Antique Dolls Bring $3.5 Million to Mark a New World Record The Antique Doll Collection of Lucy Morgan Yields $3.5 Million at Recent Theriault's Auction, Making This the Largest Single Doll Auction Event in History
take the bidding into record territory. Likewise the works of Thullier, another fine French doll-maker of the 19th century, whose dolls seldom come up for auction, were heavily contested, with many examples, including one classic beauty that was featured late in the auction yet nevertheless brought double the estimated value. She finished at an astounding $81,000 as two floor bidders battled for the superb example for nearly 5 minutes amidst gasps and applause. She was eventually won by a noted Chicago collector who was in attendance.
The auction, while having some items in the under $5,000 category, was primarily made up of examples which were estimated at over $10,000 and higher. Said Holbrook, "This is one of the factors that made this auction so special. It proved to the world that the doll market has matured to an extraordinary level over the past decade in its ability to hold a single event of such magnitude. Ten years ago you could not have done this without having some negative effect on individual prices, but now there can be no doubt -- as this sale proved not only a cumulative success, but that individual prices were tremendous right up until the last lot." "And I can assure you" added Holbrook, "that there were plenty of collectors around the world who bid aggressively and were unsuccessful in winning a single item by the end. This auction could have held even more!"
Theriault's, a firm specializing exclusively in the auction of antique dolls and playthings was founded 36 years ago by George and Florence Theriault. The firm has grown at breakneck rates over the past few years alongside the burgeoning global market for collectibles. Though they have held a hefty dominance in the auction market for dolls, this recent growth not only corresponds to the dramatic rise in prices in dolls, but can be attributed to the recent unveiling by Theriault's of a number of landmark collections such as Lucy Morgan's. Add to that the recent announcement that Theriault's has been awarded the auction of the Museum of Antique Dolls and Toys, long displayed at LEGOLAND in Denmark, for an event planned in Las Vegas from May 19-21, and 2006 has all the makings of yet another interesting one for this benchmark firm.
For further information about Theriault's please log onto http://www.theriaults.com/
CONTACT: Stuart Holbrook of Theriault's, +1-410-224-3655, Cell: +1-443-994-9002, stuart@theriaults.com
