Maine Antique Digest, March 2017

Maine Antique Digest, March 2017 31-D

AUCTION -

31-D

Highlights of the

September Sale

t Neal Auction Company, the fall estates auction,

held in 2016 on September 24 and 25, has become

sort of a precursor of the Louisiana Purchase event.

This time the earlier sale featured similar art of regional

interest as well as the sort of spectacular Rococo Revival

furniture that once populated southern parlors. The half-

dozen lots illustrated here give a taste of the event; the

complete catalog can be viewed online.

Working in Raffaelli oil

crayons on board, William

Woodward (1859-1939)

recorded characteristic scenes

in the French Quarter as it

appeared in the first decade

of the 20th century. Here he

has captured the cupolas of

the Bazaar Market, part of the

French Market complex in 1908.

This 14½" x 18¾" view brought

$61,000 (est. $25,000/35,000).

Another Woodward scene sold

in the December sale. Neal

Auction Company photo.

More than a dozen Audubon

artworks sold on Saturday,

but the

Blue Jay

, plate 102

from the Havell edition of

The

Birds of America

, drew the

most attention. The irresistible

trio of crested birds brought

$24,400 (est. $6000/9000). Neal

Auction Company photo.

Far from home waters,

Full Sail at Cape Ann

by New York artist Edward

Henry Potthast (1857-1927) brought an above estimate $46,360. The 20" x 24"

oil on canvas will be included in Mary Ran’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné

of the artist’s work. Neal Auction Company photo.

This intricately carved rosewood sofa, a version of the “Cornucopia” pattern

attributed to John Henry Belter of New York, sold for $85,400 (est. $30,000/50,000).

Related examples have been sold at Neal Auction Company in the past and can be

found in museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the

Victoria and Albert in London. This example came from a Kentucky collection but

had previously been part of the Service collection of Grant A. Oakes, out of which

Neal Auction Company has been selling furniture and lighting for several years.

Neal Auction Company photo.

This complex Renaissance Revival cabinet flanked by pedestals with an accompanying mirror

(not shown) is attributed to Thomas Brooks & Co. in Brooklyn, New York (the mirror bears

the firm’s stencil) and was part of the period furnishings of a house in Brooklyn’s Clinton

Hill Historic District until 1970. The showpiece with marquetry panels brought $13,440. Neal

Auction Company photo.

Also from the Service collection, a carved rosewood center table in

Belter’s “Rosalie” pattern brought $25,620 ($8000/12,000). Note the

grape clusters in the round suspended above the carved dolphin heads

on the legs. Neal Auction Company photo.