The star of the show at Nadeau’s Americana auction this past Saturday, October 22, was a rare and stylish Wethersfield bonnet-top Queen Anne highboy that established a high-water mark for a price realized at the auction gallery. Consigned from a local home, the piece had been collected by a Hartford architect during the 1920s.

In an old and possibly original finish, the highboy possessed what many called the most graceful and sensuous legs seen on any similar case piece. With a pin-wheel carved plinth supporting the upper urn finial, and upper and lower fan carved drawers, one of the only downsides of the piece was the replaced brasses and two drop finials. Nadeau estimated the lot at $100/150,000 and asked for a $100,000 opening bid from the gallery.

No one in the gallery budged; however, one of the six active phone lines hit the lot. It was off and running with bids coming the telephones exclusively, despite several serious clients being seated in the room. Bidding came quickly on the lot all the way to a selling price of $195,500 with it going to a private collector of Connecticut material.

A complete review of the auction will appear in a future issue.

-DSS