Weekly auctions at Broad Cove Auctions turn up a wide range of buying opportunities for collectors and dealers who crowd the ballroom just off Hingham Harbor. The sales draw a loyal audience from the area for whom the Monday night auction is a regular event. The crowd is largely retail (about 60 to 70 percent), who come for the good vintage pieces for sale.
The sales are also a family affair: Scott W. McCulloch calls the auctions; his father Norman organizes the sale and runs the lots and can auction. Judith McCulloch, mother and wife to the former, keeps the records, cooks and runs the snack bar and calls the sales as well. The family has been in the business for 35 years.
The July 14 event opened with a group of 84 Hummel figures from a local collector who has been dispersing the collection at Broad Cove. The figures attracted some very interested bidders who gave each piece some heavy competition. The highest lot sold for $168.
A set of eight retro flamingo pink painted metal garden chairs attracted much interest from bidders who live along the water and sold for $224.
Several people tried out the 1933 Steinway baby grand piano that sold for $4,480 and a Victrola cabinet record player and records that was $201. A cello that was said to be a copy of a Stradivarius instrument and retained the original label attracted players and fetched $112. An acoustic guitar was $102.
The auction house website reminds viewers, “You just never know what you will find here at the Broad Cove Auction Galleries.” That’s for sure. Some highly desirable pieces brought very reasonable money.
A very nice early Nineteenth Century French gilt wall clock signed Balthazard sold for $560, and a time and strike school clock drew $73. An old cottage clock was $56.
A bag lot of sterling silver flatware sold for $252, and a lot of eight sterling silver sherbet cups realized $146.
Other highlights included a ruffled cranberry glass shade from a gas fixture at $90, a bronze plant stand that sold for $168, a bronze lamp on a teak base at $135 and a majolica jardiniere base at $123, while the pedestal of a Roseville jardiniere went for $46.
Two Pennsylvania redware crocks fetched $190 and $157, respectively. Two small yellowware bowls sold for $94.
A selection of stoneware jugs and crocks was of interest. A jug decorated with a sequence of hearts brought $140; another example was $138, while a pear shaped ovoid example sold for $96 and another was $112.
An iridescent art glass vase realized $280, and a Lenox porcelain service for 15 was $202. A group of clambroth plates and soup bowls was $39. A fossil vase from the 1980s sold for $280.
A blue painted tole tray was $58, as was a mahogany five-tier étagère, while a small leather fire bucket was an excellent buy at $39. A smallish blue firkin sold for $146.
Furniture highlights included a country Chippendale chair with a rush seat that brought $81, a Victorian walnut and cherry lamp table at $56, a lot of five Hitchcock-style chairs made by Conant-Ball for $101 and a maple washstand for $90.
A Victorian commode with a backsplash realized $62, while a Victorian Eastlake commode was $39.
Other offerings included an agricultural tiller that made a nice folky decoration at $40, a large American flag with 50 stars that attracted $45, and a framed Maxfield Parish print that went for $118.
A set of iron fireplace tools including a screen, andirons, a wood holder and the tools themselves sold for $40, while a slag glass table lamp that was missing a glass panel realized $146.
Other furniture crossing the block were a massive bamboo love seat or chaise that fetched $68, a hanging curio cabinet at $129, a two-drawer spool cabinet at $73, and a four-part Globe Werneke bookcase with a drawer in the base that sold for $280.
A two door cupboard base in old white paint with interior shelving brought $168.
A Kittinger card table with vibrant inlay went for $280, and a four-drawer custom chest was also $280.
A highly useful cherry drop leaf table went for $92 and a maple washstand drew $90, while a two-drawer maple workstand sold for $63.
Two Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century iron dress forms, each wearing an Edwardian dress and a hat, sold for $168 each.
Rounding out the auction were a six-drawer country pine spice box that went for $62, a Zenith Bakelite table radio at $17 and a vintage Columbia girl’s bicycle in glossy blue paint for $224.
All prices reported include the 12 percent buyer’s premium. For more information, www.broadcoveauction.com or 781-749-5882.
