Items from the estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post, including an unusual gilt sleigh featuring a plush velvet seat and dragon's head decoration, auctioned in New York yesterday (February 6), bringing strong results.
The late American socialite and cereal magnate's idiosyncratic collection certainly got collectors' pulses racing, with the vast majority of lots offered selling within, or over, their estimates.
 The sleigh was bought in Venice and is believed to be south German-made |
Merriweather Post's rococo sleigh - a purchase made while on holiday in Venice in 1948 - sold for $23,750, the impressive sale price representing a 493.8% increase on the item's $4,000 high estimate.
A Roycroft arts and crafts copper mounted oak bedroom suite, which comprises a pair of brown leather-inset bedsteads, a writing table, and a pair of dressers featuring swivel mirrors and candle arms, came out top lot. It brought $68,500 - a 128.3% increase on its $30,000 high estimate.
The results suggest that the top-end furniture market continues to thrive in 2013. On January 26, a mahogany chest on chest designed by American cabinet maker Benjamin Frotherington sold for $194,500, while a John Townsend bureau table, that graced Christie's on January 25, brought $2.2m.
Here at Paul Fraser Collectibles we also have a range of exquisite antique furniture in stock.
Further notable lots included an 1890 oil on canvas by the British artist Walter Hunt (1861-1941) entitled Sour Grapes, which features a pair of red squirrels frolicking blithely on a tree bough, utterly ignorant of a swiftly approaching fox. The covertly ominous rural tableau sold for $53,125 - a significant increase on its $18,000 high estimate.
 Sour Grapes by Walter Hunt sold for $53,125 |
For more from the world's auctions, sign up for our free weekly newsletter.
