Nice Buys Make Merrill's Worth The Trip While Bombe Merits Bargaining

WILLISTON, VT.

:Located a few miles from Burlington, Duane Merrill & Company Gallery may be closer to Montreal than Boston, but with the advent of discount carriers like Jet Blue the salesroom is a $54 plane ticket away from JFK in New York. That and a buyer's premium that's still only ten percent make this old-time country auction an inviting destination for shoppers looking for fresh estate goods ranging from English furniture to gemstones to Indian pottery and Brazilian painting.

Merrill's October 22 auction of important Americana highlighted these serendipitous opportunities, along with the vagaries of the market for American furniture in less-than-perfect condition.

"It was a mixed sale, typical of what you see across New England right now," said Duane Merrill. The son of Vermont dealers, Merrill grew up in a house filled with American furniture and folk art in a time when pickers stopped by nightly to negotiate prices on entire lots of goods. Merchandise is scarcer now and prices are higher. On the flip side, electronic communications have opened up a global audience for Merrill, who founded his business in 1967. Several years ago he was joined by his son Ethan, a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. Another son, Todd, formerly of Christie's, sells Twentieth Century furniture and lighting in Manhattan and was featured in the October issue of Architectural Digest.

The estates of Eleanor Smith of New Jersey and Genevieve and Patrick Hill of Charlotte, Vt., plus property from a historic home in Bennington, Vt., and articles consigned by various institutions made up the bulk of this sale.

The lead lot was a Salem or Boston Chippendale mahogany bombe chest of drawers. One of the rarest and most desirable of American furniture forms, a bombe chest in perfect condition could bring upwards of a million dollars; a refinished bombe chest might do half of that. In 2003, a bombe chest-on-chest fetched $1.8 million at Skinner.

But this bombe had problems. The top drawer was new, commissioned by Merrill to replace the original one, which had been stolen. The drawer had been removed from the chest when thieves broke into the New Jersey home and it was ultimately used as a carrying container for the small items they heisted. The replaced drawer didn't completely discourage top dealers in American furniture, many of whom requested photos and condition reports, came to the gallery or sent representatives.

What appears to have killed the sale was evidence that the chest was actually the base of a chest-on-chest. Several days before the auction Duane Merrill removed the chest's top, which wasn't molded in the typical fashion and appeared to be of later vintage. The auctioneer found tiny nail holes suggesting that original moldings had been removed before the top was added. At 42 inches wide, rather than 38 inches, the dimensions of the piece also suggested that it was a base of a chest-on-chest, rather than a chest of drawers.

"I'm passing it even though its not reserved. It's my fiduciary responsibility," Merrill said from the stage when he couldn't get $10,000 from bidders in the room. By Monday after the auction Merrill was in discussion with a half dozen possible buyers. Whoever ends up with the bombe is getting a desirable fragment, most likely for a very good price.

One of the auction's most enchanting specimens was a diminutive lift top blanket chest of pine. It rested on a tiger maple frame with a shapely scalloped skirt and cabriole legs ending in pad feet. The quirky construction and mix of woods scared some bidders away, but old surface and graceful proportions and details reassured buyer Frank Gaglio, among others. The country piece sold to the upstate New York dealer and show promoter for $5,225.

Another unusual piece was a New Hampshire Queen Anne highboy with its original flame finial and brasses, height 821/2 inches, in old Spanish brown paint. It sold to collectors seated in the room for $8,250.

"The bonnet projected in a way that made some people think it was added later, but projecting bonnets are a typical New Hampshire feature," the auctioneer explained.

Merrill cited a Chippendale cherry slant front desk with a restored base but a generally attractive appearance as just the sort of functional household furniture that might have commanded double the price a few years ago. The desk left the block at $825.

Nice buys included a pair of miniature sailor's valentines under their original Victorian glass domes, $165; a 12-by-5-foot two-part gate, possibly J.W. Fiske & Co., $3,850; a folk art watercolor and ink on paper drawing of a flying machine, $2,200; a red and white friendship album quilt with blocks, some from New Orleans and Philadelphia, signed in ink, $358; and beautifully executed schoolgirl watercolors, the most appealing of which was $523.

Massachusetts dealer Grace Snyder snapped up one of the biggest bargains, an 1809-12 silk memorial by Tabitha Thompson, for just $3,300. A peripheral split in the silk and some deterioration to the paint on the glass mat were the only condition issues on a beautiful piece in otherwise fine condition.

The high lot of the day was not American but English. Measuring over 80 inches tall, an elaborately carved and gilded mirror with a Prince of Wales plumed crest went to Lucinda Seward for $12,650.

"Our stock is more eclectic these days," said the Vermont dealer, who is better known for Americana.

An English oak tall case clock crossed the block at $2,970. A George III oak two over three drawer chest was a good buy at $495.

Paintings of regional interest found a ready market. One outstanding example was a tiny oil on canvas view of the old Bromley House Inn in Peru, Vt., a landmark for skiers. The painting garnered $5,940.

It was no surprise when "Black Throated Diver (Loons)," a 393/8 by 26 inch elephant folio Audubon print went to an absentee bidder for $7,700, despite minor losses to the margins.

Jewelry was surprisingly in demand among the sweater and hiking boot-clad audience. Highlights included an enamel and diamond bracelet, $2,970; a sapphire and diamond ring, $5,500; and an emerald and diamond ring, $8,250.

"It was estate jewelry, all fresh to the market. Sales were split between dealers and collectors," Merrill explained.

"A lot of what we sell falls comfortably into what many collectors can afford. With a little persistence, you can put together a very nice collection here," Merrill, who conducts between 30 and 50 auctions a year, said after wrapping up on Saturday.