A Surprise Conclusion to the Americana Sale at Mebane

December 7th, 2018

Mebane Antique Auction Gallery, Mebane, North Carolina

Photos courtesy Mebane Antique Auction Gallery

Fans of Jon Lambert’s sales know that if it’s Friday, there is an auction at his spacious gallery in Mebane, North Carolina. The first Friday of December, however, is special. It’s the date of Lambert’s annual Americana and Continental fine antiques catalog auction. Regulars don’t expect a reminder card, an e-mail blast, or an ad in a newspaper or trade publication. Lambert’s communications are limited to Facebook, AuctionZip, Invaluable, and the Mebane gallery website. Potential bidders had to mark their own calendars and search to discover what was for sale on December 7, 2018.

Until the sale’s last hour, a 14¾" high Tiffany Studios turtleback glass desk lamp was the sale’s top lot. When it came up during the sale’s first hour, Lambert asked for an opening bid of $5000 for the iconic lamp with deep green Favrile glass panels and zodiac symbols on its base. He settled for $1850 from Invaluable. About a minute later an Invaluable bidder won the lamp at $5500 (with buyer’s premium). It seems that Lambert’s $5000 opening request was not sky high after all.

Only a dim glowing aura penetrated the turtleback glass in this 14¾" high Tiffany Zodiac desk lamp. With an adjustable shade and signed “Tiffany Studios New York 541,” it sold to the Internet for $5500 (est. $2000/4000).

“I hope to hear more about these objects from the buyer,” said Jon Lambert after the sale. The winning Internet buyer of two skin-covered African ceremonial shields, a pole, and a club paid $6050 (est. $200/400) for the collection. Although the winner lives in South Africa, he asked to have them shipped to his office in New York City. One marvels at the power and reach of the Internet!

Toy dealer Jack Williams of Graham, North Carolina, opened the bidding at $1000 for this matched pair of half-gallon jugs marked “A. Lacy Holt’s Distillery, Graham, N.C.” Albert Lacy Holt (1867-1930) has the distinction of being the first distiller in eastern North Carolina to put his name on the side of his liquor jugs. The pair sold to a phone bidder for $3300 (est. $1200/1800). Lambert believes that is a record for A. Lacy Holt jugs.

Invaluable had 18 presale bids on the 9½" high Lalique Ceylan vase (left), more than on any other lot in the sale. The fresh-to-market vase with a pair of lovebirds on a misty blue background sold to an Internet bidder for $2255 (est. $1200/1800). The other Lalique vase, 6½" high, was included in the lot.

Lambert looked for an opening bid of $10,000 for this signed 16" high Fulper art pottery table lamp with an eight-sided 9½" diameter shade with stained-glass inserts. Lambert settled for $1650 from an Invaluable bidder. After a fight with absentees and the phones, an Internet bidder claimed the Fulper lamp for $2915 (est. $2000/4000).

Late in the evening, the lead changed. Four African tribal weapons—two skin-covered decorated shields, a wooden pole, and a rosewood club—surprised everyone when they sold for $6050 on a $200/400 estimate. Bidding started at $1700 when one Internet bidder jumped in. A second Internet bidder quickly followed, and a virtual slugfest erupted. The winner was from South Africa. “We are sending the collection to his office in New York City,” said Lambert after the sale. The collection was originally purchased by the consignor’s parents, who bought the artifacts in Africa in the 1950s.

Despite the decade-long slump in antique furniture sales, Lambert populates his Americana sales with good 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century cupboards, chests, settees, tables, and chairs. At this sale, furniture represented 11% of the sale’s 618 lots. Nine of those 68 lots sold for $1000 or more. One, a rare mid-19th-century North Carolina hunt board with punched metal sides, brought the second-highest price of the sale. It appeared to this reporter that none of the 100 who attended the sale chased the hybrid hunt board. The race was all Internet, absentee, and phone bidders, with an Internet bidder prevailing at $3960.

Lambert’s Americana sales are noted for their length. This one started at 11 a.m. and concluded at 9:45 p.m. Lambert takes his time introducing each lot, bringing it to the front of the gallery, asking for a high opening bid, and then increasing each bid by $10. One explanation for this method is Lambert’s deep personal connection with his consignors. He feels responsible for securing the highest possible price for their family treasures.

A mid-19th-century cabinetmaker in eastern North Carolina came up with the idea of combining a hunt board with a kitchen safe. In walnut with poplar and pine secondary, the 46¾" high x 49½" wide x 19" deep case was constructed with pegs and cut nails and has two punched tins on each side. Lambert called attention to a loose back leg during the sale. The cleverly made case sold to an Internet bidder for $3960 (est. $1200/1800).

Don’t be fooled by the photograph. The handle on this miniature oak split basket fit comfortably on the pinky of a Mebane staff member. Measuring only 1" x 1¼", the late 19th-century basket from Alamance County, North Carolina, sold in house for $220 (est. $200/400).

Hans-Ulrich “Jimmy” Ernst (1920-1984) was the son of noted Surrealist painter Max Ernst. Jimmy was a member of the Irascible Eighteen, a protest group that included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko. This 1942 oil on canvas, Blinded Star, 18" x 14", sold on the phone for $3025 (est. $2000/4000). Ernst’s Surprise in the Morning (not shown), also an oil on canvas from 1942, sold to the same phone bidder for $1815 (est. $2000/4000).

The Holmans from New Brighton, Minnesota, consigned multiple lots of Bakelite jewelry to the sale. The stunner was a signed 15" long Guillemette l’Hoir Paris necklace with a red right-facing profile paired with an interlocking salmon-colored puzzle piece. It sold in house for $1100 (est. $200/400). Dealer Charlie Casper was the underbidder.

Female with Comb, this 17" x 9½" watercolor by Emilo Baz Viaud (1918-1991), was one of six paintings by the Mexican artist in the sale. It sold to an Internet bidder for $2640 (est. $3000/5000). The others (not shown)—also watercolors—sold for between $550 and $1210.

This 138-piece Reed and Barton Frances I pattern sterling silver service in a wooden fitted box sat at the head of four long tables filled with silver lots. The box contained an odd collection of forks, spoons, serving utensils, and knives. The monogram-free set sold quickly to the Internet for $3025 (est. $2000/4000). Jacinda Purrington was the underbidder.

Several consignors attend Lambert’s Americana sales to see for themselves how hard he works for them. One visit was especially poignant. Malinda “Mindi” Truitt of Burlington, North Carolina, consigned 11 lots from her Uncle Don’s estate. Don Bolden, who died in August 2018, rose from paperboy to executive editor of the Burlington, North Carolina, Times-News. The author of a dozen books on local history, Bolden retired from the paper in 2000. The Boldens had no children, and Truitt was her uncle’s closest relative. “I wasn’t going to attend,” said Truitt, who tearfully spoke about her beloved uncle. One of the Bolden lots, a pair of A. Lacy Holt’s Distillery jugs from nearby Graham, North Carolina, landed on the sale’s top-ten list. Bidders from every category wanted the 8" tall matching pair. The jugs went to a phone bidder for $3300.

M.A.D. received special attention during the sale. At the 2017 Americana sale, Lambert sold an early 19th-century North Carolina redware lidded sugar jar for $2994.50 (see M.A.D., March 2018, p. 30-A). Readers from Wisconsin contacted Lambert and said they had a similar North Carolina jar. They sent their 10" orange-glaze double sine-wave decorated jar to Mebane, and it finished at $2805. This sort of thing happens at antiques shows covered by M.A.D. Dealers often report being contacted by readers interested in whether a pictured item had sold. This is the first time in my career with M.A.D. that a published photo sparked a later sale at an auction.

Perhaps the most unusual lot of the sale was a collection of Confederate States of America reunion badges. Major William Crow Heath of Union, North Carolina, attended many of the reunions held by the United Confederate Veterans (UCV) from 1907 to 1931. He amassed 31 badges from delegates at reunions in Atlanta, Montgomery, Charlotte, Richmond, Biloxi, Winston-Salem, Jacksonville, Memphis, and Dallas. The UCV’s last meeting was in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1951, when three members attended. The Heath archive, housed in a shadow box frame, sold within estimate for $2750.

Mark your calendar now for December 6. That sale and all Mebane auctions have no reserves and no minimum. Everything finds a new home. For more information, visit (www.mebaneauction.com) or call (919) 563-2424.

Two clocks broke through the $1000 ceiling. This E. Howard & Co. model 11 keyhole wall clock was the first. It sold to an Internet bidder for $1705. Late in the sale, a 64" high Jerome & Company double-dial perpetual calendar clock (not shown) sold for $1155. Both clocks were estimated at $1200/1800.

This ungraded volume 1, number 1 issue of Playboy magazine from December 1953 with minor edge wear sold to an Internet bidder for $1925 (est. $800/1200). Included was an 8" x 10" photo of Marilyn Monroe that matched the image on page 19. Hugh Hefner had 54,000 copies of Playboy’s first issue printed. The run sold out.

Corner cupboards are a staple in Lambert’s Americana sales. Bidding on this early 19th-century pine corner cupboard from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia was all in house, with John Barr, Mark Crumpler, and Jacinda Purrington all in the running. Bonnie Strowd of Pittsboro, North Carolina, bought it for $2365 (est. $2000/4000) as a gift for her husband.

The sale’s top rug was this early 20th-century Mahal wool rug, 15'6" x 12'5", in red, blue, green, beige, gold, and pink. An Internet bidder bought it for $2475 (est. $1200/1800). Prunkl photo.

This circa 1950 ten-drawer walnut high chest was constructed with pegs by members of the Holt family in Alamance County, North Carolina. From the estate of newspaper editor Don Bolden, the 66½" x 42" x 22" chest sold on site for $2200 (est. $800/1200).

Lambert had two 1891 oil on canvas laid on board paintings from Boston artist H. M. Chenery. Walking with Cattle (not shown) sold to Mark Crumpler for $632.50 (est. $1200/1800). Floating Cherubs, shown here, flanked by two beveled mirrors, has an overall measurement of 27" x 70". It sold in house for $1045 (est. $800/1200).

The description of the 31 United Confederate Veterans reunion badges in a framed display case consumed a half page in the sale catalog. The last date on a badge appears to be 1933. The collection crossed the block during the sale’s last hour and brought $2750 (est. $2000/4000). Prunkl photo.

This 10" x 4½" North Carolina lidded sugar jar was consigned to the Mebane sale by M.A.D. readers in Wisconsin. They saw a photo of a similar jar in the March 2018 issue and asked Jon Lambert to sell theirs. A phone bidder bought the jar for $2805 (est. $1200/1800). 

Originally published in the March 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2019 Maine Antique Digest