CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Carl Nordblom’s January 13 sale was strong in most categories. The top lot of the sale was a watercolor and pencil work by Outsider favorite Bill Traylor. Several bidders competed, pushing it over the estimate to $37,200. American furniture did well, with a Salem Chippendale serpentine four-drawer chest, estimated at $5,000, finishing at $27,600 and a Nantucket Federal period mahogany and lacewood candlestand, attributed to Herman Ellis reaching $5,700. Paintings and bronzes were strong, as was American silver. A large collection of Nineteenth Century Italian majolica, much of it by Cantagalli, was led by an early charger, depicting grotesques on a dark blue ground, which reached $7,200. It all came from one collection and much of it went to a couple from Maine, who did not stop bidding on any of the lots in which they were interested.

A full report will follow.