Date: Fri 03-Apr-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Aston-Macek-auctions-Danbury

Full Text:

Aston Macek Auction On Saturday Will Be A First For Connecticut

(with cut)

BY SHANNON HICKS

DANBURY -- Tony Macek has no plans to move his auction company into

Connecticut on a full-time basis, but after a visit to the Nutmeg State with

his wife last year, the president of Aston Macek Auction Company decided it

was a place he would like to do business at least once a year.

On Saturday, April 4, Aston Macek Auction Company will present a multi-estates

auction at the Ramada Inn. It will be the company's first auction in the

state. The sale will present a broad range of pieces -- artwork, Americana,

porcelain and glass, period furniture, etc -- with offerings in every price

range. A ten percent buyer's premium will be charged.

"Some things will go for $25, some will go for several thousand," promises Mr

Macek, who does not conduct the auctions himself but hires an auctioneer

familiar with the pieces being sold within a specific geographic area.

Saturday's auction will be conducted by Ken Fleck.

Several estates have consigned pieces for the sale. The majority of the sale's

inventory, Mr Macek says, is coming from one living estate.

"The gentleman who consigned most of the items in the sale prefers to remain

anonymous," Mr Macek said. "He lives way upstate in New York and has collected

arts and antiques from around the world for a number of years. He's getting to

that age where he and his wife are trying to dispose of their things very

quietly, and very privately."

One of the sale's highlights, Mr Macek thinks, will be the offering of a

classically-composed folky portrait of a young Daniel Plumb. The work was

painted by Joseph Whiting Stock. The Plumb family was very prominent in

Boston's earliest history.

The sale will also include a coin silver teapot that comes from a direct

descendant of the Randolph family of Virginia. Many of the pieces from the

collection of the anonymous consignor also have known histories, said the

auction company's president.

"On others, they're too generic to nail down exactly," Mr Macek added. "You're

very lucky when you know the descent of pieces. The beauty of this auction is

that this gentleman has never consigned to an auction before, so you have that

personal connection.

"It's nice because he's had a lot of these pieces 40-50 years, so he can tell

... stories about each one."

`Better Auctions'

Macek Auction Company is, says its president and manager, a "regional auction

house." This means it conducts specialty auctions at different sites -- Civil

War items in Pennsylvania and fine art in Connecticut, for instance. The

company is headquartered in Endwell, N.Y., near Binghamton.

Macek Auction presents three to four "better" auctions each year. "It takes

sometimes up to six months to put one together," Mr Macek explained.

"Generally auctions will take three months, sometimes longer. This one we

started last summer. We try to find pieces that are unusual, or historical,

not the things you will find over and over.

"That's why we do only a few auctions each year -- we're very picky."

The Randolph teapot will be complemented Saturday by a Sheffield sterling hot

water set and several Tiffany silver pieces. Pewter will include signed

American teapots, chargers and early whale oil lamps. A Tiffany lamp with a

rare "Cypriot" base will be offered.

Americana will be featured with items such as an outstanding scrimshaw

tortoise-shell highlighted with carvings of Washington, Lincoln and other

Americana motifs; an 1863 Rhode Island Volunteers folk carved case;

weathervanes; and a finely-carved ship's model.

Period furniture includes a classic early Connecticut "Heart & Crown" chair,

an early 19th century paint-decorated screw-top candlestand, an early 19th

century sofa, and a selection of inlaid and tiger maple stands. Accessories

include clocks of all styles, among the choices.

A preview Saturday morning will allow interested bidders to take inventory of

the full collection. A few phone lines will be set up for Saturday's sale

because Mr Macek has already received inquiries on items from as far away as

Hawaii, Scotland and England, in addition to other parts of the United States.

"My wife and I did some traveling last summer and just fell in love with

[that] area [of Connecticut]," Mr Macek said this week. "There are some

beautiful homes, nice antiques, nice people...

"We don't mean to be going into anyone else's territory, because there are

some fine auctions houses in that area," he continued. "We're not setting up

our home base in Connecticut. But we wanted to do some business there because

we couldn't have been treated any better during our visit."

Preview for the multi-estates sale on Saturday, April 4, begins at 10 am. The

sale will start at noon. The Ramada Inn is on Newtown Road in Bethel, just

past the exit ramp for I-84 Exit 8.