Despite being one of the first springlike Saturdays in March, Tim’s 18th annual Cabin Fever auction on March 27 brought buyers out in droves, crowding into the Litchfield Fire House for a varied offering of some 600 lots of furniture, gold and platinum jewelry with diamonds and rubies, fine art, gold and silver coins, Black Forest, clocks (lots of clocks) and art.
This year’s event, the first of Tim’s auction season, confirmed auctioneer Tim Chapulis’ mantra: “Put together a great auction and you’ll get a great crowd.” Bidders were lined up well before the promised 9 am preview, and when the doors remained locked after 9, they began shaking them to get attention.
The first of a grouping of gold coins to be offered at 10:30 included a collection of approximately 60 coins offered individually. They grossed more than $28,750, according to Chapulis. Dating between 1800 and present day, the American gold coins in denominations of $2½, $5 and $20 sold between $350 and $800 apiece.
The marathon auction closed at 7:30 that night. The gallery was packed early on, with all seats taken and dozens standing in the back of the room; people came and went all day, keeping the sales floor as active as the bidding.
Jewelry and coins attracted much interest and brought robust prices, but the story of the auction was the large collection of clocks. Topping the day was a Gale astronomical clock with four dials from the Welch Clock Company, Forestville, Conn., which struck a high note at $6,900.
The second highest grossing clock was a European bronze, double fusee with angels adorning the elaborate top that attained $4,312 from a Massachusetts collector. “Unlike years past, our crowd was mostly collectors and people who were looking for something for their home, not dealers,” Chapulis said.
Other clocks that did well included a Foster Campos banjo clock at $3,047, a Waltham banjo brought $2,415, an oversized bronze carriage clock shone at $2,070, and a large, intricately carved and excellent condition Black Forest cuckoo clock was a good buy at $920.
A late addition to the sale came in the form of an Arts and Crafts/Art Deco fine inlaid clock with a cupboard that had been brought into the United States from Europe for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. With many people inspecting it carefully, a floor bidder took it home for $2,012, and Tim congratulated the local on a “good buy.”
Jewelry in the auction was topped by a 14K gold lady’s ring with a solitaire 1.75-carat diamond that sold at $4,427. Chapulis termed the lot a “good buy,” given the appraised value exceeded $13,200. A second ring with 2.17 total carat weight brought $2,530. Moments later, a woman’s diamond ring with 1.13 carats total weight sold to the room for $2,300.
Fine art also triumphed in the form of paintings. An oil on canvas of a woman with a cat in her lap was received too late to advertise, but fetched $517 from a dealer on the floor. A landscape painting signed Clifford Worden (born in London and moved to Massachusetts, according to a handwritten note on the back of the canvas), was dated 1891 and sold to the room at $517. Another small oil on canvas was signed “Helck ’20” (possibly by listed artist Peter Helck [1893-1988]) and showed people sitting under an arched bridge. There was fierce competition from a phone bidder, but the floor won out at $920.
While there was much phone bidding on many lots, Chapulis said the gallery seemed to win out most of the time, with the exception of a few items.
Stamps attracted much attention, and a collection from a Litchfield estate included several albums that, all together, brought $6,325 †one album alone realized $4,312. Another “small” highlight was an Old Sachem bitters bottle that sold at $489.
Smalls dominated the auction, a trend that Chapulis has been seeing recently. “It seems like the market is being taken over by the smalls †easily carried items †especially jewelry and stamps are the way to go. The pendulum is moving from furniture to other high-end collectibles,” he said.
There were a few notable furniture standouts in the auction, however, including a four-piece walnut parlor set by John Jeliff (1813‱893) with a marble top table, a settee and two lady’s chairs that sold for $2,875. A Regina music box with many discs also brought $2,875, a walnut Renaissance Revival partners’ desk with extending side panels sold to the phone at $2,070, and a Kendall broken arch mahogany chest went for $1,552 to the buyer who carefully looked it over during preview and “got a good buy,” according to Chapulis. “Mahogany furniture is not where it was,” he said, noting the market is good for people looking to buy large furniture pieces now.
Chapulis was also pleased that more than $1,500 was raised at the door for St Jude’s Children Hospital, a cause dear to his late father, Peter. During the auction, Chapulis and his staffers, both men and women, wore colorful ties specially designed by St Jude’s.
Tim’s next auction will be back in the firehouse on April 17. An art and estate auction, the wine and cheese preview donations and several lots will benefit the Martina Animal Sanctuary of Bethlehem, Conn. Then, on June 5 (and possibly June 6) Tim is excited to offer the private collection and the contents of an antiques store owned by Thomas McBride, a longtime resident, collector and dealer from Litchfield. This will be onsite at McBride’s home and shop, 62-64 West Street, at the historic Trowbridge-Thoms house.
All prices reported include the 15 percent buyer’s premium. For information, www.timsauction.com or 800-255-8467.
