The top lot, a Reed & Barton .950 Martelé silver tea set exceeded its estimate to achieve $6,250.
Review by Z.G. Burnett, Photos Courtesy Hudson Valley Auctions
BEACON, N.Y. – Hudson Valley Auctioneers conducted a multi-estate auction with absentee, phone and online bidding on June 27, and not one of almost 500 lots went unsold. The sale included all categories and periods, from folk art to furniture, table settings to jewelry, and everything in between. The objects were offered, without reserve, from several midtown Manhattan and local estates.
The highest performing lot was a fine Reed & Barton .950 Martelé silver tea set that gathered up for $6,250. Meant to emulate Gorham’s Martelé silver line, the Reed & Barton set used a higher silver standard (950/1000) and is far rarer than the Gorham examples. The set was decorated with Art Nouveau floral motifs with the same hand-chased technique, achieved by detailing the exterior of the metal with small hammer-struck punches. The set included a small pitcher, creamer, sugar bowl, a hinged teapot on a stand, a coffee pot and a covered bowl, and sold to an online bidder.
Serving ware was prominent in this sale, with another of the top lots being a 141-piece set of Limoges porcelain dinnerware. The pattern was Chateaubriand Blue by Bernardaud, one of the oldest Limoges manufacturers that have been producing porcelain since 1863, and the set dated to the early 1970s. It sold for $2,125 to an absentee internet bidder.
Furniture was a strong category in the sale, led by an Eighteenth Century Philadelphia Windsor armchair that belonged to a New York City collection of early country pieces. The chair had a wide seat and carved scroll ears on its yoke, unlike the usual bent wood rail that’s usually associated with the Windsor style. The carved armrests terminated in a scroll to match the ears. Despite an old repair to the back brace support, the chair fetched a stable $5,938 after competing internet bids.
This set of Eames chairs, 1946-47, seated $5,398.
It was six for the price of one with the next lot, as a set of Eames chairs achieved the same figure as the Windsor armchair at $5,938 after a lengthy internet duel. Produced by the Evans Products Company, these chairs were made in their Venice, Calif., Molded Plywood Division for Herman Miller between 1946 and 1947. The company then licensed its innovative bent plywood products and moved its factory to Michigan and was later bought by Herman Miller. The set was in overall good condition with only one having minor condition issues.
Following the chairs in price was a pie safe with old blue paint, listed on a past receipt that came with the lot as “Southern origin. Possibly Virginia.” The safe was from the same collection as the Windsor chair and dates to about 1830-50, with pierced tin siding in star formations on each side. Pie safes were used before modern refrigeration to preserve perishables, with the pierced tin circulating air and keeping baked goods cool while also protecting them from dirt and vermin. This safe was bought from David M. Weiss Antiques (Sheffield, Mass.) in 1997 for $4,750, but sold for $2,500 with much interest from Southern dealers.
Another top lot was somewhat of a mystery object, at least among its Midcentury Modern and early American peers. Also sold for $2,500 was a gilt and stone decorated reliquary with images of the Crucifixion, saints, angels and birds. There were some losses to the gilt where the gesso could be seen beneath, however, all the stones on the exterior seemed intact. “It was a real surprise, a pleasant surprise,” Theo de Haas commented. “It was definitely early, the age could particularly be seen on the inner surface [of the small door on the side].” Aside from these details, the reliquary’s origin is unknown.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.hudsonvalleyauctioneers.com or 845-831-3049.
