“Planned Incident” by Anton van Dalen, 1979, oil on canvas, had a Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery label and measured 36 by 48 inches. It sold for $18,750 to a New York City collector ($4/6,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
KINGSTON, N.Y. — All 417 lots presented by Jay Werbalowsky in JMW Auction Service’s November 15 auction gaveled down successfully, making it a “white glove” event that totaled about $160,000. The eclectic multi-estate sale was sourced from estates through the Hudson Valley to New York City and attracted more than 1,000 bidders, which was characteristic for the firm’s auctions that take place every four to six weeks.
Werbalowsky was pleased when we caught up with him a couple of days before Thanksgiving.
“It was a good sale for us. Two categories that really stood out were silver — which came from a collection in Kingston by a seller whose mother purchased most of it from Sotheby’s London in the 1930s to 1950s — and artwork from a Woodstock estate.”
The top lot of the sale was an oil on canvas painting titled “Planned Incident” by Anton van Dalen (1938-2024) and Werbalowsky shared the story that he’d been contacted from a local attorney to do a walk-through of a Woodstock, N.Y., estate. “She initially told me someone else was going to sell the fine art but about a week later she called me to ask if we could take what they didn’t want. We took probably 150 paintings and prints out, including five van Dalens.”
Hallmarks and family crests embellished this set of 12 early English sterling silver dinner plates that found a new home with a Connecticut collector, for $9,063 ($6,5/9,500).
He confirmed two of the five works by Anton van Dalen — “Planned Incident” and a signed pencil drawing with a large dog and a standing figure that was discovered wrapped in bubble-pack — were both purchased by a New York City collector for $18,750 and $5,625, respectively. The other works by the artist sold to different buyers.
Leading the silver section at $9,063 was a set of 12 early English sterling dinner plates that were marked and engraved with family crests. “The silver was sitting in a large three-drawer chest and cabinets in a Hudson Valley estate; much of it hadn’t been used in many years,” shared Wervalowsky. A collector from Connecticut prevailed against competitors on the plates while a Paul Storr sterling silver meat platter that measured 22 inches across traded hands for $3,525 and sold to a dealer in New York City.
“The seller of the silver kept a few sentimental pieces to stay in the family but she’s ecstatic with the results,” Werbalowsky noted.
A collection of hundreds of original Hollywood and silent movie photographs — housed in eight binders — surprised at $4,063 and went home with a New York City private collector.
Bidding was fierce for a group of eight binders of Hollywood and silent movie photographs. A private New York City collector pushed it to $4,063 ($400/500).
Another lot that offered hundreds of vintage photos sorted into manila file folders earned $1,875, and a large lot of stereoviews closed at $1,375.
Werbalowsky noted that “the furniture did okay for what it was.” The section reached an apex at $2,750 for a Midcentury bentwood armchair by Alvar Aalto that were from the same estate as the silver. That estate also had a Bruno Mathsson chair that earned $375. A 117-inch-long lift-top bench in old blue paint that was dated “1857” achieved $1,625, while a three-piece Knoll parlor set with two armchairs and a loveseat brought $1,250.
A 24-inch-tall Tete Jumeau automaton bisque doll in all original condition and still with her original wood base was consigned by a Kingston collector who Werbalowsky said was in his late 80s and “starting to thin out the collection.” It finished at $2,375.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For further information, 845-389-1933, jmwauction@gmail.com or www.jmwauction.com
