“The Zouave,” 1888. Oil on canvas from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
MANCHESTER VILLAGE, VT. – An auction featuring estate antiques and fine art was conducted by Eric Nathan Auction Company at the Equinox Hotel on July 23. Items of Oriental rugs, furniture and paintings gifted to Green Mountain College of Poultney, and property from the Dorset, Vt. estate of the late Howard Steere were among consignments offered. The event was preceded by two preview sessions. One hundred seventy bidders were on the floor competing for the 228 lots crossing the block.
“It was the best gross we ever made in our 20-year history,” said Nathan, although he preferred not to state the figure. “We’re very active commercial auctioneer – real estate and commercial liquidations -and we’re very selective about the personal property and antiques that we choose. We don’t have sales with great regularity, but when we have them we pick and choose. We’re not a ‘gallery’ as such where we have sales every Friday night. We have probably 3 to 5 a year of this type.”
The starring lot of the day was a Bahktiari rug with dimensions of 24 by 14 feet, which was privately purchased for $17,600. “The two other big sellers went to the trade,” Nathan noted, “but 7 other rugs, including a 12 by 16-foot Mahal for $5,500 went privately, and a 9 by 12-foot Sarouk for $5,200 was privately bought. It was one of those good rug days. I sold the rugs first, in a separate room with no seats, and called it ‘salon style.’ There were a lot of people there, traders and private together, competing. I sold $68,000 worth of carpets in the first 10 lots. A great way to start the sale.”
A Federal cherry linen press sold to a private buyer at $4,840; a Chinese Chippendale Irish drop leaf table reached $5,500; a Pennsylvania hutch table in pine did $2,300; a Pennsylvania sideboard, reeded, with turned legs, was purchased privately at $2,090; a whale-tail hanging shelf did $1,540; and a George III inlaid tea caddy sold at $825.
A pair of cherry Chippendale chairs with gadrooning across the front, straight legs, and shell carving at the crest brought $3,410; a 55 by 45-inch oil on canvas copy of a Raphael portrait of the Madonna and Child in an ornate frame went to an Iowa buyer at $5,500; and good representation of local Vermont artists included an 18 by 24-inch oil on board by Connaway of snow clouds over mountains, which realized $6,600, while a small seascape by the same artist did $2,200.
An Ogden Pleissner watercolor of Picasso’s studio, 13 by 20 inches, went out at $6,100; a second Pleissner, “Dry Dock,” 18 ¾ by 26 inches, reached $3,520; and a Luigi Lucioni watercolor still life, 8 by 12 inches, brought $2,420. An early drawing by Lucioni reached $1,540.
A restored 1950s Mobil gas pump fetched $1,650; a 14-foot long wood canoe achieved $1,155; a pair of ornate Italian 1950s decorative mirrors sold for $990; a decorated English tin fireside kindling box reached $770; and a wood airplane propeller fetched $1,100.
Prices quoted reflect a required 10 percent buyer’s premium.
