The European and Asian Furniture and Decorative Arts auction at Skinner this past Saturday, July 17, provided plenty of excrdf_Descriptionent for those in attendance.

The auction, attended by more than 120 new clients and a host of regulars, saw healthy sales top $1.68 million.

The high lot came as a huge surprise to almost everyone in the gallery. Late in the auction – lot 1,178 of 1,300 lots, in the Orientalia section – was a pair of Ming period “official’s hat chairs” that carried a presale estimate of $1/1,500. Bidding was spirited, with the rare chairs hammering down at $99,500, including premium. Two lots later a Ming period “painting table,” with the same estimate, soared to $44,650.

Both lots carried a provenance of the collection of Professor James Hightower.