Date: Fri 11-Dec-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

RussAuction

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Russ Auction In The Family Tradition

By Rita Easton

OLD LYME, CONN. -- Russ Antiques & Auctions, LLC, run by Paul and Bonnie Russ

and Paul's brother Dan, has just passed the year-and-a-half mark in business.

"We started in August, 1997, and attendance gets stronger each time and the

interest is giving us a lot of confidence," Bonnie Russ noted. "We're becoming

convinced that we're doing the right thing."

The Russ family members are no newcomers to the trade. Paul and Dan's

great-grandfather started a family auction business more than 100 years ago

which he ran from his barn. Auctions were conducted every Friday, and

eventually he became well-known in the area.

"When he passed away," Ms Russ related, "my husband's mother reopened the

business as `Mother Perkins' Antiques,' still selling the goods from the barn.

Now, with the boys out of college, it's time for a new generation."

Their October 11 and 12 auction, held at the Lyme-Old Lyme High School, hosted

a standing-room-only crowd for both sessions, eagerly competing for the 550

lots offered from the estate of Mary Griswold Steube, a descendent of one of

the founding families of Old Lyme. Ms Steube also was a relative of Florence

Griswold, a prominent Old Lyme resident who founded an art school locally and

supported many art interests, resulting in the naming of a local museum after

her.

The auction's gross was estimated at approximately $350,000, although private

negotiations are still being conducted for certain pieces jewelry.

The starring lot of the day was a 2.25 carat ruby and matched three-carat,

emerald-cut diamond ring set in platinum, which inspired a bid of $48,000 from

a private buyer. A second ring, with a 16-carat, blue-star sapphire flanked by

diamonds also went to a private buyer at $33,000.

"She had so much," said Ms Russ, "that we found jewelry everywhere - some in

spice jars - and trunks and suitcases of silver in the basement. There was no

place for her to keep anything anymore."

An oil on linen signed on the lower right by California artist William

Ritschel, "Thundering Surf," went to a California buyer at $16,000, after

nationwide interest; a four-drawer serpentine front mahogany late Eighteenth

Century Boston Chippendale chest, with original brass and feet, was sold to

Wayne Pratt at $14,000; and a 15¬ by 17 inch, dated 1844 sampler by Amy

Crocker, having a verse, the alphabet, numbers, a house, and a vine and berry

border, reached $3,600.

In the course of cataloguing the contents of the estate, a reel of film was

found. The silent footage was entitled Old Lyme Artists, which was written on

the reel, and was in fragile condition. It was transferred onto videotape and

was discovered to be of 1920s vintage, showing well-regarded Old Lyme artists

of that era in their studios at work, a subject of interest for members of the

Academy in town. The videotape realized $7,100, although none of the

contenders for the lot had seen the footage.

A geometric hooked rug, six feet six inches by eight feet six inches realized

$3,600; an Eighteenth Century comb back Windsor chair sold at $3,200; Old Lyme

artist Edward Volkert (1871-1935) was represented by an oil on canvas,

"Morning Shadows," which realized $3,800; an early Nineteenth Century Regency

mahogany bookshelf with inlay, each of the four shelves progressively deeper

as they were lower, reached $3,800; and a tiny pottery bowl by William Zorach,

together with papers, garnered $2,300. Mrs Steube was said to be friendly with

Zorach and his wife, Marguerite.

A Lalique amber crystal vase reached $1,500; two boxes of assorted art etching

books went out at $1,600; a Nineteenth Century cased silver ladle was

purchased at $500; 82 pieces of sterling silver flatware in Tiffany's

"Colonial" pattern achieved $2,200; an all original Sheraton mahogany

Massachusetts sideboard rang up $4,500; a five-piece Bailey, Banks & Biddle

tea set in sterling realized $1,100; and a three-piece sterling tea set, with

an 18-inch Art Deco tray, sold at $1,600 for the Eighteenth Century lot.

"I grouped together a table lot of pottery to sell as a single item," said Ms

Russ, "because it seemed easier to get things together with a table of

pottery. It was a mix of cache pots and serving bowls and vases, and it sold

for $5,000!"

"I had to ask myself, `What did I put on that table?'" she added. Bargains

were to be found.

Prices quoted do not reflect a required ten percent buyers premium.