Two pieces of early oak furniture deaccessioned from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York far outstripped modest expectations when offered for sale in California last month. The two tersely catalogued lots – both bequeathed to the museum in 1964 – appeared at Clars in Oakland on March 18. They sold to New York buyers.
Given free rein on pricing and cataloguing, the auctioneers described an English side table as 17th century with later elements.
While the drop-leaf top was an unsympathetic later addition, the base was Elizabethan and a sophisticated Renaissance- influenced design featuring turned and fluted legs capped by Grecian capitals and a carved and arcaded frieze. It sold at $16,000 (plus 21% buyer’s premium).