PRESS RELEASE 01/01/2003
A New Year's
Auction Roundup
By David S.
Smith, W.A. Demers and Carol Sims
Braswell's at The
Stamford Auction Gallery had its 15th annual New Year's auction on Wednesday, January
1, with about 400 in attendance and 600 registered bidders. More than 1,000 lots were
offered, including a blockbuster rare Chinese export porcelain toddy jug, late Eighteenth
Century, featuring a portrait of George Washington. The jug blew through its $5/$8,000
presale estimate to hammer down at $110,000, and with a 15 percent buyer's premium, it
achieved $165,000. Rounding out the top five were: an oil on canvas by Aloysius C. Kelley
of a French market scene, $39,100; a pair of palace-size lidded urns on pedestals,
$14,950; a diamond bracelet with 160 brilliant cut diamonds, approximately 35 carats,
$18,400; and an oil on canvas by Zygmund Menkes, $6,900. |
