Date: Fri 29-Jan-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

Tomayo-Patrick-Thomas

Full Text:

Tomayo Watercolor Brings Top Price At Patrick Thomas's Jan Auction

(with 4 cuts)

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. -- Patrick Thomas began 1999 by holding its first two-day

auction since November of 1996. The auction house began with over 250 Oriental

and Middle East rugs and carpets on January 9 and followed up with antiques

and fine arts on January 10, which mainly consisted of merchandise from three

collections including items from a recently sold 45 acre, $2.8 million estate

on the Hudson River.

Auctioneer Jim McGonagle kept the energetic crowd of almost 200 moving and

numerous phone and left bids repeatedly topped the active gallery. This was

the third time that McGonagle had auctioneered for the gallery sine he and his

partner Mary McCleod moved their antiques business from the Midwest to Great

Barrington, Mass.

Rufino Tamayo's 14‹ by 17« inch watercolor of a beach scene with sailboat and

figures was the top seller of the day, fetching $7,975 over the phone from a

private collector from New York City. Guiuseppe Carrelli's 11 by 19 inch oil

on panel of a seascape with fishermen hauling nets sold for $4,400 on the

phone to a dealer in London. This painting attracted phone bidders from

London, Scotland, Italy, New York City and numerous other areas forcing the

gallery to qualify bidders. Another high seller for the day was the gilt

bronze figural chandelier, circa 1890s, which sold in the gallery to a New

Jersey dealer for $4,785.

The auction included the widest selection of American and European antique

furniture in the medium value range offered by the gallery in the last year,

including Victorian, Eastlake, Federal, Empire, French Arts and Crafts,

Chippendale, Renaissance Revival, Beidermeier, Georgian and many other styles.

This wide selection attracted many dealers from out of the area including wood

buyers from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Missouri, Pennsylvania,

Ohio and Virginia.

An American Victorian flame-mahogany bedroom set sold for $2,970 followed by

the French Arts and Crafts oak sideboard at $1,925. The carved mahogany

American Renaissance Revival three piece parlor set with figural arms, faces

and feet, circa 1870, brought $1,870, while the French Louis XV style bureau

platte desk with gilt bronze mounts sold for $1,430, and the American Federal

tambour secretary brought $1,320. The unusual offerings in the furniture

category was the medieval harpsichord decoratively painted in the Renaissance

style which sold for $1,650. This Fifteenth Century piece which had been

heavily restored was in working order and had been used by the consignor to

entertain guests on social occasions.

Other hits in the painting category included the Italian school oil on canvas

of a Venetian harbor scene at $1,760 and James Northcote's pastel on paper

portrait of Lord North in a study for $1,210. A dealer from Scotland on the

phone purchased the pair of pastel on paper portraits by John Raphael Smith,

circa 1800, for $3,575.

A small collection of bronzes faired well. The bronze of a Gothic woman signed

E. Boisseau, 1872, fetched $990. The bronze, "Winged Mercury" realized $770;

the large bronze of the "Graces after Luman Pilon" went for $935; and the

French gilt bronze of a woman playing the harp sold at $900.

Other items of note included a pair of Elkington Sheffield silver plate

candelabras dated 1818, that sold for $1,100; an eight by ten foot silk

Bakhtiary that brought $1,980; a 12 by 17 foot Serape that fetched $1,870; the

polychromed and carved statue of St Thuringion at $715; and the English wheel

barometer, circa 1825, that sold for $605. In the fun department, the Hurdy

Gurdy crank organ went for $605.

This auction marked the return to the antiques and auction business of Marc

Miller. Miller who left the trade several years ago to pursue his legal and

other businesses full time, will initially begin private dealing on a

part-time basis. His first container of Chinese antiques was scheduled to

arrive early in January, and he plans on importing European antiques later in

the year. Miller served as guest auctioneer hammering down over 50 lots at

various times during the auction. His auctioneering style was heartily

approved by the crowd as he received dozens of compliments from the bidders.

Miller will continue to auction from time to time at Patrick Thomas.

Patrick Thomas's next auction is scheduled for February 6 and will include

three separate sessions. The first session will consist of various categories

of uncatalogued merchandise sold under the banner of "The Good, The Bad and

The Ugly." A session of Oriental and Middle Eastern rugs and carpets will

follow. At 6 pm the sale of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century American and

European antiques and fine art will commence. This third session will be

highlighted by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait's oil on canvas "A June Day" and an

unreserved collection of Old Master drawings sold pursuant to an order of the

United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of New York. This sale will

also offer a selection of recently imported Chinese antiques and a signed,

magnificently carved Horner Brothers bedroom set.