You’ve heard of it. They call it Crazy Paddy. And while, even after attending the auction, we are still not sure of the meaning, crazy it is. An auction filled with box after box of stuff. What kind of stuff? For the most part, your guess is as good as ours †perhaps best summed up as some good stuff, some broken stuff and even some unidentifiable stuff.
Auctioneers Ron Clark and Roger Campbell teamed up on February 4, at the Knights of Columbus Hall to conduct Crazy Paddy 14, an auction of smalls, box lots and stuff. A liquidation sale to get rid of all of the stuff that accumulates after an estate auction. Good stuff †for the most part †just not stuff worthy of selling as an individual lot at a high-end auction.
So, what kind of stuff was this stuff? We saw an Orrefors glass vase, Murano and other art glass in one box lot. A tray filled with “zip-lock” bags choked full to the brim with costume jewelry. There was all sorts of furniture, porcelains, “ivories,” signed baseballs, a huge box of Lionel trains, a huge box of comic books, silver coins, blue and white Oriental pottery and lots of paintings, drawings and prints, too. And then there was more stuff †lots of stuff that ranged from garniture sets to a taxidermy shark and a gigantic taxidermy lobster. And then there was the boar’s head and the cow skull.
The room was packed, every seat in the house was occupied, and there was a large standing-room-only crowd lining the perimeter of the room as Clark climbed the makeshift podium, a chair in the back of the room. With the entire crowd craning their necks and facing backwards in their seats, Clark offered a selection of chairs, with the first non-descript French-style armchair selling at $148. The next chair brought $11; a small vitrine, $88; a large vitrine, $176; and a small cabinet, $8.
The first of the paintings that Clark offered failed, starting at $50. The auctioneer dropped the bid to $20, dropped it again to $10, then to $5 and then to $1, and then the first hand in the air got it for free †where a lady seated on the side of the gallery became a proud new owner. “Don’t forget what you bought,” quipped Clark, “make sure you take everything home with you.”
Clark and Campbell advised to “bring boxes, paper and a truck!” But also warned that all merchandise must be removed from the hall by the end of the night.
A painting of a clown went for $1, a painting in the style of Modigliani brought $14; a pair of landscapes, $19; and a large floral, $55. Bidding heated up for an oil on canvas depicting a Dutch landscape, with it selling at $77, and a Parisian interior oil went out at $93.
Other stuff included a set of wire “heart” ice cream chairs and matching table at $132, a Victorian showcase on stand at $308 and a garniture set at $126.
The top lot of the auction came as a Canadian Olympic silver coin proof set was offered, with the lot hammering down at $1,100. Miscellaneous lots of sterling ranging from trays to mugs sold between $6 and $770. The taxidermy shark went out at $412, the cow skull $66 and the boar’s head $88.
Bag after bag stuffed with costume jewelry proved to be popular, with bags selling between $33 and $412.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, contact Roger Campbell at 203-984-6886.
