The overall top lot of the auction was this Raymond Yard 18K gold and natural pearl necklace with a diamond and emerald clasp that took $39,000 ($7/9,000).
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
THOMASTON, MAINE — Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ Summer Splendor Auction June 26-28 achieved $1.4 million. Featuring antiques, fine art, jewelry and collectibles from around the world, the auction comprised nearly 1,500 lots and saw strong sales across the board.
“Summer is really the heart of the auction season in Maine, and our Summer Splendor sale got it off to a great start for both our bidders and our consigners,” said owner and auctioneer Kaja Veilleux. “We were excited to see energetic in-person bidding with plenty of additional players joining us by phone, absentee and online. When you have really world-class items soaring high above estimates, you know that the 2026 auction year figures to be memorable all around!”
Given the high interest in American history that has been ramping up in the weeks leading to the country’s 250th birthday celebrations, it’s not surprising that a trove of material relating to Brigadier General Sylvester Churchill, a key figure in the American military, garnered keen demand and robust prices. Born in Vermont in 1783, Churchill was promoted to brevet brigadier general after his actions in the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War, according to Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1889, as cited in the auction catalog.
This watercolor portrait of Brigadier General Sylvester Churchill in a bi-fold leather daguerreotype case outperformed its $700/900 estimate to take $4,062.
Bringing the highest price in this grouping was a lot comprising militaria items from Churchill, including a black bicorn field hat, a gold cloth sash with tassels, Major General field shoulder straps, epaulettes and more. Estimated at $1/2,000, the lot attained $10,800. An Ames presentation sword given to Churchill in recognition for his actions in the Battle of Buena Vista February 22-23, 1847, achieved $9,000 ($3/5,000). A watercolor portrait of Churchill in a bi-fold leather daguerreotype case bested its $700/900 estimate to take $4,062.
The first session also featured Americana in the form of three Nineteenth Century firefighters’ helmets that sold for $3,750 ($300/400) and a pair of Gilded Age cut glass shop window display candy jars ($500/800). With black-painted and gilded labels, one reading “Caramel Rolls” and the other “Candy Wafers,” the jars brought $3,000.
A number of artworks went over their estimates, including William Henry Dethlef Koerner’s oil sketch white field illustration titled “Standing Guard,” which was made for Back of Beyond by Stewart Edward White. The image of a barefoot woman holding a rifle appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in February 1927 and did well in this auction, selling for $5,700 ($2,5/3,500). An Ansel Adams gelatin silver print view of El Capitan from his Yosemite Special Edition tripled its high estimate to realize $3,900, while an art-adjacent offering — Alexander Pushkin’s 1929 book Gabriel: A Poem in One Song — illustrated by Rockwell Kent brought $3,000, well over its $500/700 estimate.
This narrative oil sketch by William Henry Dethlef Koerner, “Standing Guard,” appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in February 1927. This illustration made $5,700 ($2,5/3,500).
The second session saw even stronger prices for paintings, led by Robert S. Duncanson’s oil on canvas “Twilight,” circa 1949, which went out at its low estimate of $30,000. “An evocative landscape by Robert Seldon Duncanson, this twilight painting is among the artist’s earliest known works and reflects his engagement with the Hudson River School,” the catalog noted. Also crossing the block was a portrait by Gilbert Stuart of Hannah Rhea Caldwell (1767-1825), one of 13 children whose father was chaplain of the New Jersey line of the Continental Army and whose mother was murdered by a British soldier in 1780. The circa 1807 portrait brought $26,250 ($10/20,000).
While well known for his two-dimensional artworks and lithographs, Marc Chagall worked in multiple mediums, and a Madoura ceramic dish with hand-painted glaze by the artist depicting “Lovers with Pink Horse” (1951) more than doubled its high estimate to take $28,750 ($5/10,000).
Other standouts in this session were a grouping of 12 early Nineteenth Century New England silhouettes that sold over estimate at $6,250 ($2/3,000) and a circa 1800 country Hepplewhite tiger maple chest that quadrupled its estimate to bring $4,800 ($800-$1,000).
The overall top lot came during the final session when a Raymond Yard 18K gold and natural pearl necklace with a diamond and emerald clasp realized $39,000, easily outperforming its $7/9,000 estimate.
Bringing the second-highest price of the day was a rare Louis Vuitton natural cowhide leather Malle Fleurs trunk that realized $33,750 ($2/3,000).
This unsigned Gilbert Stuart portrait of Hannah Rhea Caldwell, circa 1807, took $26,250. The 1780 murder of the sitter’s mother in New Jersey galvanized the Colonial troops and was retold in an 1873 Bret Harte poem ($10/20,000).
Several vintage cars drove over the block, led by a 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet going out at $26,400 ($30/40,000) and a 1073 Corvette Stingray that sold within its $5/7,000 estimate at $6,250.
Maine artists were also prominently featured in this auction with two works by Dahlov Ipcar (1917-2017) showing her range. Created in homage to a bird sanctuary in Kenya, “Tsavo Nyika,” a colorful oil on Belgian linen from 1991 sold for $22,800 ($15/25,000) and her “Angry Wildebeest” soft sculpture sold for $9,375 ($1/1,500). Also finding new homes were a William Irvine (b 1931) oil on canvas titled “Morning Harbour” depicting a fishing boat passing homes along the coast, which sailed to $14,400 ($2/3,000), and at $8,400 was “Asleep Afish,” an unusual Philip Barter (1939-2024) portrait of the late Maine fisherman Miff Pinkham, who reportedly consumed a pint of grain alcohol daily ($1/1,500).
Another highlight from the last day was a Nineteenth Century Herring & Company iron safe concealed in a carved walnut cabinet. The safe itself had a painted front door and its interior was fitted with shelves and locking drawers. Bidders drove the circa 1880 piece past its $1/1,500 estimate all the way to $16,800.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ next sales will be Summer Jewelry on July 24, and Summer Grandeur 2026 is coming up August 28-30. For information, www.thomastonauction.com or 207-354-8141.
