Art, Americana and furniture collectors flock to Alderfer Auction’s Fall Fine and Decorative Art Auction
Sept. 29, 2007
HATFIELD, Penn.—Collectors of such diverse items as modern and impressionist art, period furniture and 19th century Americana converged at Alderfer Auction & Appraisal on Sept. 7-8 for the company’s fall catalog auction. With more than 750 people bidding live in the auction center, dozens more on the phone, and more than 1200 registered bidders at www.LiveAuctioneers.com, bidding was fierce and prices were strong for the $1.7 million auction. (All prices quoted include buyer’s premium of 15% for floor and phone bidders and 20% for online bidders.). To view the fully-illustrated auction catalog, with prices realized, visit www.LiveAuctioneers.com
The Fine Art Auction began at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7 and ran simultaneously on LiveAuctioneers.com. It included 243 paintings in modernist, realist, impressionist, and classical styles. A collection of George W. Sotter paintings consigned by family members drew a great deal of attention, with the largest, “The Valley of the Delaware,” selling for $97,750. Four additional Sotter paintings from the same collection all commanded solid prices.
“Winter Afternoon,” an oil on canvas board painting by Fern I Coppedge, who is often represented by Alderfer’s, sold for $21,850, a strong price as it was an atypical tonal painting with subdued colors. The same painting was sold at Alderfer Auction in the early 1990s. A winter scene of a village with snow falling by Walter Baum sold for $31,625. This remarkable painting was unusual for Baum, as it showed falling snow. Another artist often seen at Alderfer’s Fine Art Auction is Ben Austrian, whose painting of chicks sold for $21,850. This painting, while small (8” by 10”) was unusual in that it included a butterfly. Austrian was a Berks County Pennsylvania artist. Christopher Shearer’s (another Berks County artist) barnyard scene with an African American family sold for $4,025.
Despite a myriad of condition issues, a William Trost Richards’ woodland landscape with trickling rocks and a pond hammered down at $172,500 against a $20,000-$30,000 estimate. The painting was mounted on board, had some inpainting, and an added signature. Richards’ paintings in perfect condition are commanding twice the price.
New to Alderfer’s was Harvey Dinnerstein’s panoramic dinner scene (44” by 88”) of a Jewish dinner with 12 figures. This painting, which sold for $11,500, had been part of the Balsch Museum Collection, deaccessioned earlier this year and sold separately at Alderfer Auction.
Finally, Alderfer Auction is known for its fine presentation of Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings. William Langston Lathrop’s “Clouds” was sold for $25,300 with provenance indicating it came from the artist. “Gray Day in the Harbor” by Harry Leith-Ross, whose work enjoyed notoriety last year through the Michener Art Museum’s retrospective, was a good value at $14,950. “Pinnacle, Late Winter” by Arthur Meltzer sold for $17,250.
With the art cleared out on Friday night, a large crowd gathered on Saturday, Sept.8 for ephemera, jewelry, decorative accessories, period furniture, and carpets. Jewelry prices were strong across the auction. Highlights included a Dudley pocket watch with Masonic works and markings on the face ($4,600) and a tourmaline jade and aventurine necklace ($4,025).
Americana captured numerous floor, phone, and Internet bidders. A 19th century parade fire hat, in its original wall paper box sold for $31,625. The top hat was for the America Hose Company (c. 1850s) and was painted with the owner’s initials. The hat was in excellent condition given its age. A George Stapf folk art eagle carved of wood and bearing its original paint sold for $57,500 despite some damage and loss.
Numerous Schwenkfelder watercolors drew bidders to the auction floor and Internet. The most unusual, a signed Abraham Kriebel depicting colorful town buildings with flowers (6 ¼” by 16 ¼”) went for $48,875. Others followed at solid prices.
The auction also included a section of Asian art, much of it through the General Lyman Lemnitzer estate. A separate auction of Lemnitzer’s military and political memorabilia was held on Sept. 6, garnering $318,000. The Lemnitzer Asian and silver auctioned on Sept. 8 showed that fine pieces with a known provenance are desirable. One outstanding piece, a Korean celadon glazed vase including wood box, sold for $31,625. A wood mounted carved jade paperweight, including a note in Lemnitzer’s hand stating that it was a gift from President Syngman Rhee of South Korea garnered $12,000 to an Internet bidder. A Korean presentation scroll, also part of the Lemnitzer collection, also went to the Internet for $9,000.
The bidding audience remained for other antiques, period furniture, and carpets. A brass fluid student lamp marked M.B. Company, New York sold for $3,737.50, which exceeded estimates. A Hepplewhite mahogany sideboard with clock-beaded frieze drawer hammered at $8,625, and an English mahogany campaign chest also earned $3,737.50. The dozen carpets in the auction also did well, with several selling for three times their estimates.
“The scope of our Fine Arts auction may be wide,” said Brent Souder, director of fine and decorative arts, “but collectors and dealers know they can count on us for high quality pieces, no matter what their area of interest. This auction included many pieces with excellent provenance documentation. We not only included that with the lot, but placed a commemorative label sporting four stars on each of the items in the Lemnitzer auction, adding to their provenance. Obviously traceability enhanced the value of items bought at Alderfer Auction & Appraisal.”
Alderfer Auction offers four catalogued Fine and Decorative Arts auctions each year (March, June, September, and December). The next Fine Arts auction is December 6-8, 2007. To view archived Alderfer auction catalogs, with hammer prices, visit www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
