Alexander Roux sideboard fetches $20,350 at Stevens An exceptional walnut Victorian marble-top sideboard by Alexander Roux, made around 1860, sold for $20,350 at a multi-estate sale held April 21 by Stevens Auction Company in Aberdeen, Mississippi.
News-Antique.com - May 03,2007 - EXTRAORDINARY WALNUT VICTORIAN MARBLE-TOP SIDEBOARD BY
ALEXANDER ROUX BRINGS $20,350 AT STEVENS AUCTION, APRIL 21st
(Aberdeen, Miss.) - An exceptional walnut Victorian marble-top sideboard by Alexander Roux, made around 1860 and featuring game figures carved into the bottom doors and a boar's head in the crown, sold for $20,350 at a multi-estate sale held April 21 by Stevens Auction Company. The majestic piece measured 9 ft. tall by over 6 ft. wide. Prices quoted include a 10% buyer's premium.
The centerpiece of the auction comprised the contents of the Troy Plantation, located just west of Grenada, Miss. The Troy Plantation was the onetime home of James Knox Polk, the 11th president of the United States. Mr. Polk lived there from 1835-1849. It is still a working plantation, situated on about 850 acres of property. The sale also featured a prominent estate from Louisiana.
“This was a fine auction, packed with a lot of wonderful antique items,” said Dwight Stevens of Stevens Auction Company. “Over 500 lots changed hands. Considering it was tax season, I was pleased with the turnout and the results.” Absentee and phone bids poured in during the day, to complement an active on-site crowd. The sale was held in Stevens' showroom, at 609 N. Meridian St.
In other highlights:
Half and full tester beds did well, as they seem to do at all Stevens auctions. A rosewood Victorian half tester bed by P. Mallard (circa 1850), went for $18,700; while a mahogany Empire full tester plantation bed (circa 1840) gaveled for $8,800. From the same category (albeit much smaller), a gorgeous flamed mahogany Empire baby's cradle (39 in. long x 19 in. deep x 26 in. tall), reached $440.
Period furniture, another staple at Stevens estate auctions, also did well. A mahogany secretary, with a fitted interior and Greek ladies carved into the columns (circa 1890), made $4,620; a one-door rosewood wardrobe, with bird's eye maple interior and original finish (102” tall, circa 1875), garnered $3,850; and a flamed mahogany Empire Jackson press with claw feet (circa 1840), hit $1,320.
A stunning 5-piece Italian silver service, signed “Tutunzi, Roma” (circa 1900, 800 silver), wowed the crowd at $1,760; two cranberry lusters with enamel paint (circa 1870-1880, 14” tall), had chips and wear, but that didn't prevent them from fetching $880 the pair; and an original oil-on-canvas painting of a British officer, unsigned and still in its original gold frame, changed hands for $880.
Antique lighting pieces were in abundance and brought illuminating prices. A bronze Astral lamp, signed “Cornelius” and with its original Gothic shade (dated 1850, 27” tall), lit up the room for $1,375; a J.C. Webb (New York, N.Y.) Astral lamp, dated 1851 and never electrified (22” tall) went for $935; and a Victorian brass parlor lamp, signed Bradley & Hubbard (circa 1890), made just over $600.
A brass gasolier with original etched shades and prisms, original to the Troy Plantation and made around 1860, found a new owner for $770; an Old Victorian brass
