Rago’s Great Estates auction on Dec. 4, which totaled $1.12 million represented an 11 percent increase over last year’s sale. Of the 764 lots offered that day, 179 sold through LiveAuctioneers, a sell through rate of 23.42 percent. The sell through rate by value was 36.88 percent. Seven hundred forty-five bidders registered through LiveAuctioneers. Of that number 729 participated through the live bidding console. Through LiveAuctioneers there were 718 absentee bids placed and 4,408 live bids, with 178 underbids online. Nearly 7,300 people viewed the LiveAuctioneers catalog, which resulted in 86,147 page views.
True to the recent trend, Asian art, particularly Chinese items, brought the most money. A blue and white dish having an underglaze blue with scrolling lotus pattern, listed as “possibly Ming,” sold for $116,850, far surpassing its $10,000-$15,000 estimate. In excellent condition with only minor wear to interior, the 15-inch plate came in a fitted box.
Miriam Tucker, the partner in charge of the Fine Art and Estates department at Rago’s, explained the conservative estimate on the dish by saying, “We thought it was old and good, but left it to the Asian market to make up its mind. There were enough bidders and competition to drive up the price.”
Additional highlights selling to Internet bidders were a dish decorated with confronting dragons and having a six-character Kangxi (1662-1722) mark, which sold for $30,750; a Michelanglo Barberi micromosaic and scagliola center table depicting monuments of Rome, dated 1855, $46.125; an Alice in Wonderland animation cell signed Walt Disney on the mat, $8.610; and a Les Paul TV Special Gibson guitar, 1955, with its original GA 6 amplifier, $12,300.
“Collectively the Disney cells went crazy. Everything a Disney collector wanted in a cell was there. We had bidding from all over the world on them,” said Tucker.
She also noted a John S. Jameson oil on canvas landscape that sold for $64,660, a South Carolina engraved gorget that sold for $31,720 and a Plains pipe bag of Arapaho origin that made $13,420.
“Native American items sold very well. The pipe bag was a ghost dance bag,” said Tucker.
“A reporter called after the sale just to congratulate us on an Estate auction she said was far superior to those of other houses in Chicago, Boston and New York this year,” said Tucker. “Tom Martin and Sarah Churgin put together sales that were diverse, substantial and included both important and esoteric material. Then, with few exceptions, they sold the heck out of it. I truly believe that anyone with an important consignment is missing out if they don’t give Tom or Sarah the chance to pitch for it.”
More highlights of the Dec. 4 auction included lot 129, a Chinese figure of a camel and rider, $24,400; lot 274, an ivory table screen, $17,080; lot 243, a Ming Dynasty cloisonné urn, $14,640; and lot 298A, a Steinway grand piano with bench, $13,420.
Rago’s jewelry, silver and currency auction on Dec. 5 had 631 lots and totaled 2.15 million. The top lot was a magnificent peridot and diamond suite, circa 1890, which sold $158,600. The set included 23 bright peridots, octagonal, pear-shaped and coffin-shaped gems, approximately 324 carats, with diamond surrounds and knife-edged diamond arabesque links, and rose cut diamonds, approximately 44 carats total weight. The set was fully transformable for wear as collar, fringe, girandole and earrings.
To obtain more results from these auctions log on to www.ragoarts.com or call 609-397-9374.
Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
