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Connecticut Chairs and Carousel Critters

by Jackie Sideli

Nadeau's Auction Gallery in Windsor, Connecticut, had a significant auction on Saturday, October 2, 2004. Scheduled on the same weekend and just around the corner from the Fall Hartford Antiques Show, Nadeau's auction was packed with great paintings, furniture, and good American folk art.

The top lot of the sale was a set of four Chippendale cherry side chairs. Dating circa 1775 and from the circle of furniture maker Eliphalet Chapin of East Windsor, Connecticut, the chairs sold to Woodbury, Connecticut, antiques dealer Harold Cole for $65,750 (includes buyer's premium). Cole also went home with an inlaid mahogany veneer serpentine sideboard for $4887.50. According to catalog notes, it was from the Mid-Atlantic region and dated circa 1800. Cole also won a New England walnut and maple wing chair with an arched crest rail, outstretched arms, and turret hand rests, circa 1765, for $19,550.

One of the great surprises was a simple oil painting, Outside Walls of Rome, circa 1870. Nadeau's had estimated the painting at a modest $300/500, but during an aggressive round of bidding, the bucolic view of Rome, signed indistinctly on the lower right, quickly soared to $12,075.

A Dentzel giraffe carousel figure, circa 1895, sold to a buyer on the phone for $68,500. A folky carved rearing horse carousel figure with an orange-brown surface and green and yellow saddle blankets, with some restoration to the tail (est. $25,000/35,000), failed to reach its reserve and was passed.

Collector/dealer Allan Daniel of New York City was present at the preview and was somewhat disappointed over the surface of the giraffe, which appeared to be an old repaint. Daniel won a giraffe carousel figure at Nadeau's April 3, 2004, auction for $118,000.

A huge surprise to the auction house and many attending was the success of a rare stoneware jug with an incised heart with bird and cobalt decoration. Unfortunately, it had been cracked in two and glued back together. No doubt owing to the condition of the jug, it was estimated at $200/300, but as sometimes happens at auction, the customers had other ideas. With six phones busy and plenty of serious contenders at the sale, the little jug quickly rose to $27,600 to a customer bidding by phone. David Good of Camden, Ohio, who was taking a break from his duties as a dealer at the Hartford show, was the underbidder.

There were several C.E. Porter oil on canvas paintings offered. Porter, an African-American and acquaintance of Mark Twain, studied in Paris and returned to the Hartford, Connecticut, area to paint mostly still lifes and give art lessons. The first of the Porters up for sale, Roses in a Celadon Jar, opened at $10,000 and quickly escalated to $19,550. Another Porter, Still Life with Peonies, sold for $13,800.

For more information, call (860) 246-2444 or check the Web site (www.nadeausauction.com).