Berlin, Conn., on January 2 saw more than 200 bidders in the gallery at Nest Egg Auctions when this American Federal bowfront chest with flame maple and period hardware brought $2,832. The New Year’s auction had more than 3,000 online bidders who helped push the bidding on this flashy chest.

Furniture by the Midcentury Modernists Philip and Kelvin Laverne excite interest whenever they come up. This “Eternal Forest” coffee table, 41¾ inches in diameter with an acid-etched and enameled brass surface, doubled its high estimate, selling for $20,400. Two subsequent lots — a “Chan” coffee table of the same dimensions, $4,800, and a pair of “Shang Ti” end tables, $5,700 — were also hot tickets at Nadeau’s, in Windsor, Conn., on January 1.

Fetching $7,000 at Time & Again’s New Year Extravaganza on January 1 and 3 in Linden, N.J., was this Nineteenth Century Chinese bronze censer. The firm’s next auction is February 9 and 11.

A 14K gold bangle bracelet set with blue sapphires (total weight, 24 dwt.) was snatched up by a bidder who was looking for a fine piece of jewelry to wear. She paid $950 at Showplace Antiques & Design Center on January 3, when the New York City auction house conducted its no reserve, no buyer’s premium event to an audience of about 125 bidders at the 40 West 25th Street gallery.

Coming as something of a surprise to the experienced auctioneers at Alderfer Auction, this walnut, ironbound, strong box far surpassed its $200/300 estimate when it sold for $1,265 on December 31. With dovetail sides with handles, the box is 12 inches high by 22 wide by 15 deep. The Hatfield, Penn., company conducts many auctions both online and at its 501 Fairgrounds Road gallery and onsite, and bidders vied for this box from multiple platforms.

At Ahlers & Ogletree’s January 2 and 3 New Year’s estates auction in Atlanta, Ga., this rare Midcentury Modern bronzed steel wire settee, covered in terracotta boucle by Warren Platner (American, 1919–2006) for Knoll International, circa 1966, crossed the block with a $3/5,000 estimate. After several bids, the piece, which is the scarcest piece of this series, and came from the private collection of Ann Jacob or North Carolina, sold well above estimate for $7,670.

Auction house owner Keith Meissner Jr reported that more than 220 bidders were registered for Meissner’s New Year’s Day antique estate auction on January 1 in New Lebanon, N.Y., including approximately 35 phone bidders. A Shaker 10-inch rectangle carrier brought $2,800.

A pair of silver Spanish sanctuary lights (one shown), dated 1681, realized $36,000, making it the top lot of Hudson Valley Auctioneers’ annual New Year’s auction on January 1 in Beacon, N.Y.

The Time & Again New Year Extravaganza on January 1 and 3 in Linden, N.J., was once again filled with excitement and hidden treasures. The crowd was humming and the phones were ringing off the hook with excitement. The biggest surprise was this Chinese porcelain mounted hardwood coffee table, which brought $105,000.

At Schmidt’s Antiques in Ypsilanti, Mich., on New Year’s Day, a pair of famille rose Chinese vases sold at $2,600, after opening at $1,000. The “Qianlong Period Make” chop mark was on the underside in blue of the 7¾-inch-high vases.

The top lot at Copake Auction’s annual New Year’s Day sale January 1 in Copake, N.Y., was not surprisingly this folky portrait by renowned portraitist William Matthew Prior (1806–1873), whose oil on panel portrait of a little girl with cat, 16¾ by 12¾ inches, fetched $23,400, nearly double its low estimate. More than 2,000 bidders were registered for the sale and the in-house gallery was packed with more than 200 people.

On January 2 at Nest Egg Auctions, more than 200 in-house bidders, and more than 3,000 online bidders contested 301 lots at the Berlin, Conn., firm’s New Year’s auction. Strong international phone bids, plus interest from the floor sent this Art Nouveau bronze vase by Hector Guimard up to a final price of $15,340.

At Showplace Antiques & Design Center, New York City, on January 3, this oil on canvas by Ida Lorentzen (Norwegian American, b 1951), signed on reverse, sold at $3,250. Showplace is a relatively new auction house following an old-time path to renew interest in auctions: it has live auctions without any Internet participation, with no buyer’s premium and all lots are unreserved. “We want to make our auctions old-time community events. All lots start between $50 and $100. There were about 125–150 bidders in house, with absentee and phone bids also,” said Andrea Baker, auction manager.

Depicting a “White House” by Anthony Cirino, this oil on canvas brought $2,013 at William Smith’s pre-New Year’s estate auction in Plainfield, N.H., on December 28.

An Italian inlaid bookcase secretary cylinder desk with brass and fine wood inlays from the Piffetti family workshop sold for $21,000 at Hudson Valley Auctioneers, Beacon, N.Y., January 1. “Prices were strong across the board, making the New Year’s Day sale a successful sale,” said manager Theo de Haas.

An Eighteenth Century terracotta grouping of the Virgin Mother and Child sold for $27,000 at Time & Again’s New Year Extravaganza on January 1 and 3 in Linden, N.J.

A Marx toy jeep sold for $560 at Meissner’s January 2 auction in New Lebanon, N.Y. “The auction was the first part of a large antique toy collection that will take at least three auctions to disperse,” said owner Keith Meissner Jr.

At Showplace Antiques & Design Center in New York City on January 3, a gothic-style library table of carved oak with monk and scholar caryatids brought $2,250. The gallery at 40 West 25th Street had some 125–150 bidders, with others on the phones or absentee bids. Showplace does not have Internet bidding nor does it charge a buyer’s premium; the relatively new (about 9 months old) auction house is aiming at design professionals and personal buyers who actually come to the gallery and enjoy the action of a live auction — a formula that seems to be working well for Showplace.

On January 1 in Ypsilanti, Mich., Schmidt’s Antiques, conducted its New Year’s Day gallery auction, with items from Midwestern estates and private collections. Shown are several lots of midcentury offerings, including a pair of George Nelson chests (one shown) that realized $6,500; a Joan Miro lithograph, “Soleil en vent,” 1962, brought $2,200; and a William Joseph sculpture Black Mountain College that sold at $1,600.

Whimsically compelling was this double-sided pitcher by the Martin Brothers. It took $3,738 at William Smith’s pre-New Year’s estate auction in Plainfield, N.H., on December 28.

Weathervanes are a specialty at Copake Auction and a highlight of its annual New Year’s Day sale January 1 in Copake, N.Y., was this horse and sulky vane said to be the best horse and sulky the auctioneers have sold. It came out of the Potter estate in Greenfield, Mass., and measures 31 by 16½ inches (base not included) and went out well over its $10/12,000 estimate at $17,550.

This rare small size glass door bookcase by Roycroft was the top lot at William Smith’s pre-New Year’s estate auction in Plainfield, N.H., on December 28. At $12,075, the bookcase led an eclectic selection of early Americana and Twentieth Century design. Said auctioneer Bill Smith, “It was a diversified sale of mixed estate residues, a well-attended sale, and all but ten lots sold.”

The expatriate American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937) enjoyed international renown after settling in France in the 1890s, where he was best known for Biblical scenes like “Flight Into Egypt.” The semiabstract oil on board measuring 17½ by 20½ inches topped Nadeau’s New Year’s Day sale at $84,000 in Windsor, Conn.

From guitars to pianos, musical instruments were favorites at Nadeau’s in Windsor, Conn. This grand piano Model L piano in an East Indian rosewood case from Steinway & Sons’ “Crown Jewel” collection” rang in the New Year at $24,000.

A pair of Chinese porcelain vases, drilled for lamps, fetched $15,600 at Hudson Valley Auctioneers January 1 in Beacon, N.Y. The sale was well attended with a full house; bidding was brisk both on the floor, on the phones and on the online platforms. A large collection of estate Judaica sold in several sections throughout the sale, many pieces sold to Israeli collectors and prices realized were strong.

The traditional New Year’s Auction at Nest Egg Auctions was conducted on January 2 this year, in the company’s new gallery in Berlin, Conn., with more than 200 in-house bidders, a full house and more than 3,000 online bidders all participating for 301 lots. A contemporary painting on wood by artist Kate Shepherd realized $3,068.

In the manner of Buccellati and marked 900, a silver, leaf-form bowl weighing 16.2 troy ounces realized $750 at Showplace Antique & Design Center, 40 West 25th Street, in New York City. The 9-month-old auction house is becoming known for its old-time live auctions where all lots open without reserves between $50 and $100, and there is no buyer’s premium charged. Another rarity, Showplace eschews Internet bidding, believing auctions are fun, engaging community events better served when many are in the audience, as they were on January 3, when around 125 bidders participated.

The Turner toy dump truck took $538 at Meissner’s January 2 auction in New Lebanon, N.Y. “Prices were very good overall and show that there is still a strong market for antique toys,” said Keith Meissner Jr.

This Seventeenth Century oil on canvas of a battle scene noted as being of the Italian/French School and circle of Jacques Courtois (aka Il Borgognone) tripled its high estimate to bring $3,335 at William Jenack’s January 3 auction in Chester, N.Y.

It’s a great time to buy furniture at auction but painted furniture seems to be holding its own, especially choice examples like this Nineteenth Century two-part corner cupboard in a fine paint combination of yellow, green and black. Measuring 56 by 36 by 89 inches, the piece from a Pawling, N.Y., collector sold handily over estimate for $5,265 at Copake Auction’s annual New Year’s Day sale January 1 in Copake, N.Y.

Andre Hambourg (French, 1909–1999), “Fete des Marins Pentecote a Honfleur (Pentacostal Maritime Festival in Honfleur),” a circa 1976, oil on canvas, Post-Impressionist painting depicting a seascape in Honfleur in the Normandy region of Northern France, brought $41,300 on January 3 at Ahlers & Ogletree’s New Year’s signature estate auction. The loosely and abstractly painted scene, with heavy impasto white accents, framed, 27 by 36½ inches, sold just above estimate at the Atlanta, Ga., two-day auction event.

Leading the fine art category at William Jenack’s January 3 auction in Chester, N.Y., was this oil on canvas by Chinese American artist Yun Gee that outperformed its estimate to take $23,575.

In New Lebanon, N.Y., a New Year’s Day antique estate auction on January 1 at Meissner’s drew approximately 300 people to the gallery. The top lot in the sale was this Black Mammy with Child daguerreotype, which sold for $5,824.

A collection of 19 hand drawn surveys of Pennsylvania dating from the 1780s to 1800s ($100/200) did well, selling to an online bidder for $2,645 at William Jenack’s January 3 auction in Chester, N.Y.

A ship’s painting by Antonio Jacobsen (Danish American, 1850–1921), sold on New Year’s Day at Schmidt’s Antiques for $9,500. The oil on artist’s board of the Great Lakes freighter Henry B. Smith, is 41¼ by 11½ inches; the steel-hulled, propeller-driven lake freighter was built in 1906, and it sank in Lake Superior in 1913.

“We had two back-to-back auctions, a January 1 antiques auction and a January 2 toy auction,” said Keith Meissner Jr, owner of the New Lebanon, N.Y., auction house. “For the toy auction, there were 250 people in attendance and 160 bidders registered.” The top lot was this Buddy L baggage truck, which brought $1,176.

After the preview party at Ahlers & Ogletree’s Atlanta, Ga., gallery on December 30, interest was high for a watercolor on paper by Pakistani artist Abdur Rahman Chughtai (1897–1975), with provenance from Arif Rahman Chughtai (the artist’s son and director of Chughtai Museum in Lehore, Pakistan) to the former United States Ambassador to Pakistan, Benjamin Oehlert, Atlanta, and by descent to his family. When it crossed the block at the January 2–3 auction event, the untitled (Young Woman with Flower), had an estimate of $30/50,000. The 27½-by-217/8-inch (sight size) work realized $70,800.

Shaker material was well represented at Meissner’s New Year’s Day antique estate auction on January 1 in New Lebanon, N.Y., where this 12-inch oval carrier was bid to $1,008. A 5-inch Shaker oval box went out at $896 and a Shaker red painted wooden dipper took $952.

One of the headliners at Alderfer Auction in Hatfield, Penn., on December 31, was a 1964 Mustang 289 with its V8 engine in original condition. The white with blue interior classic, two-door, was just one of several vehicles at Alderfer’s online vehicle auction, where it sold above estimate for $10,350.

Nest Egg Auctions’ January 2 sale featured 301 lots with 3,000 online bidders and more than 200 in the gallery at Berlin, Conn. A Van Valkenburgh family archive, which included genealogical information on a historic family, drew interest from across the United States and Canada, selling for $3,422.

Alderfer Auction of Hatfield, Penn., held an estate, nostalgic treasures, auction on December 31 both online and at the company’s gallery. With a large selection of antique furniture and collectibles, this Victorian walnut carved marble top parlor table was the subject of strong bidding to its final price of $1,495.