Longtime Houston estate gurus stage can't-miss sale of rare and one-of-kind luxury finds from city's elite
Original article by Steven Devadanam on CultureMap Houston.
Attention, savvy Houston shoppers. A longtime auction company is hosting a can’t-miss sale for connoisseurs, collectors, and lovers of a good bargain.
The venerable estate sale firm Lewis & Maese Auction Co., which is moving from its Sawyer Yards locale (1505 Sawyer St.), will hold what’s cleverly dubbed The Sale at Sawyer at 11 am Saturday, October 8. Attendees can look forward to discounts ranging from 30 to 70 percent off on more than 5,000 items including new, gently used, and antique furniture, rugs, lighting, paintings, sculpture, accessories, designer handbags, and jewelry.
Other finds include statuary, linens, fossils, furs, crystals, southwestern silver and turquoise pieces, and even pianos. Rare items feature chandeliers from the former downtown Union National Bank building (now Hotel ICON), several horse-drawn carriages, a seven-foot Darth Vader statue, an oversized painting in the style of Botero , and a bevy of 19th-century grandfather clocks, per press materials.
As for the move: Lewis & Maese Auction Co. is leaving its longtime site at Sawyer Yards in the First Ward Arts District and moving to a new, 2.5-acre site near Hempstead Road in Spring Branch (7777 Blankenship Dr.).
Ensuring that nothing in the current space is moved to the new, Lewis & Maese brass embarked on the unprecedented sale. To sweeten the deal, auction organizers have created vignettes and experiences, including a speakeasy-style patio, DJs, and live music.
Those who can’t make the Saturday opening event can take heart that the sale is slated to run through early January. However, with brands and names such as Maitland-Smith, Henredon, Marge Carson, Baker, Steinway & Sons, Rolex, Cartier, Audemars Piguet, Hublot, Omega, Cartier, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, David Adickes, Marc Chagall, Herb Mears, and more, early perusers will no doubt win the day.
Boasting 36 years in the business, David Lewis and Ernest Maese have overseen the auction of more than 3,000 estates, of notable — or notorious — Houstonians and everyone in between.
“This is the first sale of its kind in Lewis & Maese’s history, and the cliché ‘everything must go’ is truly the case here,” Lewis noted in a statement. “We have accumulated a truly immense inventory over the years, and as we prepare to kickoff auctions at the new location — the first being on October 9, spotlighting collections both from the Josey and Cuthbertson families — it just made sense to clean out our own house and start afresh without moving.”
Bargain hunters looking to stock up can expect a treasure trove of finds, as can flippers. To wit: Lewis points to a Harry Bertoia bronze purchased for $9,000 that was later resold for $90,000, or a $12,000 sideboard that scored $72,000 at Sotheby’s. Perhaps the pièce de résistance: an antique Chinese scroll that sold for $36,000 — and eventually valued at more than $1 million.
With that in mind, discriminating buyers would do well to line up early and perhaps net that once-in-a-lifetime discovery.