Art works on the auction block that sail past their pre-sale estimates, fetching multiples of the high end always fascinate me. Does someone know something the rest of us don’t? Have the experts made a mistake?
The auction houses themselves usually play down the intrigue by saying,”it only takes two bidders.” That’s right – but two very determined ones.
So it was last week, when an 18th Century American mahogany bureau table sold at Christie’s for $5.7 million — against a presale estimate of $700,000 to $900,000.
As Christie’s described the action:
the table was pursued by multiple bidders, who rapidly drove the price to the $3 million dollar threshold. From there on two dedicated bidders in the saleroom battled back and forth for the handsomely carved table before a hushed audience of clients and onlookers, until auctioneer John Hays dropped the gavel at $5 million. With premium, the final price realized was $5,682,500.
The table was called the Catherine Goddard Chippendale Block-and-Shell Carved and Figured Mahogany Bureau Table, and the piece is “attributed” to the renowned Newport, R.I. carver John Goddard, 1724-1785, whose work was sought out by wealthy colonials. Goddard’s work here exemplifies the Newport style called “block-and-shell” carving.
Maybe this is what made it special:
A handwritten label in the top drawer of the table indicates that Goddard made the knee-hole bureau circa 1765 expressly for his daughter, Catherine Goddard, and may have given it to her as a wedding present. The table remained within his daughter’s family through several generations of descendants until it was sold by the cabinetmaker’s great-great granddaughter Mary Briggs (Weaver) Case in the early 1900s. The table last sold at auction in January 2005 for $940,000.
After the sale, Hays brought up other points: “This desk bears all the unique characteristics and quality of construction that make Newport furniture of this era so highly prized among collectors. The quality of the mahogany in particular is stunning in this piece and shows that Goddard had his pick of the wood coming into the port during that era.”
Whatever the reason, the piece set a world record for the knee-hole desk form.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Christie’s