Artfact Live! May Auction Results Roundup Online sales at Artfact continued their upward trend in May 2011 with record sales at several Artfact Member Auction Houses.
News-Antique.com - Jun 13,2011 - (Boston, MA) – Online sales at Artfact continued their upward trend in May 2011 with record sales at several Artfact Member Auction Houses. May’s highlights include I.M. Chait's "Asian & International Fine Arts Auction" with more than $1.7 million in online demand; R.O. Schmitt's two-day "Antique Clock Auction" with over 2,800 online bids from 24 countries and WestLicht's "19th Camera & Photographica Auction" where a 1923 Leica 0-series sold for $1.89 million – setting a world record for the most expensive camera at auction.
I.M. Chait, “Asian & International Fine Arts Auction” – May 1, 2011
Antique Chinese Ivory Brush Pot
Price Realized: $25,000
This antique Chinese ivory brush pot caused an online bidding frenzy during I.M. Chait's May 1st auction. Though bidding started at just $500, the price quickly soared as online bidders competed first against in-house bidders and then each other. When the hammer came down several minutes later, it was an online bidder who took home this slim brush pot with incised floral decoration for $25,000 – more than sixteen times its high estimate.
http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/antique-chinese-ivory-brushpot-1-p-bdf3416259
R.O. Schmitt, “Jewelry, Music Boxes & Clocks” – May 15, 2011
French Bronze and Ormolu Clock with Elephant and Cherub
Price Realized: $8,000
New Hampshire-based R.O. Schmitt Fine Arts holds antique clock sales twice a year. This year's Spring Antique Clock Auction included a fine French bronze and ormolu clock with c. 1870 movement. Listed in overall excellent and original condition, this 19th Century figural clock boasts a porcelain dial marked “Paris” and an illegible maker’s mark. With bids piling up in the days leading up to the sale, the clock sold online for $8,000.
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, “Fine Art, Antiques & Jewelry, Day One” – May 21, 2011
Vera Cruz, Oil on Canvas Attributed to Manuel Serrano (1814 – 1883)
Price Realized: $21,000
Pulled from the estate of Caleb Cushing – US Attorney General under President Pierce and a Brigadier General during the Mexican-American War – this oil on canvas of tradesmen and travelers on a beach is attributed to Mexican artist Manuel Serrano (1814 – 1883). Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500, Vera Cruz became the surprise sale of Thomaston’s May 21st auction when it sold online for $21,000.
http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/french,-l-elephant,-in-the-style-of-a-century-15-c-1fc7f9f334
Harlowe-Powell, “Estate of Mr. & Mrs. C.H. Williams” – May 21, 2011
Historic 19th Century English Sterling and Silverplated Coffee and Tea Service
Price Realized: $21,000
This historic Coffee and Tea Service bears the family crest of two intrepid 19th Century Arctic and Antarctic explorers – Admiral Sir James Clark Ross (1800-1862) and his uncle Admiral Sir John Ross (1777-1856). Included with the Tea and Coffee Service, which bears the makers mark of Charles Thomas Fox (1801-1872), was a Sheffield Silverplate hot water urn. The urn bears both the Ross family crest and a crest symbolizing Sir James Ross’s expedition aboard the Enterprise to rescue the failed Sir John Franklin Arctic Expedition. Estimated at $7,500 - $15,000 the service sold online for $21,000 – making in the top selling lot
