FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 22, 2004

With the onset of warmer weather and summer showers, Neal Auction Company’s June 5th and 6th Late Springs Estates Auction presented a fine close to spring. Neal Auction Company’s offerings of fine antique furnishings, decorative objects, and art works, including Southern Regionalist artists, generated solid interest. During the weekend, a great crowd of local, national and international collectors and dealers filled Neal Co. galleries. The two days of bidding realized over $1.1 million dollars.

Neal Auction Company was pleased to feature select property from the Estate of Dulaney Dart Montgomery, from a Bay St. Louis, Mississippi Collection of Furniture, Clocks and Decorative Objects, from the Ursuline Convent of New Orleans, from an important St. Charles Avenue home, and from a Collection of a St. Mary Parish Lady.

Highlights from the Neal Auction Company’s Late Spring Estates Auction are as follows:

European furniture sold well. A Good mid- 19th c. English Giltwood Console Table in the Manner of William Kent (lot 122) realized $9,487.50. William IV furniture included a Breakfront Bookcase and Cabinet (lot 279), c. 1830, for $16,675.00 and a Fine Pollard Oak Side Table (lot 460), c. 1840 for $9,200.00. A George III Mahogany Bowfront Sideboard (lot 468), late 18th c., achieved $5,462.50. An 18th c. French Provincial Walnut Commode (lot 83) brought $5,175.00. A Good 18th c. Louis XV Provincial Carved Walnut Commode (lot 473) realized $7,762.50.

American Furniture generated interest. A Rare Rosewood Meridienne (lot 315) sold at $2,587.50. A Good Gothic Walnut Mirror (lot 306) from the mid-19th c. secured $2,530.00. American Classical pieces included a Carved Mahogany Pier Table (lot 208) for $8,625.00, Mahogany Secretairie á Abattant (lot 224) c. 1830-40, Baltimore bringing $4,600.00, a Carved Mahogany Sofa (lot 359), c. 1815, New York fetching $3,450.00, and a Good Giltwood and Ebonized Pier Mirror (lot 360), Boston, early 19th c., realizing $4,312.50. An American Giltwood Slipper Chair In the Aesthetic Taste (lot 531) from the late 19th c. brought $1,840.00. An Interesting American Renaissance Mahogany Slant Front Desk (lot 532), c. 1870, attributed to Kimbel & Cabus, New York sold for $2,300.00.

American paintings, including Southern Regionalist art, stimulated buyers. At its debut sale, William Woodward’s (American/New Orleans, 1859-1939) oil on canvas, “Oyster Wharf-Biloxi” (lot 388), signed and dated “W. Woodward ‘25/Biloxi, Miss. Feb. 5th”, 22 x 28 in., achieved $93,250.00. Kate Freeman Clark’s (American/Holly Springs, MS, 1875-1957), signed oil, “The Nut Trees, Marsh Meadows” (lot 397), 20 x 26 in. brought $46,000.00. Signed watercolors by Morris Henry Hobbs (American/New Orleans, 1892-1967), “Bromeliad and Blue Bird” (lot 390) and “Bromeliad and Female Cardinal” (lot 391) sold for $3,737.50 and $3,220.00, respectively, both were dated “Feb. 15, 1966” and sight 20 x 14 in. The signed oil on canvas by Knute Heldner (American/New Orleans, 1877-1952), “Sail Boat in the Mist” (lot 396), secured $4,025.00. The signed oil “Portrait of General Nelson Appleton Miles (1839-1925)” (lot 317) by Charles Ayer Whipple (American, 1859-1928), 1895, 64 1/4 x. 34 1/8 in. sold for $8,400.00 and Charles Henry Demuth’s (American, 1883-1935) “Time Out at the Track” (lot 1110), a watercolor and graphite on paper, 1919, sight 9 x 5 in. for $9,200.00.

Good European oil paintings included John Scott’s (British, 1802-1885) “A Harbor Scene, possibly Liverpool” (lot 126), signed and framed, 14 x 18 in., selling for $3,450.00, and the signed “A Dancer” (lot 270) by Arthur Hill, R.B.A. (British, active 1858-1893), 69 x 30 in., in a period giltwood frame, sold at $13,800.00. The John Scott, R.I., R.B.A. (British, 1850-1919), “Working the Banner” (lot 294), 1879, 34 x 18 in., in original giltwood frame brought $2,530.00

Decorative Objects attracted much bidding. A Fine French Gilt Bronze and Champlevé Enamel Oval Jardiniere in the Louis XVI Taste (lot 88), from the late 19th c., achieved $23,000.00. An early 19th c. Gustavian Carved Giltwood Figure of a Swan (lot 168) realized $2,530.00 and a fine pair of Antique Carved and Crème Peinte Wood Religious Figures in the Italian Taste (lot 499) fetched $7,475.00. An Important Monumental Napoleon III Bronze and Marble Figural Shelf Clock (lot 293), mid-19th c., with the dial signed “Maniere a Paris”, sold for $8,050.00. A New Orleans Cast Iron Sugar Kettle (lot 732), 19th c., marked “Leeds & Co. NO”, brought $4,600.00. Lighting included an Empire-Style Twelve-Light Bronze Figural Chandelier (lot 609) realizing $4,200.00.

An Extensive Paris Porcelain Dinner Service (lot 87), c. 1850, achieved $6,612.50. A Pair of Paris Porcelain Campagna Urns (lot 297), from the mid-19th c., secured $1,380.00. A Fine Limoges Porcelain Fish Service (lot 238), c. 1900, realized $2,070.00.

Silver produced strong prices, such as pieces of Matthew Boulton, Birmingham, including a Rare Regency Crested Sterling Silver Epergne (lot 287), 1818-19, bringing $10,925.00 and an Impressive George III Sterling Silver Mirrored Plateau (lot 286), 1827-28, selling for $4,600.00. An English Silver-plate and Cut Glass Columnar Banquet Lamp (lot 152) fetched $1,495.00

Neal Auction Company’s Summer Estates Auction will be held July 31st and August 1st, 2004. If you have further questions, please contact Ms. Rae Jung Wilburn (800.467.5329).