Results: Christie's Americana Week

Christie's has now posted the results for their recent sales in NY during American Week. The sale offered 466 lots with 398 selling for a very respectable sell through rate of 86%. The sale totaled $5,681,025.00 (which is less than the single lot of the silver punch bowl sold at Sotheby's).  The top lot was an Ammi Phillips double portrait selling for $782,500 against an estimate of $300k/$500k (see image).  The number two lot was the Queen Anne Compass stool (covered here on the AW Blog) for $482.500 with buyers premium against an estimate of $300k/$500k.

Of the top ten lots only two, including the Phillips painting and one other lot sold above the high estimate, and one even sold below the low estimate.

The Benjamin F. Edwards decorative arts sale had 407 lots offered with 373 selling for a sell through rate of 92%. The sale totaled $7.18 million. Six of the top ten lots in the Edwards sale bested the pre sale high estimate, and the other four top ten fell within the pre sale estimates.  The top lot was a pair of Verte-Imari CandelabraCirca 1725, which sold for $242,500.00 against an estimate of $80k/$100k (see image). This single owner sale easily bested the main Christie's Americana sale in total value.

Chrisites statements about the Americana sale are rather generic and certainly lack much enthusiasm or excitement, and center more on comments such as active bidding and an active room.

Christie's stated about the Americana sale

Jennifer Pitman, Head Of Sale, Silver Department said: “The top price for the monumental silver ewer by Paul Revere reflected the importance of American church silver from the First Parish Church in Beverly.”

Margot Rosenberg, Head Of Department, American Decorative Arts, commented: “This was a strong sale for the American Furniture and Folk Art category, with active bidding at every level. We witnessed strong competition for the rarest items, including the newly discovered brother-and-sister portrait by Ammi Phillips which sold for $782,500 - the second highest price on record for the artist - and the rare Queen Anne Philadelphia compass-seat stool. Top prices were achieved for property from prominent estate collections, including the Thomas J. Carroll Trust, and the Estate of Mary Frances Bowles Couper, among others.”

Becky MacGuire, Senior Specialist, Chinese Export Porcelain said: “Our sale of Chinese Export Art today demonstrated the continued strength of this traditional collecting field. Bidders were active in the room, on the phones and online, and literally hailed from around the globe.