Date: Fri 10-Apr-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: DAVIDS

Quick Words:

Nadeau

Full Text:

Nadeau Postsale

w/cuts

WINDSOR, CONN. -- The recipe for a successful auction calls for numerous

ingredients, most of which are extremely hard to come by.

First, you need some great merchandise, and we all know how hard that is to

find these days. Second, you need some more great merchandise to add to the

first bunch. Then you need a good date, a spell of good weather (but not too

good), and a huge crowd competing with lots of phone and absentee bidders.

Ed Nadeau had apparently been studying his recipe book in the months prior to

his March 28 auction. During a post-sale interview, he boasted of all the

above and backed it up with an impressive gross sales figure of just under

$700,000, achieved with 346 lots.

Nadeau reported intense pre-sale activity. Calls from around the country and

overseas flooded into the gallery with requests for information, photographs

and eventually absentee bids and reserved phone lines. Preview was also

active, according to the auctioneer, which resulted in a crowd so large that

Nadeau termed the auction gallery as being "mobbed."

The top lot of the sale turned out to be a monumental 12-piece golden oak

dining room set, which Nadeau commented was "probably the best golden oak set

in the country." The set, attributed to Horner, featured a 64-inch heavily

carved dining table with cornucopia carved feet terminating in lions' heads, a

cherub carved pedestal, and a dragon carved skirt. Eight chairs were included

with the set, all with ornately carved crests and paw feet, although the two

armchairs were carved with rare "man of the mountain" front posts. Also

included was a heavily carved sideboard, which measured eight feet in length

and slightly more in height, a china cabinet, and a server.

The set had been consigned by a collector who had the ensemble in storage

since he purchased it from a West Hartford convent more than 20 years ago.

Nadeau had seen the set at the time the collector purchased it and kept tabs

on it all these years, finally paying off in a consignment to his auction

house.

Nadeau typically offers sets of furniture as individual lots first, then

calculates the aggregate price realized from all the pieces and reopens the

set to the floor at the next increment. Should there be no advancement, the

pieces are hammered as sold to the individual buyers. If there is an

advancement then previous bids accepted are void.

All was quiet in the auction gallery and all seven phone lines were active as

the first piece of the Horner dining set lots was offered. Auctioneer Ed

Nadeau put the first piece up for bidding and was soon hammering the table

down at $8,500. The chairs were offered next and went at $5,200, the china at

$8,000, the server at $3,000, and the sideboard at $5,000. As it turned out,

the savvy bidders sat on their hands during this initial sales process, for

when Nadeau asked for an advancement on the accumulative price of $29,750 for

the set, hands shot up all over the auction gallery.

"We had lots of bidding on the set to the $40,000 mark, then it narrowed to

just two or three serious buyers," said Nadeau after the auction. Bidding on

the lot continued at a fast pace with the lot selling at $68,750, going to a

Midwestern dealer bidding on the phone and acting on behalf of a client.

"You'll probably never see the likes of one that good again," said Nadeau

after the sale.

Another fresh-to-market furniture group that did well was a signed Herter Bros

bedroom set consisting of a marble-top walnut inlaid four-drawer chest with

matching mirror and candle shelves, a high back inlaid bed, inlaid felt top

writing table, and a marble-top inlaid half commode. Nadeau said the set had

been consigned from a Hartford area home where it was still being used by an

elderly person. "It was just a bedroom set, they had no idea it was even

valuable," said Nadeau. "The only reason it was being sold was that they were

moving to a smaller home." Nadeau recognized the Herter set as soon as he saw

it and quickly found signatures on all the pieces.

This set was also offered as individual lots first with the total of the four

pieces being $10,000. Nadeau asked for an opening bid on the rare set at

$12,500 and competition between the telephones and bidders in the gallery took

off to a selling price of $52,250.

Oriental rugs fresh from estates always do well at Nadeau's, yet this sale

contained a surprise as a 12 by 16 foot Agra carpet in light colors was hotly

competed for. It brought $34,100. Other rugs included a seven by eight foot

Oushak, selling at $10,450, and a small Caucasian with two holes, $4,950.

Another surprise among the carpets was a 12 by 14 foot Tabriz that had a two

foot wide section cut from the center. The carpet had been rejoined without

the section, which had apparently been converted into a runner. Nadeau found

both pieces of the carpet in the home and offered them as a lot bringing

$9,900.

Several early pieces of furniture were sold, with a Pennsylvania tallcase

clock being hammered down at $14,300; a tiger maple four-drawer chest, $2,750;

a stepback cupboard, $1,925; and a knuckle-arm Windsor chair in old paint,

$2,420. Also sold was a set of six Wallace Nutting Windsor chairs at $4,455.

Later furnishings included a pair of Gustav Stickley slatted armchairs going

out at $1,540; a Victorian Renaissance Revival writing desk, $2,750; a large

Renaissance tall back carved bed, $3,300; and a Victorian parlor set, $3,520.

A small collection of Tiffany art glass that had been amassed by a local

collector more than 20 years ago was offered with a rare paperweight bowl

selling at $4,070. Other items from the collection included a green iridescent

tall vase, bringing $3,575; a gold iridescent cordial set, $2,640; a blue

iridescent bulbous vase with iridescent striations, $2,530; and a small bud

vase, $1,540. Other art glass included a Daum Nancy cameo vase, which sold for

$2,750; and a large Durand vase with pulled feather design, $2,530.

Silver did extremely well with a 35 oz Tiffany water pitcher with repousse

cherubs and foliate selling at $6,050, an Art Nouveau coffee and tea service

bringing $3,575, and a five-piece coffee and tea service with tray realizing

$4,520. Serving pieces brought strong prices, according to Nadeau. A salad set

brought $1,375; a fish slice, $1,430; and a set of four serving spoons,

$1,430.

Paintings included an early oil on canvas by Pio Ricci that depicts an

interior scene. It sold to a buyer from England for $6,875. Going to the same

buyer was a scene of a woman in a doorway for $3,575.

Several lamps were sold. A Handel with reverse painted scenic shade sold at

$8,250, a slender Daum Nancy lamp brought $3,125, and a Handel floor lamp

realized $3,740.

Also offered at the auction from a Chester estate was a 1995 Dodge Viper with

845 original miles. It sold for $47,300.

Prices include the 10 percent buyer's premium. Nadeau's conducts auctions on a

regular summer schedule with sales taking place most Tuesday evenings. A major

sale is scheduled again for early June. Consignments are currently being

accepted. For further information, contact Ed Nadeau, 184 Windsor Avenue,

Windsor, Conn. 06095, or call 860/246-2444.

-David S. Smith