Folk Art Shines As Sotheby’s Americana Week Auctions Total $18.4 Million IMPORTANT AMERICAN FOLK ART FROM THE COLLECTION OF RALPH O. ESMERIAN SETS NEW BENCHMARK FOR THE CATEGORY Our Coverage Sponsored by Stribling and Associates
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A packed salesroom watched as Important American Folk Art from the Collection of Ralph O. Esmerian achieved $12,955,943*this Saturday at Sotheby’s New York, setting a new record total for any auction of American folk art – a record that had stood at Sotheby’s since 1994**. Together with the sale of Important Americana, which also featured a number of strong prices for folk art pieces, Sotheby’s Americana Week auctions totaled $18.4 million.
VISUAL GRACE: IMPORTANT AMERICAN FOLK ART
FROM THE COLLECTION OF RALPH O. ESMERIAN
Top prices were achieved by superb examples across a remarkable range of disciplines represented in the Esmerian collection, including carvings, portraits, weathervanes, painted furniture and more. The top lot of the auction was Samuel Robb’s carved figure of Santa Claus, which sold for $875,000 – multiples of its $250,000 high estimate. Robb created the work as a Christmas present for his daughter, Elizabeth, in 1923.
Other notable prices included: Ruth Whittier Shute and Samuel Addison Shute’sPortrait of Jeremiah H. Emerson, which fetched $665,000 (est. $150/200,000); aRare Carved Pine Pheasant Hen Weathervane, probably Connecticut circa 1875, that brought $449,000 (est. $200/3000,000); and The Carver Limner, painted by an unknown artist in Freeport, Maine circa 1835 and depicting three members of the local Carver family, which sold for $521,000 (est. $100/150,000).
The Esmerian Collection joins a long line of iconic folk art sales at Sotheby’s, beginning with The Collection of Stewart Gregory that established the market in 1979 and brought national attention to this material, and including The Bertam K. Little and Nina Fletcher Little Collection in 1994 and American Waterfowl Decoys: The Distinguished Collection of Dr. James McCleery in 2000.
IMPORTANT AMERICANA
Folk art took center stage in the various owners auction of Important Americana as well, led by a Rare and Important Eider Drake that achieved $767,000 above a high estimate of $500,000. The decoy was probably made on Monhegan Island in Maine circa 1900, by an unknown craftsman. Other standout prices for folk art included a Rare and Important Canvaswork Picture depicting a hunting scene, worked by Anna Woodbury (Swett) of Boston, Massachusetts circa 1748, which fetched $185,000 (est. $150/250,000).
Top prices for American furniture were led by The Important Asa Stebbins Federal Inlaid and Figured Mahogany Tall Case Clock, which sold for $185,000 (est. $150/250,000). The remarkable tall case clock was made for Colonel Asa Stebbins – one of Deerfield, Massachusetts’s wealthiest and most respected citizens – circa 1800. An Important Classical Rosewood, Brass Inlaid and Ormolou Mounted Work Table made in Boston, Massachusetts circa 1815 sold for $137,000, more than doubling its high estimate of $60,000.
** The previous record total for an auction of American folk art was $12,299,528, achieved by the combined January and October 1994 auctions of The Bertam K. Little and Nina Fletcher Little Collection.
Visual Grace: Important American Folk Art from the Collection of Ralph O. Esmerianwas sold by Order of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
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Sotheby’s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby’s became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973) andFrance (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby’s presents auctions in nine different salesrooms, including New York,London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby’s BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids in real-time from anywhere in the world. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’s only full-service art financing company, as well as private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art department, as well as Sotheby’s Diamonds and Sotheby’s Wine. Sotheby’s has aglobal network of 90 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium and prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer’s premium.
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