Thomaston Place Auction Galleries hosts record-breaking sale on Artfact Live! Boston Sampler sells for $465,000 at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries "Summer Feature Fine Art and Antique Auction," August 22 & 23, 2009.
News-Antique.com - Sep 10,2009 - THOMASTON, ME: It was weeks of anticipation as Artfact Live! bidders awaited Thomaston Place Auction Galleries Summer 2009 Feature Auction (August 22-23, 2009). Notable Artfact Live! sales included an English Sterling Monteith Bowl sold for $8,625; a British Colonial Illustrated Hunting/Sporting folio from India that generated$8,625; and a pair of Sheraton window benches bringing $16,100 –nearly ten times the pre-auction price estimate of $1,200 to $1,500.
However, it was a Boston schoolgirl’s silk on linen sampler that stole the show in the 2-day sale that generated $1.8 million. Sewn in 1781 by Betsey Bentley, daughter of Joshua Bentley (who rowed Paul Revere across the river for his famous midnight ride), the sampler is rendered in satin stitch with a floral and foliate border on a dark blue background. The central panel depicts a black spotted dog chasing a buck, a large turkey, apple tree, strawberries, numbers and letters. The Phrase ‘Betsey Bentley, Her Sampler in the 13 Year of Her Age’ at the bottom of the central panel identifies the maker and her age. While there were many phone and Internet participants, it was two floor competitors who quietly bid up the lot to $465,750 (including buyer’s premium) –more than ten times the low estimate of $40,000 and a world record price for a single sampler sold at auction.
The Summer 2009 Feature Auction also marked Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ first use of Artfact’s Premium Audio-Visual – allowing online bidders to view the sale via a high-quality, real-time broadcast seamlessly integrated with Artfact’s Bidder Console. Auction Manager Bob Grant complimented the new system, noting that “the audio/video worked flawlessly.”
While Thomaston Place gears up for its November sale, hundreds of new auctions will be made available to online bidders through Artfact Live! Highlights include works by George Inness and Rembrandt Peale at Chalrton Hall on September 13th, a rare Chippendale bombe desk at Alex Cooper Auctioneer’s on September 13th, and a landscape by Dutch master Jacob Van Ruisdael (1628-1682) in “Old Master Paintings” at Koller Auctions on September 18th. Finally, on October 1st, Alexander Autographs gets set to auction one of Michael Jackson’s leather jackets in its “Rock the Auction” sale to benefit VH1’s Save the Music Foundation. Estimated at $150,000 - $200,000, the jacket was worn by Jackson during rehearsals for his “Dirty Diana” music video and comes with two documents proving its provenance.
Note: All prices quoted include 15% buyer's premium. Complete results for "Summer 2009 Feature Fine Art and Antique Auction" available at http://www.artfact.com with free registration.
About Artfact:
Founded in 1989, Artfact is the largest global marketplace of fine and decorative arts, antiques, collectibles, and estate auctions. On January 1, 2009, Artfact launched Artfact Live!, its proprietary live auction bidding platform, enabling users to bid real time on auctions being held around the world by its prestigious auction house partners. Currently, over 1,000 fine auctioneers actively list their catalogues with Artfact.com and its U.K. sister site Invaluable.com, reaching the Artfact community of more than 10 million
