According to Yankee Magazine, “mud season is God’s way of letting New Englanders know they haven’t gotten to heaven yet.”  Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ upcoming auction on March 1, 2 and 3 will help alleviate the effects of this less than eagerly anticipated Maine season.

The  auction will begin at 11 a.m. EST each day presenting a glorious inventory of fine art, early American furniture, Chinese antiquities, rare watches and jewelry, estate silver, rare books & documents, and oriental carpets.

On Friday, March 1, the auction focus will be on rare first edition, signed and fore-edge painted books from a 19^th and 20^th century literature collection assembled in the 1960’s through 1980’s by an international investment banker; plus an exceptional selection of graphic arts and ephemera.

Highlighted books will include: 21 lots of first, limited and/or signed edition titles by Robert Frost; a 1935 limited deluxe edition of Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tales of Mystery & Imagination”, illustrated and signed by Arthur Rackham; a first edition copy of “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain with fore-edge painting depicting two scenes from the book; and 5 first editions of Sherlock Holmes titles by Arthur Conan Doyle. Friday will also offer photographs by Berenice Abbott, George Tames, and Edward Curtis; printed works by Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, and Robert Indiana; and rare documents.

The Saturday and Sunday offerings will include an extensive array of fine art, featuring works by Winslow Homer (MA/ME, 1836-1910), Waldo Peirce (NY/ME/MA, 1884-1970), Paul Howard Manship (NY/NH, 1885-1966), Dahlov Ipcar (ME/VT, 1917-2017), Anthony Thieme (MA, 1888-1959), Le Pho (NY/France/Vietnam, 1907-2001), John W. McCoy II (PA/CA, 1910-1989), Jamie Wyeth (PA/ME/DE, 1946- ), and many others.

The auction will present two table lamps from Tiffany Studios – a circa 1910 bronze lamp with rare “Four Virtues” base and Acorn pattern leaded glass shade, and a bronze Scarab desk lamp with iridescent green and purple Favrile glass shade.

There will be many examples of important early American furniture, including an outstanding matched pair of Federal period mahogany card tables with Birdseye maple panels, a Boston Sheraton sideboard attributed to John and Thomas Seymour, and an early 18^th Century Queen Anne highboy in rampant tiger maple. Additionally, the sale will include Maine furniture, such as a set of four Thomas Moser Windsor armchairs, a set of six Windsor spindle back armchairs by Marc Blanchette of Ellsworth, and a variety of locally crafted antique pieces.

Leading the estate jewelry and watch selection will be a gent’s Patek Philippe platinum tank form wristwatch and a 19th century Etruscan Revival high karat gold bracelet set with a large faceted citrine.

Highlighted from estate silver collection will be a 150-piece set of Georg Jensen Acorn pattern flatware, a Tiffany & Co. Art Nouveau silver and copper vase, a four piece Josef Hoffmann Wiener Werkstatte silver tea set, and a variety of sterling pieces by renowned 18^th Century London silversmith Hester Bateman.

The extensive Asian group will include: a Chinese Kangxi Period famille verte porcelain Immortal figure, a Ming Dynasty gilded bronze Buddha, a Tang Dynasty pottery horse, and a fine pair of Japanese bronze and mixed metal vases.

And as always, the sale will offer large collections of marine items (including Maine made ship models), porcelain & art glass, early weapons, fine timepieces, and Oriental carpets.

 A complete, full color catalog, with detailed descriptions and photographs, is available, and all lots can be viewed at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries’ website, www.thomastonauction.com.

In addition to live bidding in the auction hall, Thomaston Place accepts bids via absentee, telephone, and on the internet. Please call 1-207-354-8141 for more information, or to reserve seats in the auction hall.

The gallery, located at 51 Atlantic Highway/U.S. Route 1 in Thomaston, will be open for previews Monday, Feb. 25  through Thursday, Feb. 28 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day; and from 9-11 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning before the auction begins.