil on canvas had been purchased from a 2007 auction at James Julia, where it achieved $47,150. Everard said it sold to a phone bidder, for $12,500.

“That was a beautiful painting that had some restoration,” Amanda Everard said of “Early Morning Sailing” by Francis Augustus Silva. A phone bidder took it to $12,500, the second highest price realized ($15/25,000).

Another work from the Savannah private estate collection was a dark still life of a pumpkin painted in oil on canvas by Antoine Vollon (French, 1833-1900) that had a provenance that included the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, the collection of M. Norbert Pain, and a 2001 sale at Sotheby’s New York. The 46¼-by-56-inch painting had been restored but was in its original giltwood frame that had some losses. Despite this it exceeded expectations and sold to an online buyer for $8,320.

Nearly 175 lots – spread out over both days of the sale – were from the Savannah estate of Murray C. Perlman, who had been a partner in Savannah Galleries Antiques; Everard was selling Perlman’s personal collection. Some of the top sellers from Perlman’s collection were carpets, including a Heriz carpet that sold to a Canadian buyer for $10,000. Other highlights from Perlman included another Heriz ($5,625) and a view of the Telfair Museum by Myrtle Jones (Georgia, 1913-2007), which attracted a lot of local interest, sold to a buyer in Savannah for $4,375.

Also staying in Savannah is “Picking Cotton” by William Aiken Walker (American, 1838-1921), which brought $11,250. The work had been authenticated to Walker and had previously sold at Brunk Auctions in 2018 and, before that, Doyle Auctions in New York City in 2011.

This miniature portrait, done in watercolor on ivory, had an inscription on the back that read “Joseph Brammer, Ages 24 years, By Miss Biffin. A woman without legs or arms, August 24th, 1814.” An online bidder took it to $2,688 ($1/1,500).

One of the works Everard thought was particularly interesting was a miniature portrait, done in watercolor on ivory, of Joseph Brammer and attributed to Sarah Biffin (British, 1784-1850). What was particularly interesting about the miniature was that Biffin had been born without hands, arms or feet and learned to paint by holding a brush between her teeth. An inscription on the back of the frame identified both the sitter and the artist; it came to Everard from a private collector in Bluffton, S.C., and sold to an online buyer for $2,688.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.

Everard Auctions and Appraisals’ next sale will take place in October and will feature the collection of Savannah dealers and collectors John and Ginger Duncan.

For information, 912-231-1376 or www.everard.com.