Uneven One-Day Sale Brings in $2 Million-Plus

Northeast Auctions, Manchester, New Hampshire

by David Hewett

Photos courtesy Northeast Auctions

At around the three-hour mark, veteran Maine antiques dealer Bill Schwind turned around and whispered, "This is a very confusing up-and-down sale, isn't it? Some of these prices are more reminiscent of the 1950's than now. And other things are just going sky-high." His observation was spot on. There were almost as many lots that broke through the roof as there were lots that stayed in the cellar.

Ronald Bourgeault's one-day 800-lot sale in Manchester, New Hampshire, on October 25, 2009, realized a bit over $2 million, but it also produced fresh evidence of the unthinkable depths to which some low- and middle-range antique furniture sank in the autumn of 2009.

Schwind wasn't the only dealer blinking his eyes and expressing amazement on this day. Two New England dealers moved up to front-row seats for a stretch in the second half of the marathon sale. When two maple tea tables with circular tops and tripod bases were dropped on a bidder at $292.50 (includes buyer's premium), followed by a lot of three English shield-back tapered-leg side chairs at $117, they turned to one another with looks of shock on their faces. Dealers are bewildered by the collapse of a market that just a while ago was thriving.

Ron Bourgeault knows the facts of the new economy. He's loath to accept antique furniture with reserves reflecting the prices of yesteryear. If you still insist on consigning such pieces, you have to be realistic about what to expect. More often than not, average examples of brown furniture will bring one-third to one-fifth of previous prices.

On the other hand, jewelry is selling as well as it ever has. Schwind was buying jewelry here. He had just come off a very good showing at the Weston, Vermont, show where he "did very well, thank you."

The eye-pleasing, over-the-top, great-examples-of-their-genre pieces are still being actively sought after by any number of dealers. Take lot 513, a pair of highly polished mahogany New York Classical armchairs upholstered in white cloth. Rhode Island dealer Stanley Weiss bought them for $19,890, with Massachusetts dealer Clarke Pearce as the underbidder (according to Weiss).

"I was only able to find two lots in the sale that met my expectations," Weiss said later. "It's very rare to find a perfect pair of Classical armchairs in that condition. Pairs have always been good sellers for me, and these are outstanding; my customers will love them."

There were many lots here that were loved by more than one bidder, as their prices attest. A 3.4-carat diamond and platinum ring was the first of the many lots to go ballistic; it brought $55,575 from a phone bidder. An aptly named "Classical scholar's estate" yielded a number of pencil and pen and ink drawings, with some that appeared to be at least 17th century in origin. One, a study of various animal heads and bodies, bearing an old printed label from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, sold to a floor bidder for $22,230.

The top-priced lot was a 38" x 50" Impressionist oil on canvas depicting a hillside farm by Edward Willis Redfield (1869-1965). A phone bidder took the well exhibited and published oil for $221,500. Offered with no reserve, a William Merritt Chase portrait of Beatrice Claflin as a young girl, 1902, did quite well at $44,460.

There were several lots from the Dyer family. William Dyer was one of the founders of the Rhode Island Colony in 1638. His wife, Mary, was executed in Boston for spreading the Quaker religion, which was not a popular sect among Massachusetts Puritans. Dyers have been the governor of Rhode Island and among those who fought in the Civil War.

An 18th-century oil on canvas of the Dyer family crest sold to a phone bidder for $16,380, with dealer Bill Samaha the underbidder. The Dyers' Federal settee in maple and mahogany underwent rigorous scrutiny by dealers and collectors at inspection because of its rare and highly desirable 60" length. Prospective bidders wanted to know if it had been built from a longer sofa frame. The consensus must have been favorable because it sold to an in-house bidder for $43,290.

Bourgeault had 132 lots of property from the Margaret S. and Winthrop L. Carter collection in this sale. The Carters, who lived in New Hampshire, were dealers and collectors and well liked in both roles. Members of their large family were in attendance at the sale, and Bourgeault addressed that issue before selling their material.

He read the following statement to the large crowd: "Lots two hundred and nine through three hundred and forty-one are from the Carter Trust. According to the trust document, these lots had to be sold at public auction. Therefore, family members are allowed to bid but must, like everyone else, pay both the hammer price and the buyer's premium."

That's a pretty decent way of heading off what can be a serious problem. It acknowledges their presence and puts the relatives on common footing with the other bidders.

From observation, it appears the Carter relatives bid on and won only one lot in the consignment, a New Hampshire Dunlap-school-attributed maple slant-lid desk that sold for $10,530. A phone bidder took the Aaron Willard tall clock owned by the Carters for $52,650. No one was interested in either of the two Andrew Wyeth watercolors owned by the Carters at their reserved levels ($200,000/300,000 and $100,000/200,000), and they were quickly passed.

Dealers were often the buyers of the furniture lots, but there were also quite a few retail customers who held up winning bidder-number cards.

Dealer or no dealer, if you needed usable furniture, brace-back and bow-back Windsors went at $117 and $175.50; a maple low-post turned-leg bed brought $117; a pair of maple tea tables sold for $292.50, the pair; a Queen Anne walnut rectangular-top drop-leaf table brought $234; and a maple 37" wide slant-lid desk sold for $468. Who wouldn't put a hand in the air?

We know we've been giving you the bottom-feeding numbers, and there were a lot of winners here. Even some brown furniture took off and surprised people. The point is, that for one whole class of Americans, the bottom has fallen out.

The very wealthy can hold onto their antiques until the tides turn or their heirs inherit them, but there is no safety net for many dealers. For those who have a shop full of clean and ready-to-use furniture, such as Sheraton-era mahogany secretaries with tambour doors, for which they paid $2500/5000, only to find them selling at auction for $585 and $1053, it's very disheartening.

There is some light on the horizon, though. One dealer told of looking for a new audience for his wares and finding it in the mid-market decorator magazines such as Home & Design, and Country Sampler. He shows what he has to offer and stresses that it is usually no more expensive to buy genuine antiques from him than to buy reproductions. He said it's working.

For more information, contact Northeast Auctions at (603) 433-8400; Web site (www.northeastauctions.com).

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