A dealer
purchased this Chinese Chippendale-style mirror for
$36,000.
/I>
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - Harlowe-Powell Auction, Ltd conducted an
on-site event at Ellerslie Farm in Albemarle County, Va.,
liquidating a number of period and reproduction pieces of
furniture, fine art, and decorative accessories, as well as a
poster collection, all belonging to billionaire John Kluge. For
Kluge, it was a bit of "attic cleaning," but for the several
hundred people in attendance, it was an opportunity to acquire
some treasures that have been stored away from public view for
many, many years.
Many of the pieces of furniture were acquired by Kluge in 1990
when he purchased a mansion, Enniscorthy, in southern Albemarle
County, together with its contents. Other items had been acquired
over an extended period of time and either used in one of his
many residences in Virginia, Palm Beach, New York City or Germany
or in his offices throughout the United States.
Kluge made his fortune in communications, owning Metromedia, and
throughout his lifetime has been a major patron of up-and-coming
artists. Part of his extensive art collection was included in
this sale, but the auction house will also conduct a specialized
fine art sale of items belonging to John Kluge on October 14.
Highlighting the July 6 sale was an eight-foot-tall Chinese
Chippendale-style mirror, which sold for $36,000 to a dealer on
the phone from New York City.
A Queen Anne sidechair went to a major Virginia dealer for
$26,500. A Georgian console table, featured in The Shorter
Dictionary of English Furniture by Ralph Edwards, was
purchased on the floor by a dealer from Europe for $28,000.
A pair of Italian mirrors went for $13,700 to a dealer who had
driven up from Texas, who also won a Louis XVI commode for
$4,000.
Five original gouaches of Ice Capades theme girls created a lot
of interest, with the 1948 theme girl selling for $1,200, the
1951 theme girl for $2,600 and the 1960 theme girl for $2,800.
Among the vintage posters, the Rural Electrification
Administration posters commanded the highest prices, with one
picturing a light bulb reaching $3,700 and one featuring a faucet
going for $3,500. A vintage poster, "East Coast by L.N.E.R.,"
picturing three bathing beauties fetched $2,800.
Prices quoted do not include buyers premium.
