: In a departure from its usual schedule and "modus operandi,"
Lincoln Galleries recently conducted a sale billed partly as a
"warehouse clear-out sale," but offering a large selection of
porch, patio and lawn furniture, and garden decorations.
The exhibition, in July 26, was a delightful experience.
Customers entering the room first encountered a table of
refreshments from her Sumptuous Sweets menu befitting the hot
summer day: crustless tea sandwiches, dainty lemon rosebud cakes,
iced tea and lemonade. The room was filled with bamboo and rattan
porch furniture arranged in charming seating and dining groups.
The highlight of the sale came early in the furniture session,
when a remarkable Victorian white painted cast-iron potting
stand, with a very Gothic look to it, came on the block. The
piece stood about 8 feet tall and had small stylized dog-head
decorations on each upright. Even with its later coat of white
paint, now very much moss- and other-stained, and missing its
central drawer, the stand drew incredible presale interest.
Bidding was highly competitive; hopeful buyers on the floor were
competing with left-bids and telephone bidders who had
commandeered all four available phone lines. In the end, an
elated buyer in the room took the piece for $10,925, a "wow" of a
buy that drew spontaneous applause from everyone else in the
room.
Victorian cast-iron two-sided garden bench, $460.
It certainly was the sale to buy outdoor furniture and
accessories. An elegant Kingsley Bate teak patio set consisting of
round umbrella table, four armchairs, umbrella and stand went for
$719; a charming and whimsical Victorian cast-iron two-sided bench
brought $460, and a pair of black painted cast-iron
rectangular-shaped planters also sold for $460. Also, a whimsical
cast-iron dolphin supported and putti figural fountain brought
$345, as did a handsome pair of traditional style black cast-iron
garden urns, and a handsome pair of tall white painted cast iron
garden urns with swan neck handles went for $230.
Among the more traditional pieces in Tuesday's sale, a dark
stained grandmother clock by John Thompson of London sold for
$2,875; a handsome Chippendale-style mahogany bookcase secretary
with individual mullioned glass doors, slant front writing
surface and cock beaded drawers brought $1,610; and a mahogany
partners' desk went for $518.
Two other lots worthy of note were a Nineteenth Century framed
oil on canvas, a large (601/2 by 38 inches) study of a family
grouping, which sold for $518, and a handsome Handel-style
reverse painted table lamp on a bronze pedestal base, which
brought $460.
Prices cited include the 15 percent buyer's premium.
