With several estates and collections, James D. Julia’s winter antiques and fine art auction January 25-27 enticed bidders with artwork, nautical items, folk art, historical pieces, Victorian furniture, glassware and antiques. The sale blew past presale expectations of $1.4 million to a firm $1.9 million.

“The interest in this sale was phenomenal,” sales coordinator Bill Gage said. “The combination of remarkable items from the estate of former Maine Senator J. Hollis Wyman, the Woolworth Collection (FW Woolworth department store family) and various impressive collections from across New England made this sale an important offering.”

The biggest surprise – and the sale’s top lot – was a numbered pair of scrimshaw sperm whale’s teeth dated 1833 and signed Josiah Shefield, Jr. Decorated with a variety of ships, American flags, a female figure, and an account of successful whaling expeditions, the teeth were recently discovered in a house in upper New York State and are believed to have never been out of the family until now. The pair chewed through its $15/25,000 estimate seven times over, fetching $109,250.

The first session was devoted to American artwork with the occasional gem from other corners of the globe. One such treasure was an outstanding and large bronze ($30/50,000) of a majestic stag by Italian sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti.

This bronze stag by Italian sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti realized $87,400.

Works by this artist in this size are scarce, and bidding wasfierce. Two phone bidders locked horns, taking it to $87,400.American bronzes also fared well. Louis McClellan Potter’s figuralgroup of a native Eskimo carrying a rifle, accompanied by four dogssold above estimate at $18,400.

Of the more than 300 paintings in this session, American art included highlights from the Rockport-Gloucester School and the Hudson River School. Anthony Thieme’s “Motif #1, Rockport, Mass.,” was an oil on canvas harbor scene showing a red building at the end of a wharf in Rockport Harbor. It finished up at $31,625. A mountain scene ($6/8,000) with a rustic cottage in the foreground by Ernest Lawson was a popular choice, finishing up at $16,675.

European art also held surprises. A panoramic view of hills and streams by Edmund Hottenroth brought 20 times its $1/1,500 presale estimate at $19,550.

Session II focused on folk art and the nautical genre. An oil on canvas portrait of the American bark Ellie off Le Havre, by French artist Edouard Adam from the J. Hollis Wyman estate realized $17,825.

Another historically important lot was a carved and gilt wood ship’s figurehead of a lion from the USS Constitution that quadrupled its low estimate to sell for $46,000.

Folk art standouts included a portrait of a young girl and her doll attributed to Joseph Whiting Stock that sold for $6,900, a 1929 Ward Brothers red head drake decoy for $5,462, a flying steeplechase horse weathervane attributed to A.L. Jewell & Co. at $35,650 and a large folk art wool bed rug from the Voter Family of New Vineyard, Maine, that sold for $4,600.

Furniture highlights included an English Chippendale George III mahogany games table with folding top over a tooled leather surface and carved pockets, all raised on well-carved cabriole legs, that sold above estimate for $9,487; a tiger maple and cherry Queen Anne two-part highboy that was a good buy at $2,300; and a Victorian oak mirrored sideboard with leaded glass doors, pink frosted and jewel glass flower panels and a large carved shell fan with two winged cupids that realized $11,212.

This steeplechase horse weathervane attributed to A.L. Jewell & Co. was the darling among a lot of weathervanes at $35,650.

Decorative arts highlights included a pair of covered saucetureens in famille rose from the FW Woolworth collection that twobidders fought to $19,550, an important pair of Chinese Exportarmorial plates decorated with pink floral clusters and turquoisepanther heads fetched $5,980 and a large camille faure Limoges vasefeaturing enamel decoration in a modernist Art Deco design withheavy tapered white blocks and silvered bottom and top at $9,200.

Jewelry highlights included a diamond and 14K yellow gold brooch centered with a 1.15 carat old European cut diamond with 56 diamond melees sold for $4,025; a pink sapphire, diamond, and platinum lady’s ring featuring a center oval cut 1.75 carat at $2,530; and a sapphire, diamond and 18K white gold bracelet that brought $3,565 over its $1,5/2,000 estimate.

Rare automobiles were represented with a 1951 Bentley Mark VI Saloon in outstanding condition that sold for $23,000 and a restored 1912 Hupmobile featuring a four-cylinder engine and original three-speed standard right hand chugged its way to $8,050.

All prices include the 15 percent buyer’s premium. For information on upcoming auctions, 207-453-7125, email jjulia@juliaauctions.com or visit www.juliaauctions.com.