A trade buyer paid the sale’s top price, prevailing against an online bidder and other trade buyers, taking John Atherton’s “Magical Surreal Landscape,” for $13,420. The work, which had been painted in 1946 and measured 30 by 25 inches, had been estimated at $7/9,000. Downer said it was one of a few surrealist paintings done by the artist.
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring, Photos Courtesy Tremont Auctions
SUDBURY, MASS. – On Sunday, June 28, Tremont Auctions offered nearly 475 lots in their Annual Spring Fine Art & Antiques sale. More than 90 percent of the sale sold from the podium and totaled approximately $403,000, including buyer’s premium. Preview was available by appointment, and the firm was allowed to have a limited number of bidders in the room. The sale was conducted live on LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable and AuctionZip; Tremont’s future sales will also be featured on Barnebys.com.
Speaking by phone after the sale, Tremont’s owner and auctioneer Brett Downer was enthusiastic. “Considering the current COVID circumstances, I thought the sale was strong from A to Z, and we were very happy with the results and prices.”
Jewelry and silver got the sale off to a good start, with buyers in the room providing strong competition for online, absentee and phone bidders. Top results were seen in a Victorian sterling silver tray by Garrard that had the armorial crest of the Earl of Lonsdale that made $4,998 and a Gorham 66-piece sterling silver flatware set in the “Dauphin” pattern that tripled expectations to bring $3,570. The first lot in the sale – a Frank Smith ornate bowl and tray – brought $2,380, and a Kirk & Son Monteith punch bowl topped its high estimate to bring $1,547. Among jewelry and watch highlights, a Patek Philippe watch brought $8,330, and a Cartier 18K gold “Lovers on a Bench” brooch achieved $4,760.
Art and antiques comprised the second half of the sale, which saw the leading price of $13,420 achieved for John Atherton’s (Canadian/American, 1900-1952) “Magical Surreal Landscape,” which sold to a trade buyer for $13,420, almost double its estimate. Other notable fine art sales included the second highest price of the sale, an untitled abstract by Turkish artist Basaga Ferruh (1914-2010), which had considerable interest, largely from Turkey, and which sold to a Turkish buyer for $11,305. A New York City buyer acquired Pietro Bazzanti’s marble sculpture of Apollo and Daphne for $10,710, while a Seventeenth Century Dutch Old Master portrait miniature on copper achieved $2,380, several times its high estimate.
Works by American artists saw strong results for “The Breaking Surf” by Frederick Judd Waugh (American, 1861-1940), which sold for $7,140 and a mountainous landscape by Thomas Chambers (1808-1869) that made $6,545.
Tremont’s next sale will feature furniture and silver from the estate of David Thomas, the last owner of Boston’s Gebelein Silversmiths; a date has yet to be determined but Downer said it would take place in early fall.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house.
Tremont Auctions is at 615 Boston Post Road, Suite 7. For additional information, www.tremontauctions.com or 617-795-1678.
