Brunk Auctions of North Carolina, US, auctioned 560 lots from the collection of Tom Gray on March 29, including multiple record prices.
Big sales included the sale of a North Carolina Chippendale cellaret made locally by Micajah Wilkes for $165,200. It was a new record for the artist, won by a private collector.
The cellaret sold above a pre-sale estimate of $40,000-$60,000.
Elsewhere, two framed lots also did well with one setting another record value.
 Jeremiah Theus's portrait of Amarinthia Elliot, brought a record $94,400 |
A circa-1748 oil portrait of young Amarinthia Elliot (1741-1822) of Charleston, South Carolina, by Jeremiah Theus (1716-1774) went under the hammer.
Gray apparently purchased the portrait from Jim Williams, a jailed murderer. The story is told in the best-selling novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
The 15¾ inch by 13-5/8 inch portrait was won by a phone bidder for $94,400, over an estimate of $30,000-$50,000.
The sale is a new record for a Theus piece.
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