HISTORIC ITEMS FROM NEW ENGLAND
HIGHLIGHT FEBRUARY AUCTION 

Feb. 21, 2010: The standing room only crowd and strong results at our February 21^st Auction was a positive sign that the antique trade has possibly weathered the storm of this bleak economy.  Ninety five percent of the 454 lots offered sold, grossing over one million dollars in total sales.  The auction included property from various estates and collections comprised of Fine Art, 18^th and 19^th century Furniture and Decorations, Silver, Jewelry and Oriental Rugs. 

Many of the items in the sale drew strong international bidding on the phones and through the internet included the top lot, a Chinese Blue and White Vase from the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, which sold for $69,000 to a phone bidder in China against an $800-1,200 estimate.   A collection of fine Horticultural Books formerly in the collection of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society were highly sought after by bidders in the room and on the phone.  A bevy of phone bidders and internet bidders competed on each lot from the collection, however, it was Collection des Fleurs et des Fruites, an unbound version by Jean-Louis Prevost including 48 colored engravings, that brought the highest price, selling for $43,125, well beyond it’s $20,000-40,000 estimate.  The entire collection sold for $155,000 hammer against a low estimate of  $111,000. 

“I was very pleased by the overwhelming response to the sale,”  commented Michael Grogan, President, “We saw a large increase in attendance throughout the preview and inquiries and bidder registrations were up significantly.  Over seventy percent of the lots sold within or above their pre-auction estimate.”

Highlights from New England’s past included Jonathan Mullikan’s The Bloody Massacre, a hand colored engraving, circa 1770, sold for $20,700 to a prominent New England collector, against a $3,000-5,000 estimate.  Collector’s of nineteenth century Whaling artifacts bid aggressive for a selection of whaling logs from a prominent Massachusetts family, driving the prices well beyond their pre-sale estimates.  Three whaling ship logs, including the Ship Liverpool (1844-1847), the Barque Willis (1842-1843) and the Montezuma (1844-1846) brought  $8,050, and Two logs, including The Mount Vernon (1846-1849) and the Barque Morning Light (1856-1859) also brought $8,050.   A Large Assemblage of Miscellaneous Whalebone carvings and Swift fragments, soared beyond its $800-1,200 estimate, selling for $11,500.  A rare Tripod Footed Skillet by 18^th century Rhode Island metalworker, Lawrence Langworthy, sold for $7,475 and a Revolutionary War period Powder Horn, decorated by Charles Parmenter of Hubbardstown, Massachusetts, brought $920.

Fine art highlights included an impressive oil on canvas landscape, Sandy Beach, Cohasset, by Winckworth Allen Gay (1821-1910), which sold within estimate for $21,850 and an oil on canvas Dutch Village View, by Dutch artist William Tholen, sold to a European dealer on the phone for $20,700, against a $12,000-18,000 estimate.  A French drawing by Feliz-Hilaire Buhot drew competitive bidding from the phones, finally hammering down at $18,400 to a New York bidder and a small oil on panel by Belgian artist Eugene Verboeckhoven depicting Sheep, Goat and Ducks, sold for $13,800 to a Belgian bidder on the phone.   The top print lot was In the Florida Keys, an etching by Frank W. Benson, which sold for $7,475 against a $500-700 pre-sale estimate.

Furniture and Decorative Works of Art highlights included a fine 10 x 13 inch KPM Porcelain Plaque, signed F. Tenner, which sold to a phone bidder for $31,625, against a $3,000-5,000 estimate and an 18^th century Italian Painted and Giltwood Marble Top Console, sold for $6,612, against a $2,000-3,000 estimate.  Silver and Jewelry highlights included Two Gentleman’s Rolex Watches, including an Oyster Perpetual Date Just and a Black face Oyster Cosmograph, which sold to a Swedish collector for $20,700 and a Georg Jensen Acorn Pattern Flatware Service sold to a local private in the room for $9,775. 

All prices include a buyer’s premium, unless otherwise noted. 

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WHISTLER TOP LOT AT DECEMBER AUCTION 

Dec. 7, 2009 – On a chilly Monday evening with a full house, Grogan and Company held their annual December Auction, comprised of Fine American and European Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture and Fine Oriental Rugs and Carpets.  One hundred and thirty one lots sold for a gross sales total exceeding $850,000.  

A selection of fine prints and works on paper  brought some of the strongest prices of the auction.  An etching by James McNeill Whistler titled The Dyer, from a North Shore Collection, far exceeded it’s $8,000-12,000 pre-sale estimate to sell for $115,000 to a New York phone bidder, who also purchased Mary Cassat’s rare etching and aquatint, Nurse and Baby Bill (No. 2) for $14,950 against a $10,000-15,000 pre-sale estimate.  M.C. Escher’s lithograph Ascending and Descending, from the Cambridge estate of a Harvard Professor, sold for  $23,000 to a phone bidder from the West coast and an ink drawing by Paul Klee from the same estate, sold for $25,875 to a private collector from the South.  

The top painting lot was Max Weber’s colorful modernist still life, Spring Flowers.  Created in 1944, during Weber’s expressionist period, the 28 x 23 inch oil on canvas sold over the phone to a private collector for $46,000 (pre-sale estimate $20,000-30,000).   A collection of seven paintings by renowned Rhode Island painter, Edward Mitchell Bannister attracted national attention amongst collectors of African American Art.  Four of the seven works sold to a private Rhode Island collector in the room including the two top lots: Seaconnet River, Tiverton Rhode Island, which brought $37,375, and Fishing Folk, King Phillip Rock, Mount Hope, for $34,500.  “Edward Mitchell Bannister paintings are rare to the market,” commented auctioneer Michael Grogan, “The opportunity to auction seven works from a single collection was simply remarkable.”  Bannister, one of the most respected Rhode Island artist’s of the late 19^th century,  was the first African American artist to receive National recognition when he was honored as the only New England artist to win a medal (bronze) at the 1876 Philadelphia World Centennial Exhibition.

The Oriental Rugs and Carpets featured a room sized Persian Sarouk Fereghan Carpet, from the late 19^th century.  Estimated at $10,000-20,000, the 16 foot 8 inch x 11 foot 10 inch carpet  sold to a phone bidder for $31,625.  A circa 1880 Mohtashem Kashan Carpet, estimated at $5,000-10,000, brought $25,875  and a North African Silk Embroidered  Textile, sold to a New York phone bidder for $12,650. 

All prices include the buyer’s premium. 

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FREDERICK INNES HAD AN EYE FOR COLLECTING

Oct. 4, 2009 –The residents of Dedham, Massachusetts hardly knew what hit them, when an overwhelming number of International bidders descended on the historic town to compete for the more than 500 lots of Asian Decorative Works of Art from the Estate of Frederick Innes.  A standing room only crowd spent the morning previewing the single owner before auctioneer, Michael Grogan, opened the bidding at 12:00 noon.

The most highly sought after items in the sale included Fine Porcelains from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The top lot, a Chinese Qianlong Imperial Kundika, which, despite missing it's top, sparked competitive bidding from the floor and phones before it sold to a Hong Kong buyer in the room for $189,750. The second highest priced lot was a Chinese Qianlong Blue and White Ewer, which sold for $161,000 to a New York Chinese collector, also in the room. "The enthusiasm for the collection was palpable in the auction room as bidders from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan and the United States all competed for the top lots," commented Nancy Grogan. 

A Pair of Chinese Tea Bowls bearing Yongzheng (1723-1735) marks, surprised the crowd when they soared beyond their $300-500 estimate to sell for $86,250 to the same buyer of the Kundika. Later, a Chinese Qianlong Period Gilt Bronze and Cloisonne Covered Tripod Censer sold to a phone bidder from New York for $80,500 and a Collection of Snuff Bottles, containing an early white jade example, soared from $300 to $40,250.

Other notable prices included Two Ming Dynasty (1368-1643) Cinnabar Lacquer Screens, which sold for $31,625 and a Chinese Peach Bloom Lidded Brush Washer from the Kangxi Period (1662-1722), which brought $24,150. A Kangxi Period Tall Beaker Form Vase sold for $13,800 and a Chinese Carved Bamboo Form Inkstone, sold for $12,650. Textiles included a Finely Embroidered Chinese Silk Panel, which far exceeded it's $400-600 estimate, selling for $9,200 and Fine Chinese Silk and Metallic Thread Dragon Embroidered Robe, which sold for $8,050.

"I've been an auctioneer for over 30 years and I've never seen an auction of this size where only three items failed to sell," observed auctioneer Michael Grogan, "Seeing the comprehensive Innes collection displayed in it’s entirety for the first time ever was amazing.” 

Frederick Rush Innes was a Theoretical Physicist from Cambridge, Massachusetts who was passionate about collecting Asian Works of Art.  Born in 1916, the eldest of five children, Innes studied at MIT and the University of Pennsylvania.  In 1940, he was commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy and was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked.  He later became part of the occupying forces in Japan, where he first developed his love of the Asian style.

Innes moved to Boston after the service and finishing his graduate degree, where he became acquainted with two of the most important and influential galleries of Asian antiquities at the time: The Yamanaka and The Yatsuhashi Galleries.  After honing his eye, Innes spent the next three decades frequenting both galleries and auctions, collecting items from major New England estates with ties to the China Trade and the Japanese market.  His collection spanned the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties and touched on the many regions, styles and periods of Chinese and Japanese Decorative Arts.