Barrett’s December sale featuring Sunstein collection rings the register at $1.4 million
Jan. 30, 2006
NEW HOPE, Pa. – The threat of inclement weather failed to put even the slightest damper on Noel Barrett’s Dec. 9-10 auction of antique dollhouses, miniatures and dolls, highlighted by the prestigious Carolyn and Charles Sunstein collection. The 778-lot sale, produced in association with Becky and Andy Ourant, achieved $1.4 million, with the Sunstein material well exceeding its cumulative high estimate. According to auctioneer Noel Barrett, LiveAuctioneers was a force in connecting bidders to the sale.
“We had a great crowd,” he said. “The Sunstein collection brought out the buyers, and there was very strong eBay participation, as well. When live-auction bidding first started on eBay, Internet buyers were at the low end, but they’ve become much more sophisticated and now realize that the trust level in buying from us over the Internet is no different than buying from us in the room. Granted, there’s a higher buyer’s premium if you buy online, but you save the airfare, hotel and other expenses.”
Bidders were spoiled for choice throughout the sale. The first dollhouse lot of the Saturday session, a 54 by 48 by 20in Silber & Fleming-type dollhouse manufactured in England around1880, set the tone for what would follow. Sitting halfway back in the gallery audience was Lucy Morgan, owner of a dollhouse museum and store in Camden, Maine. She had raised her paddle at $8,500, and when the gavel came down, Morgan was surprised to learn she had won the lot. “Who, me?” she exclaimed with surprise and delight. With the 10 percent buyer’s premium included, Morgan started her buying odyssey off on the right foot, securing the lot for $9,350.
But Morgan’s eye – like everyone else’s – was on the star lot of the sale: the magnificent circa 1880-1890 dollhouse known as the Spanish Mansion. The exquisitely furnished, 54 by 54 by 17in residence featured a faux-painted façade of variegated brick and ashlar blocks with white marble quoining. Its 11 rooms included a nursery, chapel, gentleman’s study and even a sewing room. Featured on the front cover of the auction catalog, the Spanish Mansion enticed oohs and ahs from bidding hopefuls, who knew of its illustrious background.
“The Spanish Mansion has the most wonderful provenance of all the things in the Sunstein collection,” said Susan Grimshaw, Barrett’s dollhouse expert. “It came from the collection of Samuel F. Pryor, an executive with Eastern Airlines who received it as a gift from a Spanish government official in the late 1950s or early ’60s. Mrs. Sunstein (who purchased the dollhouse at a Sotheby’s auction in June 1983) did add a couple of carpets and a couple of dolls, but everything else originally came with the house.”
At least two other floor bidders besides Morgan battled for the Spanish Mansion. But in the end, it was Morgan who produced the winning bid of $192,500. “I’m really thrilled to have it,” she said, immediately after her auction victory. “It has such beautiful furnishings in it, and it adds a lot to our collection.” In all, Morgan would prevail on six dollhouse lots as well as many miniature furnishings.
Carolyn Sunstein, seated in the front row, looked on as the star lot was auctioned. When she purchased the Spanish Mansion in 1983, it set a record for the highest auction price ever paid for a dollhouse. Her world travels with husband Charles had resulted in the acquisition of many of the prized pieces in the sale. Only four dollhouses, having primarily sentimental value, were retained by the couple, including the one Carolyn received as a Christmas gift in the early 1940s that had started their collection. She remarked, “I’m glad that other people will have the pleasure we’ve had with dollhouses and miniatures for the past 60 years … It’s our hope that (they) will want to see them preserved.” She also said she was pleased that Morgan had won the Spanish Mansion, since it will now be displayed in a museum.
James and Beverly Gallagher drove across the state from Erie, Pa., arriving with a wish list in their hands. “My wife likes miniatures,” said James, “and we came here for the experience and the opportunity to see these fine antiques.” Gallagher said he needed a couple of pieces to complete a few rooms in the couple’s 6 by 7ft basement display of dollhouse rooms. The were successful on one of the lots they pursued, paying $4,400 for a pair of matching German kitchen cabinets, circa 1900, each unit 17¼in tall and stocked with tiny pots, pans, ladles and a stove top. After the lot sold, auctioneer Andy Ourant joked that he was relieved the piece had sold on the floor, because he didn’t want to have to pack up the cabinet again for shipping.
“I’m going to enjoy it,” said Beverly Gallagher. “It has a lot of nice pieces. I told my husband that he could take care of packing it. When I get it home, I’ll leave it intact and display it just as it was displayed here.”
The Sunstein dollhouses and miniatures were perfectly complemented by two other collections featured in the sale: the Jackie and Anthony Chirico collection of French bébés and fashion dolls, and the Joyce and John Davanzo doll and toy collection.
Noel Barrett noted that very strong prices were achieved by rarities from each of the collections. “The black Bru Jne 5 doll, for instance, is so extremely rare, even Becky Ourant, who has been in the business for 35 years, had never handled another one.” The Bru Jne 5 finished as top doll lot, at $52,250; while a beautiful Bru Jne 8 child doll with blond hair, brown paperweight eyes and a pastel dress and hair garland brought $24,200.
Barrett had advertised the sale internationally, drawing phone bidders – some of them first-timers – from as far away as Japan. “There were some heavy-duty buyers for the dolls. And there was a lot of action on the Internet.”
Some new buyers, however, came from right in Barrett’s own back yard. Alicia Cloonan, from nearby Doylestown, Pa., left her first-ever Barrett auction with a $715 German-made Handwerk doll, featuring a bisque head and blue sleepy eyes. “Everything on it is original – the clothing, the wig. I like these dolls because they’re like works of art. I have an antique carriage in my living room, and I plan on putting the doll in the carriage with some lacy pillows and old quilts.” Cloonan said she looked forward to attending future Barrett sales. “The auction has been run very professionally, and everything is displayed in a very organized manner. You can trust that you’re getting a good-quality product.”
Noel Barrett will hold a spring toy auction May 12-13, and will auction part I of contents of the Mary Merritt Doll Museum on Sept. 29-30 and Oct. 1. View the fully illustrated catalog approximately two weeks prior to each sale and bid absentee or live online in either sale through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
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