The top lot of the auction was a Gilded Age Louis XV-style paneled salon that came out of a New York City mansion and included many carved and decorated panels, such as the one pictured. Altogether, the salon sold for $30,000.
Review & Onsite Photos by Andrea Valluzzo
PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — In the internet age, when it’s easy to swipe images on phones or screens and buy antiques with a click of a button or a few keystrokes, Gustave J. S. White auctions are a throwback to the days when auctioneers stood under tents, selling items to buyers crowded around the block.
Eschewing the internet, 98-year-old Michael Corcoran has been called “a dinosaur” by some, and he’s okay with that. As owner of the auction house, which he took over decades ago from White, he does not use online bidding platforms nor print up catalogs where buyers can read up on the auction offerings. Buyers instead come to preview the merchandise in person and either leave absentee bids or come back on auction day to bid live. The end result at these old-school auctions is usually a full house, often standing room only.
The firm’s May 27 auction was no exception, and in attendance were lots of regulars, both dealers and private collectors, as well as new faces. Corcoran is beloved, so when he walked into the auction gallery a few minutes before the start time, the energy in the room picked up as if a celebrity had entered. As longtime assistant Paul “Murph” Murphy began the auction upstairs moments later, Corcoran was met with hugs, handshakes and heartfelt greetings.
The sale was a diverse affair with a good assortment of Oriental rugs, fine art, antiques and decorative arts. Offering something for nearly all tastes, there was everything from a Tiffany Aurene vase and heavy gold curtain tassels, to cast iron garden furniture and urns, to New England-themed items like ship models and sailor’s valentines.
With no internet bidding or online catalog for the auctions here, buyers really need to see the items and bid in person, so in-house attendance is typically strong.
The auction banter, whether from Murph or Mike, was lively and there were quite a few stories shared with the audience about the pieces crossing the block, such as a painting by Rhode Island artist William Trost Richards or a European tapestry, probably Belgian, that Mike said was one of his favorite pieces in the auction. In lieu of being assigned arbitrary bidder numbers, participants are told in advance to call out their first names to have their winning purchases recorded. Most regulars are already immediately recognized anyway and greeted by the two auctioneers like old friends.
Speaking to Corcoran a few days after the auction, he described being satisfied with the results. “We had a nice crowd, and I thought the prices were good,” he said. His ad published before the sale declared, “We have never held an auction of this magnitude,” and the auction certainly seemed to live up to that billing in terms of quality and quantity. Both auction buildings were packed full during preview.
Many items sold reasonably in the three- and four-figure range, but far and away, the top lot of the auction was a Gilded Age Louis XV-style salon that attracted much presale attention and was widely expected to be the frontrunner. Coming out of a New York mansion originally but disassembled and in storage at Brown University since the late 1960s, the circa 1890 salon attributed to Allard & Sons, Paris, included large wall bays with inset fabric panels and wooden panels, elaborately carved and decorated with allegorical motifs and floral painting. The salon sold to a local buyer for $30,000. Garden furniture was plentiful, and a set of green cast iron table and chairs was the second-highest price of the day at $7,200.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium, or as the auctioneers here call it, “the juice.” For information, 401-841-5780.
