Copake Auctions conducted a cataloged estate auction September 24 that featured Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture, artwork, folk art, period accessories, china, glass, stoneware, primitives and more.
With 610 lots sold, the auction received full attendance. There were 707 total in-house and online registered bidders, with 1,056 total absentee bids.
The top lot of the day was an early sword signed and dated “G. Borowski Warsaw, 1914,” which had an estimate of just $75/100. But savvy bidders pushed the 39-inch weapon to $2,070.
Several works of art were also the subject of much competition. An original Thomas Hart Benton signed lithograph, titled “Aaron,” which retained its label on the back, had a $400/600 estimate. At the end of the day, however, the 13½-by-10¼-inch endearing portrait sold at $1,150.
A Nineteenth Century oil on canvas portrait of a child in a blue dress realized $1,035 when a bidder took the 30½-by-25-inch portrait home. Another Nineteenth Century art work, a New England miniature silhouette of a woman, just 3½ by 2½ inches, more than doubled its high estimate to sell at $920.
Also offered in the fine art category was a mixed media painting titled “I Am Nature, Jackson Pollock from a conversation with Hans Hofmann,” by artist William Douglas McGee (1925‱999). The 10¾-by-9-inch piece showing a vintage photograph embedded in a field of green and fall leaves sold for $259.
On a more somber note, a set of original World Trade Center blueprints, an original field copy dated August 4, 1995, “106th Floor Package TAA 951114.05,” were consigned by a contractor who worked on the project. These were for the remodeling of 106 and 107 floors after the 1993 bombing of the lower level, and were stamped “Approved.” A buyer also approved the lot and took it home for $920.
Rounding out the sale’s top items, a belt made of 17 Morgan silver dollars, with dates ranging from 1879 to 1921, realized $834.
All prices reported include the buyer’s premium.
For additional information, www.copakeauction.com or 518-329-1142.
