Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to announce the results of its Oct. 9 sale. This first of its kind specialty sale featured 361 lots of antique to modern art, ritual objects, and ephemera from American fraternal organizations. Titled Belonging: The Art of American Fraternal Societies, the auction grossed $156,000. All prices noted include the auction houses 20 percent buyers premium. The top lot was a De Moulin Bros. & Co. faux guillotine. Estimated at $800 to $1,200, it delivered a whopping $28,800. This ca. 1890s prop was made from carved and painted wood and rope and included a prominent wooden blade with red paint to mimic blood. An Odd Fellows symbolic chart, also estimated at $800 to $1,200, sold for $17,500. This ca. 1870 oil-on-canvas work was illustrated with visual representations of the principles, degrees, and symbols associated with the order on a black background. A Knights of Pythias exploding desk with a sliding skull and cross bone painting was estimated at $1,000 to $2,000 and realized $4,080. This ca. 1890s desk was made from wood, metal, and leather. When a candidate sat down to write his impressions of a lodge initiation, a lever would be activated, a bell would ring, and a skull and crossbones painting would abruptly appear, startling the candidate and continuing the initiation. An Odd Fellows scenery backdrop prop, estimated at $300 to $500, traded hands at $3,750. The oil-on-canvas work was mounted to wooden hanging rods. It was produced in New London, Ohio, by Ward Stilson around 1900. It was illustrated with a landscape with two figures walking towards tall pine trees in the middle-ground with mountains in the distance. The view was framed with drapery in the foreground and the Odd Fellows banner and three-link chain at the top. Three late 19th-century Masonic charts were estimated at $400 to $600 and scored $3,000. These lithograph mounted on canvas visual aids included Entered Apprentice Chart, Fellow Craft Chart, and Master Masons Chart. These were used to teach the different degrees of the order and to depict various emblems and symbols associated with the degrees. This was so exciting having this first-of-its-kind auction. Ive been a fan of Odd Fellows material for years, so this was a great way to spread the word of how interesting the material is. The things that did well were things that were folk art in nature and things that came from two of the main manufacturers from decades ago, DeMoulin and Ward Stilson. We will continue to auction this compelling category, and it should do better and better as time passes because of this ground breaking auction, according to Aron Packer, director of fine and outsider art at Potter & Potter Auctions. For more information, visit www.potterauctions.com.