Plenty of presale speculation centered on the potential purchaser of the exquisite portrait of the 14-year-old Abigail Rose of North Branford, Conn., at Skinner’s November 5 Americana sale.

As bidding opened at $75,000, the gallery went still as a competition among several phone and gallery bidders came down to a duel between Boston dealer Steven Score, on the phone with a client, and a bidder on the phone. Score held out, and prevailed as the picture sold for $1,271,000 against the estimated $150/250,000.

The painting had never been out of the family and was in fine original condition. It was sold with the Battersea patch box in the painting, the sitter’s prayer book, an early Twentieth Century tag indicating that the portrait was painted by a young man from New Haven in payment for board and family correspondence and documents.

A full report of the sale will appear in a future edition.

⁆ran Mascolo