The top lot of the auction was this Leon Dabo landscape titled “Evening Lower Bay,” which achieved $16,640 against its $3/5,000 estimate.
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
WILLISTON, VT. — Merrill’s Auctioneers and Appraisers’ August 14 auction of Continental, Americana and Decorative Arts was a solid event all around, proving one need not have six-figure prices to make for a good auction. Featured in the sale were early American furniture, accessories and silver from the lakefront Charlotte, Vt., estate of Phyllis and Alexander, Kroll Jr. Alexander was a former NFL football player and Hall of Famer for the New York Titans (Jets), and CEO for Young & Rubicam. His collecting eye ran towards American coin silver, jewelry, folk art, painted early American furniture and a group of materials relating to pointer dogs.
“On the whole, we were very pleased with the sale. It had a strong showing on all fronts, with aggressive phone and absentee bidding by both collectors and dealers,” said auctioneer and appraiser Adam DeMasi. “It goes to show that great objects are still bringing strong prices, and having a well-curated collection certainly doesn’t hurt.”
Artwork led the day with some of the strongest prices seen. Such was the case with the auction’s top lot, a tonalist landscape by Leon Dabo (American/French, 1864-1960) titled “Evening Lower Bay,” which depicted a summer scene. Bidders drove the painting that was exhibited in the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco past its $3/5,000 estimate to $16,640.
“Mountain Suite” by Vermont artist Sabra Field sold for $8,320 ($2,5/4,500).
Another standout among fine art was “Mountain Suite,” a grouping of four woodcut print landscapes by contemporary Vermont artist Sabra Field (b 1935) that sold for $8,320. Though she was born in Oklahoma, Field, who came to Vermont for college in the 1950s and stayed, is now one of the state’s most celebrated artists.
Leading early American coin silver was a circa 1770 Paul Revere, Jr, silver spoon with a gadrooned handle and rococo cartouche inscribed “PM to EC” that sold just over its estimate to bring $12,800. Made in Boston, the spoon came with an old note of provenance that stated, “Paul Revere The Patriot. 1735-1818.”
The jewelry catalog featured an 18K yellow gold and ruby heavy link necklace, 19 inches long, that made $11,520. Each link had a .02-carat round-cut ruby and the necklace’s total weight was 117.4 grams.
Furniture can be hit or miss at auction, but notable pieces that performed well in this sale included a vibrant robin’s-egg-blue painted pine apothecary case with 38 graduated drawers that attained $7,670. Originating in New England in the early Nineteenth Century, the dovetailed case was a good size at 37 by 53 by 10¼ inches. Another highlight was an Eighteenth Century Irish mahogany oval wake table with drop leaves, gate legs and wrought iron hinges. It sold above estimate for $5,605.
This circa 1800 pine apothecary case with 38 drawers, New England, early Nineteenth Century, nearly doubled its high estimate at $7,670 ($2/4,000).
Rounding out the auction highlights were a pair of cleaned and repainted Nineteenth Century cast iron Neoclassical planters with foliate decoration that took $1,088 and an item befitting the consignor’s career in professional football: a 1950s coin-op football card dispenser with a new old stock collection of about 350 Topps football cards from 1956, including Roosevelt Greer, Ollie Matson, Dave Middleton and Bob Pellegrini. It realized $3,520.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Merrill’s is planning a Midcentury Modern auction September 18. For information, www.merrillsauction.com or 802-878-2625.
