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The top lot of the sale was this early Twentieth Century giraffe carousel figure by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, circa 1905, 78½ inches tall, which far surpassed expectations, realizing $37,500 ($2/4,000).
Review by Kiersten Busch
YPSILANTI, MICH. — On May 18, Schmidt’s Antiques conducted its May Gallery auction, which featured fine and decorative art, lighting, antique furniture and other offerings from estates and private collectors. The sale realized more than $275,000, with a sell-through rate of approximately 90 percent. “We were very pleased with the results of the sale. We had some fantastic examples of Tiffany glass, New England and California landscapes, Pewabic pottery, historic furniture and carousel figures that sold to a wide range of private collectors, institutions and dealers,” reported Elizabeth O’Connell, Gallery director for Schmidt’s Antiques.
There were more than 1,500 bidders present from the United States, “with a lot of the winning US bidders coming from New York, New England, California and Michigan,” said O’Connell. However, there was also significant worldwide interest in the sale, with “international bidders from the United Kingdom, Canada, China, France, Japan, Hong Kong, Austria, Ireland, Germany, Egypt, India, Qatar, The Bahamas and Australia,” continued O’Connell.
Leading the sale was a circa 1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Company giraffe carousel figure. “The giraffe was originally purchased by a Michigan buyer as a birthday present for his young daughter in 1944,” explained O’Connell. “It was acquired in New York and came from a late Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century carousel that was being disassembled and sold. The figure remained in the family until it was consigned to our auction house.” The giraffe had a hollow body and its original polychrome painted finish with inset glass eyes and a detailed carved mane and saddle. One of the glass eyes was marked “PBC 7-1-44.” The figure also featured a mask cantle and scrolled trappings with tassel drops. While estimated at $2/4,000, the giraffe was pushed by intrigued bidders to more than nine times its high estimate, eventually going to a collector in Oxford, Md., for $37,500. Four additional carousel figures – two cockerels and two horses – were also included in the sale; the menagerie crossed the block consecutively after the giraffe and achieved prices ranging from $250-$2,875.
This hand-carved Anglo-Indian center table from the Raj period, Nineteenth Century, rosewood, 46-inch diameter, 31 inches high, was the second-best selling lot of the day, crossing the block for $6,250 ($1/1,500).
Antique wooden furniture also turned heads during the sale, with a few pieces particularly capturing the attention of bidders. The first was a Nineteenth Century Anglo-Indian rosewood center table from the Raj period, consigned by a collector in Oxford, Mich. The table featured extensive hand carved decoration, consisting of birds, fruit, vines and foliage. It had a circular top complete with a conforming apron and mask design, which was on a columnar stem and domed base with full-bodied birds and lion mask feet. An old finish and some wear to the top of the table did not deter bidders from taking the table to slightly more than four times its high estimate, realizing $6,250. The table found its new home with a dealer in East Sussex, UK. O’Connell added, “This lot had a lot of bidders from the UK and India, so it is not a huge surprise it’s going to the UK as an important example of Anglo-Indian decorative furniture.”
Selling over the phone to collectors in Scottsdale, Ariz., for $5,313, almost two times its high estimate, was an Italian Renaissance Revival buffet from the late Nineteenth Century. Constructed in two parts, the buffet featured decoration that included a battle scene with mounted knights, carved masks, shields, foliate and two recumbent lions. It was “consigned by Chelsie Welch and Corey Cunningham of Cruwood Home,” said O’Connell, “Cruwood Home is renovating the Auker Mansion in Grand Blanc, Mich., which is where the sideboard came from.”
Selling for $5,000 was this Cape Cod, Mass., seascape by Edward Darley Boit (1840-1915), oil on canvas, 24¼ by 18 inches framed, annotated “Contuit,” abbreviated/initialed “BT,” dated “June ‘87” lower left, note verso attributing to artist ($800-$1,200).
An oil on canvas seascape attributed to American artist Edward Darley Boit exchanged hands for $5,000 against an $800-$1,200 estimate to a private art collector in Richmond, Va. It was consigned by a fine art collector in Ann Arbor, Mich. The painting depicted the shores of Cotuit Beach in Cape Cod, Mass., with sailboats in the distance. A note verso attributed the work to Boit.
Three additional Pewabic vases and one tile were also sold, with prices realized ranging from $688-$1,750.
Schmidt’s Antiques will hold its next auction on July 20. Images are already available to preview on AuctionZip.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.schmidtsantiques.com or 734-434-2660.
