Pilgrim's mahogany desk settles at $700k

Total sales of $15,029,329 were achieved at the Sotheby's Americana Week auctions, last month.

The major highlight was a Cornelius Kierstede silver punch bowl, from the turn of the 18th century. It performed spectacularly on the auction block, rising way above its predicted $400,000-800,000 value.

Eventually, the punch bowl's final hammer price was $5,906,500.

While there was only one seven-figure lot in the sale, many other art, furniture and unique items also made big impressions at the two-day Sotheby's auction.


An important Ranlett-Rust family Chippendale-figured mahogany bombé
desk ($698,500)

Chief among them was an important Ranlett-Rust family Chippendale-figured mahogany bombé desk.

The slant-front desk is believed to have been produced by Francis Cook, one of only 26 of the original male Pilgrim US settlers known to have descendants.

The desk's provenance is thought to originate in Marblehead, Massachusetts, circa 1770.

While the historic item's higher estimate of $1m proved a little adventurous, it easily surpassed its lower predicted value of $400,000, eventually bringing $698,500.

 

Images: Sotheby's



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