Queen Anne Lowboy Headlines at Fontaine’s Auction
Published October 3rd, 2008
A splendid period Queen Anne lowboy, made around 1750 in New Hampshire and with front ball-and-claw feet and the original brass hardware, is the expected headliner at a multi-estate sale slated for Saturday, Oct. 18, by Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.
The lowboy, showing great proportions at 31-1/2 inches tall by 31-1/2 inches wide, will probably fetch $80,000-$120,000.
“We got this fine piece out of a private home in New York,” said John Fontaine of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery. “It was bought in the 1950s by the consignor’s father, from Ginsberg & Levy (the former antique American furniture dealers in New York City). It even has that sales receipt.” Mr. Fontaine added the lowboy has a sunburst center drawer and is in overall very presentable condition.
he lowboy is one of about 450 lots that will change hands over the course of the two-session sale. The first session, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., will comprise about 200 lots from the estate of Henry Brownell, a longtime antiques dealer from New Bedford, Mass., who passed away earlier this year. His estate – most of it early American period furniture pieces from his home – will be sold without reserve.
The second session, to be held from 1:30 p.m. until the last gavel falls, will feature about 250 quality lots, drawn from prominent local estates, as well as consignments from Oregon and Cleveland. Previews will be held Friday, Oct. 17, from 10-5, and on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 8 a.m. until start of sale, at 11 a.m. Absentee and phone bids will be accepted, and there will be multiple online platforms.
Internet bidding will be facilitated by Proxibid, eBayLiveAuctions and LiveAuctioneers.com. All three will provide live video and sound, permitting bidders to submit bids in real time while watching the action, live, as it unfolds in the Fontaine’s Auction Gallery showroom, located at 1485 West Housatonic Street in Pittsfield, Mass. A free color catalog is available by calling 413-448-8922.
Auction info www.fontainesauction.net
