Flying to an easy lead at $16,250 was this 38-by-26-inch 1833 folio of the Barn Owl by J.J. Audubon on J. Whatman Turkey Mill paper.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Photos Courtesy Ralph Fontaine Heritage Auctions
CANAAN, N.Y. — Estates from West Stockbridge, Mass., East Greenbush, N.Y., and Vermont were just some of the sources of the 470 lots of largely fresh-to-the-market estate property that comprised Ralph Fontaine Heritage Auctions’ online only sale on January 7. It was a successful sale with nearly 90 percent of lots gaveling down successfully.
Fine art was one of the dominant categories of the day. A private collector paid $16,250 for an original 1833 large colored engraved folio print of the Barn Owl by John James Audubon, plate CLXXI, which featured nice colors and was printed on paper bearing the 1833 J. Whatman Turkey Mill watermark. An original Chagall lithograph, numbered 37 from an edition of 50, was next in line with a $4,375 result. Titled “Latelier Bleu,” it had provenance and a label from I.F.A Galleries in Washington DC. Achieving $2,375 was an oil on canvas abstract composition signed and dated by Japanese postwar and contemporary painter, “Kishio Murata 1968” that was housed in an artist-made frame.
Silver kicked off the sale and was another leading category, giving bidders numerous opportunities for competition. Bringing $3,438 to lead the category was a monumental sterling silver tea set signed Juvento Lopez Reyes that featured both tea and coffee pots, cream pitcher, waste bowl and covered sugar bowl and a 25-inch tray. A two-piece reticulated bowl and stand from the West Stockbridge estate that the catalog noted was both “monumental” and “one of the nicest pieces of silver we’ve had” was marked “W.C.” (possibly for William Chawner) and bore the crest of the prominent Philadelphian Harry W. Harrison. Bidders pushed it to $2,625. Coming in at $2,500 and from the same estate was a 66-piece flatware set for 12 by Wallace in the Grand Baroque pattern.
Cataloged as “monumental,” this sterling silver tea set was signed Juvento Lopez Reyes and in great condition. With an overall weight of 151.5 troy ounces, it found a new home for $3,438.
Furniture ranged in a variety of styles with a Nineteenth Century tiger maple four-tier shelf, 44 inches tall, achieving $2,625, narrowly beating out a French-style gilt metal and mirrored oval coffee table that closed at $2,500.
Perennially popular with buyers, estate jewelry saw $2,375 for a 14K bracelet with charms, a 14K Crysler chronographic wristwatch for $2,125 and a lady’s diamond ring in a platinum setting with six baguette sides and a large center diamond at $2,000.
Musical instruments are not typically a large category, but this sale presented buyers several vintage and older examples to try out, including a brass G. Conn saxophone in its original case that achieved $3,438, the third highest price of the day. An early full-size violin marked “Fried Aug glass Verfertigt Nach. Antonius Straduarius Fies Fabrikat in Cremona 1736” came with an early case; bidders played it to $2,125. For $1,375, a lucky buyer took home a Martin Committee model trumpet with its original case, accessories and two mouth pieces.
This 40-inch-long G. Conn brass saxophone retained its original case and found a new home for $3,438.
Items of historical interest also crossed the block. A trove of more than 15 Nineteenth Century letters from artists, got bidders interested to $1,500, while an 1864 ferrotype stickpin from the Abraham Lincoln-Andrew Johnson campaign that was cataloged as “extremely rare” found a new home for $938.
Ralph Fontaine Heritage Auctions’ next auction will be an in-house sale scheduled for February 11. Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 518-781-3650 or www.fontaineheritage.com.
