Taking home the title of top lot was “#154 N.H. Lake Scenery, Mt Chocorua in the Distance” by Benjamin Champney, 1856, 36 by 46 inches, signed and dated lower center. The painting is framed in an oval format, with its original frame. Bidders pushed the landscape to $29,760 ($14/18,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
SUDBURY, MASS. — On May 5, Tremont Auctions held its Single-Owner Collection of Fine Arts auction. There were 338 lots offered from a local Massachusetts estate, and the auction closed with a 91 percent sell-through rate. “We were very happy overall,” said Cameron Ayotte, auction manager at Tremont, of the sale, which realized $484,000.
Bidders came mostly from the United States, but there were a good number from the United Kingdom and Europe as well. “The top lots appear to have been purchased by a mix of dealers and collectors,” added Ayotte.
A landscape painting, titled “#154 N.H. Lake Scenery, Mt Chocorua in the Distance,” by Benjamin Champney, was the highest-selling lot of the sale. The painting depicted the large Mt Chocorua valley and surrounding lake, with figures and cattle throughout. It was thought to be the Champney landscape exhibited in 1856 at the Boston Athenaeum and was signed and dated with the year in question lower center. The painting was displayed in an oval format, with its original frame, and was in original condition. It far exceeded expectations, trading hands at $29,760 against a $14/18,000 estimate.
This Nineteenth Century large Imperial court scene depicting a seated Emperor Jiaqing from a Chinese Export School, 1796-1820, oil on canvas laid down on board, 34½ by 48 inches, sold for $24,800 ($15/18,000).
A rare image with very few examples known, the second highest-selling lot of the auction was a Nineteenth Century Chinese Export School Imperial court scene. It depicted a seated Emperor Jiaqing, with imperial attendants and guards lined up and relates to a similar, smaller painting that sold at Christie’s New York in June 1992. Tremont’s painting, however, was previously auctioned in 1971 at Eldred’s Auction (Dennis, Mass.). The oil on canvas laid down on board was pushed past its high estimate, crossing the block for $24,800.
An early Nineteenth Century British school watercolor painting depicting a landscape with waterfalls defied all expectations, skyrocketing past its $200/300 estimate to sell for an impressive $22,320. The painting was initialed lower left “R.A.,” and titled verso. It “was quite a surprise” reported Ayotte about the high price of the painting. “Still a bit of a mystery, but it sold to a buyer in the United Kingdom.”
This 1899 12½-inch-high Rookwood Pottery fine iris glass vase by Kataro Shirayamadani realized $19,840 ($3/5,000).
Paintings were not the only category attracting bidders, however. A Rookwood Pottery Iris glass vase by Kataro Shirayamadani almost quadrupled its high estimate, trading hands for $19,840. The 12½-inch-high vase had a design featuring a tropical landscape with palm trees and white egrets. The artist’s signature was incised, and there were “W” and “2” arrowhead marks under a “#823B” marking on the vase.
Realizing $18,600 was a large marble sculpture of an allegorical figure by Ferdinando Vicchi. Standing 41 inches tall on a 35-inch rouge veined marble two-piece pedestal, the sculpture depicts a semi-clad woman standing on a globe and rising sun, wearing a crescent moon hairpiece and holding a star. An identical statue was sold at Sotheby’s, London, in December 2016 for £25,000 ($31,320).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.tremontauctions.com or 617-795-1678.
