A whirligig of a man in a top hat and tails sold for $6,272.
A large Black Ship bowl fetched $5,824.
“It was hotter than the dickens, but they stayed right till the end,” said Hap Moore in regard the weather and the crowd after his most recent auction conducted on Saturday, August 28. The sale featured a varied assortment of fresh to the market estate merchandise ranging from Oriental carpets to folk art accessories.
Moore reported a large crowd filling all of the 200-plus chairs in the gallery as well as a good number of bidders standing in the rear of the hall and outside. The auctioneer commented that the crowd was primarily made up of dealers that were “hungry for fresh merch.”
Leading the auction was a Gorevan Heriz carpet, 8 by 7.11 feet that had been consigned by a Kennebunk family. Several of the rugs, including the Heriz, had been passed down in the family and were no longer desired after they moved to a contemporary home.
A folky whirligig of a man in top hat and tails with a grasshopper suspended on a wire in front of him did well selling at $6,272, a country homemade child’s stable in great paint brought $4,256 and a nice Liverpool pitcher realized $3,024.
Several pieces of scratch decorated birchbark wares by Tomah Joseph, Passamaquoddy, were offered with a rare waste basket topping the list. The piece was decorated with several scenes including one of Indians porting a canoe, Indians dancing while cooking and an Indian in a canoe with a fallen stag. Bidding on the lot was brisk with it selling at $4,032. A lot consisting of a picture frame and a collar box with profuse decoration did well at $1,792, and an oval box with decoration brought $1,008.
A large Black Ship bowl was popular with bidders as it hammered down at $5,824, while a Rookwood vase decorated with a heron in a marsh scene sold at $2,912.
Victorian furniture included a set of ten heavily carved boar’s head chairs that realized $2,240, a heavily carved credenza with crested two-tier upper shelf sold at $4,032, as did a profusely carved china cabinet.
Period furniture included a Queen Anne highboy that sold reasonably at $6,272 and a Federal game table brought $1,008.
Prices include the 12 percent buyer’s premium charged.
