Auction Highlights
Asian antiquities were solid performers in Clars’ May 3-4 auction, which averaged a 27.2 percent Internet sell-through rate over the two-period. In total, 373 lots were purchased through LiveAuctioneers, including a 6th-century Chinese solid gilt-bronze standing figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Late Northern Wei dynasty. It went to an Internet bidder for $89,650 against an estimate of $12,000-$16,000. Laura Decker, director of Online Sales for Clars, noted that this is the highest individual lot price ever achieved online at Clars.
Rich Penn’s auction of the Jerry Rudy and John Reech collections of antique advertising and country store items drew more than 123,000 visitors to the electronic catalog on LiveAuctioneers.com. Well over 2,000 Internet bidders were active participants, purchasing gems like this circa-1900 salesmen’s sample barber chair in 100 percent original and with working hydraulics. It more than tripled its high estimate to sell online for $34,800 – a fantastic price for such a diminutive (16 inches tall) item.
Neal Auction’s Spring Major Estates Sale held May 3-4 included a fine 8-piece paint-decorated bedroom suite made around 1850 by the Philadelphia company Hart, Ware & Co. The suite’s superb quality and completeness (poster bed shown here) led to an Internet selling price of $18,375.
Internet participation through LiveAuctioneers was nonstop in Bertoia Auctions’ April 17-19 sale, with 1,397 approved online bidders and almost 150,000 visitors consulting the electronic catalog. In all, 680 lots sold online, averaging 27.5 percent over three busy days. A large-scale, 28-inch Bing battleship with two masts, three stacks and two lifeboats sold online for a well-above-estimate price of $6,710.
On April 18, Pook & Pook held an auction of period furniture and accessories, with 68 lots selling through LiveAuctioneers. A handsome late-18th-century mahogany tall-case clock, with broken-arch bonnet inlaid with rosettes, featured a painted face inscribed Thomas Crow Wilmington. The 103-inch-tall Delaware timepiece went to an online bidder for $8,540.
S&S Auctions’ April 21 sale of antiques, fine and decorative art included an exceptionally fine 8¼-inch-tall bronze of a man on horseback by Evgeny Aleksandro Lansere (Russian, 1848-1886). The sculpture galloped past its $2,000-$3,000 estimate to settle online at $9,987.50.
