“Great White Herons,” 1933. Oil on canvas from the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

Phone Bidder Sees the Light through Tiffany “Wisteria” Windows at New Jersey Auction

ORANGE, N.J. – At a recent Lincoln Galleries auction, furniture selections began with two Nineteenth Century, single-door, individual-mullioned corner cupboards of maple and cherry, both of which drew hammer prices of $5,000. A Nineteenth Century cherry individual-mullioned, two-door cupboard, with pair of drawers in the apron and pair paneled doors in the base, brought $3,750.

Two Windsor chairs – one a spindle-back saddle seat and the other a spindle back plank seat armchair – sold for $1,200 and $900, respectively, to floor bidders. A Chippendale mahogany Pembroke drop-leaf table, with pierced X-stretcher supports and opposing drawers in apron, brought $2,500, while a group of late Sheraton maple, cherry and mahogany drop leaf tables sold for $300, $500 and $650 respectively.

A small Hepplewhite shield-shaped pole screen, with needlework on silk insert, finished at a price of $1,300, and a lady’s mahogany kidney-shaped, crossbanded, gallery-edge dressing table sold for $1,750.

A cylinder front bookcase secretary brought $2,800 and an Empire bookcase secretary reached the hammer price of $1,300. A Dutch style mirror back and mother-of-pearl inlaid bombè chest with marquetry inlay sold for $3,250. Love seats in Victorian and Sheraton were sought after and ended up bringing bids of $1,000 and $950 respectively. A French style mirror back and marquetry inlaid and metal mounted vitrine sold for $2,250 and a similar vitrine with Vernis Martin decoration went to the hammer price of $2,800.

The pine tall-case clock with the painted enamel dial by William Tait, Wicton, went to a happy bidder for $1,750 and a Regina music box on a two door cabinet base with 25 discs captured the interest of the crowd until the final bid of $4,250.

The highlight of this category was the satinwood and Vernis Martin decorated furniture group, consisting of a large demilune commode, which went to a floor bidder for $4,000 and a similar smaller version, which sold for $3,250. After these, two pairs of side cabinets, one with pink marble tops, sold for $1,400 and $2,250 respectively. A lady’s kidney shaped vanity was hammered down at $3,750 and the shield back similar chair sold for $1,100. An unusual piece, a graduated, oval, two-tiered, marquetry inlaid side table, with X-stretcher supports, brought a final bid of $5,000.

At noon all phones were occupied with eager bidders who vied for three complementary Louis C. Tiffany signed windows in the “Wisteria” pattern. All expectations were far surpassed as the hammer came down on the final bid to a phone bidder for $75,000.

An oil on canvas, with sheep and figures by a brook, signed S.D. Colkett, 1854, sold for $2,250, and an unsigned oil on canvas, a landscape with waterfall, mountains and river in the foreground, fetched $6,000. An oil on canvas depicting two ladies having tea, entitled “A Bit of Gossip,” by J.T. Peele, 1884, went to a delighted floor bidder for $6,250.

And for a bidder who loved White Castle hamburgers, a stained glass “White Castle” window was hammered down to that bidder for $750.

The following day, an Art Nouveau copper base and art glass pull-feather design central globe ceiling fixture, surrounded by six floral shaped individual globes, sold for $19,500, after which a reverse painted large art glass dome shaped ceiling fixture sold to a phone bidder for $850.

A small Rookwood pottery green ground and floral decorated vase, signed Valentine, sold for $2,700. A pair of putti-supported, bronze and marble four-branch candelabrum sold for $5,500, and a French bronze mantel garniture, consisting of a central ornate clock with matching five branch candelabrum, was hammered down at $2,500.

A pair of English sterling weighted base candleholders with three branch candelabra attachments brought $2,650 and a pair of English sterling rectangular tea caddies with ivory and sterling leaf shaped finials delighted a bidder at the hammer price of $2,000.

Prices do not include a 15 percent buyers premium.