Fontaines Sept. 28 and 29 auction attained just over $6.5 million from 1,000 lots over two days. The sale was strong, with Tiffany Studios lighting and decorative arts objects dominating, but there were unusual and exceptional items across the board. Three major collections contributed to this auction, and notable results were achieved in each, with many items selling far over estimate. These were old time collectors that had a keen eye for collecting, and all three estates performed better than expected, said owner and auctioneer John Fontaine. We were quite pleased with the competitive bidding we saw and the results. The top lot of the auction came out of the Dr. Joseph T. Sheridan collection and was a ca. 1905 Tiffany Studios Nasturtium table lamp. Estimated at $300.000-$500,000, the lamp had a rare Mosaic and Turtle-Back base and attracted a total of 12 active bidders, vying for the lamp online, over the phone and absentee. Bidding remained hot up to the very end with several bidders chasing the lamp past the $600,000 mark. One very determined private collector hung on until the final bid, claiming the lamp for $825,000, including the buyers premium. Besides the Nasturtium lamp, a parade of two dozen Tiffany lighting examples, from lamps and chandeliers to sconces, accounted for the first days top 25 lots. Altogether, there were over 225 Tiffany lots in the auction, realizing just under $4.5 million. Most sold within or above their estimates and attracted competitive bidding. A ca. 1905 Tiffany Studios Laburnum table lamp, also from Sheridans collection, 30 inches tall, that was even more rare due to its Bird Skeleton base, brought $375,000. Tiffany lighting came in all forms, not just table lamps. A standout included a pair of ca. 1881 lanterns made for the two-story Moorish smoking room in the Cornelius Vanderbilt II mansion that realized $245,000. Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists worked in collaboration to design these lanterns for the grand New York City mansion in which socialites and the wealthy gathered. This pair was later part of the late singer John Denvers estate. Also crossing the block was a vibrantly colored Flowering Bouquet chandelier, ca. 1910, that went out at $187,500, and a ca. 1910 Peony Border floor lamp having a Chased Pod Senior floor base and a Pig Tail finial, $168,750. Garden ornament also was a robust category with fine statuary and sculptures being popular in both small and large scale. A 16-inch tall patinated bronze sculpture by celebrated sculptor Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Reflections, went to $17,500, while a Robert Holmes bronze sculpture, Spinning Dancer, 83 inches tall and which overlooked the Hudson River, brought $15,000. Multiple other bronzes were avidly scooped up by buyers, led by a Vasily Grachev (Russian, 1831-1905) bronze grouping, Tsar And His Falconer, which flew past its $5,000-$7,500 estimate to bring $40,625. There were about two dozen paintings represented in the auction with choice selections, led by late French Expressionist Bernard Buffets Nature Morte au Compotier et Aux Fruits going out at $37,500. This painting came out of the Ledgerock collection, which featured several other desirable items, including a mid fourth-century attic red-figure Bell Krater, decorated on each side with classical figures, which achieved $21,250. This collection had some unusual and amazing things, added Fontaine. From the Hunter Mountain, N.Y., estate of Hassan Basagic came a collection of 150 examples of Arts and Crafts furniture and decorative arts, led by a Tiffany Studios bronze floor vase, ca. 1915, that achieved $20,000. Fine Stickley furniture from the estate performed solidly, including a directors table, #631, going out at $10,625, and a book table, #516, for $8,125. Also far surpassing estimates was a rare Charles P. Limbert Co. Pagoda table, Model 164, estimated at $2,500-$3,500, that realized $27,500. Fontaines Auction Gallery is located in Pittsfield, Mass. For more information, email info@fontainesauction.com or visit www.fontainesauction.com.