Sotheby's Chicago Sale
In the aftermath of the September 11th
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with the health of the world
economy, and especially the U.S.
economy
in doubt, questions linger about the current viability of the fine arts
market. Even before September 11, it was becoming more difficult for auctioneers to
produce profits. Auction houses offering string instrument sales have experienced a difficult one-two-three punch: the economy for such items
has shrunk just as new, low overhead auctioneers have entered the market with
lower commission rates. At the same time the market continues to become increasingly efficient. Potential vendors are
more and more finding other
avenues of access to the market. Sotheby's has reacted to this troublesome bottom line
issue in Chicago by making the decision to cease
operations here after the current season.
Not surprisingly in light of all of this, and in view of a somewhat less
than stellar group of instruments and bows on offer, the mood at Sotheby's
in Chicago on October 4th was muted. As the sale commenced the gallery was
half
empty: fewer than 50 people were in attendance. There was a bank of phones
being handled by Sotheby's staff which produced a fair number of bids in
addition to the bids coming from the floor. In general prices were firm for the
more desirable pieces. A fine J. B. Vuillaume Stradivari model sold for
$55,000.00 hammer price, in line with the current interest in good
examples
of this maker. A violin by the late Sergio Peresson achieved the
spectacular price of $18,000.00 hammer, apparently to a dealer! This would seem to
indicate that the retail price for a good Peresson is now at least in the $30,000.00-$35,000.00 range. A violin by one of the patriarchs of the
current
violin-making school in Cremona, Francesco Bissolotti, was estimated at $7,000.00-$10,000.00 and sold for the hammer price of $7,000.00 A Turin,
J. B. Guadagnini catalogued as possibly having a later table, and offered interestingly, with the dendrochronological report of John Topham (see
SPOL Winter 2000) estimated at $240,000.00- $300,000.00 went unsold.
Some of the more interesting lots to watch at auction are those missing a full attribution. It is with these lots that the best experts in the
business hope to capture substantial profit opportunity. An interesting violin
catalogued as Cremona circa 1675, table mid-18th century, with an estimate
of $50,000.00-$70,000.00 sold at $55,000.00 hammer price. Another interesting
violin, catalogued as Italy, early 18th century, shattered its estimate of
$10,000.00-$15,000.00 by selling for the hammer price of $28,000.00 One
can
imagine that the maker of this instrument was recognized by at least two dealers and
this more specific attribution yielded stronger interest and
greater competition than had been anticipated by the auctioneers.
Mid-priced bows made a reasonably strong showing. A rather unimpressive Weichold estimated at $700.00-$1000.00 made $3600.00 hammer. Are prices
for German bows on the move at last? Two Hill bows, miscataloged as mounted
in gold and tortoise shell were actually of the less fashionable imitation
tortoise shell, but they still managed hammer prices above $3,000.00 A gold and tortoise shell bow by
the West Coast maker Lloyd Liu sold for $3200.00 hammer
price. A fine, but slightly light Voirin cello bow sold for the substantial
price of $8,000.00 hammer. A gold and tortoise shell mounted Henry violin
bow, the frog inlaid with the basket of flowers motif, that Henry sometimes
used on his better bows, sold for a disappointing $26,000.00 hammer, despite
the estimate of $30,000.00-$40,000.00
This sale marks the end of Sotheby's instrument sales in Chicago, at
least for the time being. It will be interesting to see if anyone attempts to
fill
that now empty niche here.
Stefan Hersh