Results: Christie's Americana

I have been posting some of the results of last weeks Americana Week sales and so far the results have been rather positive.  I now have the Christie's results from the  Important American Furniture and Folk Art & The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph K. Ott sales. The two sales appear to have mixed results.

The Americana sale offered 164 lots with 134 selling for a rather impressive 81.7% sell through rate.  The sale totaled $8.7 million including buyers premium which represented 82% by value. In the Ott sale, there were 51 lots offered with only 27 selling for a buy through rate at a disappointing 53%.  The Ott single owner sale totaled $3.75 million including buyers premium, which was a rather poor 51% by value.  I did not review the Ott sale, but I would think that perhaps the reserves were set a bit too high for a successful sale.

The top selling lot was a Rare And Important Chippendale Carved Mahogany Diminutive Block-and-Shell Document Cabinet with Drawers, signed by John Townsend, Newport, 1755-1765 which sold for $3.44 million including buyers premium and was consigned by the Chipstone Foundation (see image).  Of the top ten lots, 5 were listed as anonymous, one by US private, one as US Trade, and three sales to PA dealer C.L. Prickett.  Most of the top ten lots sold either within the estimate range or above.

Christie's reported on the sales

John Hays, Deputy Chairman, Christie’s Americas, comments: “Christie’s was honored to have been entrusted by the directors of the Chipstone Foundation with the sale of the block-and-shell document cabinet signed by John Townsend, which achieved $3.4 million — a record price of for a Townsend document cabinet. This remarkable object was signed twice by the renowned Colonial cabinet maker, John Townsend, and established the second highest price for the maker. While the market was selective, we are very honored to have represented the Ott family, and are pleased by the result of the marble top table by John Goddard, which set a record for the form at $2 million.”
Andrew Holter, Head of Department, said: “We are equally honored to have represented the Philadelphia Museum of Art with the sale of the Chippendale carved mahogany armchair attributed to Nicholas Bernard. This magnificent chair was highly sought after with competitive bidding from museums, private collectors and foundations, and produced a stellar result of $902,500.”
Margot Rosenberg, Head of Folk Art, adds: “Competitive bidding for the Federal grain-painted “Matteson” Vermont pine blanket chest resulted in the strong price of $255,500, which soared above the high estimate of $90,000. This chest was one of the treasures from a private New York collection, which had not been on the market for thirty years.”

Source: Christie's