Saturday morning, February 11, at 105 Main Street the hall was packed with eager buyers at Northfield Auctions’ first sale of the year.

With phone lines open for many of the items and many left bids, auctioneer Paul Gorzocoski opened the auction at 11 am. “We had a packed house and some phone lines and we did much better than I had anticipated,” he commented. “As I have always said, anything good, high-end in its category, will do well. The truly rare items will always bring a good price.”

That belief was confirmed when he started the bidding for an unusual sampler he had found nearby in Massachusetts. It was a mid-Atlantic sampler by a Mary Tait, aged 10 years, 1825, 16 by 19 1/2 inches; it had been mounted as a fire screen some time in the 1860s, Gorzocoski surmised. When the bidding was finished, it sold for $16,500. All prices given include the buyer’s premium.

From the same Amherst, Mass., estate, was another top lot, a circa 1820s ovoid crock with a large incised pigeon on one side and a flower on the other side. The crock had a crack on one side, and some chipping, but it sold for $8,200 despite its less than perfect condition.

Despite a crack and some chipping, this ovoid crock, circa 1820s, with a large incised pigeon on one side and a flower on the other, brought $8,500.

Some other items that did well were a painting of a harborscene with boats tied up to the wharf by Henri Malfoy that brought$4,700 and a Venetian harbor scene by Felix Francois Ziem, that wasapproximately 30 by 40 inches and in its original frame. A QueenAnne armchair received strong attention although the arms had beenadded after it had been originally made – Gorzocoski believed thearms had been added early in the chair’s life, making it a good buyat $750.

A surprise for Gorzocoski was a non-antique table made by Henredon. It was a Duncan Phyfe style, mahogany banquet pedestal table with brass paw feet and fine banded edge that opened to 11 feet 2 inches and sold for $1,900. It was no surprise that middle antique furniture did not sell particularly well, said the auctioneer, it has been soft for some time. But the high-end items brought more than their share of interest and buyers to this one-day sale that opened the season for Northfield Auctions.

Northfield will have a historical military auction on April 4, also at 105 Main Street. For information, 413-498-4420, or the auction hall 413-498-0221 or www.northfieldauctions.com.