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GALLERY CONSIGNMENT ATTRACTS FULL HOUSE AT CYR

By Rita Easton

GRAY, ME. -- Nine hundred seventy-seven lots crossed the Cyr block on November

18, attracting a strong turnout of approximately 300 on the floor, and another

100 phone bidders. Continental furniture, accessories and art, from the

Falmouth Foreside mansion of one of Maine's foremost galleries; an important

American collection of Korean pottery and paintings; and Oriental antiques

from an American diplomat's home were among the consignments offered. The

gross realized was just under $500,000.

Headlining the event was an 18 by 12 inch Orientalist painting on tile,

depicting a lounging harem woman. The lot garnered $15,250, purchased by an

American buyer in the audience.

A close second was a Serapi rug, 12 by 18 feet, going to the trade at $14,500.

"It was purchased from a house for a couple of thousand dollars," said

Benjamin Burden of the gallery, "and the picker was jittery, afraid that he'd

spent too much."

The remaining group of Oriental rugs ranged from that high down to $800,

including a Kirman roomsized rug, which rang up at $3,000 and a roomsized

Sarouk, which hit $2,400.

A DeBeet still life oil on canvas with corn, pineapple, and grapes, went

privately at $9,500; a pair of KPM plaque portraits fetched $6,500; and an Old

Master painting about which little was known, depicting a mother, father, and

child, brought $9,000. A very fine bulbous-form Oriental vase, 13 inches high,

decorated with colorful dragons and decorations, reached $2,000.

Six mahogany ribbon back side chairs made $1,950; an unusual mantel clock in

mahogany, with a round face surmounted with a steeple shaped finial, having

side mounted brass lions' heads holding rings in their jaws, sold at $1,700; a

large collection of snuff bottles, approximately 40, ranged from a high of

$2,750 down to $75 per lot; and an oil on canvas still life, a lavish

disarrangement of grapes, apples, oranges, and other fruits, with a half-cut

citrus in the lower left corner appearing to be rolling off the canvas, and

striking an odd note with a bent fork in the midst of the table's fruit,

realized $800, the best buy of the day.

A Tiffany cane was purchased at $3,400, well above the $500 estimate. The

handle was in the form of a silver horse-drawn wagon, on a maple shaft.

Prices quoted do not reflect a ten percent buyer's premium.