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DINAH AND STEPHEN LEFKOWITZ COLLECTION AT NORTHEAST

SLUG: LEFKOWITZ SALE TESTS MARKET FOR FOLK ART AND PAINTED FURNITURE/WITH CUTS

By Laura Beach

MANCHESTER, N.H. — “If we come in at $2 million, we will celebrate with champagne. If we come in at $1.5 million, it will be ginger ale,” Northeast Auctions president and chief auctioneer Ron Bourgeault told Dinah and Stephen Lefkowitz, whose collection of American folk art and painted furniture was the marquee attraction at Northeast’s annual Summer Americana Auction.

“Either way, we will celebrate with champagne,” insisted Dinah Lefkowitz.

The Lefkowitzes had reason to toast Northeast. Containing 255 lots, the cataloged, single-owner sale grossed $2,117,232 with premium. The total will probably approach $2.3 million after private treaty sales of passed lots and miscellaneous pieces from the various owners’ session are counted in.

“Two million is the number I always had in my head, so I am pleased. Now, it is on to the next,” said Dinah Lefkowitz, who describes herself as an incurable collector.

New Yorkers Dinah and Stephen Lefkowitz began buying American folk art and painted furniture after acquiring an Eighteenth Century house in Old Saybrook, Conn., in 1991 as a weekend retreat. Advised by South Egremont, Mass., dealers Elliott and Grace Snyder, they bought from leading dealers at major shows, as well as at auction. The resulting trove was subtle and refined, emphasizing line, color, surface, balance and originality of design. The collection filled the Old Saybrook house as well as a loft apartment in Manhattan, where Stephen Lefkowitz is a real estate attorney.

The Lefkowitzes decided to sell the Old Saybrook house and their antiques after buying a contemporary house by Jonathan Isleib in Old Lyme, Conn. An expanse of glass stretches from end to end of their new house, framing an ever-changing and unobstructed view of the Black Hall River estuary, populated by wading birds and kayakers. The dwelling is simply furnished with Modernist furniture, Dinah’s first love.

Bourgeault competed for the collection against several other auctioneers as well as against dealers hoping to buy the pieces privately.

“We did a deal. I gave them an advance,” acknowledged Bourgeault. The advance was rumored to have been a million dollars. Given that the pieces were recently acquired, the Lefkowitzes wisely set as few reserves as possible and avoided estimates.

Even so, the sale tested the psychology of the market, which favors old collections and estates. Perhaps irrationally, buyers want “fresh” goods without well-known sales histories. The Lefkowitzes lost money on some items but made it up on others. For instance, a painted blanket chest that Skinner sold for $34,075 in 2005 resold for $40,600. A corner chair auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2002 for $49,625 resold for $34,800. A pair of paint decorated Gaines side chairs that went for $27,000 in 2006 fetched $40,600. A candlestand with a checkerboard top garnered $12,180, having sold at Sotheby’s in 2002 for $15,600. In all, these four pieces cost the Lefkowitzes $126,300 plus, we assume, dealers’ commission. The pieces resold for $128,180 minus auctioneer’s commission, amounting to a roughly even trade.

“Holding is one of the key principles of investing,” Grace Snyder said afterward. “The timing of this auction was generated by the purchase of the new house. A fair number of the big ticket items were purchased in the last two or three years at major shows. The Lefkowitzes paid a premium. They understood the equation going in and were happy with the results of the auction.”

Continued Snyder, “Each auction has its own psychological context and creates its own buying opportunities. We were thrilled to get back eight or so pieces. On the other hand, we would have been thrilled if prices went higher, too.”

Focused and disciplined collectors, the Lefkowitzes bought categories of items in depth. For instance, we counted 33 Windsors, too many to be easily absorbed by the market in one sitting. A pair of yellow and black Connecticut armchairs fetched $104,400, a Rhode Island armchair in turquoise paint went for $63,800, and a red and blue comeback armchair achieved $52,200. The average price of the remaining Windsor chairs, however, was $5,708 including premium.

The Snyders are well-known for textiles. Two of the three top textile lots went back to the Massachusetts dealers, for $63,800 and $30,160. A Pennsylvania pictorial hooked rug by Magdalina Bruner brought $37,120 from Olde Hope Antiques, who three years ago at Northeast acquired the “Domestic Zoo” rug by the same hand for $74,000. Of 19 textile lots, 12 sold for $5,000 or less.

Baskets were a bright spot. Leading a group of 14 examples was a blue basket with red handles. It went to the phone for $12,760.

Painted boxes also continued to sell well, with a dome top Vermont example going to John Keith Russell for $25,520 and a 24-inch-long dome top trunk painted black with pale tulip decorations achieving $20,880.

One surprise was a whimsical sheet iron row of crows weathervane that fluttered out of the Lefkowitzes’ New York kitchen to find a new home with a New Hampshire collector for $26,680.

Prices include buyer’s premium. For information, 603-433-8400 or www.northeastauctions.com.

Northeast Sells The Dinah and Stephen Lefkowitz Collection

Northeast Auctions

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Dinah and Stephen Lefkowitz consulted Massachusetts dealers Elliott and Grace Snyder, center, when building their collection. Left, auctioneer Ron Bourgeault and right, James French, consultant to Northeast Auction. Rear left, four paintings on panel of the four seasons ($35/50,000) passed. Rear right, whale’s tail hanging shelf, $10,400; merganser hen stamped G.R. Huey, Maine, $11,020; merganser drake by Captain Samuel Collins, Essex, Conn., $13,930. In the foreground, a felt penny rug that brought $3,460.

 

Lot 733 –

With more than two dozen Windsors to choose from, the Lefkowitz collection tested the market. This Rhode Island continuous armchair in turquoise paint was a favorite. It sold to David Schorsch for $63,800. “I bought it 20-some years ago from Betty Sterling and sold it to Barry Cohen,” recalled the Connecticut dealer, who got a bargain on a dish top candlestand, $13,920, illustrated on the catalog cover.

 

Lot 623 –

“They are Tracy school,” said David Schorsch, buyer of these Connecticut continuous-arm brace back Windsor side chairs, $104,400, painted black with yellow seats in imitation of upholstery. “I first admired these chairs at the Philadelphia Antiques Show, where the Snyders sold them to the Lefkowitzes.”

 

Lot 651 –

A handful of Pennsylvania pieces included this circa 1750 splay leg tavern table in blue paint. Previously owned by Kindig and Bradley, it went back to Pennsylvania with Mercer, Penn., dealer Chuck White for $55,100.

 

Lot 702-

“I underbid it when it came up at Christie’s a couple of years ago,” said Pennsylvania dealer Kelly Kinzle, who paid $29,000 for this stepped Sheraton dressing table, a cover lot, in cheerful red and yellow paint.

 

Lot 694 –

This 39-inch-tall hanging cupboard in yellow paint went to the phone for $49,300.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Painted dark blue-green with a pattern of feathery white, this lift top blanket chest was a sensation when Skinner sold it for $34,075 in August 2005. It resold to Massachusetts dealer David Wheatcroft for $40,600. Elliott and Grace Snyder bought back the vivid red and black painted Ohio tall case clock, far left, inscribed “L. Watson, Cincinnati,” for $23,200, and a rare yarn-sewn cornucopia hearth rug, $30,160, dating to about 1800. The bow back Rhode Island Windsor, one of a pair, fetched $7,540.

 

4859

Dealers Chuck White and Susan Stella inspect the top textile of the day, an exuberant New England appliqued and embroidered wool and silk table rug. It returned to Elliott and Grace Snyder for $63,800. Dark green with yellow seats, the four bow back Windsors garnered $13,920. Sold at the Philadelphia Antiques Show, the Connecticut highboy passed at $40/60,000. Windsor armchair, left, one of a pair, $7,540.

 

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Stonington, Conn., dealer Roberto Freitas, right, evaluates a Queen Anne painted cherry candlestand with a scalloped edge. The appealing Norwich, Conn., area table went back to Connecticut dealer Arthur Liverant for $25,520.

 

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Collectors Dinah and Stephen Lefkowitz at home on the Connecticut coast.

 

Lot 668 –

Baskets were hot. This blue-green gathering basket, 14 inches long with red handles, sold to the phone for $12,760.

 

Lot 643 –

It is no secret that the market is very strong for painted boxes. This dome top New England example, 14½ inches long, went to South Salem, N.Y., dealer John Keith Russell for $25,520.