Dining Room, May 2000.
PLAINVILLE, CONN. – One rdf_Description in Winter Associates’ September 11 sale, according to the firm, inspired a hushed crowd when it was introduced on the block: a rare, 21-inch-tall, three-color Apache basket. The grain storage piece of coiled construction featured repeated horse and human figures; its large size and color variety contributed to its rarity. The lot was accompanied by its original receipt, dated 1913.
The basket, purchased 87 years ago for $4, found many eager bidders both on the phone and in the audience, some from as far away as Colorado. The crowd broke into applause as the hammer came down and the basket sold for $30,250 – a 7,500 percent gain over the initial investment – to an audience member.
A selection of early American furniture attracted also attracted bidders. One of the earliest pieces, an Eighteenth Century highboy base, sold for $1,320, above its $850 high estimate.
Later in the sale, a set of six Nineteenth Century painted Windsor chairs achieved $1,000. A small collection of furnishings by mid-Twentieth Century American designer Andrew Szoeke, consigned by a Southbury, Conn. estate, included a pair of Szoeke bedside tables which sold for $825 and a pair of figured wood veneered lamps which achieved $605. Also from the Southbury estate, among a group of Continental furnishings, a pair of Louis XV style armchairs sold for $2,860.
A large selection of American, Continental, and Oriental ceramics drew the attention of many dealers and collectors. Among the top selling ceramics lots was an American mottled glaze stoneware crock, which sold for $2,090; two lots of European tin glazed plates, which sold for $1,430 and $1,485 respectively; and a Chinese flambé glaze vase, which sold for $467.50.
The sale also featured books on various subjects, including a sizable collection of books about Oriental art. A lot of H.G. Wells leather-bound volumes that surprised the crowd, selling for $3,025 (est $200/400) to an absentee bidder.
All prices quoted include a ten percent buyers premium.
