This group of three Oriental style carved jade articles earned $3,540.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
CANAAN, CONN. — Estates from Northwestern Connecticut provided the bounty of antique and vintage goods that State Line Auctions & Estate Services auctioned on August 11. Promotional material for the auction highlighted the estate of Salisbury, Conn., native, Lester A. Hoysradt and a Lakeville, Conn., estate. Presented with broad estimates, the 412-lot sale was more than 95 percent sold.
Top lots in the sale represented a broad variety of collecting categories with Asian works taking the highest price of $3,540 for a lot of three Asian style items carved in either gray or dark green jade. A 10-inch-tall carved figure achieved $443 and a carved chair inlaid with mother of pearl brought $207.
Earning a second place finish at $2,950 was a 10-inch black pottery pot by Tomas Ozuna that featured geometric designs and was signed by the artist. Other Native American objects included a 73-inch hand-painted carved totem pole ($826) and a sterling silver necklace ($384).
Was it folk art? A trade sign? The auction catalog did not divulge any secrets, but a carved wooden ram butted its way to the third highest result, earning $2,714. Other animal forms were also popular; a pair of Nineteenth Century cast lead eagles flew to $1,062, and a 14-inch-tall carved wood penguin shuffled out the door at $384.
This carved wooden ram measured 19½ inches high and 34 inches long and found a new home for $2,714.
Fine art lived up to its name with four results in the top 10 lots. Achieving $2,360 was a Nineteenth Century Old Master still life that depicted a dog looking at a hunter’s bounty of a dead hare and birds alongside grapes. Three portrait miniatures — two of children, one of a dog — rose to $1,534 while a Nineteenth Century landscape, described as “masterpiece,” brought $1,416. The same price was achieved by a pastoral oil on canvas scene by Thomas Bigelow Craig.
Porcelain, glass and silver were well represented across a broad range of price points. Two unmarked porcelain figural groups achieved the apex of the porcelain category at $1,534; the top glass lot — a group of Lalique stemware — realized the same $1,534 amount. A sterling silver flatware service for 12, by Kirk & Sons, finished at $1,298 to lead the silver lots.
Furniture in the auction came in many shapes and sizes. A matched pair of antique English pine bookcases, 86 inches tall, featured musical motifs in their applied cornice decoration and found a new home with a bidder who paid $1,416. An antique leather-clad Venetian chest with painted decoration brought $1,121, and a vintage Adirondack root table, measuring 41 inches in diameter, grew to $826.
State Line Auctions has not yet announced its next sale.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 860-453-4370 or www.statelineauctionsandestateservices.com.
