PHOENIXVILLE, PENN. — They both had high estimates of $7,000, but a Civil War naval battle scene and a rare Chinese ritual tripod vessel topped out at $106,250 and $40,625, respectively and inclusive of buyer’s premium, on the first day of Wiederseim Associates’ two-day auction, September 10-11. By Xanthus Russell Smith (1839-1929), the 26-by-65½-inch oil on canvas depicting the Civil War naval engagement between the confederate raider Cruiser CSS Alabama and the USS sloop of war Kearsarge with the rescue of the crew by the Deerhound was signed lower right and verso, dated 1869 (the Alabama was sunk June 19, 1864) and came together with a framed and matted print, published by Johnson Wilson Co., N.Y. The cloisonne ritual ding tripod vessel was deemed to be from the Nineteenth Century and measured 21 by 14 inches overall. Ted Wiederseim said he was very pleased with the strong results. “It’s nice to see the market coming back,” he told Antiques and The Arts Weekly. The Smith painting went to a private collector bidding by phone against heated competition from four other phone bidders. The ding vessel went to an internet bidder via BidSquare. A more complete report on this sale will appear in a later issue.