Huanghuali furniture, Asian paintings, bronzes, porcelains and jade were among the works of art that attracted international bidding resulting in total sales of $2 million, including buyers premium. Handled by Lark Mason Associates on the iGavel Auctions platform, this sale continues to affirm that smaller independent auction companies and platforms like iGavelAuctions.com (http://igavelauctions.com) offer a strong competitive advantage to much larger auction platform services elsewhere in the country.  

Says Lark Mason, the founder of iGavel and owner of the eponymous firm, “This sale proved once again that high quality and rare objects will exceed expectations even in a challenging economic environment.”According to Mason, many of the international buyers were from China and the United States.

The highlight of the sale was a Pair of 18th century Chinese Huanghuali Square Corner Cabinets, which were snapped up by an Asian collector for $400,000, against the pre-sale estimate of $250,000/300,000.

High prices for this rare furniture included a pair of Rectangular Back Armchairs which realized $60,000, a Low Huanghuali Table for $26,250, and an unexpected high price for a Pair of Ming Style Bookcases which realized $28,750 against and estimate of $7,000/10,000.

Of equal strength was a selection of six Asian paintings, which together achieved approximately $200,000. One lot, an impressive set of two large scale Chinese Landscape Paintings on Silk, sold for almost five times their high estimate, reaching $97,430 with bidding extended by nearly an hour. 

Jades and porcelains were also in high demand. A Zhou Dynasty Jade Cong sold for $72,500, while a Tibetan Market Yongzheng Mark and Period Monochrome Bowl went for $43,750 and a small Doucai Jar, Jiaqing Mark and Period, estimated at $8,000/ $12,000 realized $33,813. Rounding out the category was a pair of Daoguang Porcelain Medallion Bowls, which sold for $31,875. 

Several archaic bronzes, found buyers: a Western Zhou Zun sold for $30,000 after a period of vigorous bidding extended for almost 90 minutes and two Archaic Style Bronzes went for $35,000, while twenty-one Japanese netsuke totalled $46,875. 

In addition to sales by Lark Mason Associates, the iGavel platform’s fall Asian auctions included offerings by other sellers, including two rare 17th/18th Century Chinese Buddhist Water and Land Ritual Paintings selling for a combined total of $471,875.  These were from a Southwestern US collection assembled after World War II and offered by Laurie Petrie-Rogers from Tucson, Arizona.  These paintings were well received due to the rarity of subject and their large scale.

About Lark Mason and iGavel

In 2003, long before the recent proliferation of online auction sites, Lark Mason had already established iGavel Inc., the online international network of independently owned regional auction salesrooms, specializing in the sale of fine and decorative arts. With his stellar reputation as a leading expert, appraiser, and television personality on the PBS series The Antiques Roadshow, Mason’s innovative approach for online sales—with uniform buyer’s premium rates, vetted sellers, published condition reports, and a guarantee for items sold in the two-week auction process—set a new standard and remains unique among Web-based auction companies.

A native New Yorker and a former director of Sothebys.com, Mason is the owner of his eponymous auction house, which specializes in Asian art and recently sold a painting for more than $4.3 million, a record-breaking price for Lark Mason Associates and one of the highest amounts of any work of art sold online.  That result was not an anomaly.  In 2014, five other members of the iGavel consortium also had record-breaking results: Elders sold a Chinese scroll for $1.1 million; Everard, an oil by Gabriele Münter for more than $250,000; and Witherell’s, a horn-veneered center table for $90,000.

iGavel associates are independent auctioneers, appraisers, and dealers. They include: Abington Auctions (Ft. Lauderdale), Arttrak Auctions (Dallas TX), Bill Lowrie Antiques (Minneapolis MN), Case Antiques (Knoxville TN), Daniel Cooney Fine Art (New York), Elder's Fine Art and Antiques (Nokomis FL), Everard & Company (Savannah GA), KC Auction Company (Kansas City), Lark Mason Associates (New York City and New Braunfels TX), Quinn’s Auction Galleries (Washington DC), Remmey’s Auction Services (New Vernon NJ), South Bay Auctions (East Moriches NY), and Witherell’s (Sacramento CA).

For more information, visit www.igavelauctions.com