:Shattered records livened up the already lively Northeast
Auctions' Marine and China Trade sale as no fewer than four world
record prices were achieved on a single sultry summer afternoon.
Speaking early on the morning after the sale auctioneer Ron
Bourgeault was euphoric, "I am on cloud nine. It was the most
exciting auction I've ever had in my life!" At $9.7 million it
was Northeast Auction's best sale ever, beating out the $9.1
million of two weeks earlier
The previously undocumented Fitz Henry (the artist known
previously as Fitz Hugh) Lane portrait of the bark "Eastern
Star off Thatcher's Island, Gloucester," a circa 1853 oil on
canvas, was the star of the day when it brought $913,500. The
24-by-36-inch ship portrait went to a Boston-area agent bidding
for a private collector. The painting had a provenance of the
Norman Flayderman collection. Despite a visible signature, the
painting was an undisputed treasure.
John Singleton Copley's particularly fine portrait of Benjamin
Loring, a Boston physician who served in the Royal Navy, was a
record $473,500.
As he offered the carved Bellamy eagle that brought a record
$666,000, auctioneer Ron Bourgeault said simply, "The best." Then,
after he hammered it down, Bourgeault smiled and confided to his
audience, "For 50 years in the business, I've always dreamed about
getting the record [for a Bellamy]." Now he has. The 48-inch eagle
bore a banner with the inscription, "God is our refuge and
strength."
A Bellamy carved plaque with the banner "Don't Give up the Ship"
was another record, this one for a plaque, at $165,500 from a
phone bidder.
The action persisted throughout the nearly 1,400-lot sale. Two
bidders slugged it out late in the second session for lot 1283, a
small (8 inches) pair of Chinese Export famille rose bottle-form
vases with lotus blossoms that they drove to a stunning $545,000.
The vases carried a modest estimate of $400/600. As it turned
out, the vases were made in the imperial factory for the domestic
market and not for export, as previously thought.
A Chinese Export porcelain covered cider jug decorated on both
sides with an American eagle was a remarkable $127,000. It, too,
sold on the phone. Bidding on a 171/2-inch Chinese porcelain moon
flask painted with a dragon on either side opened at $30,000 and
raced away to $172,000. The flask came from the collection of
Thomas E. Kirby who founded the American Art Association as did a
191/2-inch Chinese blue and white porcelain gourd-form vase that
was estimated at $900-$2,500 and fetched $17,400.
Two record prices for scrimshaw were achieved. The sperm whale
tooth pictured at the top of the picture was carved by Edward
Burdett of Nantucket and represents the Nantucket whaler
Pacific. It sold for a record $203,000 for Burdett to a phone
bidder. The large sperm whale tooth pictured below was carved
by the Pagoda/Albatross artist depicting whales, a Federal
house, foliage, stars and a moon. It brought a scrimshaw record
of $303,000.
John Singleton Copley's circa 1785 portrait of the elegant
Benjamin Loring was yet another record when it sold for $473,500.
Loring, a Loyalist from Boston, served as a physician in the Royal
Navy during the Revolutionary War.
A scrimshawed whale's tooth carved with the image of a whale ship
and four whale boats harpooning five whales by the Pagoda
Albatross artist fetched a whopping $303,000.
A second tooth, with an image of the whaler Pacific by
Nantucket carver Edward Burdett, sold on the phone for $193,000,
eclipsing the record $182,500 set at Bonham & Butterfields'
May 31 sale in Brookline, Mass. Both teeth came from the families
of the original owners.
A handsome narwhal tusk carved in the form of a staff went to a
determined bidder who outlasted all competitors and took the cane
for $12,180. The piece was carved in the form of a knotty branch
entwined with snakes.
Figureheads from the collection of George F. Harding, Jr, and the
Harding Museum created frenzied bidding. A carved elm figurehead
of a woman in a purple and blue dress trimmed in gold came from
the brig Martha and went for a compelling $270,000 to the
same agent who bought the Lane painting.
A Chinese porcelain moon flask painted with dragons drew
determined bidding and sold for $182,000.
An English pine figurehead carved in the image of Lord
Palmerston in about 1820-1830 brought a substantial $204,000 while
another English example, a full-length carved pine figure of a
woman holding a nosegay and wearing a gilded tiara, realized
$81,200.
Six phone bidders chased the 1848 marble "David and Goliath" by
Thomas Crawford, one of four known examples, that went to an
impressive $128,000.
Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait's 9-by-12-inch "Six Baby Chicks" drew a
spirited competition between the phones and a room bidder. The
picture sold for $75,400 to William Samaha bidding in the room.
Theodore M. Wendel's 1890 oil on canvas "Haystacks, Giverny" also
brought $75,400.
An American sailor's woolwork of an American ship near a
lighthouse beneath an eagle with a vivid stars and stripes shield
and four flags sailed to a woolie record of $71,920. As he sold
it, Bourgeault admitted, "I know it's high, but I've never seen
as good a one."
An exceptional oil on canvas portrait "Three-masted Ship in a
Harbor" by Irish artist George M.W. Atkinson was dated 1858 and
sold for $83,520. An Antonio Jacobsen picture, "The American
Steamer Concho on the East River, Passing the Brooklyn
Bridge," was a historically interesting depiction painted in 1895
and sold for $67,280.
An American market Chinese Export porcelain covered cider jug
was decorated boldly with American eagles, stars, a banner,
cannons and military symbols. It sold on the phone for $127,000
but only after Bourgeault reminded the underbidder in the room,
"The hearse is not followed by the Brink's truck."
A ship painting of historic interest, "The Ship
Brooklyn Approaching Liverpool," sold for $34,800. The ship
left New York in 1846 with 230 members of the Church of Latter Day
Saints aboard, bound for California, which was part of Mexico at
the time. Six months later the ship arrived in Yerba Buena (the
early name of San Francisco) where the passengers settled in until
1848 when all relocated to Salt Lake City. The successful bidder is
a descendent of a passenger on the ship.
Prisoner-of-War bone ship models from the Lloyd collection
attracted very solid money. The star of the collection was an
11-inch Napoleonic model of a 70-gun ship sold for $72,500;
another Napoleonic example that was 121/2 inches long was
$69,600. Both ships carried estimates of $5/8,000.
Bidders really wanted two canes and were willing to pay for them.
A carved ivory and mahogany cane with ivory and abalone inlay
opened at $9,500 and ended only at $31,160. A whale bone example
with ebony inlay realized $24,360.
A small (7/8-inch) George Washington mourning pin after the
pencil drawing that Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de
Saint-Memin made in about 1798 was rare enough to command a final
price of $34,800. The piece was inscribed "Geo. Washington, ob,
14 Dec. 1799, ae. 68." Saint-Memin made miniature engravings of
the portrait after Washington's death.
All prices reflect the buyer's premium.
For information call 603-433-8400 or visit .
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