Sheldon Peck's circa 1825 portrait of a child, sold for $200,600. Image: Courtesy Northeast Auctions

By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views Contributor

Northeast Auctions annual three-day sale of early American antiques concluded this past Sunday in New Hampshire. (Read our sale preview here.)

Early American portraiture, painted wood chests and colorful tin and pearlware were among the top lots.

A sale from the estate of Baltimore collectors M. Austin and Jill Fine tallied $1.3 million, according to Art Market View’s own calculations, just over the low estimate. The sale was projected to total $1.1 million to $1.9 million.

The weekend’s results suggested the recession is still a factor, but this didn’t deter dealers and collectors from bidding aggressively when they spotted quality and value.

Sheldon Peck’s painting of a diminutive Child in a Chair was the Fine sale’s top lot, selling for $200,600 to an unnamed dealer, for a price below the $240,000 high estimate.  Pecks have fetched over $800,000 at auction. (Note: sale prices include commissions, estimates do not)

Less impressively, a highly anticipated Massachusetts William and Mary chest, estimated to sell for $150,000 to $250,000, did not receive any bids, possibly due to authenticity questions, according to a folk art dealer who attended the sale.

A New England painted faux fireplace fireboard, estimated to fetch between $120,000 and $180,000, also did not see any bidding action.

On the plus side, a vibrant 19th century red Philadelphia tinware coffeepot in excellent condition sold for $49,560, nearly triple the $18,000 high estimate. The buyer was Connecticut dealer David Schorsch.

Top 10 priciest lots in the Fine Sale:

1.  Portrait of Child in White Dress Holding a Rose and Seated in Fancy Painted Scroll Back Chair, Sheldon Peck, circa 1825   $200,600

2. Pair of American Watercolor Portraits of a Boy and Girl   $59,000

3. Portrait of a Young Boy with Dog, Gloucester Limner, 1784  $56,050

4. Pair of Double Portraits of a Young Man and Woman with their Children and Dog, Jacob Maentel  $53,100

5. Red Painted Tinware Coffeepot, attributed to the Harvey Filley Tinshop  $49,560

6. Early Pennsylvania Smoke Decorated and Fancy Painted Pine Spice Chest  $43,660

7. Fine Vermont Federal Yellow Painted and Fancy Decorated Two-Drawer Blanket Chest  $38,350

8.  Oversized Carved Pine and Polychrome Painted Decoy Carver’s Trade Sign  $23,600

9. Fine and Rare English Pearlware Marriage Jug for John & Lettis Bancroft, 1805  $22,420

10.  Fine Pennsylvania Chippendale Walnut Step-Back Cupboard   $17,700
(tie) Fine Connecticut William and Mary Red Painted and Floral Decorated Blanket
Chest   $17,700