Date: Fri 01-Oct-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: GWARD

Quick Words:

Thomaston-Easton

Full Text:

Art And Native American Artifacts Lead At Thomaston Place Auction

(with 3 cuts)

By Rita Easton

THOMASTON, ME. -- Thomaston Place Auction Galleries held an unreserved auction

on August 28, following three preview sessions. Nearly 300 attendees competed

for 335 lots of art, furniture, clocks, Native American artifacts, silver,

glass and China consigned from three Maine estates, resulting in a gross of

$300,000.

Bringing the starring bid of $29,000 was an oil on canvas by Jack L. Gray, "On

Rosemont Banks 1961," measuring 26 by 40 inches, purchased by a private

collector. The painting depicted a man in a dory on restless waters.

An 1891 Charles Craig oil on canvas, "Ute Scouting Party," depicting American

Indians on horseback looking out over the plains, was privately purchased at

$24,000; a 24 by 30-inch oil on canvas attributed to Charles Snell Corson of a

landscape by the sea went privately at $22,000; and a letter with pencil

drawings, signed Winslow Homer, drew a final $10,000. The double sided missive

was to his mother and brother, with the drawings illustrating the content.

Art and Native American artifacts were the top sellers of the day, with a

zig-zag patterned "lightning bolt" eye-dazzler, 2 feet 8 inches by 4 feet 5

inches, in a fine weave selling to one of 12 phone bidders on the item at

$18,500 for the primarily red and white lot.

Other Native American rugs ranged from $300 to $5,250. A beaded Cheyenne

beadwork blanket strip on doeskin, 54 inches long by 3« inches wide, reached

$2,800; and a pair of turn-of-the-century Cheyenne leggings, in mint

condition, sold at $2,500.

"Furniture overall I thought was soft," noted Auction Manager John Holmes,

with a two-piece country pine cupboard fetching $5,500. A pink luster chamber

pot with naughty verses on it amused a buyer for $2,600; and an Eighteenth

Century bird's eye and tiger maple cupboard, having three panelled doors above

three panelled doors, sold at $4,500.

"Glass and china did well, but the strength of this particular sale was art

and Indian," Holmes said. A bird's eye lithograph view of Booth Bay Harbor in

Maine reached $1,050, which Holmes valued as a high price for the lot, which

was approximately 18 by 24 inches. "...It was a local town, which is why it

did so well here," Holmes continued.

A Black Forest clock set carved by Felix Bruel, a hunter seated above the

clock on the centerpiece, flanked by side pieces of hunting dogs, garnered

$4,500.

Prices quoted above do not reflect a required 12 percent buyer's premium, with

a 2 percent discount for cash or a good check.