Auctioneer Jeff Saletin (standing right) working the crowd.
Review & On-Site Photos by Carly Timpson
BARRINGTON, R.I. — Auctioneer Jeff Saletin came out of retirement to conduct, with the help of his family, the estate auction of the late Penelope Manzella. Saletin and his family, who are in the real estate business, were awarded the opportunity to sell Manzella’s property and all the items within it after she passed in July of 2024.
Manzella herself was an artist, studying fine art and sculpture at Columbia University. The home, built in 1850, sat upon four acres with water access, and at the time of auction, it was filled with more than 300 lots of Manzella’s own artwork as well as other works she collected, country kitchen items, furniture, books, lighting, porcelain and, as Saletin commented, “she collected a lot of Chinese and Japanese items,” so there were several box lots of Asian figures and a collection of Japanese woodblock prints.
With chairs packed into the home’s parlor room, there was a steady stream of bidders with about 15 seated throughout the day with others floating in and out as the sale progressed.
Manzella once wrote, “Obsolete or vacant buildings, especially mills of the past century, occupy a haunting presence in today’s landscape. For years I have followed roads leading to them, drawn there by the bold, elegant chimney stacks that punctuate the skyline. They are handsome buildings, rich in ornament and diverse in style. These mills began to play a leading role in my paintings. I place them in imaginary landscapes, rearrange and simplify, or add things to enhance and enliven the picture, including suggestions of hour and season of the introduction of a story line. I work to make the painting interesting, to evoke an emotional response — stir a memory.” One of her best-selling mill paintings was bid to $275. Other Manzella paintings to find new homes included one of Tony Bennet performing a song on stage ($55), a nude woman reclining on a settee ($88) and a Boston Red Sox player ($132).
This speed skater sculpture by Penelope Manzella raced to a new home for $413.
Putting her degree in sculpture to work and proving her strength as a multi-media artist, one of the most popular Manzella pieces offered in this auction was a painted terracotta sculpture of a speed skater. With numerous bidders vying for the win, she raced across the finish line for $413.
Manzella’s work was diverse and often unlabeled. However, one example did have an old label taped to its reverse. It was identified as “Guardian Angel From Whence She Came,” a mixed-wood sculpture made with spoons and other materials. It was crafted in 1996 and was once in the private collection of another local artist, Marjory Dalenius. Though it was titled, Saletin joked that he couldn’t tell what it was and said, “if you can explain it, you can pay for it!” Someone took a chance on the piece, taking it home for $44. Another mixed media by Manzella was bid to $39. This work, constructed with old automobile parts arranged on board, was an abstract depiction appearing to be a Buddha figure.
Though many of the notable lots were made by Manzella herself, she filled her home with art and beauty of all forms. Other art included a still life of flowers in a gilt frame ($110), a still life of apples ($231), a Japanese woodblock print of a housing community ($121), an “early, unknown landscape” ($100) another another early landscape which Saletin described as “very impressionistic” ($55).
Made by Hubley, this cast iron Boston terrier door stop held its spot at $66.
Several Hubley cast iron doorstops also were up for sale including an owl perched atop a stack of books and a few dogs. A Boston terrier led the lot at $66. Dogs were also represented in several box lots of small English porcelains. One, “with the dust still on them,” sold for $132 and had about a dozen figures.
Furniture was led by a small wooden game table that sold for $468. A small hutch was bid to $220, and at the same price was a possibly Dutch wood chest. Earning $77 was a wooden chair with an upholstered seat. A 9-by-9-foot rug brought $550 while two others of varying sizes went for $275 and $220.
All prices include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 401-529-9730.
