Tiny crock, big price! This 4-inch tall Nineteenth Century stoneware covered crock had cobalt decoration and topped off at $9,063, the highest price realized in the RISD Toy collection deaccession (200/300).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Catalog Photos Courtesy Bruneau & Co Auctioneers

CRANSTON, R.I. — Many auction houses often have to pass on small collections that may not earn enough to cover the costs of presenting a sale; after all, business is business. But Bruneau & Co Auctioneers took a gamble that paid off with two small sales dedicated to museum exhibitions, both on the evening of Monday, July 17. The first, which began at 6 pm, offered 120 lots from the Rainbow Brite Rainbow Land Museum in Apex, N.C., which was privately owned and curated by Katy Cartee Haile. The second sale, beginning at 8 pm that evening, was 85 lots of toys being deaccessioned from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum. Despite modest pre-sale estimates, both sales far exceeded expectations for both the sellers and Travis Landry, Bruneau’s director of pop culture.

“It’s one of those things; it falls within my realm of pop culture. We’re thrilled with how both sales did,” confirmed Landry when we caught up with him after the sale. “Rainbow Brite was not anything I’d ever paid very close attention to but was a great experience. It’s super focused and extremely niche. To give you some perspective; I usually have between 900 and 1,100 bidders on just one platform. For Rainbow Brite, we had less than 100 online bidders across all of our platforms, but most were ones who had never bid with us before. Katy Haile is selling because her family is moving from North Carolina to Switzerland; when we picked the collection up, she said she’d be happy if I get a couple thousand dollars. She reached out to the Rainbow Brite community and got a lot of support.”

Landry grouped the Rainbow Brite collection into lots and estimated things conservatively; the strategy paid off with all lots finding new homes and tallying $27,675, a number Landry confirmed Haile was “ecstatic with.”

This large group of Rainbow Brite mini figures and toys was one of two lots sharing the top result in the Rainbow Brite collection sale. Estimated $80-120, it sold for $1,875.

The Rainbow Brite collection saw $1,875 as its top price, a result shared by two lots. The first to achieve that amount was a nine-piece 1983 Mattel Rainbow Brite boxed plush group that included figures Shy Violet, Patty O’Green, Rainbow Brite, Baby Brite, Buddy Blue and Starlite. The next to cross that level was a large group of Rainbow Brite minifigure toys. According to Landry, the lot was largely comprised of figures worth just a few dollars each but featured a tiny “Blue Sprite” keychain that was only ever made for the foreign market. Landry said two determined bidders saw it through to the end knowing they “wouldn’t be able to find it anywhere else.”

Of similar 1983 vintage, a three-piece group of Rainbow Brite original animation cels achieved $938, more than quadrupling the lot’s high estimate. A three-piece group of plush Rainbow Brite dress up figures, also from 1983, rounded out the top tier with a price of $688.

“The toys from RISD were ones that were originally on view at the Carrington House; when they closed that in the 1960s, everything went into storage. They did an initial purge in the late 90s or early 2000s; what we got was everything that was left over,” Landry observed. “When we started to go through it, we realized there were some great things there.” He confirmed all but a couple of the lots sold from the podium and the sale made a total of $49,697.

Original animation cels, two of which featured Lurky and Murky Dismal, the third depicting Rainbow Brite with a boy wearing a sweater, found their level at $938 ($100/200).

Leading the RISD toy lots at $9,063 was a 4-inch-tall miniature stoneware covered crock with cobalt decoration that had been a gift to the museum in 1944 from Mrs Henry Vaughan. Landry said it was acquired by a local collector who came in and previewed it and bought it along with some miniature firkins.

Vaughan also gave the museum a tin wagon, made by G.A. Schwarz (the brother of F.A.O. Schwarz) for the George Brown Company of Connecticut, circa 1880. Landry thought it would be one of the more important lots of the sale and made it the very first lot in the RISD sale. He noted that while it was missing the driver and had some silver solder repairs, these examples are incredibly scarce. He was delighted that it brought $2,000, at the top of his estimate.

Miniature household furnishings were in plentiful supply and a set of doll glassware — which included a pitcher — topped off at $2,500, the third highest result of the sale. A two-piece lot comprised of an American iron toy toaster from 1833 and a wash wringer that was circa 1900 made nearly 10 times its high estimate, going out for $1,875.

With expected wear from age and use, this lot of an early Nineteenth Century iron toy toaster, and a circa 1900 wash wringer, found favor with bidders to the tune of $1,875 ($100/200).

A circa 1710 American painted pine doll toy blanket chest had provenance to the estate of Mrs Gustav Radeke., which gave it to RISD in 1931. It featured loop hinges on the top and two long drawers, with a faux mahogany finish; bidders pushed it to $1,750.

Landry cataloged many of the toys according to how they’d been identified by the museum; in some instances, revisions came to light during the preview. One such lot was a circa 1850 display of dancing dolls that the museum had identified as “French” but by the time the gavel fell, he’d learned were German “Grodnertal” dolls. An online buyer paid $4,250 to give them a new home.

A Nineteenth Century English folk art diorama with painted clay figures that depicted the interior of a cathedral was noted for its extraordinary detail. Measuring 19-1/8 by 19 by 14¼ inches, it sold within expectations for $1,750.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.bruneauandco.com or 401-533-9980.