Cupid must have been hovering over the Wiederseim Associates Inc. Valentine's Day sale. The lots that most consistently outpaced presale estimates were the two dozen lovable miniature cottages, interiors and accessories concentrated toward the end of the 612-lot auction that was held at the Ludwigs Corner Firehouse in Glenmoore, Pa., on Feb. 14.
All lots either met or exceeded what they had been expected to bring, in some cases by a factor of five or more. Among them were two rare miniature room boxes depicting the Colonial era, made by Narcissa N. Thorne, the widow of a Montgomery Ward and Company department store heir who first displayed her work at the 1939 World’s Fair in Chicago, Ill., and later teamed up with fellow Chicagoan Eugene Kupjack. The first, a 10.5-by-16.5-by-13-inch room box of a formal circa 1780 parlor with an Aubusson rug, Chippendale mirror and mantelpiece with a portrait over it sold for $3,500, seven times its presale estimate of $300 to $500, while a 12-by-17-by-12-inch Colonial "keeping" room, also expected to bring $300 to $500, with stone fireplace, spinning wheel and hanging copper chandelier and with a label verso "American Room by Narcissa Thorne," sold for $3,750.
The two room boxes came from a Malvern, Pa., consigner, while other miniature lots came from the estate of Mae Hightower-Vandamm of Wilmington, Del. Miniature structures and dwellings are still popular among hobbyists and have advanced far from traditional dollhouses, to judge from others in the auction. A 21-by-16-by-15-inch, one inch to the foot scale Tudor style cottage with thatched roof on top and suitable period style furniture and accessories inside, sold for $1,600, more than twice its presale estimate of $500 to $700. Made in 1999 by Graham John Wood, it was a blue ribbon winner at a First State Mini Club competition in the Wilmington area and was pictured on the front cover of International Dollhouse News. A 14-by-21.5-by-13-inch miniature display titled "Blue Hen General Store," that was also a First State Mini Club competition blue ribbon winner and expected to bring $500 to $700, realized $800.
The miniature achieving the top price was a larger than usual, three-story room box display with extensive period style furniture and accessories, measuring 38-by-20-by-12-inches. Expected to sell for $4,000 to $5,000, it sold for $7,000.
Prices in general were “the strongest seen in some time,” said auctioneer Ted Wiederseim, with the Internet taking about 45 percent of the entire sale. A massive wood and brass builder's model of the steel steamer Eagle Point, mounted in a late 19th century walnut display case and carrying a presale estimate of $4,000 to $5,000, one of the sale's seven ship models, went to an online bidder in France for $18,000. Built by Joseph L. Thompson and Sons Shipbuilding in England in 1900, for the Norfolk and North American Steam Shipping Co., Ltd., and sunk by a U-70 German submarine on March 28, 1916, the ship model was deaccessioned by the Independence Seaport Museum. A half-hull model of the same ship, expected to bring $1,500 to $2,000, sold for $5,000.
Also exceeding expectations were four lots of antique sterling trophies from the Devon Horse Show. One lot of three trophies from the years 1901, 1911 and 1913 that was expected to bring $200 to $300 went for $1,900. Another lot of two from 1914 with a presale estimate of $250 to $350, realized $2,000.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was in the sale's East Asian art material, notably Chinese porcelains. Two lots of decorative pieces, each expected to bring $100 to $150, sold for $2,100 and $2,500, and a third six-piece lot of 18th- and 19th-century pottery that included a celadon bowl, with a presale estimate of $150 to $200, sold for $15,000. Wiederseim credited his modest presale estimates for the discrepancy.
Also bringing five-figure prices, if not entirely unexpected, were a circa 1880 Charles Dare carved carousel deer with a presale estimate of $6,500 to $7,500 that sold for $11,000 and an ancient piece of carved Roman statuary from the Chapman family of Philadelphia. It was the third from the family that Wiederseim has offered, and held a presale estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It realized $25,000, making it the sale's top price. The statue was the carved marble head of a soldier.
Wiederseim's next auction, which should be just as exciting and perhaps more heartfelt, will be held Saturday, April 18, at Griffith Hall, Ludwigs Corner Firehouse, in Glenmoore, Pa.
For more information, call 610-827-1910 or visit www.wiederseim.com.