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Topping both days of the sale was this Ralph Lauren blue velvet sofa, which measured 33 inches high, 94 inches wide and 44 inches in length. It found a new home for $5,400 ($300/600).
Review by Kiersten Busch
VALATIE, N.Y. — Old Kinderhook Auction Company conducted its two-day Bored on the 4th of July auction on July 2 and 3. Day one offered American art, fine frames and myriad ephemera, while day two was a mix of gold, electric lighting, outdoor furniture and outsider art, among other categories. The sale realized $225,462 over the two days, with a 98 percent sell-through rate.
Leading both days was a Ralph Lauren blue velvet sofa sold on day two, which sat pretty for $5,400, just over nine times its high estimate. The sofa was a three-seat piece on casters, accompanied by four pillows and listed as in “overall good condition.” It had a matching loveseat, which sold for $3,120, the fourth highest price on the second day.
Day one’s crowning jewel was an oil on canvas by French painter Gilles Gorriti, titled “St Tropez,” which depicted the harbor at Saint-Tropez, a coastal town on the French Riviera. With provenance to Wally Findlay Gallery in New York City, the painting sailed to its new owner for $4,800.
Fine art dominated the first day of the sale, with nine of the 10 top-selling lots belonging to the category. A textured and colorful version of Pablo Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles D’Avignon” by Haitian artist Max Pinchinat earned $3,600, the second-highest result of the day. The 1954 oil on canvas was signed lower right and measured 41¼ by 48½ inches framed.
“Les Demoiselles D’Avignon” by Max Pinchinat (Haitian, 1925-1985), 1954, oil on canvas, 41¼ by 48½ inches framed, signed upper right was the artist’s interpretation of Picasso’s famous painting of the same name. It was pushed to $3,600 by bidders, the second highest selling lot of the first day ($1/2,000).
“St Tropez” was not the only work featuring a body of water that attracted bidders. “The Humber River” by George Pearse Ennis, an oil on canvas with provenance to Fletcher Gallery in Woodstock, N.Y., brought in $2,040, just above its low estimate. It depicted a bright coastal scene in the mountains, framed to measure 28 by 32 inches. The painting was also signed lower left and titled verso. “Low Tides, Dutch Coast” by Charles Gruppe, depicting a boat at low tide unloading onto a cart, sold for more than five times its estimate at $2,520.
Although not fine art, a handwritten letter from artist Thomas Cole to Theodore Allen, esquire, the third highest selling lot of day one, was still related to art in some way. In the correspondence, which was written off at $2,880, Cole invited Allen — who, according to the auction catalog, was “an honorary member of the National Academy of Design and son-in-law of patron of the art Luman Reed” — to Harding’s Gallery to view his “The Voyage of Life” series. It was written on a 9½-by-11½-inch page of the gallery’s catalog and included a stamp from Catskill, N.Y.
Furniture, both indoor and outdoor, was one of the most popular categories on day two, with 264 lots of various shapes and sizes offered to enthusiastic bidders. A pair of teak wood garden benches in the style of Lutyens, tagged “Restoration Hardware” on the back, exceeded their estimate fivefold and realized $2,640, despite some wear and moss growth. A very similar pair, also in the style of Lutyens, but tagged “Barlow Tyrie Braintree, England,” crossed the block for $1,680.
This pair of teak benches in the style of Lutyens but made by Restoration Hardware, each measuring 77 inches wide, sat at $2,640, almost seven times their high estimate ($200/400).
Sitting at the table for just over their high estimate were a group of five Gustav Stickley armchairs with rush seats. The group, with each individual chair measuring 37¼ inches high, 26¼ inches wide and 21 inches long, was identified by a singular chair with a visible “looping G” mark, dated circa 1904-07. Some wear and losses to finish did not deter bidders from pushing the chairs to $2,400.
More than 25 lots of gold were offered on the second day of the sale, but two in particular caught buyers’ eyes. The second-highest price of the day was for an antique 18K gold charm bracelet. The 8-inch-long bracelet’s 31 gold charms included things like a 10K gold Wisconsin State Golf Association (WSGA) medal, a Fenning coin, a 10K gold sorority medal and an 18K gold mounted jade medallion, among many others. It went to its new home for $5,100. A 14K gold Art Deco cigarette case with a geometric pattern and monogrammed cartouche sold for $3,360, comfortably within estimate.
Another interesting lot offered on day two was an antique Russian Officer’s Order of Saint George medal, strung on a ribbon. Accompanying it was a letter, dated 1938, which gave it to a collection, the contents of which described the event that awarded it: “This particular cross was awarded by the emperor’s order of February 13, 1917, for the battle of July 15, 1916, near Lutzk, when the Imperial Guards smashed through the German lines…” The medal was awarded to the highest bidder for $1,680.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For more information, www.oldkinderhookauction.com or 518-912-4747.
