Results: Christies American Furntiure Sale

I had a note taped on the side of my computer screen which for the past two weeks or so I could not figure or read what I had written.  Today it finally registered that it said Christies Americana Sept 30th.  Given that it has taken me 10 days to figure it out, please forgive me that the results are later than usual. The post with my scribble has now been tossed and the results are posted.

In any event the Americana Sale at Christies was in fact held on September 30th.  There were 114 lots offered with 86 lots selling for a 75% sell through rate. The sale totaled $801,875.00 including buyers premiums.  The top lot being a Federal Inlaid Mahogany Dwarf-Case clock with a dial signed by Joshua Wilder, circa 1825.  The clock was estimated at $40,000 to $80,000 and hammered down at $80,500 including buyers premium.  The other two were Audubon's by Havell so perhaps fine period American furniture was not very strong within the sale.

Christies reports that only 50% was sold by dollar value, which I know is a very complicated formula to follow as I have asked in the past.  Interestingly enough, the top three lots were sold to the trade. In any event, the Americana sale was a minor blip on the auction calendar, with some mild successes yet nothing to get excited about.

Margot Rosenberg, Head of Department at Christie's stated:

“We are pleased to report that three-quarters of the items offered at
today’s mid-season sale found buyers, with heavy competition among bidders for several rare and important items. Top prices were achieved for exceptional furniture, folk art and prints, including the Federal Dwarf-Case Clock signed by Joshua Wilder, an 18th century chippendale card table from Boston, a complete set of eight Nantucket Lightship Baskets, and an excellent selection of prints from John James Audubon’s Birds of America. We were delighted to welcome a number of new collectors into the field with this sale, and look forward to our flagship Americana sales in January.