This oil on Masonite titled “PB 50 Palm Beach Galleries” by Ralph Eugene Cahoon, Jr (American 1910-1982), 24 by 29½ inches framed, was the auction’s leading lot at $89,175 ($30/60,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
POTSDAM, N.Y. — “Every year we do a summer Adirondack auction; this was our 19th,” explained Kip Blanchard, owner of Blanchard’s Auction Service, following the firm’s August 15 Premier Adirondack Auction. Bolstered by an exceptional estate collection, the 853-lot event was “Spectacular,” he said, adding, “It was awesome!”
As Blanchard was cataloging this year’s auction of Adirondack material, the firm acquired property from the Whitney/Vanderbilt collection from Whitney Park (Long Lake, N.Y.). As described in the catalog, “Whitney Park, established by financier William C. Whitney (1841-1904) in the late Nineteenth Century and later stewarded by the Whitney and Vanderbilt families, has long been regarded as one of the most iconic and historically important estates in the Adirondacks.”
Blanchard explained that this park is the “largest privately owned track of land in the Adirondacks. The Whitney family owned the land since 1890s, and there are many camps back there. Camp Deerlands, which you’ll see all throughout the catalog, was the main family camp that sleeps about 30. There were several more on other lakes and parts of the property like Camp Togus and Trappers Cabin at Salmon Lake, which was about an hour away from the main camp.”
The sale’s second-highest price went to this 80-inch-tall Tiffany Studios Curtain Border floor lamp at $73,800 ($50/75,000).
The 36,000-acre property is currently listed for sale at $125 million, and they called Blanchard’s up to handle the Whitney and Vanderbilt items within it. “We pulled out all the stuff that was ‘Adirondack-y’ and put it in this auction, but the rest of it will be sold later,” Blanchard noted.
Due to the prestige of the owners and their collection, Blanchard’s experienced an unprecedented wave of new bidders and the auction closed with a 100 percent sell-through rate. “The realized total was just over $1.5 million, and we had over 2,000 registered bidders from all over the country. There were just over 300 unique, individual buyers, which is really one of the highest numbers we’ve had in an auction,” he reported. “There was definitely the Whitney draw, but I do have to thank all of the media that helped get the word out. That created an awful lot of buyers for us, and, actually, a lot of new registrants opening accounts on LiveAuctioneers.”
Including part of the Whitney collection also helped the rest of the sale that didn’t come from the property “because now people who had their eyes on the sale for that material are looking at the catalog and thinking they could buy other lots that stand out to them,” Blanchard continued. “There was so much interest in so many pieces. Everyone I talked to on the phone or who came to the preview had a story. Whether it was about the family or about the park, whether they went there one time… whatever the reason they all had a connection.”
These 66-inch-tall cast iron stags found new territory to watch over for $15,990 ($2/4,000).
Though its only connection to the sale’s Adirondack theme was its provenance to Whitney Park, having hung in Camp Deerlands, an oil on Masonite by Ralph Eugene Cahoon, Jr, was the auction’s highest-earning lot. Depicting an artistic mermaid at work outside of “Palm Beach Galleries,” surrounded by other mermaids and some male humans, the painting, which had a label from the real Palm Beach Galleries displaying its original sale price of $600 on its reverse, was taken far beyond that to $89,175.
The next two following lots were both Tiffany Studios lamps. At $73,800 was a floor lamp with a 24-inch Curtain Border shade and base numbered “376.” A table lamp with a 16-inch Greek Key shade brought $24,600.
There were about 15 guideboats in the auction, which made Blanchard a little concerned before the sale. “Having so many in one sale…I thought it would affect the market, but it was actually the opposite! More boats brought more people,” he was glad to report. “They were of all qualities and no matter what level you were interested in, there was probably a boat to fit your price range.”
Leading the fleet at $20,295 was a 15½-foot Martin, which was described as an “attractive boat in good usable condition.” This example, from Whitney Park, was stenciled “G8.” A similar Martin guideboat, though with red cedar and pine construction, also came from the park and brought $14,145.
In natural finish inside and out, this 15½-foot Martin guideboat, 39½ inches wide, with 94-inch oars and brass oar locks navigated to the highest result from the selection of guideboats at $20,295 ($6/12,000).
Andrew Schuler (1883-1955), the founder of Schuler Potato Chips, was another collector whose property was featured in the auction. His Saranac Lake, N.Y.-made Hanmer guideboat, which was originally used in the Star Lake Region of the Adirondacks, earned $13,530.
Another category in surplus was Old Hickory furniture. “They must’ve ordered a whole railroad car of Old Hickory furniture in 1931 — literally!” said Blanchard. “We actually checked and almost every piece of Old Hickory furniture in the company’s 1931 catalog was in the collection.” An oak-top trestle table sold with two armchairs and eight side chairs topped the 64-lot list at $13,530.
A shelf made by Barney Bellinger at Sampson Bog Studio far exceeded its $3,000 high estimate to finish at $16,605. Blanchard explained that Bellinger is a world-renowned artisan who is still active today. This shelf in particular, with its fishing rod details and painting of a brook trout, was “Fascinating, but it did bring more than I expected,” Blanchard explained. “I tell people it’s like buying a piece by Louis Comfort Tiffany 100 years ago. It’s expensive now, but that value is only going to increase — it’s an investment.”
Crafted by Tom Benware in 2000, this Adirondack mosaic and birch writing desk, 54 inches tall by 54 inches wide by 25 inches deep, was at Camp Deerlands and was purportedly Marylou Whitney’s favorite piece of furniture. It was written up for $11,993 ($7,5/15,000).
According to the caretaker at Camp Deerlands, Marylou Whitney (1925-2019), wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899-1992), had a favorite piece of furniture. That piece, a writing desk crafted by Tom Benware in 2000 and awardee of Best of Show at the Adirondack museum’s Rustic Fair, achieved $11,993.
Surprising Blanchard in both its purpose and its realized price was a walking stick owned by William C. Whitney. Originally, Blanchard and his associates believed that the cane’s concealed measuring device was a log scale. However, they came to learn it was actually for measuring horses. The Whitney family was in the logging industry, so the first presumption seemed appropriate. Its ultimate purpose of extending to measure the height of a horse was also fitting, as the Whitney family owned more thoroughbreds than any other in America. Engraved on its silver collar, the walking stick extended past its $600 high estimate to earn $5,412.
The artwork of Wayne McLoughlin primarily fits into two categories, one of which may be especially well known to a younger crowd. McLoughlin, who created the artwork for both the Seekers series and the feline-focused Warriors series, as well as other children’s books, was not just into fantasy and magical realism. He was also a naturalist with paintings in Field & Stream and Audubon magazine and created works for the National Geographic Society. Five of his works that fit the theme (no mystical animals, unfortunately were offered in this sale. Leading the selection at $12,915 was an oil on board, painted circa 2003, depicting a fly fisherman in the early morning. At $11,378 was a circa 2004 oil of two fishermen and a canoe on the shore of a river, which hung, in an Arts and Crafts frame, over the fireplace at Whitney’s Camp Togus.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.blanchardsauctionservice.com or 315-265-5070.
