Sotheby's Americana Sales

Last week Sotheby's held its annual Americana sales,with three sales, property from the Collection of Irvin & Anita Schorsch, The American Folk Art Collection of Stephen and Petra Levin, and the Important Americana sale.

The three sales totaled $18.9 million with nearly 1400 lots selling.  Rather telling when a post war/contemporary sale with around 50 lots can total in the $100s of millions. The three sales pre sale estimates totals were $19,34 million to $28.75 million. The total of the sales including buyers premiums did not reach the total low estimate of the sales. I dont have any sold by lot or sold by value figures, but I would expect they are not very strong.

The Schorsch sale had pre sale estimates of  $6.7 million to $10.23 million and totaled $10.26 million including buyers premiums.  The sale sold 100% of the lots. The top selling lot was an "Important Burnham-Manning Family Chippendale Carved And Figured Mahogany Bombé Bonnet-Top Chest-On-Chest, Probably Salem, Massachusetts, which sold for $970,000 (estimate $800,000/1 million).

The Levin sale did not fair as well, not even getting close to the low estimate with buyers premiums. The sale totaled $5.1 million aginst pre sale estimates of $8.9 million to $12.8 million. The bright spot of the sale was an "Angel Gabriel weathervane, which sold for $1,330,000 – the top price of the Americana Week auctions in New York (estimate $1.2/1.55 million).

The Important Americana sale also did not appear strong. It sold $3.6 million including buyers premiums against pre sale estimates of $3.7 million to $5.7 million.  "Leading the sale was a Bronze Painted Cast Zinc and Cast Iron American Elk by J.W. Fiske, circa 1892, which sold for $225,000 - more than double its high estimate of $100,000".

Sotheby's reported on the sales

Sotheby’s Americana Week Auctions Total $18.9 Million
- 1,396 Lots Sold over 5 Days -

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF IRVIN & ANITA SCHORSCH
100% SOLD

The Angel Gabriel Weathervane From The Collection of Stephen and Petra Levin Achieves $1.3 Million
- Highest Price of Americana Week -

NEW YORK, 25 January 2016 – Sotheby’s Americana Week auctions concluded yesterday with the overall total of $18.9 million. The ‘white-glove’ sale of Property from the Collection of Irvin & Anita Schorsch totaled $10.3 million, exceeding its pre-sale high estimate of $10.2 million. A weathervane depicting the Angel Gabriel from The American Folk Art Collection of Stephen and Petra Levin sold for $1.3 million, making it the top price sold at any auction house during the Americana Week auctions. The sale of Important Americana totaled $3.6 million, and realized strong prices across a wide range of American fine and decorative arts.

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF IRVIN & ANITA SCHORSCH: HIDDEN GLEN FARMS SALE TOTAL: $10,262,129

Bidders competed in five sessions over three days for 1,046 superb examples from the esteemed Schorsch provenance, widely considered to be one of the greatest collections of Americana ever assembled. The ‘white-glove’ auction – 100% sold by lot – provided an encyclopedic view of urniture, ceramics, books, silver, fine art, needlepoint samplers and decorative arts of the period. Leading the sale was a 1770 Important Burnham-Manning Family Chippendale Carved And Figured Mahogany Bombé Bonnet-Top Chest-On-Chest, Probably Salem, Massachusetts, which sold for $970,000 (estimate $800,000/1 million, right).

Other notable prices included Ralph Earl’s pair of portraits of Jared Lane and Apphia Ruggles, which fetched $274,000 – over five times their high estimate of $50,000, a Rare Chippendale Carved Mahogany Easy Chair, Philadelphia, Circa 1755, which sold for $322,000 (estimate 300/500,000), and the Lewis Family William And Mary Inlaid Walnut Tall-Case Clock, Philadelphia, Circa 1730, which more than doubled its
high estimate of $75,000 when it sold for $162,500.

AMERICAN BEAUTY: THE AMERICAN FOLK ART COLLECTION OF STEPHEN AND PETRA LEVIN SALE TOTAL: $5,104,500

Leading the 23 January auction of American Folk Art from the Collection of Stephen and Petra Levin was a Angel Gabriel weathervane, which
sold for $1,330,000 – the top price of the Americana Week auctions in New York (estimate $1.2/1.55 million, left). Gabriel weathervanes, also
known as "Fame," are considered the most desirable and rare form in the iconography of American weathervanes, and the present example is
exceedingly rare for its three-dimensional form and exquisite patina. Further highlights in the sale included a cigar store figure of Lord
Dundreary by Samuel Anderson Robb, which fetched $322,000 (estimate $200/250,000) and a rare Race Track Tout by Charles Dowler, which sold for $454,000, well above its high estimate of $300,000.

IMPORTANT AMERICANA
SALE TOTAL: $3,569,439

Sotheby’s auction of Important Americana saw strong prices across all categories of the genre, including silver, carpets, Audubon prints, Chinese export porcelain, furniture and folk art. Leading the sale was a BronzePainted Cast Zinc and Cast Iron American Elk by J.W. Fiske, circa 1892, which sold for $225,000 - more than double its high estimate of $100,000 (right). Bidders battled for a wooden bust of Benjamin Franklin, driving its price to $175,000, over five times its high estimate of $30,000. Further highlights included a painting of a Young Boy in Grey with Flowers by Sturtevant J. Hamblen, which sold for $150,000 (estimate $60/80,000, an 1858 painting of The Schooner Norma by James Bard, which sold for $200,000 (estimate $150/250,000), and An American silver Shell & Thread pattern flatware service by Tiffany & Co., which achieved
$93,750 (estimate $22/28,000).