Auction Highlights
Among the online purchases in John Moran’s May 13 Antique & Fine Furnishings sale was an Adolphe Etienne Piot (French, 1850-1878) oil on canvas titled A Secret Admirer. Measuring 18¼ inches by 15 inches, the artwork had been exhibited in Paris in 1878 and, based on the wax stamp on verso, had won an Honorable Mention award. At Moran’s, it earned an above-estimate price of $6,600.
Vectis Auctions saw booming Internet participation in its May 12-13 sale. Over the two-day period, 692 lots were purchased online, with an average Internet sell-through rate of 48.3 percent. A Dinky No. 514 die-cast Weetabix delivery van with original box was scooped up by a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $9,800 against an estimate of $3,600-$4,800.
More than 537 bidders participated online in Dallas Auction Gallery’s April 30 sale of antiques and fine art, with more than 50,000 hits recorded to the LiveAuctioneers electronic catalog. Among the top Internet lots was a Hunt & Roskell 20½-inch-high sterling silver centerpiece featuring reticulated, chased bowl and a shaft molded to depict cherubs on the back of a lion. Weighing 134.7 troy ounces, the stunning circa 1868-1869 centerpiece tipped the auction scales at $20,825.
This 18-inch-tall Chinese/Tibetan gilt-bronze deity in lotus position, wearing a finely detailed high crown, was estimated at $800-1,200 in Dallas Auction Gallery’s April 30 sale of antiques and fine art. It drew 62 bids before selling through LiveAuctioneers for $15,925.
On May 3 at Brunk Auctions, a circa 1807-1810 tall-case clock made by Ziba Ferris of Wilmington, Del., proved to be a timely buy. Estimate at $20,000-$30,000, with a $16,000 reserve, its handsome appointments led to a much higher than expected selling price. Standing 94 inches tall on French feet, the clock was of highly figured cherry with pine secondary wood, and featured a painted moon dial and peach-and-grape spandrels. It attracted 19 bids before selling online for $43,200.
The Drover, an artist-signed, 36 inch by 29 7/8 inch oil-on-canvas painting by Elliott Daingerfield (NC/NY, 1859-1932) was a special highlight of Brunk Auctions’ May 3 auction of 18th and 19th century antiques and decorative art. The picture set an auction record for the artist when it finished online for $96,000 against an estimate of $15,000-$25,000.
