Date: Fri 05-Feb-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

Caddigan

Full Text:

Concord Tall Clock Strikes $35,000 At Caddigan

(with 5 cuts)

DEDHAM, MASS. -- The Holiday Inn was the site for Caddigan Auctioneers annual

Martin Luther King Holiday sale, conducted January 18. A preview and

inspection, held Sunday night, drew a steady flow of dealers and collectors; a

crowd of approximately 500 attended Monday morning's event.

In the audience 286 bidders hailed from all over the US and each of the New

England states. A wealth of telephone and absentee bidders also participated,

competing for 500 lots of American and Continental antiques and decorative

arts from the Eighteenth through early Twentieth Century.

Highlighting the auction was a Federal mahogany tall case clock by Joseph

Mulliken, one of the earliest and finest clock makers in Concord, Mass.

Despite some damage to the bracket feet and some splitting and veneer loss to

the lower case, the Eighteenth Century example remained in an untouched and

restorable state of preservation and yielded $35,000.

Caddigan acquired the clock while on a routine house call less than one mile

from the firm's home offices in Hanover, Mass. The firm was originally called

to price a custom mahogany dining room suite.

After several weeks of private inspections by major American dealers and

institutions, the clock received an opening bid of $8,000 on sale day, setting

the pace as floor bidders battled in $1,000 increments to its final price. The

piece was purchased by West Townsend, Mass. clock dealer John Delaney.

Many ornate pieces from the collection of the late Marion Drake of Scituate,

Mass. were featured including a fine antique Kermin carpet measuring 11 by 16

feet. This large example had, unfortunately, eight inches of its borders

removed at some time, keeping its price moderate, just surpassing its high

estimate of $12,000, having been purchased by a New York City merchant for

$13,750. The same buyer claimed a room-size Twentieth Century Sarouk for

$4,290.

Also from the Drake's estate, a Nineteenth Century English portrait of a young

man was claimed for $3,300 by a Boston dealer. Other works included a pair of

whimsical Art Nouveau oil paintings by Boston artist Gregory Gifford, which

rang up $1,210, selling to an Atlanta, Ga. area gallery. An early Tibetan oil

on canvas depicting a Kali also sold well, realizing $2,090, purchased by a

telephone bidder from New York City.

American furniture included a pair of Eighteenth Century carved cherry

Chippendale side chairs, with finger carved crests, pierce cut-out splats

having elongated heart cut outs and slip seats, which commanded $3,300 for the

pair. A Centennial Hepplewhite bow front chest, with cross-banded and paneled

drawers, drew a winning bid of $2,200, selling to an astute floor bidder from

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. A custom mahogany highboy made in the Philadelphia style

rang up $3,960, and a set of six late Sheraton fancy chairs, made of

bird's-eye maple, realized $1,650.

Other offerings included a paint-decorated Nineteenth Century tricycle, which

sold to a New Hampshire dealer for $1,870; a tin wind-up toy "Jazzbo Jim" the

dancer on the roof, which rang up $880; a Paris porcelain dinner service for

12, which sold for $2,640; an electrified Argand lamp by Johnston & Brooks of

London, which reached $1,595; a Fitzhugh export platter, which garnered

$2,310; and a ladies 18 karat yellow gold by-pass style diamond ring with a

European cut 1.10 carat stone, which realized $3,025.

For information, 781/826-8648.