I placed some bids recently at a Silver Auction at Heritage. There was an attractive Tiffany Copper and Sterling Mixed Metals inkwell that was listed with an auction range of $800 to $1,200. I thought it was a nice piece, but there was already a bid for the higher range amount of $1,200. I decided that it was not for me at this price. However, I decided to still track it anyway and see what the final hammer price would bring.
To my surprise, the inkwell sold for $13,750 with buyer's premium. I was absolutely shocked! I have been in the business for 50 years and thought I knew what an item's approximate value should be worth and thought that around $1,000 sounded about right. This valuation was also reflected in the range amount that the auction house had predicted.
I'm not sure if I missed something on this one or that there was a crazy couple of buyers who went insane. The only thing that I could see that might have gotten some extra play there was an insignia that looked to be Russian or Austrian in nature and perhaps the bidders knew something of the provenance that the auction house did not. Either way, it just goes to show you that you just never know sometimes what will happen at auctions. You can hit really big like this one, and sometimes you will miss really big when the item goes well below the low range estimate or worse yet goes unsold. Hopefully, the buyer of this inkwell is content with their purchase. Without a doubt, I know that the seller this piece is definitely doing a major happy dance and must be completely elated to have gotten 13 times more than what was predicted.
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