NEW YORK—Keno Auctions will hold its sale of important paintings, furniture, jewelry, and decorative arts at the Marriott hotel in Stamford, Conn., on Saturday, Sept 24.
Leigh Keno, the founder of the auction house, and his brother Leslie Keno, both veterans on the “Antiques Road Show” television show, debuted their own show, “Buried Treasure,” on Fox on Aug. 24. This auction may garner extra attention as a result.
The sale will offer a wide range of styles and genres from the 17th to 20th centuries, including the auction house’s first venture into the realm of jewelry.
The full-service auction house is based in Manhattan and holds two auctions a year. The first was last November in Stamford.
“We had such a great start, grossing over $6 million. We set multiple records,” Leigh Keno explained in a phone interview.
While he usually works in the city, Keno prefers to hold the auctions in Stamford.
“We’re based on 69th Street in my townhouse. The auction house is downstairs, and I live upstairs with my family. It works out great for me there. It takes just a minute to get to work.”
But for the big auctions, it’s not as convenient. “We hold the auctions up there because it’s a convenient place to go, either from places like New England and Pennsylvania. It’s right off the 95, and from New York City, it’s only about 35–40 minutes on the train.”
Bargain Potential
It’s part of his business philosophy to keep the sale estimates low, and he said he sees the results.
“It’s psychological. Conservative estimates are more exciting,” said Keno. “We believe in low estimates so that a piece can find its own level, without a strong reserve. So we have people come in and get excited that they might get it. It’s sort of against human nature to be told how much something is worth.
“If it’s high, then they try to find faults. If it’s low, then they can focus on the beauty of the item. It’s like that old saying: No one wants to buy feathers from a goose,” he said, laughing.
“For example, in the first auction, I had a Chippendale chest. We had it estimated at $200,000 to $400,000. I knew it could go for over a million. … It ended up selling for $1,400,000.”
One potential deal resulting from Keno’s low-estimate philosophy is a William Trost Richards (1833–1905) painting that’s up for sale. The landscape painting is estimated at only $10,000 to $20,000, when back in May, a new auction record of $1,650,500 was set at Christie’s for Trost’s “Mackerel Cove, Jamestown, Rhode Island.”
Sale Highlights
Trost’s watercolor painting “A Summer Afternoon” is noted for demonstrating his mastery of the transparency of water, according to Keno Auctions.
His painting is one of a selection of 18 quality maritime paintings from a private Connecticut collector, and 18th and 20th century American, European, and Old Master landscapes and still life paintings.
Other highlights include a Tiffany Studios’ “Dragonfly” leaded-glass fluid lamp circa 1910, marked “Tiffany Studios/New York” and estimated to go for $40,000 to $80,000; “Lugger on a Wind,” a marine painting by British-American painter Robert Salmon (1775–1858), estimated to go for $40,000 to $60,000; and “Pastoral Landscape,” an oil painting on canvas by American artist George Inness (1825–1894), estimated to go for $20,000 to $40,000.
The sale starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, with previews on the preceding Thursday and Friday.
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