: A Federal sideboard with carved figures and brass claw feet
topped a recent estate auction at Richard Villa's. The rare
piece, one of numerous quality furnishings sold, attracted buyers
from throughout the Northeast to the Wednesday auction.
Richie Villa commented the day of the auction that he likes the
Wednesday schedule as it weeds out a lot of the people that are
merely looking for something to do on a Saturday afternoon.
"We get a serious crowd," stated Villa as he glanced around the
crowded auction hall, "these people are here to buy," he stated
with a smile. As might well be expected the crowd was made up
primarily of the trade and they too seemed happy with the
Wednesday date.
The tea table sold for $1,870.
The standing-room-only crowd bid actively throughout the sale
snapping up everything offered from decorative bronzes to
Chippendale case pieces.
The top lot was a rare Federal sideboard with carved figures and
brass ornaments, either from Philadelphia or Baltimore, according
to the auctioneer.
The sideboard, picked up from a small Connecticut auction and
consigned to Villa's, opened for bidding at $10,000 and moved
back and forth in the room to the $15,000 mark. A telephone
bidder then jumped into the action and battled with a buyer in
the room that eventually bought the lot at $40,700.
Other top furniture lots included a nice Chippendale linen press
of Connecticut origin, circa 1780, that sold for $8,800; a
Chippendale game table with ball and claw feet, $3,575; and a
nice Sheraton sewing table with reeded legs, work bag and cookie
corners realized $2,035. A period ball and claw foot mahogany
serving table with a recent marble top did well at $1,870, the
same price was paid for a pie-crust tilt-top Chippendale table.
The auctioneer in action.
A nice Federal corner washstand with inlay sold at $770, an
English four-drawer chest $1,100 and a Pembroke table realized
$550.
A selection of cold painted ornate Victorian bronzes were hotly
competed for with a large pheasant selling at $1,650, a cockatiel
$990, a rooster $990 and a bronze shorebird $945.
An unusual brass fire screen decorated with a Louis XV style
painting and surrounded by ormolu mounts and fancy sweeping
cabriole legs sold to a telephone bidder from California who was
up early. The buyer had called to arrange for his spot on the
telephone at 8:30 am our time, meaning he had gotten up at 5:30
to make the call. Bidding time was a little more realistic for
the Californian as the piece went off at noon here bringing
$1,760.
Other items sold included a pair of astral lamps that were bid on
actively by several in the crowd with them selling at $1,100, a
rare South Jersey glass covered sugar bowl sold at a reasonable
$165, a mohair teddy bear $330, an Ingraham regulator clock $220,
a pair of cranberry lustres $605 and a Tiffany sterling
presentation trophy pitcher brought $2,640.
