: Litchfield County Auctions' (LCA) February 16 online auction on
iGavel was one of several very successful auctions that kicked
off 2006 for the online website. Overall, the sale was a great
success, according to the auctioneer, selling 509 out of 571 lots
for a sell-through rate of 89 percent. The 509 items had a
combined presale estimate of about $400/600,000 and sold right at
the top of that estimate for $600,000.
The sale was very evenly distributed, with many lots reaching or
exceeding their presale estimates, but few huge surprises. There
was a very good level of property, which buyers recognized, and
they bid accordingly. The highest priced single lot was a Tiffany
desk set in a rare Spanish pattern that earned $25,200. The
result was well above the estimate, but not a total surprise in
that Tiffany always does well.
An exciting Old Master painting depicting a battle scene between
Christians and Turks doubled its presale estimate of $4/6,000 to
finish at $13,800. And a pair of Dutch Italianate Seventeenth
Century paintings estimated at $5/8,000 sold for $10,500. There
were a great many paintings in the sale that did extremely well,
from Old Masters to Nineteenth Century paintings, like the little
European School, Nineteenth Century "Town Harbour Scene," which
was estimated at $800-$1,000. It was featured on LCA's homepage
and eventually sold for $6,300. The Marcellin Laporte painting
"Boat ride" was estimated at $4/6,000 and brought $8,100.
Pair of large terracotta recumbent figures of lions, possibly
Italian, late Nineteenth/early Twentieth Century, sold for
$10,530.
One of the most striking lots in the sale was a pair of
life-size terracotta recumbent figures of lions, possibly Italian,
that sold above their $5/8,000 estimate, bringing $10,530. What was
particularly interesting about this sale was that the lions had
been offered previously at a major New York auction house where
they were bought in. The lions were purchased by a Western buyer,
who bid for them online and is having them shipped - each one
weighs approximately 500 pounds.
Modern art continues to do well. There was a selection of Modern
prints and paintings, including a late pair of Roy Lichtenstein
lithographs that made $9,420; of two Jasper Johns "Flag" prints,
one sold for $6,600 and the other for $5,640; a Matisse etching
fetched $8,100; a series of Motherwell lithographs made $6,900;
and a Jim Dine lithograph, estimated at $1/1,500 was the "heart"
of the valentines sale and realized $5,160. A painting by Gerald
Coarding sold for $9,600, while seven works by George Pearse
Ennis sold in five lots for a combined total of more than
$10,000.
Although traditional "basic brown" furniture continues to
struggle, several lots of decorative antique furniture did quite
nicely. A Georgian-style paint decorated two-part bookcase, that
was partially Eighteenth Century and partially Nineteenth and
Twentieth Century, sold for $7,620, and an interesting little
Eighteenth Century Continental fruitwood inlaid chest of drawers
made $5,460.
Pottery, porcelain, silver, glassware and other smalls all did
very well. A group of 21 Canton porcelain items,
Nineteenth/Twentieth Century, sold for $4,026, and a Tiffany
& Co. sterling silver water pitcher brought $1,920. Group
lots did well, including jewelry. One buyer's assessment was that
dealers were starting to collect material for their spring shows
and the group lots were appealing to these dealers. Whatever the
reasoning, demand pushed group lots such as 97 small sterling and
silver items and 57 posters, prints and paintings 20-30 percent
above their high estimates.
Roy Lichtenstein, "Still Life" and "Table, Chair and Lamp,"
sold for $9,420.
As in all auctions, even on the Internet, there were a few
items that slipped though the cracks and were purchased very
reasonably. A series of nine lithographs by Charles Le Corbusier
estimated at $5/8,000 sold on a single bid for $3,600, while a
large, humorous, illustration painting by Irving Sinclair sold
below its $6/9,000 estimate, bringing $4,680. Another illustrator
painting titled "Old Tree" by Steven Dohanos sold for just $464.
In the furniture department, a folky, Swiss paint decorated
marriage armoire, dated 1824, Hans Jacob Schled and Anna Barbara,
sold at its starting price of $2,160. An Eighteenth Century
Chippendale chest of drawers, together with a glass door bookcase
top, estimated $2/3,000, sold on a single bid for $1,440.
All prices reported include the 20 percent buyer's premium. For
information, 860-567-4661 or email info@lcainc.us.
