Auction Highlights
Leading the online charge in Freeman’s June 24 auction was a signed Sir William Russell Flint (British, 1880-1969) watercolor, 27 inches by 20 inches, titled The Balustrade. The 1920 painting, which had come from a private collection in Connecticut, sold above estimate through LiveAuctioneers for $67,100.
A real showstopper in Cody Old West’s June 21-22 auction was this pair of Edward Bohlin silver Indian-head parade spurs in the double-rowel “Tom Mix” pattern. The magnificent spurs, which were crafted especially for Bohlin’s CEO, Dave Merrill, were purchased through LiveAuctioneers for $11,640 against an estimate of $5,000-$7,500.
In Noel Barrett’s June 16-17 Father’s Day Weekend sale, it was a fabulously detailed and well-accessorized Lionel Mickey Mouse Circus Train set that topped all other online purchases. There were 837 hits on this particular lot in LiveAuctioneers’ catalog, culminating in a winning online bid of $7,800, near the top of the estimate range.
At Quinn’s and Waverly’s June 9 sale of Asian Works of Art and Fine & Decorative Art, a group lot of 7 Chinese pale celadon jade objects ranging from a pierced carving of a bird to a lamp finial carved to replicate a young boy had been entered in the sale with a group estimate of $150-$200. After 410 online catalog hits and 25 bids, the selection sold through LiveAuctioneers for an astonishing $14,030.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes if the right picture appears at auction, it can be worth thousands of dollars. At Cowan’s Spring Historic Americana 2007 sale, held June 6, 7 and 8, a long-lost daguerreotype of Henry Clay (1777-1782), one of America’s most influential politicians, surfaced after being shrouded in mystery for many decades. Presented in its original pressed-leather case, the important historical image ended up selling to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $15,600 against an estimate of $6,000-$8,000.
