Date: Mon 25-Sep-1989

Publication: Ant

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Gaidis-Auc-Co-Cutting-Estate

Full Text:

Major Gaidis Auction

(W/4 Cuts)

By Rita Easton

ANDOVER, ME. -- An on-site auction offering the Charles A. Cutting estate was

held by Joseph Gaidis Auction Company on August 13 and 15. The site was the

80-acre farm which had been in the family for 200 years. Several bidders at

the auction bought historical items, then generously stepped forward to donate

them to the local museum.

Married into the Cutting clan in the late 1700s was a daughter of the Richards

family, whose genealogy went back to English settlers. Many of the lots

offered reflected the cabinetry of the time, brought with the Richards family

when they moved in with the Cuttings.

Among the 700 attendees were present day members of the family, and many

friends of the Cutting family, in addition to buyers from all over New

England. At the first session 904 lots were offered, followed by 530 lots on

the second day, for a gross of $148,000 including a ten percent premium.

"The crowd was both enthusiastic and very generous, we observed," said Gaidis,

"in the way they treated the artifacts of the Civil War. In fact, the day

before the sale, with items we didn't have a chance to advertise, we let one

of the descendants, a Mr Mark Richards, go through the items in the house and

he discovered a miniature Bible that was given to Pvt Steven Richards in

Shenandoah, Va., and a diary that [Richards] kept from 1865. We sold those to

Maine dealer John Magoun for $400 when the bidding ran away from the Maine

Museum, and then he donated them directly to the museum to a standing ovation

from the crowd. There was an uproar from the crowd every time something stayed

in Maine. They went crazy."

Gaidis was clearly touched relating this. "It was very... I get emotional just

thinking about it. I spent almost eight weeks involved with this estate. It

was really something special."

The Maine State Museum was the final recipient of the top lot comprising more

than 60 Civil War letters, which were purchased for $2,900.

"They were bought by two gentlemen in the crowd who stepped forward on the

spot and donated them to the museum," Gaidis said.

A typical missive was one dated April 27, 1864, written by the aforementioned

Pvt Steven N. Richards, of the 30th Maine Volunteer Regiment, to his wife and

children. It described in detail a bloody battle from a camp near Alexandra,

La.:

"...I know not how to express my feelings upon the battlefield to see my

friends and comrades falling, some dead, some mortally wounded, others

slightly wounded and O! the suffering pain and agony which these brave men

endure... our regiment was one thousand men when we left Maine and now it

musters about four hundred men... they all say that there never has been a

regt in the field that has done so much marching and fighting in so short a

time as the 30th Maine," he wrote in part.

Also included in the Civil War artifacts and letters were Richards' accounts

of other battles, conditions, and morale, and his personal feelings towards

the war, his comrades in arms, and his family back home in Upton, Maine, along

with a memorial to a fallen comrade, Cpl Wm Henry Brooks, of Newry, Maine, who

died at Frederick, Md.

A tintype of Richards was sold for $600; an elaborately carved oak buffet

reached $1,800; a three-ship, cased diorama brought $1,800; two oak bedroom

suites fetched $1,700 and $1,000; a paw foot china cabinet reached $1,600; an

"Evening Star" child's pull wagon, circa 1910-1920, mint condition, in old

mustard yellow, made $1,300; and a Buddy L mail truck went out at $1,200.

A 1930s Lionel train set, model A, without box but in mint condition, was

purchased at $1,050; an early log caliper with wheel, in red paint, brought

$550; a sugar bucket in green paint sold at $500; Richards' Civil War

ammunition pouch reached $500; a Vermont free standing swing butter churn

achieved $375; a fancy wicker settee and stool in green paint made $450; and

an oak Larkin desk with mirror went out at $425.

A Victorian memorial dedicated to William Brooks, who was Richards'

brother-in-law, was bought by a local private buyer at $425, then donated to

the Maine State Museum.

Sporting and camp items dominated the second session, leading with a painting

of a trout on board estimated at $350, but reaching an undreamed-of $2,000,

going to Maine dealer John Magoun. It was widely rumored that he sold the lot

on the following day for $3,000 to another dealer. A Skowhegan square stern

boat fetched $1,850; a Cohoe skiff and trailer went for $1,750; an Old Town

motorboat and trailer brought $1,300; and a Penn Yan square stern lake boat

was purchased at $1,250.

A photo dated 1888 of a trout caught by Cutting's father, who held Maine guide

License #3, the framed image approximately eight by 12 inches, sold at $650;

several Andover photos related to local camps and logging, laid down on

cardboard, sold as a lot at $550; and an old leather backpack found in the

cellar of the house, "filthy and a mess" said Gaidis, was cleaned up and sold

at $450, possibly cashing in on the current "look" popularized in Ralph Lauren

ads.

Several early decoys sold as a lot brought $425; an Old Hickory armchair

reached $400; a set of four log marking hammers made $400; seven antique boat

motors ranged from $375 to $225; and area hooked rugs went out from $300 for a

rug with sailboat to $50 for geometrics.

Prices quoted above do not reflect a required ten percent premium unless

otherwise noted.