America’s Cup telescope.
Canvasback drake by Fennimore, $6,800.
America’s Cup Telescope Brings $22,000 at South Bay
By Rita Easton
HUNTINGTON, N.Y. – The American Legion Hall was the site of an April 13 auction held by South Bay Auctions, Inc. Early previews were held at the East Moriches Gallery April 7-9 from 11 am to 4 pm.
The starring bid of the auction was $30,000, going to a Sultanabad rug, 12’10” by 16’6″, with predominantly blue and beige coloration, in excellent condition, going to a dealer.
An rdf_Description sold 14 years ago by South Bay, consigned directly from the family of Captain Brown, which went to a collector, was consigned once again to the gallery: an America’s Cup telescope presented to Captain Brown upon winning the race around the Isle of Wight in 1851.
The telescope, inscribed “Presented by Mrs Schenley to Captain Brown of the United States Yacht America to commemorate his success in winning the ‘Cup of All Nations’ at the Royal Yacht Squadron Regatta on the 27th of August, 1851,” brought $22,000.
An oil on canvas by Thomas Willis, “Sea Witch,” an embroidery on canvas of a many-masted ship, 17 inches high by 35 inches wide, reached $11,500 for the late Nineteenth Century work; a peacock weathervane, in iron sheet with remaining blue paint and bullet holes, having provenance from Phoenicia, N.Y., measuring 18 inches high by 37½ inches long, did $5,000; and a pair of mahogany card tables, classical New York, 29½ inches high by 36 inches wide by 26 inches deep, reached $7,200.
A Nineteenth Century portrait of a young child in a flower patch, 29½ inches high by 24½ inches wide, went out at $3,250; and decoys were in demand, with the top seller setting a record, $6,800, for a canvasback drake by Fennimore. Other decoys ranged from $350 to $6,800.
Dog paintings led with an oil on canvas by G. Muss-Arnolt, a 135/8- by 115/8-inch work depicting the head of a Dalmatian, having provenance of Harry T. Peters, and selling at $7,750; a full body Dalmatian measuring 13¾ by 11¾ inches did $6,750; and an oil on canvas of a beagle, full body in profile, 135/8 inches high by 17½ inches wide, having provenance of Harry T. Peters, painted by L. Conradt, garnered $3,800.
A pair of Louis Phillippe bronze chenets, “poodle and cat,” realized $4,200; an oversized Vienna bronze cat, 7½ inches high by 12¼ inches long, provenance of Harry T. Peters, fetched $4,200; a Nineteenth Century Louis XV writing table, 38 inches high by 43 inches wide by 22 inches deep, in kingwood, did $6,400; a Venetian table painted yellow, 72 inches long by 34 inches high, brought $3,100; and an American Sheraton sideboard did $6,600.
Prices quoted do not reflect a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
