Curiosities and commonplace antiques converged at the Marion VFW on Friday and Saturday for the Marion Antiques Auctions' summer event.

Run by Frank McNamee of the Marion Antique Shop and David Glynn of Turkey Creek Auctions, the show featured a trio of grumpy Napoleon pitchers, a painting that was almost on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post and a bottle of sperm whale oil.

“It's as much a social event as anything else,” said Judy Lund of Dartmouth, who worked at the New Bedford Whaling Museum for more than 13 years.

As someone who has attended many auctions, she said, “I don’t collect things, I collect facts.”

Lund and her came to preview the auction items on Friday, but they were already out of wall space and wouldn’t be returning on Saturday to purchase any of the pieces up for sale.

“It’s more a matter of curiosity than an intent to buy anything,” said Lund.

She speculated that a large glass bottle of sperm whale could fetch a high bid if the right person was in the audience.

“It depends on who is here,” Lund said.

Glynn, echoed that sentiment, saying he never knows what will sell well. A number of pieces, such as antique furniture, would stay within the $500 to $2,000 range, but he suspected that a painting by the German artist Felix Schlesiner could bring in six digits.

At another auction, Glynn said one of the artist’s paintings went for $132,000. On Saturday, the painting sold for $32,000.

A collection of American made Napoleon pitchers was one unusual lot item at the auction. Glynn said the fact that they were made in the US was unique as well as the fact that all three pitchers were intact.

A 19th century traveling desk was also an interesting piece. Owned by Caroline S. Lynch, the small wooden desk contained old letters, including one about the death of her husband, a navy captain.

A large painting that was on the auction block at a previous Marion Antique Auctions event returned to Saturday’s auction.

Painted by Chinese-American artist Luding Meng in 1994, the oil painting features two nude figures in a wooded landscape. It originally sold to a bidder in China for around $35,000, but then he proved difficult to track down.

“So the chase was on,” said Glynn.

Eventually, they gave up on the bidder and put it up for auction again.

Another painting for sale was created for the Saturday Evening Post, but never made it on the cover. The three drawings and paintings showing the evolution of the the image as well as the final painting were up for sale.

“There’s a lot of good stuff,” said Glynn, but as always he said there could be surprises. “You can’t know everything.”

The whale oil did bring in $2,200, about $1,000 over the estimate. And it isn’t going far. The Sippican Historical Society purchased the oil to put on display in the museum.

“It’s extremely rare,” McNamee said.

He added that, overall, the auction was well-attended.

“Things kind of went the way we though they would,” he said.