The leading lot of the day at $1,840 was this Hasselblad 500 C/M medium format camera with Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm and Distagon f/4 lenses, prism viewfinder, original 1991 Hasselblad Product Catalog and other accessories.
Review by Carly Timpson
FRANKLIN, N.H. — Granite Union Auction Company, one of the newest auction houses on the block, conducted its Grand Opening Auction on September 20, featuring the estate of antiques dealer and collector Paul B. Clifford among other New England estates and collections. Ryan Piccirillo, who owns the firm with his wife, Liza Penney, commented after the sale, “Overall, I would say that this was a very eclectic sale with items large and small spanning a wide range of categories, but every category found its bidders with strong performance throughout the catalog… From an operational perspective, our soft opening last month did exactly what it needed to, identifying places where we needed to improve our new and quickly growing operation, so that this sale ran smoothly from start to finish.”
“The response from the crowd was great, with many bidders coming right up to me after the show to say how much they enjoyed the catalog and how fun and entertaining the auction was. We were, of course, happy to hear from customers who shared that this was their first auction and they’re looking forward to the next,” Piccirillo remarked. “The most common piece of feedback by far was excitement that a new in-person auction house has come to New Hampshire! The trajectory of most auctions has been starting in-person, with a transition to mostly or completely online during Covid. Ours has been the opposite — we started out doing auctions online, but for us, opening an in-person auction house felt like the natural next step.”
Detailed with a heraldic shield flanked by griffins, a Green Man and elaborate foliate scrolling, this carved oak Renaissance Revival Hall bench with lift-top storage, 49¼ inches tall by 50⅛ inches long by 20⅛ inches deep, made $834.
He continued, “On a related note, another piece of feedback from our in-person bidders was that the merchandise was much more impressive in detail and grand in scale than could be captured in the photos online. We’ll work to see if there’s something we can do to better to improve this, but ultimately, we believe it proves that an online experience can’t quite capture the imagination the way an in-person auction can.”
About 75 percent of the lots offered in this sale were “consigned by the sisters of the late Paul B. Clifford, an antique collector and dealer with a keen eye for quality design and decorative arts who was a fixture at auctions all up and down the East Coast,” Piccirillo said.
The top lot overall, a vintage Hasselblad 500 C/M medium format camera, was from the Clifford collection. The camera, which would be a great find for collectors already, came with the additional draw of being fitted with a Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8 Synchro Compur lens with cap and coming with and a Carl Zeiss Distagon f/4 lens, a separate Hasselblad film back, prism viewfinder, extension tube, an original 1991 Hasselblad Product Catalog and other accessories. Though it was not tested, camera collectors know this unit is worth taking a chance on, and they pushed it to $1,840. “We had some early interest in online absentee bidding for this item, and the bid was at just $120 at the start of the auction — it was two in-house bidders who ultimately drove the price to where it landed, beating out the max $400 bid left online,” reported Piccirillo.
Paul Clifford’s vintage Renaissance Revival-style throne chair with modern upholstery, 68 inches tall by 35½ inches wide by 33 inches deep, rested at $265.
A vintage carved Renaissance Revival-style throne chair that had belonged to Clifford brought $265. “Paul’s sisters shared that this was the throne in his storage unit from which he would sell antiques to curious passersby and visitors on warm days,” Piccirillo noted. The chair had figural arm supports and a high back with an elaborately carved crest and finials.
Other carved furniture included a Renaissance Revival carved oak hall bench with lift-top seat storage. The grand bench was carved with a Green Man mask at the center of its back rest and the top crest featured griffons flanking a heraldic shield. The bench rested for $834.
Also featuring carved Green Man masks was a large three-door glass-front bookcase. The top frieze featured a Green Man above each door, and it had rope-twist columns and ball-and-claw feet. While the case was brought to $288, Piccirillo thought it could have done better: “[it was] a really impressive bookcase that ultimately was held back by its gargantuan size. While we would have loved to have seen an item this difficult to move into our hall bring a bidder number, it’s exactly the kind of unique, eye-catching furniture we want to showcase in our auctions.”
“Cottages Near Colchester” by James E. Meadows (British, 1828-1888), oil on canvas, 29⅝ by 47⅝ inches in gilt gesso frame, made $546.
In addition to the Clifford collection, the auction was strengthened by a collection of British and European oil paintings consigned by a local retirement community. These included a Bernard de Hoog painting of a mother and children with doll in Dutch interior ($1,093), “View Near Moel Siabod, North Wales” by Sidney Percy ($805), “Cottages Near Colchester” by James E. Meadows ($546) and “Near Streatley on Thames” by John Horace Hooper ($374).
In closing, Piccirillo added, “At least a couple folks came up to us after the auction to share this was the best auction they had ever been to, and even though that might be part recency bias and part flattery, we were very happy to receive the compliment!”
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
On Sunday, October 4, the firm will conduct an in-person Walkaround Discovery Auction featuring box lots of antiques and vintage. Thursday, October 8 will be an Online-Only Antique & Oddities Auction and on Sunday, October 11, the firm will conduct an In-Person Antique Auction.
Granite Union Auction Company is at 58 South Main Street. For information, www.graniteunionauction.com or 603-451-6960.
