Notable sales found in our November 13, 2020 issue include “The Old Shop, St Augustine,” a regional work by Anthony Thieme that drove its final bid to almost 15 times its high estimate. Other highlights include an English school marine painting descended in the family of Morgan Stanley co-founder Henry Sturgis Morgan Sr, a vintage hand-built live-steam model of an American La France fire pumper and a painted wood sign for the Silsby Manufacturing Company in the form of a fire department shield. These and more will get you thinking about your own next round of bidding.
Burchard’s Florida Bidders Push Thieme Florida Landscape Past $75,000
DELRAY BEACH, FLA. – Heading Burchard Galleries’ October 18 Estate Antiques, Fine Art, Jewelry Auction was an evocative regional work by Anthony Thieme (American, 1888-1954) titled “The Old Shop, St Augustine.” Sourced from a local estate, the oil on canvasboard picture had gallery labels from both Grand Central Galleries and Oelschlaeger and Todd Burchard gave it an enticing estimate of $3/5,000. Bids came in fast and furious but after the $10,000 mark, it was down to two Florida private collectors with one of them taking the painting home for $78,225. For more information, www.burchardgalleries.com or 727-821-1167.
Airship Design Lifts Off At Old Kinderhook
STUYVESANT, N.Y. – A Nineteenth Century watercolor and pencil work depicting a design for an airship sold for $906 in Old Kinderhook Auction Company’s October 14 sale. The design seemingly outfitted a sea vessel with three hot air balloons that would lift it off the ground. Unaccounted for in the work was any preparation towards steering or propulsion once the vessel was in the air. For information, 518-912-4747 or www.oldkinderhookauction.com.
Fire Department Products Sign Heats Up At Fontaine’s
PITTSFIELD, MASS. – A painted wood sign for the Silsby Manufacturing Company in the form of a shield stoked bidder interest as it sold for $7,563 at Fontaine’s Auction Gallery’s October 17 sale. The company advertised the manufacture of all things Fire Department related: “Hose Carriages, Carts, Reels…Axes, Ladders, Pike Poles, Signal Lamps, Buckets.” For information, www.fontainesauction.com or 413-448-8922.
Zittel Holiday Collection Sees Santa Fly
SPRING CITY, PENN. – Just in time for the holiday season was Ron Rhoads Auctioneers’ October 17 single-owner sale of holiday material from the collection of Carol Zittel. Among the offerings of Halloween and Christmas material was a $3,690 result for an antique German candy container featuring a felt over composition reindeer with metal antlers pulling Santa on his wooden sleigh. The whole ensemble measured 24 inches long. For more information, 610-385-4818 or www.ronrhoads-auction.com.
Morgan Family Provenance Launches Marine Picture At Sloans & Kenyon
CHEVY CHASE, MD. – An English school marine painting of the ship Marchioness of Exeter off Fort St George in Madras was a top seller in Sloan’s & Kenyon Auctioneers & Appraisers’ 619-lot October Estate Catalog Auction on October 23. The oil on canvas painting, which was possibly attributed to Thomas Luny (British, 1759-1837), measured 34½ by 59 inches in the frame and had an estimate of $5/10,000. It had descended in the family of Henry Sturgis Morgan Sr, the co-founder of Morgan Stanley, the president and chairman of the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City and the grandson of JP Morgan. After competition from around the world that came through the phones and online, the painting sold to a bidder online for $12,700. For information, 301-634-2330 or www.sloansandkenyon.com.
American La France Fire Pumper Model Drives Heritage Auctions’ Inaugural Automobilia Sale
DALLAS – Driving into the lead in Heritage Auctions’ inaugural October 23 automobilia, transport history and mechanical models online sale on October 23 was a vintage hand-built live-steam model of an American La France fire pumper that raced to $16,250 from an estimate of $12/16,000. The model, which was authentically finished in late Victorian livery and accompanied by accessory hose fitting, three lanterns and one fireman’s helmet, measured 25 inches in length. For information, www.ha.com.
Chinese Oil-Spot Bowl Sizzles At Michaan’s
ALAMEDA, CALIF. – A Chinese Jian-type oil-spot stoneware bowl that measured just 5 inches in diameter got bidders fired up at Michaan’s Auction’s October 23 Gallery Auction. With provenance from a Vancouver estate, the deep conical body had a lustrous black glaze suffused with iridescent blue-gray streaks and inspired interest from around the world with its $1/1,500 estimate. Four phone bidders were active as the bowl sold to a local private collector for $7,800. For information, 510-740-0220 or www.michaans.com.
Chinese Art Deco Rug Floors Fox & Crane Bidders
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. – Leading the 250-lot “Holiday Antique Wishes From The Hudson Valley” sale at Fox and Crane Online Auctions on Saturday, October 24 was a circa 1920s Chinese Art Deco Nichols Wool Super rug. Measuring just less than 8 by 12 feet and from a Forest Hills, N.Y., estate, the midnight blue and purple rug had been estimated at $500-$1,500 but interest unrolled and it sold for $1,920 to a private collector in California bidding online. For information, www.foxandcraneonlineauctions.com or 845-234-0083.
King Of The Jungle Reigns Supreme For Opfer
TIMONIUM, MD. – “They were incredible,” Rick Opfer said of a pair of life-sized cast zinc garden lions that were “King of the Auction” in Rick Opfer Auctioneering’s October 29 Online Antique & Estate Auction. Made in New York City by J.L. Mott Iron Works, the pair had been consigned from a local collector who said they had been in his family. The underside of each had been more recently reinforced with a fiberglass coating, which Opfer thought scared a few buyers off. Despite that, competition was fierce but ultimately tamed by an online bidder who prevailed, taking the pair for $7,995. For information, info@opferauction.com, 410-252-5035 or www.opferauction.com.
