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FOUR MEDALLIONS, ERIE CANAL VIEW OF THE AQUEDUCT BRIDGE AT LITTLE FALLS (OVER THE MOHAWK RIVER) AND ENTRANCE OF THE ERIE CANAL INTO THE HUDSON AT ALBANY, STAFFORDSHIRE DARK BLUE TRANSFER-PRINTED JUG, RALPH STEVENSON & WILLIAMS, COBRIDGE, 1825-27.

Printed on the spout side with the identified portraits of “JEFFERSON,” “PRESIDENT WASHINGTON,” “WELCOME LA FAYETTE THE NATIONS GUEST” and “GOVERNOR CLINTON,” and on each side with the identified view of the Erie Canal, all on a floral, foliate scroll and stippled ground. Height 9.375 inches.

Provenance: Dargate Auction Galleries, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1998, lot 1847.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $12,000-16,000

Price Realized: $15,600


UPPER FERRY BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER SCHUYLKILL: SPREAD EAGLE BORDER, STAFFORDSHIRE DARK BLUE TRANSFER-PRINTED SOUP LADLE, Joseph Stubbs, Burslem, 1822-34, Length 10 inches.

Provenance: J.J. Keating Auction, Kennebunk, Maine, August 31, 1995, lot 131.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $700-900

Price Realized: $4,080


CUSTOM HOUSE (THE SECOND UNITED STATES BANK), PHILADELPHIA: BEAUTIES OF AMERICA SERIES, EXTREMELY RARE STAFFORDSHIRE DARK BLUE TRANSFER-PRINTED CUP PLATE, John & William Ridgway, Hanley, 1814-30, diameter 3.625 inches

Provenance: Armans Absentee Sales, Middletown, Rhode Island, September 18, 2002, lot 61.

Literature: An identical cup plate is illustrated in David and Linda Arman, “Anglo-American Ceramic Cup Plates,” Part I, p. 21, n. 72; and in Richard H. and Virginia A. Wood, “Historical China Cup Plates,” n. 69.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $800-1,200

Price Realized: $3,720


RARE SATIRICAL PRINT “A NEW METHOD OF MACARONY MAKING, AS PRACTICED AT BOSTON,” 1774. 

Depicting the tarred and feathered British customs officer, John Malcolm, being forced to drink tea by two American patriots, one a member of the Sons of Liberty, the other a sympathizer of John Wilkes. Handcolored mezzotint printed for Carrington Bowles, London, Oct. 12th, 1774. Sheet size 14.25 x 10 inches, sight. In a ‘Hogarth’ frame with old glass. 

Literature: “The American Revolution in Drawings and Prints: A Checklist of 1765-1790 Graphics in the Library of Congress,” Compiled by Donald H. Cresswell with a forward by Sinclair H. Hitchings, 1975, no. 668.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $3,000-5,000

Price Realized: $11,100


BOUND GROUP OF LEDGER SHEETS FOR THE SHIPS “ALFRED” AND “TRUMBULL,” 1775-1777.

Including the handwritten accounts “Invoice of Slops Rec’d on Board ye Alfred at Philadelphia in Decr. 1775;” “Roll of Men Entered on Board Ship Trumbull;” records of the receipt of weaponry, charges to the United States and sales of the personal effects of sailors on board the “Alfred.” String-bound journal with paper cover, approximately 34 pp., 12.5 x 8 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $500-1,000

Price Realized: $8,880


BRITISH REVOLUTIONARY WAR LETTER OF MARQUE (PRIVATEERING COMMISSION) ISSUED TO RICHARD RIDDLE, CAPTAIN OF THE SCHOONER “ARBUTHNOT,” 7 JULY, 1781.

Owned by Loyalists, the “Arbuthnot” a 10-gun square sterned schooner, was captured by Dudley Saltonstall’s “Minerva” on July 24, 1781 and taken to New London, Connecticut. Printed document with manuscript additions, 21 x 19 inches. Signed by Robert Bayard, Judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, New York. Together with a small booklet which appears to list the dispersal of prize shares taken by Saltonstall as a privateer and a note concerning shares in the Schooner “Arbuthnot.”

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $600-900

Price Realized: $5,280


BRITISH REVOLUTIONARY WAR LETTER OF MARQUE (PRIVATEERING COMMISSION) ISSUED TO RICHARD RIDDLE, CAPTAIN OF THE SCHOONER “ARBUTHNOT,” 7 JULY, 1781.

Owned by Loyalists, the “Arbuthnot” a 10-gun square sterned schooner, was captured by Dudley Saltonstall’s “Minerva” on July 24, 1781 and taken to New London, Connecticut. Printed document with manuscript additions, 21 x 19 inches. Signed by Robert Bayard, Judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, New York. Together with a small booklet which appears to list the dispersal of prize shares taken by Saltonstall as a privateer and a note concerning shares in the Schooner “Arbuthnot.”

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $1,500-2,500

Price Realized: $8,400


COME AWAY MAKE NO DELAY 1775 CAST BRONZE BELL.

The inscription on this bell, “Come Away Make No Delay,” is a phrase associated with the Unitarian Church. Unitarianism was very powerful in Colonial Massachusetts and many of the men who took part in the Battles of Lexington and Concord were members of the church, including Paul Revere. When Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published his poem “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” in 1861, it created great romance surrounding historical artifacts in New England. The written folklore surrounding the bell offered here has been misplaced or lost, but it has been suggested the bell rang in a Massachusetts Unitarian Church to announce a major event in our Revolutionary War. Probably cast in England at either the Whitechapel Foundry in London or the Rudhall Foundry in Gloucester. Height 14.25 inches, diameter 14 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $2,000-4,000

Price Realized: $7,800




FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR POWDER HORN ENGRAVED WITH A MAP OF THE UPPER HUDSON AND MOHAWK RIVER VALLEYS, TRACING THE ROUTE FROM NEW YORK TO LAKE ONTARIO.

A view of New York City with harbor and shipping engraved at the horn’s base, the map beginning at Albany, Schenectady and Leviston’s Manner [sic] and following the route north through the English Forts including Hunter, Henry, Harkeman and Stanwix, with houses and forests scattered in between. Further engraved with the British arms and initialed “TF.” The throat carved with a raised sawtooth-edged ring, the horn’s end with wood butt plug. Length 15.625 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $1,400-1,800

Price Realized: $3,840


JOHN JAMES AUDUBON (AMERICAN 1785-1851). AMERICAN BLACK OR SILVER FOX, NO. 24, PLATE CXVI FROM “THE VIVIPAROUS QUADRUPEDS OF NORTH AMERICA.”

Drawn from nature by J.W. Audubon, imperial-folio lithograph colored and printed by J.T. Bowen, Philadelphia, 1847. Sheet 21.5 x 27 inches, sight. Frame 30.25 x 35.75 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $1,500-2,000

Price Realized: $8,880


FINE AND RARE PAINT-DECORATED BASSWOOD DOMED TOP DOCUMENT BOX, PROBABLY ALBANY, NEW YORK, EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY.

The hinged cover opening to a deep well with secret drawer, the top painted with a version of the Great Seal of the United States, the displayed eagle beneath a cluster of stars, clutching braces of arrows in its talons and holding a banner in its beak, the corners with fan spandrels, the paneled front painted with the initials “AB” within lozenge and scalloped borders brightly painted in ochre, red and black, the paneled sides each with a stylized flowerhead within similar borders. Height 6 ¼ inches, width 12 inches, depth 6 ¾ inches. The Albany attribution is based on the decoration which is similar to examples produced by a group of ornamental painters working in the Schoharie-Albany-Montgomery County area of New York State during the period 1805-50. 

Provenance: “The American Folk Art Collection Of Burton and Helaine Fendelman,” Sotheby’s, New York, October 23, 1993, lot 104; “The Barry Cohen Collection,” New York; Joel and Kate Kopp, America Hurrah, New York; David A. Schorsch, Inc., New York.

Literature: See Mary Antoine DeJulio, “New York-German Painted Chests,” The Magazine Antiques, May 1985, pp. 1156-1165; and Joel and Kate Kopp and David A. Schorsch, “The Barry Cohen Collection,” pp. 46-47.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $8,000-12,000

Price Realized: $12,600


RARE NEW HAMPSHIRE BIRCH EIGHT-FOOT DROP-LEAF HARVEST TABLE.

The rectangular two-board top with drop-leaves above an apron, raised on boldly-turned baluster legs. Height 28.25 inches, length 96,25 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $3,000-5,000

Price Realized: $16,200


UNUSUAL VERMONT PAINTED AND DECORATED WINDSOR ROCKING ARMCHAIR, CIRCA 1820.

The wide rectangular crest stenciled with scattered autumn leaves, above six spindles and scroll arms, the vinegar-grained seat on a yellow ground, raised on turned splayed legs joining rockers, inscribed as a wedding gift and signed by the maker “Thomas Wilson” under the seat. 

Provenance: Silver Spring Farm Antiques, Maryland; “The American Folk Art Collection of Helen & Steven Kellogg,” Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 6, 2011, lot 634.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $3,000-5,000

Price Realized: $16,200


NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND FEDERAL PAINTED AND DECORATED CHEST OF DRAWERS.

The rectangular splash board gilt with a flower-filled urn flanked by sunbursts affixed with stamped brass mounts, above a case of four long drawers with matching decoration and flanked by fluted pilasters, over the base gilt with a grapevine and raised on turned legs ending in bold ball feet. Height 39.5 inches, width 43.625 inches, depth 20.125 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $2,000-3,000

Price Realized: $4,800


NEW HAMPSHIRE CHIPPENDALE CHERRY CHEST OF DRAWERS, IN THE MANNER OF THE DUNLAP CABINETMAKERS.

The rectangular top with cockbeaded edge above the case with four graduated drawers, the bracket base carved with bead-and-reel and lappet borders above a serpentine apron and scrolled bracket feet. Height 38.125 inches, width 40.375 inches, depth 20,625 inches, case width 38 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $1,800-2,800

Price Realized: $13,800


RARE EARLY AMERICAN HARDWOOD AND PINE TWO-LIGHT HANGING RATCHET CANDLEHOLDER, Overall height 36.75 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $600-900

Price Realized: $1,680


RARE PAIR OF EARLY AMERICAN TIN THREE-LIGHT CHANDELIERS, MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Each circular dome issuing three curved arms attached to a circular band, fitted with three candle cups and crimped drip-pans. Height 14 inches, diameter 12.5 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $5,000-8,000

Price Realized: $5,100


COLONIAL SILVER CANN ENGRAVED WITH THE WHIPPLE FAMILY COAT-OF-ARMS, ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN EDWARDS, BOSTON, CIRCA 1730.

Of baluster form with molded rim and spreading base, engraved on the front with the armorial, the flat-capped handle engraved with the initials “W/WM” in hatched block letters, engraved “Whipple” in script under the base, the upper terminal crossed with a molded band and the lower terminal ending in a disk. 9.5 oz. Height 5 ½ inches.One of a pair listed in “A True Inventory of the Estate of Capt. William Whipple,” taken by Thomas Cutt, Ebenezer Fernald and John Godsoe on September 26, 1751 in his house in Kittery, Maine.

Provenance: Collection of John Kernan, William Proctor Institute, Sotheby’s Parke Bernet, 2006.

Literature: The patron listed in Patricia E. Kane, “Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers,” p. 413, as William and Mary (Cutt) Whipple; discussed and illustrated along with its companion cann, (marked with John Edwards’ crowned initials) in John D. Kernan, Jr., “Detective Work on Some American Silver,” The Magazine Antiques, January 1961, pp. 106-107.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $1,500-2,500

Price Realized: $6,600


EARLY AMERICAN FORGED-STEEL FOOD CHOPPER WITH TURNED WOOD HANDLE.

The steel blade cut-out with an inverted foliate heart within scrolls. Height 6 .875 inches, length 7.875 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 20, 2016.

Estimate: $250-400

Price Realized: $1,260


RARE BOSTON CLASSICAL MAHOGANY DROP-LEAF DINING TABLE OF LARGE SIZE, CIRCA 1820.

The rectangular top with rounded ends and drop leaves above a boldly-turned pedestal base, raised on carved and molded sabre legs ending in brass paw feet. Height 28.25 inches, length 59.75 inches, width 24.5 inches, top 59.75 x 59.5 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $4,000-6,000

Price Realized: $19,200


SET OF SIX SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS FEDERAL CARVED MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIRS, THE CARVING BY SAMUEL MCINTIRE, 1795-1805.

Each molded shield back centering an urn carved with a border of upright laurel or olive leaves, set on a pedestal with everted leaftip rim and issuing waterleaves and wheat stalks, the crest rail carved at each corner with a flower suspending drapery swags over a medallion in the center of the urn, all within curved splats ending in waterleaves, the base of the shield carved with a rayed sunburst of laurel or olive leaves, the over-upholstered seat raised on square tapered legs.Laurel and olive leaves, wheat stalks and draped urns were common motifs and symbols in ancient Greek and Roman cultures. Laurel branches were fashioned into wreaths and used to crown those who had achieved the highest status. Apart from being a symbol of victory, laurel leaves were a sign of fame, success, and prosperity. Wheat connoted agriculture, prosperity and bountiful harvests. Draperies symbolized power and wealth, and were associated with royalty, elaborate ceremonies and extravagant interior furnishings. The draped urn, as a memento mori, provided a visual reminder of one’s mortality.Beginning in the late twelfth century, the waterleaf became a frequently used form on the capitals of pillars and columns on Romanesque buildings. It was suggested as a motif for moldings of the Ionic order in Isaac Ware’s 1738 reprint of Andrea Palladio’s “Four Books of Architecture,” and as a decorative element on pilasters and capitals in W. and J. Pain’s “Practical House Carpenter,” first published in 1790.All of these elements were adopted by McIntire, carved on furniture as well as incorporated into architectural design. Classical and agricultural symbolism would have been familiar to McIntire’s prosperous educated clients, and the imagery readily translated into patriotic symbols associated with the building of a new nation. The olive branch, symbol of peace and victory in ancient Greece, officially became a part of the Great Seal of the United States in 1782. Charles Thomson, the designer of the seal along with William Barton, stated that “The Olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace & war which is exclusively vested in Congress.”A detail of a chair back, identical to the offered lot and carved with each of these elements, is illustrated in Dean T. Lahikainen, “Samuel McIntire: Carving an American Style,” p. 76, fig. 3-57, and discussions and illustrations regarding the many decorative motifs McIntire used in his work, pp. 104-215. 

Provenance: Four chairs descended in the Millett family of Salem, Massachusetts; two without provenance. 

Literature: An identical chair is discussed and illustrated in Dean A. Fales, Jr., “Essex County Furniture: Documented Treasures from Local Collections 1660-1860,” cat. n. 61.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $45,000-75,000

Price Realized: $33,000


SET OF FOUR HEPPLEWHITE MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIRS, SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, THE CARVING BY SAMUEL MCINTIRE OR SALEM CONTEMPORARY.

Each molded crest rail centered by a tablet carved with tasseled drapery swags and above a pierced lancet arch back, the over-upholstered needlepoint seat raised on frontal square tapered legs.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $7,000-9,000

Price Realized: $21,600


MASSACHUSETTS CHIPPENDALE MAHOGANY REVERSE SERPENTINE-FRONT CHEST OF DRAWERS, SALEM AREA, ATTRIBUTED TO WILLIAM KING.

The reverse-serpentine top projecting above a conforming case of four long graduated drawers, the molded base on deeply-carved gadrooned and spurred bracket feet. Height 33.125 inches, width 40.125 inches, depth 21.125 inches, case width 33,25 inches, case depth 18.75 inches.

Literature: A similar chest of drawers associated with William King is discussed and illustrated in Dean A. Fales, Jr., “Essex County Furniture: Documented Treasures from Local Collections 1660-1860,” cat. n. 25.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $30,000-50,000

Price Realized: $42,000


RARE SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS FEDERAL CARVED AND INLAID-MAHOGANY POLE SCREEN WITH CANDLE SHELF.

The oval screen with inlaid edge above a demi-lune candle shelf, mounted on a rope-twist and reeded-urn standard raised on cabriole legs with c-scroll knees and ending in slipper feet, each with medial ridge, fitted with the original flame-turned and gilded finial. Height of pole 57.5 inches, width of screen 21.625 inches, depth 14.75 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $18,000-24,000

Price Realized: $19,200


IMPORTANT MASSACHUSETTS CHIPPENDALE CARVED WALNUT LOWBOY, SALEM, CIRCA 1770.

The rectangular top with molded edge above a case with single drawer over three aligned short drawers, the center drawer fan-carved, over a shaped apron and raised on cabriole legs ending in ball-and-claw feet. Height 30.625 inches, width 34.875 inches, depth 19.25 inches, case width 29.375 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $25,000-35,000

Price Realized: $29,400


THE BABBITT FAMILY RHODE ISLAND QUEEN ANNE CHERRYWOOD AND MARBLE-TOP SLAB TABLE, NEWPORT, CIRCA 1850.

The rectangular variegated grey marble top with molded edge and ovolu corners above a conforming apron, raised on circular tapered legs ending in offset pad feet. Height 28.75 inches, width 49.5 inches, depth 25 inches.

Provenance: Descended in the Babbitt family of Wickford, Rhode Island; Ginsberg and Levy, Inc., New York; Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Gasque, Millbrook, New York and Palm Beach, Florida, and by descent to the current owner.

Exhibited: “The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture,” Providence, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Historical Society, May 16-June 20, 1965. no. 39.

Literature: Illustrated in Luke Vincent Lockwood, “Colonial Furniture in America,” vol. 1, pp. 189-90, fig. 197; Joseph K. Ott, “The John Brown House Loan Exhibition of Rhode Island Furniture,” pp. 50-51, n. 39; and in a Ginsburg & Levy advertisement, ‘The Magazine Antiques,’ September 1941, p. 135.This table is identified as RIF3061 in the Yale University Art Gallery’s Rhode Island Furniture Archive.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $8,000-12,000

Price Realized: $17,400


FRENCH PRISONER-OF-WAR CARVED BONE AND POLYCHROME-PAINTED NINE-FIGURE SPINNING JENNY, EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Each wood platform covered in straw-work, the lower tier housing an elaborate mechanism with crank handle, flanked by two ladies on one side and two archers on the other, the upper tier with two ladies working at a spinning wheel, one standing and the other seated in a highback chair next to a soldier, another soldier and sweetheart standing nearby. Height 6,875 inches, length 5 inches.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $5,000-8,000

Price Realized: $9,600


ROBERT SALMON (AMERICAN 1775-1848). THE FERRY BOAT.

Oil on panel, 14.25 x 20.25 inches. The reverse signed and dated “No. 862/ Painted by R. Salmon/ 1836.”

 

Literature: Listed in John Wilmerding, “Robert Salmon: Painter of Ship & Shore,” Appendix A: Catalogue of Robert Salmon’s Pictures 1828-1840, From his own Notes… “No. 862, July. 20 by 14, 2 ½ Day. The Ferry Boat, part after Turner. Sold Auction in Boston 1837, 15 Doll.”

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $5,000-8,000

Price Realized: $12,000


LARGE AND EXCEPTIONALLY FINE SAILOR’S SHELLWORK VALENTINE, THE OCTAGONAL CASE FITTED IN ITS ORIGINAL BOX.

The glazed octagonal case displaying an assortment of pastel shells arranged in geometric and demilune forms centering a floral wirework branch of white shells encircled by a wreath of shell roses and floral wirework, the outer border composed of small white spiral-form shells. Diameter of case 16.75 inches, of box 18 inches. Together with a reproduction Queen Anne style stand.

Sold at Northeast Auctions August 21, 2016.

Estimate: $8,000-12,000

Price Realized: $21,000


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