Pre-Sale Press Release
On August 30th, Mike and Seth Fallon of Copake Auction conducted a 585 lot catalogued estate sale, grossing $180,000. The sale was well attended with 230 bidders and many absentee and phone bidders. Auctioneer, Mike Fallon, kept a brisk pace averaging 117 lots per hour.
The top three selling lots in the sale were all purchased by absentee bidders and were all paintings. Lot 21 an oil on canvas signed C.W. Knapp (Charles Wilson Knapp 1822-1900) made $10,450. The following lot came from the same estate and was also an oil on canvas, it was signed Geo. H. Smillie (George Henry Smillie 1840-1921) and sold for $8800 to the same bidder who purchased the previous lot against determined bidding from a collector who traveled from Delaware. The next lot, an anonymous 19th c. illuminist harborscape soared over its presale estimate of $1,000 - 1500. The painting was found in a local home and drew the most interest of any item in the sale. It opened for $4,500 and quickly sold to a western gallery for $27,500 with stiff competition from a very determined couple on the floor who finally dropped out at $24,500.
Also from the same local home as the painting was a miniature Taconic basket that sold for $770 and a tumbling blocks quilt for $825.
 The main feature of the sale was the Osborn and Lois Webb estate of Sharon , CT. Mr. Webb was the assistant director of the CIA under John F. Kennedy in the 1960’s. Notable items from the Webb estate include a 1995 Mazda MPV mini van selling for $2090; an 18th c. English oak dressing table sold for $1650 to dealer Bruce Sikora who phone in a bid from Chile while on vacation; an 18th c. portrait of a young girl went for $1650; a faux bamboo armoire made $2,200; Dominick & Haff sterling flatware set brought $1210; 7 pc. Howard & Co. sterling tea set went for $3,850; a Victorian sampler made $1320.
 Other items of interest include a damaged Tiffany lamp that sold for $880; a Limbert table with six chairs went for $3,300; a 19th c. continental armoire made $1760; a Sheraton dining table brought $1925; a horse and jockey weathervane sold for $5500; and a carnival bottle cap art marble toss game sold for $1540.
Auction manager, Seth Fallon, attributes a large part of the absentee bidding to the gallery’s website. “We try to include photos on our website of all interesting items, regardless of the dollar value. We field many emails and send out lots of detail photos. The end result has been increased bidding especially from long distances”.
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