“As we got to $850,000, I just kept thinking ‘please don’t stop now,'” commented auctioneer James Julia with a glint in his eye and his infectious smile spreading across his face. He was referring to the sale of a rare map during his antiques and fine art auction on February 4 and 5, where bidding was nearing every auctioneer’s dream, surpassing that coveted $1 million mark.
Eclipsing that magical mark has proven elusive for the auctioneer throughout his career. He recalled selling another item in that price range a little more than a year ago, a rare Colt pistol, but it fell short, hammering down at $920,000.
There was magic in the air, however, and it was clear by the look on the auctioneer’s face that if it was going to happen, it was going to happen here and now. And not only did Julia hit that sought-after mark of $1 million for a single item sold, but he exceeded it, establishing a host of records along the way.
The two-day auction, grossing more than $4 million, began with a selection of artwork that included almost 400 paintings in oil, watercolor, gouache and pastel by the likes of Guy Wiggins, John Enneking, Emile and Charles Gruppe and Robert Henri, as well as some select English and Continental artists.
Day two of the auction included a rare selection of historical items consigned from an estate that had family ties to George Washington, along with a select assortment of Americana, Russian enamels and Maine folk art.
Sold during the session on Thursday was a group of William Lester Stevens paintings with an oil, “The Back Road, Conway, Mass.,” selling between estimates at $8,050, while a large oil by Stevens titled “Waterfall” was knocked down at $5,175.
An Emile Gruppe winter village snow scene titled “March Thaw” did well, selling at $9,775, while “Sunlit Woods” realized $6,900. A nice Herman Herzog oil titled “Road by the Farm” went out between estimates at $17,250, a Thomas Moran oil on board titled “Morning Light” realized $13,225, and a Chauncey Foster Ryder oil, “Peace on the Hillside,” sold for $22,425.
An Impressionistic oil by Fern Isabel Coppedge, “Harbor View,” was actively bid, with it selling at more than double the low estimate, bringing $8,625.
“Mid-Town Fifth Avenue, Winter” had attracted quite a bit of attention from the crowd. The busy snow scene by Wiggins depicting Trinity Cathedral opened for bidding at $15,000 with six phones competing against the gallery. Julia worked the lot back and forth, with it finally selling to a phone bidder for $34,500. A characteristic small portrait of a boy by Henri was also actively bid, with it handily exceeding estimates at $17,825.
Things got serious when a portrait by English artist Sir John Hoppner crossed the block. The large portrait, 50 by 40 inches, titled “Portrait of Lady Charlotte Percy, Countess of Ashburnham,” was one of several paintings consigned from a “prominent New Jersey home.” Listing a provenance of Newhouse Galleries and having been published in a 1957 edition of The Magazine Antiques , the painting carried a presale estimate of $15/20,000. Every available phone line in the auction gallery was in use, plus several cellphones were being manned by staff, as the painting opened for bidding at $10,000.
Hands waved frantically, with two people hitting the lot at $14,000, two more tried to bid $18,000 and so on went the quick-paced action. Trying to speed things along, one phone bidder advanced the bid far beyond what Julia was asking for, only to be countered from the room. Trying again as the lot surpassed the $75,000 mark, the jumped bid was once again immediately countered. Bidding continued at a brisk rate until a telephone buyer claimed the lot at $189,750.
Also sold was a Jean Dufy oil titled “La Seine” that did well as it shot past estimates on its way to bringing $46,575.
A selection of bronzes were offered, with two Harriet Frishmuth examples leading the way. “The Vine,” a 12-inch-tall bronze of a nude woman, sold above estimate at $9,200, while “The Star” sold between estimates at $8,050.
The second day of the auction saw a huge crowd in attendance, and 15 minutes prior to commencing the sale, Julia ordered his staff to bring out a large quantity of additional seating to accommodate the overflow crowd.
The auction was stimulated by a select and highly important group of historical materials that had descended from the family of Colonel Tobias Lear, General George Washington’s aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War. Making up the first 150 lots, they were part of the Kittery Point, Maine, estate of Alice Decatur Armsden and her husband, Douglas Armsden. Included were books and papers from George Washington’s personal library, correspondence from Martha Washington, as well as signed letters and documents by the likes of Thomas Jefferson.
The cache of items had descended through the Lear-Storer-Decatur family, one encompassing a number of important historical figures from the Seventeenth through the Nineteenth Centuries. Their roots begin with Sir William Pepperrell Baronet, born June 27, 1696, in Kittery Point, a successful merchant and soldier in colonial Massachusetts. Another important historical figure from the family was Lear, the personal secretary to President George Washington and one of Washington’s best friends. Washington was the godfather of Lear’s son, Benjamin Lincoln Lear. A portion of Benjamin Lear’s library was sold in the auction, with many of the books having passed from Washington to Tobias Lear and then to his son.
Chock full of important historical figures, the family also included George Washington Storer, the nephew of Colonel Lear and a career naval officer, who was superintendent of the naval asylum and retired as commodore. Another family member of note was Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr, born in January 1779, known for his heroism and great successes in both the War of 1812 and the Barbary Wars.
Material from the various branches of this family had reportedly been relegated over the centuries to a barn at the Kittery Point location and its contents had all but been forgotten until the property that the barn resided on was to be sold. At that point, the materials were divided among members of the remaining family.
The cache was termed a historical time capsule, perhaps the most important ever discovered in relationship to the early history of America.
Anticipation was high among the capacity crowd and with all of his staff in place, Julia set the auction into motion with the offering of three encyclopedic leather-bound volumes that had been in Washington’s personal library. With nine clients on the telephones, Julia asked for an opening bid of $5,000 and got the lot going with $2,000 coming from one of the phone bidders. The phone bidders hit the lot aggressively, although a buyer in the room claimed the rare volumes for $12,650.
A couple of lots later, a book that Julia termed an “extreme rarity,” Code Henry, was offered. Perhaps one of two known editions in the world, this book documented the laws enacted after the overthrow of what is now Haiti, where the “former slave Henry Christophe (1767‱820) triumphed and declared himself King.” Estimated at $4/8,000, the book opened for bidding at $4,000 and was sold moments later for $17,250.
The first of the lots to really take off was an early Nineteenth Century European Pilot chart book that was filled with maps. It was estimated at $5/15,000, and Julia had included a couple of question marks behind the upper estimates, apparently anticipating a great deal of interest. His instincts were correct, with the lot opening at $10,000 and selling to a phone bidder for $86,250.
Original manuscripts from the Kittery Point estate proved exciting. The first of the lots offered was a blank certificate of membership to the Society of Cincinnati that had been signed by Washington and Henry Knox. Said to have been sent to the governor of Massachusetts, William Eustis, the document doubled estimate as it sold for $9,775.
“This is the most exciting thing I have ever handled,” remarked Julia as the next lot was to be offered, a rare and historically important map that was said to be George Washington’s personal copy of the Battle of Yorktown. Julia termed it “the most important map in American history,” and he went on to explain that a larger version, previously thought to have been Washington’s personal map, but now thought to have been made for the Continental Congress, is in the collection of the National Archives.
Executed by Jean Baptiste Gouvion on or about October 29, 1781, it was prepared ten days after this victorious and pivotal battle that ultimately resulted in the surrender of the British forces. It had descended through the family of Tobias Lear, who handled all of Washington’s papers after his death.
With Julia’s staff manning 13 phones in the gallery and a host of other active cellphones used by private agents representing clients, Julia opened the lot for bidding at $25,000. A flurry of hands were in the air as everyone tried to get in on the action. As the price escalated, so did the bid increments, and, one by one, many in the crowd dropped from the action.
There were still several involved at $400,000, including one phone bidder who attempted to trump the others by jumping the bid far beyond the requested advance, a ploy he used on several occasions.
At $650,000, the competition narrowed to a single telephone bidder and one gentleman standing in the rear of the gallery, his face partially obscured by his bid card and his cellphone glued to his ear. The phone bidder ignored the opportunity to hit the lot at $675,000 and instead jumped the bid to $700,000. Unfazed, the gentleman in the rear of the room never moved a muscle, keeping his bid card in plain sight of the auctioneer.
And so it went until Julia asked the telephone bidder for $1 million, which came after a brief pause. A solemn look appeared on the bidder standing in the rear of the room, his bid card now lowered, thus ending the competition as Julia hammered the lot down.
The final price, including premium, $1,150,000, has established a host of records. It is a record price paid for any antique sold at auction in the state of Maine, a record price for any item sold by James Julia, a record price paid at auction for an American map and believed to be a record price paid for a map worldwide. The buyer was characterized as a “private individual with close ties with a museum.”
Other documents that had come down through the Lear families included a signed four-page letter from George Washington to his nephew, George Augustine Washington, that was written from Mount Vernon on October 25, 1786. Termed an “absolutely extraordinary letter in which Washington speaks of family issues and stated that his nephew can expect to inherit a significant parcel of land,” the letter, estimated at $40/60,000, sold for $120,750.
Another George Washington-signed document from February 10, 1787, titled “Articles of Agreement…between Edward Williams…and George Washington” detailed the sale of a parcel of 90 acres of land. The acquisition of this property appears to be part of the expansion and improvement of Washington’s plantation at Mount Vernon. Signed by Washington and others, the lot sold for $46,000.
A True Copy Of Treaty Between The United States And The Bey Of Tripoli , a 32-page bound volume signed by Joel Barlow in 1797, shot past the presale estimates of $5/10,000 as it realized $74,750.
A three-page signed document from 1808, a “Petition To The Dey Of Algiers,” an agreement with the Barbary Pirates, was signed by agents of seven nations, including Tobias Lear. Estimated at $3/5,000, the document sold at $46,000.
Two Thomas Jefferson letters brought premium prices, with a full-page letter with address leaf franked by Jefferson to Tobias Lear, June 19, 1813, Monticello, selling at $57,500. A Thomas Jefferson-signed letter of recommendation for Tobias Lear brought $47,150.
A selection of early American flags were offered, including a rare 16-star American flag, identified to the USS Scorpion , and possibly flown during the War of 1812. The 16-star American flag was first introduced in 1796 when Tennessee became a state and precious few of these early flags with this star count are known. Bidding on the lot opened at the low estimate of $5,000, with it selling at $21,850. A nice hand sewn 34-star Civil War flag, circa 1861‱863, thought to have been owned by Stephen Decatur, was knocked down at $14,950.
Other items from the Kittery Point estate included a silver porringer with Storer family history that sold above estimates at $4,312, an engraved silver patch box from the Storer family, $3,450, and a Liverpool creamware pitcher with transfer decoration of the ship Bellona that realized $5,750.
Rounding out the items consigned from the Kittery Point estate was a Federal inlaid mahogany ditty-box from the US frigate Congress, circa 1818, that sold for ten times the low estimate as it brought $15,525. An attractive Massachusetts Chippendale oxbow mahogany four-drawer chest of drawers did well, selling at $14,375, while a Federal inlaid mahogany lolling chair went out at $6,900.
A handful of historical items that had descended in the same family were offered immediately following the Kittery Point estate materials. After the Kittery Point consignment had been secured at Julia’s, the auctioneer dug back in his records and chased down other members of the family that had received historically important lots when the items in the barn were divided up. Among the lots offered were seven volumes of the 1798 encyclopedias from George Washington’s library, from the same set as the earlier lot from the Kittery Point estate, that sold at $23,000.
An Eighteenth Century sword thought to have been owned by Commodore Stephen Decatur sold at $11,500, and a rare silver War of 1812 medal brought $28,750.
A late Eighteenth Century porcelain figurine of a bird was a mystery, although sleuthing by Julia and his crew of astute researchers soon solved the puzzle. When George and Martha Washington visited Portsmouth in the late Eighteenth Century, they stayed with Colonel Lear for a number of days and in appreciation, Martha Washington presented the Lears with the bird figurine and two figures of women. The three pieces were consigned to the auction, yet, after researching the lot, Julia determined that while the bird was of the correct period, the other two figurines were of later manufacture. The consignor was called and the figurines were returned, which left family members scratching their heads.
During a subsequent conversation that Julia had with the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, it was later revealed that two original figurines were in the collection of Mount Vernon, having been gifted by Mrs Storer more than a century ago. The figurines had then been replaced with a later pair of Staffordshire examples, a fact that had remained undiscovered by the family for generations. The single porcelain bird figurine attracted a great deal of attention, selling at $6,325.
Historical materials from other sources included a partial White House dinnerware service from the Lincoln administration. Known as the “buff” set, the service had been ordered during Lincoln’s second term and prior to his assassination. The set consisted of 88 pieces and records indicated that it had been purchased at a Philadelphia auction in the late 1800s when the basement of the White House was cleaned. Falling short of estimates, the set sold reasonably at $28,750.
Americana from various consignors included a selection of weathervanes with a full-bodied leaping stag attributed to New York City maker Thomas Jones selling at $11,500, while a Fiske leaping stag with gilt body realized $8,050. A cigar store Indian thought to have been made by Samuel Robb sold between estimates at $17,250, and a large folk art hooked rug dated “1887” and decorated with tulips in each corner brought $9,200.
A large portrait of a girl with her dog, attributed to William Matthew Prior, listed a provenance of Mary Allis and sold for $28,750, while a contemporary Louis Dodd oil of “The Schooner Fannie Mae Leaving Waldoboro, Maine, Showing Baker Palmer Under Construction” went out at $21,850.
Furniture included a Chippendale mahogany oxbow chest of Massachusetts origin that sold at $5,750, a New England knee-hole desk that brought $9,200, and a Maine Federal bowfront chest with the original Dinsmore and Batchelder label that realized $4,025.
A small collection of Russian enamel pieces from the late Nineteenth Century attracted international attention. Consigned from an East Coast institution, the lead lot was a kovsh that handily surpassed high estimate as it sold for $31,625. A Russian enameled tea glass holder was also hotly contested, with it selling at $15,525 against an estimate of $2/3 ,000.
A collection of more than 30 carved fish wall plaques by Winthrop, Maine, carver Lawrence Irvine attracted a great deal of attention. Leading the way was a large striped bass trophy carving measuring 4 feet in length, dated 1969, that sold for $10,350. A carved and painted 20-inch brook trout on a State of Maine-shaped plaque did well at $2,530, and a carved and painted 29-inch brown trout on a birch bark veneered plaque brought $2,300.
An early carved salmon trophy mount, circa 1902, by an unknown carver caught the attention of collectors as it realized $4,600.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium charged. For information, 207-453-7125 or www.jamesdjulia.com .
