Realizing $1,562, this pierced tin hanging lantern from Blodgett’s personal collection featured an etched Black Forest deer scene on a Bohemian globe and a tin chimney decorated with stars and diamonds.
Review by Donna Christopher
NIANTIC, CONN. — Past To Present Auctions is conducting several sales featuring the estate of Neal L. Blodgett, Jr. Its October 18 session exceeded expectations with a well poised array drawing robust prices. Blodgett’s primitives, cast iron, folk art and Americana collections sold well, according to the auction house.
Longtime antiques dealer Neal Blodgett died earlier this year. He was a lifelong resident of Higganum, Conn., where he operated Higganum House Antiques. “He enjoyed traveling and fishing but most of all he loved his work and loved antiques,” his obituary said.
Blodgett regularly participated in major New England antiques shows and the Brimfield markets. He was widely recognized for his extensive collections of Americana, folk art, primitive objects, still and mechanical iron banks, crooked knives and other items relating to hunting and fishing, said Past to Present’s auction manager Amy Scicolone.
This antique cast iron Masonic wall pocket was elaborately decorated with gilt and painted symbols, including the square and compass with the letter “G,” the All-Seeing Eye, the sun and moon, architectural pillars and various working tools. It sold for $864.
“It has been an honor to sell such a wonderful collection with a vast array of items; we began selling items from his collection in June and plan to have the collection completed by the end of December,” she said.
The estate offerings include a large and diverse lifetime collection of primitives, duck decoys, tin molds, cast iron coin banks and doorstops, yellowware, crooked knives, Americana, folk art, Native American baskets, pottery, advertising, treenware, wooden butter molds, weathervanes, sewing notions, painted boxes, looms and canes.
Scicolone added, “Bidders demonstrated strong interest in one-of-a-kind folk art and Americana pieces, valuing these as unique art forms rather than mass-produced goods. The market for advertising-related items, including signs, paperweights and other distinctive displays, also continues to grow.”
Early cast iron coin banks, doorstops and primitives generally sold at fair market value, with prices increasingly influenced by comparable results available through online resources, Scicolone said.
Displaying honest wear throughout, this early carved hand crooked knife realized $513 and featured an iron blade paired with a carved wood hilt in the form of a hand.
Among surprises was an engraved flintlock tinder pistol lighter by Penn and Williams that sold for $610. Dating from around 1860-70, an early American primitive 24-tube tin candle mold in a wooden frame sold for $733.
Lighting up the sale was an early pierced tin hanging lantern featuring a Bohemian etched deer and forest scene globe that fetched $1,562. Calling this a highlight of the auction, it was “an exceptional and unusual lantern with the Bohemian globe and Black Forest deer etching … from Neal’s personal collection,” Scicolone said. “It emerged as one of the top lots in the sale due to condition and rarity. Lanterns such as this do not come up for auction very often. There is a strong market for lanterns, both with railroad collectors and early lighting enthusiasts.”
An elaborately decorated cast iron Masonic wall pocket with traditional Freemasonry symbolism, including the square and compass with the letter “G,” the All-Seeing Eye, the sun and moon, architectural pillars and various working tools, realized $864.
Rounding out the auction highlights were a Nineteenth Century tabletop rotating wooden spice cabinet featuring green-painted compartments at $804, an 1821 Norwegian primitive carved tape heddle band loom featuring a fine original green surface for $513, and a carved crooked knife with wrapped handle in the form of a hand that changed hands for $513. The latter was a “nice early example with honest wear throughout,” according to the auctioneer.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.pasttopresentauctions.com or 860-941-5973.
