Michael Fallon and Seth Fallon, father and son team, at the podium.
Review and Photos by Tom O’Hara
COPAKE, N.Y. — Michael Fallon and son Seth Fallon spent July 30 sharing the podium and gavel, successfully selling more than 700 lots of art, antiques, collectibles and household items to a large audience in the gallery, phone bidders and a large number of online bidders.
The tall case clock was an early surprise of the sale, bringing $6,435 against an estimate of only $700.
There was a long day of preview, with many visitors perusing the large inventory for this sale, some of whom came from nearby locales only to then go home to sit by their computers and watch and wait for their selection to come up so they could bid online. Others bid in the more traditional manner — from the floor — raising their numbered card, and then, too, there were phone bids. In all, the action was fast, with more than 100 lots per hour selling at strong prices.
Among the notable items as the sale began was a carved mahogany bed, which reached $94. The next item was an early marble bust selling for $234, followed by an American school oil on canvas, large folio painting selling for nearly twice the estimate at $205. Next, a continental oil on canvas landscape yielded $234. A watercolor was next, signed “W. F. Dell” and measuring 10 by 14 inches. It finished at $70.
A much-sought-after Hudson River School painting garnered much interest in the gallery, but the total bidding was below the reserve and so it was not sold.
Early in the sale a tall case clock was offered and identified as continental. The maker of the works was signed on the clock face as Stephen Tichenor, and it included the original weights, finials, pendulum and hands. Bidding was strong as it opened at $250 and continued in relatively small increments, with phone bidders, floor bidding and online bidding until finally reaching $6,435.
That sale seemed to light up the gallery and the action became more animated with a moonlit landscape reaching $1,053 and an oil on canvas of a Welsh cottage going out at $585, both well over their estimates. A pair of early ship prints, “Capture of the Mahonesa, Oct. 13., 1796” and “Lord Howe in the Queen Charlotte, Breaking the Enemy’s Line, May 29th, 1794” painted by Whitcombe, engraved by Sutherland, fetched $380 on a $50/75 estimate.
There were bargains. A circa 1900s carved continental armchair, caned backrest and needlepoint seat in Jacobean style, sold for just $117. A 5-foot-by-8-foot-4-inch Heriz Oriental rug achieved $206.
Soon after, there was a charming Nineteenth Century paint-decorated two-door German armoire that brought $439, followed shortly by an Art Deco chair signed Hunzinger on the back, which sold quickly on a single bid of $117.
Highlighting more of the sale, there was a Nineteenth Century two-door paneled corner cupboard in its original green paint standing more than 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide across the front. It went to a local dealer for $293. A World War I French poster recruiting support for the troops — translated as “With you and through you we swear to save France” — was bid to $82.
The child’s riding toy from about 100 years ago was bid to $322.
A massive mahogany four-poster bed big enough for a modern king-size mattress but made in the early Nineteenth Century sold after active bidding for $1,872.
Quilts proved hot, with some reaching more than $1,100, as did an early Nineteenth Century American-made example from English chintz striped fabric.
A collection of cast iron still banks in good original paint hit $234. American flags with 45 stars but with condition issues took $117.
There was a William and Mary corner cupboard, not very large but charming, with ball feet, in two parts, going out at $351. For the home remodeler, a collection of room panels that measured more than 6 feet tall and nearly 32 feet long sold for $380. A tall plant stand in original paint drew a lot of attention, selling for $176.
Sometimes referred to as a bachelor’s chest, a low three-drawer pine chest of drawers found a new owner for just $82. The same price was realized for an Edwardian period brass inkstand.
A floor model steam engine from the mid-Nineteenth Century with a short section of track sold for $176. The Keystone Ride ‘Em steam shovel pressed steel toy sold late in the day for $322.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium.
The Fallons conduct auctions about once a month, with the next one set for August 27. The firm’s flea market is scheduled for September 9–11.
For information, 518-329-1142 or www.copakeauction.com.
