A set of six Rhode Island brace-back Windsor armchairs sold for $99,000 (includes buyer's premium) on August 25 in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, at an auction held by Bill Spicer.

The buyer was Colchester, Connecticut, dealer Arthur Liverant of Nathan Liverant and Son. He was underbid by Wyoming, Rhode Island, dealer Bradley Smith, bidding for a client who, Smith says, "likes spectacular survivors."

The six chairs had original upholstered seats and old black paint over green. They were initialed in chalk on the bottom, but Spicer thought that it was an owner's initial, not a maker's. "The turnings were wonderful," said Spicer.

The seats were not all the same height, ranging from 16 inches to 14 inches. "That kept the price down," said Spicer.

The chairs were fresh to market and had never been out of the consignor's family. Spicer said he got them from a local person who showed him two from the set in her garage, asking what they might be worth. "I told her I didn't know, but I said, `It would really be wonderful if you had six,'" he told M.A.D. The consignor pointed toward the loft and told Spicer there were four more stored up there. "I almost died," said Spicer.

The chairs were sold without reserve, and Spicer thought they might bring $40,000 to $60,000. "I tried to open them at one hundred thousand but couldn't. Then I went to fifty thousand. Later, I heard one woman in the audience had said, `Is he kidding? They aren't worth that.'"

The set of chairs was "the highest thing I've ever sold in twenty years," said Spicer, who along with his wife, Beverly, holds about 40 auctions a year.

There is, however, a price to be paid for success. Spicer said when he went to play golf the next day, "Everyone wanted me to buy them lunch and drinks. It was like I won the lottery. I told them, `I didn't own them, I just sold them.'"

For more information, contact Bill Spicer at (401) 295-0339.