RJ Horner Delivered an $80,500 Birthday Surprise at Burchard Galleries in St Petersburg, FL

Petersburg, FL) Burchard Galleries owner Jeff Burchard wasconfident well ahead of his August 24 sale that this would be a signature event. Hewas featuring over 45 works of art and personal artifacts of portrait and surrealistpainter Raymond A. Whyte (American 1923-2002). While Whyte s work is on display inmany major collections, they are seldom offered for sale and this presented a rareopportunity for art collectors. In addition to the Whyte works over 450 lots of art,furniture, silver and jewelry were to cross the block. Only thirteen days before the sale and on deadline day for the placement of an adfor the sale, Burchard received a call from a lady from across the bay in Tampa whoasked if he was interested in selling a dining room set she and her husband owned.Always game Burchard said, Sure. Do you have some photos? When the emailed photosarrived minutes later Burchard was astounded. A contract was signed and Burchard wasable to include the set in the last advertisement.The consignors told the story of the set being acquired from a dealer nearly twentyyears ago by a member of the prominent Lykes family of Tampa. But Mrs. Lykes feltthe set was too large and returned it to the dealer who then offered it to thecurrent owners, a Tampa doctor and his wife. He described the set as being Germanfrom the Black Forest region around the turn of the century. He was right about thedate but wrong about the origin. The set turned out to be a show stopping Man ofthe Mountain twelve piece oak figural set by none other than the famous Americancabinetmaker and carver R. J. Horner of New York. Burchard said it has been reportedthat Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie has a matching set.The set included a 39in diameter quarter sawn oak table with five 14in leaves andcaryatid figural legs, a 93in tall by 74in wide sideboard with Horner winged griffinshelf supports and Man of the Mountain front supports, a 68in high by 54 in wideserver with the same front supports, an unusual five panel glass triple front chinacabinet with figural columns, 98 in high by 53 in wide with serpentine glassflanking the center panel with glass shelves, mirrored back and illumination and aset of eight matching chairs with two captain s and six sides. This outstanding set, carrying a presale estimate of $30,000/$50,000, attracted 32bids and quickly outstripped the estimate to close on the phone to an Alabama buyerfor $80,500 including the fifteen percent buyer s premium. The sale, carried live online by LiveAuctioneers.com, attracted 193 biddersregistered in- house and 2855 registered online with 350 people in attendance.All of the lots from the Whyte estate were sold without reserve and in keeping withthe surprise theme of the day, many far exceeded their estimates. The top Whytelot was an oil on masonite of woman in a green velvet dress with embroidered brocadedrape, 30 by 18in. Estimated at $700/$900, it sold for $4,500 plus premium. It wasfollowed by a surreal oil on board of chrysanthemums in a crystal vase with bronzecherub supports, 10 by 9⅜ in. Estimated at $600-$800 it closed at $4,000. Butthe biggest Whyte surprise was a Classic Games Napoleonic plastic chess set handpainted by Raymond Whyte. It doubled the estimate selling for $1,100. Virtually allother Whyte items exceeded the estimate. Still other unanticipated results lurked in the sale. One was a Zsolnay Hungarianpottery loving cup, 8 in high. It had an obviously repaired break in the stem andwas estimated at $150/$200. To Burchard s amusement it drew 38 bids and soared to$4,500 plus premium.But the biggest amazement of the day for Burchard occurred about one third of theway through the sale. As he prepared to announce the next lot, suddenly a Mariachiband dressed in traditional Mexican Mariachi attire walked into the gallery playingand singing Che Lito Lindo and then Happy Birthday in honor of Jeff Burchard sbirthday. The auction then proceeded and the band played in the lobby for anotherhour. For more information call (727) 821-1167 or (800) 520-2787, email tomail@burchardgalleries.com or visit the website at www.burchardgalleries.com.Burc hard Galleries normally has an auction the last weekend each month with a discovery auction on Saturday and an antiques sale on Sunday. Check the websitefor details. Written by:Fred Taylorwww.furnituredetective.c om800-387-6377

Source: Express-Press-Release.com

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