October 2007 - George Washington and market prices

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that three separate and different miniature portraits of George Washington were due to be sold at public auction on 13 October, 2007. All three were attributed by the vendor to Walter Robertson, as well there were four miniatures painted by Charles Willson Peale. In my opinion the miniatures by Walter Robertson are all fakes, but the Charles Willson Peale miniatures look to be genuine.




The miniatures closed with only one bid each and I think they must have been passed in, as they now all appear to be on offer for private sale on a related website. A Buy-It-Now price is nominated for each miniature, but there appears to also be provision to Make-An-Offer below these prices.

If anyone had been interested in purchasing one of them, they could be seen at miniature portrait - Search fine art for sale or auction. Consign, sell and get a free Appraisal at Heritage Auction Galleries.. although they seem to have subsequently been removed.

Compared to the pre-sale estimates the single bids were as follows;
George Washington by Walter Robertson
Estimate $20,000/$30,000 - Closed at $15,500 - Apparently available at $19,120
Estimate $20,000/$30,000 - Closed at $15,500 - Apparently available at $19,120
Estimate $80,000/$120,000 - Closed at $60,000 - Apparently available at $74,688



The Charles Willson Peale miniatures seem to have fared little differently;

Estimate $20,000/$30,000 - Closed at $15,500 - Apparently available at $19,120
Estimate $40,000/$60,000 - Closed at $30,000 - Apparently available at $38,240
Estimate $40,000/$60,000 - Closed at $30,000 - Apparently available at $38,240
Estimate $80,000/$120,000 - Closed at $62,500 - Apparently available at $76,480

There was also a miniature said to be of Walter Robertson, painted by his brother Charles Robertson and shown above;
Estimate $20,000/$30,000 - Closed at $15,500 - Apparently available at $19,120

While it is less surprising that none of the Robertson miniatures sold, it does seems a little surprising that not even a single one of the miniatures by Charles Willson Peale sold, perhaps the auction was influenced by the overall financial uncertainty prevailing during the month of October.