Maine Antique Digest March 2015

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32-C Maine Antique Digest, March 2015
- AUCTION -
Boston Harbor Auctions, Boston, Massachusetts
Nautical Antiques Sold in Boston
by Jackie Sideli
Photos courtesy Boston Harbor Auctions
After the Boston Harbor Auc-
tions sale on November 16,
2014, owner Larry Lannan
said, “We have our own crowd of
customers, and we have a good group
of dealers attending our sales.” The
business, a second-generation Bos-
ton-based nautical antiques gallery,
focuses on ship models and anything
else that is vintage and nautical. One
dealer bought 32 lots at the sale, and
a good customer from Maine won 12
lots. The smallish salesroom at the
Lannan Ship Model Gallery on Pur-
chase Street was packed with collec-
tors when the auction began. The gal-
lery in Boston hosts nautical antiques
sales several times a year.
“Beacon lights did well,” accord-
ing to Lannan. Several sold to one
local gentleman for his collection.
A striking model of J.P Morgan’s
Corsair II, a steam yacht built in
1890, was complete with masts and
booms, standing and running rig-
ging, anchors, deck lights, and pan-
eled deck houses; the model brought
$3000 (includes buyer’s premium).
A late 19th-/early 20th-century yacht
binnacle, with an elegant tapered
base and square pediment, sold for
$4800 (est. $4000/6000).
A solid brass ship’s telegraph that
had been manufactured in Ames-
bury, Massachusetts, was offered
early in the sale. Highly polished
and lacquered, with a single lever
handle and twin faceplates, it mea-
sured 47" x 12". It had an estimate
of $1300/1800, but interest from
the floor and the phones pushed the
price to $3900. A Chelsea ship’s bell
clock, 18" high, with a bronzed base,
mahogany stand, and classic ship’s
wheel, which the catalog described
as the Chelsea Clock Company’s
signature model, brought $2040. An
early 20th-century model of the frig-
ate U.S.S. Constitution had a cop-
per-sheathed hull, wheeled carriages,
and turned brass cannon. It was in a
freestanding mahogany display case
with inlaid marquetry that measured
48" x 18" x 63". It had an estimate of
$3500/5500, but a happy customer at
the sale won it for $3300.
A superb builder’s model of the
Spanish training ship Juan Sebas-
tian Elcano, an original government
exhibition model, had stitched linen
sails and standing and running rig-
ging. The 44" x 9" x 24" model was
in a glass display case. This model
had an estimate of $4000/6000 and
sold for $2640. A detailed shadow
box created by artist Rex Stewart
was entitled Working Wharfside and
depicted a Friendship sloop taking
on provisions. With an estimate of
$2000/3000, it sold for $1440.
Lannan Ship Model Gallery was
opened in 1967 in Quincy, Massa-
chusetts, selling antique ship models.
Joseph Lannan took his two sons to
flea markets to buy with him. Larry
Lannan eventually branched out
on his own and now occupies the
6000-square-foot salesroom as Lan-
nan Ship Model Gallery and Boston
Harbor Auctions.
For more information, call (617)
Owner Larry Lannan manned the phone during the sale.
There were lots of phone bidders as well as Internet custom-
ers and plenty of action from the floor. Sideli photo.
This lighthouse beacon was
described in the catalog as “mon-
umental.” It had a huge 500 mm
Fresnel lens of cut crystal set
into a bronze frame. It had been
converted to AC current with a
light fixture but also was sup-
plied with an AGA gas burner.
Measuring 52" tall and 28" in
diameter, it opened with a solid
$15,000 bid and sold quickly for
$18,000.
This Mark V diving helmet by Desco
retained the maker’s badge reading
“United States Navy Diving Helmet Mark
VMod-1,” serial number 328. According to
catalog notes, it was manufactured March
2, 2003, by Diving Equipment and Sup-
ply Co., Inc. It has polished brass brails
marked “front” and has a tinned finish.
There was considerable interest in this hel-
met, which brought $8400.
One dealer
bought 32 lots at
the sale, and a
good customer
from Maine won
12 lots.
This stainless steel
periscope by Carl
Zeiss, from around
1960, has a sliding
lens hood, a steel cyl-
inder mount, a pair
of focusing lenses,
and the original oak,
brass, and stainless
steel tripod. It stands
72" tall and brought a
strong $11,400.
“Beacon lights did
well,” said owner
Larry Lannan after
the auction. This mon-
umental 8' tall brass
and copper naviga-
tional beacon had
been electrified, but
the original gas burner
was included with the
beacon. Standing 99"
tall and 21" wide, it
sold for $10,200.
Among the diving items that were offered was this diving
gear package that had a Miller Dunn #3 shallow water hel-
met with weights, serial number 745. Also included were
the original wood crate, 1953, one unused Miller Dunn 1-A
air pump, a one-gallon U.S. Navy air reserve tank, and one
uncirculated #3 Miller Dunn original brochure. The orig-
inal crate was stenciled “Shallow Water Outfit.” The lot
sold quickly for $6300, just meeting the presale estimate of
$6000/8000.
A phone bidder won this pair of
bronzes, War and Peace, created by
Austrian-American artist Carl Kauba
(1865-1922). They were mounted on
marble bases and were 26" and 31"
tall. The bidding opened and closed in
one bid for $21,600.
A notable sale in the auction was this massive
brass bell from the British Royal Navy war-
ship H.M.S. Antrim , which served from 1905
to 1922; a second Antrim served from 1970 to
1984. This massive 118-pound bell has “Ant-
rim” engraved in an arch and later engravings
that recognized the years of service. Investiga-
tion revealed that the bell was used as a bap-
tismal font for children of the ship’s company,
and their names are engraved on the inside of
the bell. The later Antrim served in the Falk-
lands War. After furious bidding from the
Internet, phones, and buyers on the floor, Rear
Admiral Christopher Parry, who served on the
Antrim during the Falklands War, won the bell
for $7800. “It’s going back to England,” said
Larry Lannan after the sale.
This copper and brass five-bolt helmet
by A. Schrader was, according to cata-
log notes, an authentic diveable hard hat
helmet, with serial number 1754 on the
breastplate. A limited edition, this four-
light helmet with gold-plated badge sold
for $9000.