Lamps burn bright at Jeffrey S. Evans 19th & 20th Century Lighting Auction
MT. CRAWFORD, VA.-The Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates March 28, 2020 19th & 20th Century Lighting Auction was a highly-anticipated event for Aladdin and other lighting collectors alike. The sale consisted of 771 lots of varying genres of kerosene lighting lead by the Aladdin lamp collection of Larry Spradley of Beaumont, TX. The second half of the session was highlighted by rare student, banquet, and parlor lamps from the collection of Peter Mack of Bristol, CT. The sale saw strong prices and heavy competition despite being restricted to phone, absentee, and internet bidding only due to restrictions imposed because of the current health crisis. The firm continues to excel despite the current environment. All prices include the firm’s 17% buyer’s premium.
The Aladdin lamps saw strong prices especially for the rare and unusual examples, and the collection itself consisted of kerosene and electric lamps, as well as parts produced by the firm from the early 20th to the early 21st century. The sale’s top lot, a possibly unique clear Opalique Short Lincoln Drape stand lamp soared to $14,040.00 (Lot 164), a new record price for a glass Aladdin lamp. Other rarities included an Aladdin prototype Rooster electric table lamp which brought $4,972.50 (Lot 215), a ruby Short Lincoln Drape with a Solitaire foot that achieved $4,095.00 (Lot 166), a clear Tall Lincoln Drape which rose to $3,802.50 (Lot 170), and a rare White Moonstone Beehive which ended at $3,393.00 (Lot 144).
The second half of the sale highlighted a wide variety of Victorian lighting with prominent selections of student, banquet, and parlor lamps. Leading the student lamps was a rare Plume & Atwood large double-arm Harvard example, which excelled with a price of $4,387.50 (Lot 333). Other rarities offered were a Consolidated Elephant parlor lamp which achieved $4,095.00 (Lot 437) and a Craighead & Kintz figural Cockatoo and Turtle bronze lamp which ended with a strong price of $2,925.00 (Lot 348) despite having been electrified.
After the sale, company president and auctioneer Jeffrey S. Evans commented, “We were very pleased with the results of this auction, our first in the current uncertain atmosphere. The exclusion of in-house bidding did not seem to affect the overall prices. We implemented several special considerations for our bidders including absorbing the usual 2% added premium for using our JSEA Live bidding platform, lowering our phone bid minimum to $100 and adding extra phone lines, and offering to warehouse purchases at no charge until our July lighting auction so people can pick up instead of incurring packing/shipping charges. We had a tremendous response to these considerations resulting in a record number of bidders using our live bidding platform which handled the load without a glitch.” Evans added, “As a firm, we have positioned ourselves to excel in the current environment. We have always posted detailed catalogue descriptions, professional photographs, and detailed condition reports for each lot. These are essential elements in order to establish bidder’s confidence resulting in more aggressive bidding and higher prices. It’s a lot of extra work, but has become one of our trademarks and certainly vaults us to the forefront of the current market.”
