PROCEEDS OF THE SALE TO BENEFIT A NEW FOLK ART INITIATIVE AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
Auction Total: $2.2 Million
Amassed over the course of several decades by a passionate collector and philanthropist, this dedicated sale was distinguished by an exceptional group of important weathervanes, as well as exemplary folk art and painted furniture.  Full proceeds from the auction will benefit a new initiative for folk and self-taught art at the historic institution.
The sale was led by a Molded Sheet-Cooper and Zinc Fire Pumper and Double-Horse Weathervane, Cushing & White, Waltham, Massachusetts, Circa 1870 that nearly tripled its high estimate $150,000 in selling for $437,500. Cushing & White made a number of these steam fire engine vanes for New England fire houses, several of which still belong to the houses for which they were built. A nearly identical weathervane can be found in the collection of the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, and another vane of this type resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

TRIUMPHANT GRACE: IMPORTANT AMERICANA FROM THE COLLECTION OF BARBARA AND ARUN SINGH

Auction Total: $3 Million
Arriving in this country in the 1960s with only a few dollars in his pocket, Arun Singh has gone on to become one of the nation's leading cardiac surgeons. Arun and Barbara first met when he was a resident in New York and she was a nurse – Barbara introduced Arun to life beyond the hospital, including museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where their shared interest in Americana grew to the collection offered on Saturday.
An Exceptional Chippendale Carved Cherrywood Bonnet-Top High Chest of Drawers, Colchester, Connecticut, Circa 1775 led the impressive selection of outstanding New England furniture on offer, achieving $200,000. Retaining its original finial and brasses, this sophisticated high chest displays many details that follow the work of Calvin Willey (1769-post 1831), the cabinetmaker who was trained in Colchester, Connecticut and moved to Lenox, Massachusetts by 1791.
An exemplary Rare and Impressive Panoramic View of Macao, Attributed to Sunqua, Qing Dynasty, Circa 1850 was among the standout China Trade paintings on offer in Saturday’s sale, more than doubling its $50,000 high estimate to bring $112,500. Sunqua (active 1830-70) painted with a distinctive style that has earned him the reputation of one of the most important Chinese painters for the European market of the 19th century, and the present work demonstrates the master’s later style. A virtually identical painting can be found in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum.

MARIO BUATTA: PRINCE OF INTERIORS
Auction Total: $7.6 Million
Sotheby’s two-day auction Mario Buatta: Prince of Interiors came to a close late Friday night in New York, achieving an outstanding total of $7.6 million – more than 2.5 times its high estimate, and with an exceptional 99% of all 922 lots sold. The blockbuster sale was dedicated to the extensive personal collection of legendary interior designer Mario Buatta, featuring furniture, fine art and decorative objects from his Upper East Side apartment and Gothic-revival house in Thompson, Connecticut. Separate release available

10301 Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana

10302 A New Dimension of Tradition

10304 Mario Buatta - Prince of Interiors

10303 Triumphant Grace - Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh