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 December, 2016 | 27 Items | February, 2017  |
| IMPORTANT BENJAMIN CHANDLEE, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA QUEEN ANNE WALNUT TALL CASE CLOCK, ca. 1745, the sarcophagus bonnet with blind fretwork, carved with birds and foliate scrolls enclosing an eight-day works, with a brass face, inscribed Ben. Chandlee Nottingham, over a case with an arched door, 101" h. Provenance: Private Maryland collection. The present clock remains in an excellent state of preservation with its complete sarcophagus top. The central finial and base molding have been replaced. Condition: The present clock remains in an excellent state of preservation with its complete sarcophagus top. Only the central finial and plynth/base molding have been replaced. Side glass panel in bonnet cracked. Base molding replaced. Portico glass and molding replaced. Age cracks to base. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $20,000-40,000 Price Realized: $33,600 | |
| BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA PAINTED POPLAR DOWER CHEST, dated 1778, decorated by the Black Unicorn Artist, retaining its original decoration of three ivory tombstone panels with a horse and rider and potted tulips within a red surround, 23.75'' h., 48.5'' w. Condition: Feet replaced. Lid moldings replaced. Lacking till lid. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $3,000-5,000 Price Realized: $7,800 | |
| PAINTED PINE WALL CUPBOARD, 19th c., retaining a later ochre surface, 67.75'' h., 38.25'' w. Condition: 16" d. Good condition. As expected wear consistent with age and use. Interior has three shelves. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $500-1,000 Price Realized: $9,225 | |
| MID-ATLANTIC PAINTED PIE SAFE, 19th c., with punched tin panels, retaining an old green surface, 56.25'' h., 37'' w. Condition: Overall good condition. As expected wear consistent with age and use. A couple patches to backboards. Two shelves. No other apparent condition issues. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $800-1,200 Price Realized: $2,706 | |
| PAINTED PINE WALL CUPBOARD, early 19th c., retaining an old scrubbed blue surface, 75/5'' h., 51.5'' w. Condition: 20.5" d. Good condition. As expected wear consistent with age and use. Interior has two shelves. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $800-1,200 Price Realized: $6,000 | |
| RARE SOUTHERN CHIPPENDALE WALNUT SERVER, ca. 1770, probably Virginia, 37'' h., 34'' w. Provenance: Titus Geesey. Condition: 21" d. Original engraved brasses. Yellow pine and cedar secondaries. Slender patch above lock. Finish on legs a little washed out. Foot appliques appear to be original. Overall very good original condition. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $5,000-10,000 Price Realized: $14,400 | |
| MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA SGRAFFITO REDWARE CHARGER, dated 1778, initialed HR for Henry Roudebush, with a large central bird surrounded by flowers within a swag border, retaining a green, orange, and yellow glaze, 12.25'' diameter. Provenance: Private Philadelphia collection; Joe Kindig, Jr. Condition: A few chips to rim including larger 2'' chip. Some scattered flaking to glaze. Plate has darkened in areas and would probably benefit from cleaning. Hairline that extends from edge to middle of charger. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $4,000-8,000 Price Realized: $20,400 | |
| LEBANON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA PAINTED PINE DOWER CHEST, dated 1778, attributed to Christian Seltzer, initialed AMGM, retaining its original decoration of three panels with potted flowers, 22'' h., 49'' w. Condition: Overall very good untouched condition. As expected wear consistent with age and use. Original hinges and lock. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $2,000-3,000 Price Realized: $7,200 | |
| PENNSYLVANIA PAINTED POPLAR APOTHECARY CUPBOARD, 19th c., retaining an old scrubbed blue surface, 18.25'' h., 26'' w. Condition: Nailed construction. Pulls replaced. Top overpainted. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $400-600 Price Realized: $4,920 | |
| ENGLISH COMBWARE CHARGER, late 18th c., with all over combed slip decoration, 13.5'' diameter. Condition: Good condition. No apparent damages or repairs. Sold at Pook and Pook January 13, 2017. Estimate: $1,000-2,000 Price Realized: $7,200 | |
| YOUNG BOY IN RED HOLDING AN APPLE OIL ON CANVAS, attributed to John Brewster, Jr. (1766–1854), 30 X 23 in. Young Boy in Red reveals John Brewster Jr.’s distinctive style and sophisticated, almost modern use of color and space. The child’s vibrant attire is offset by a more neutral, gradated terra-cotta background which optically forces the bright red forward. Born deaf, Brewster became a preeminent folk portraitist, choosing to travel throughout the Northeast painting likenesses of the rural elite rather than settling into one of the period’s deaf communities. He started working in or before 1790, first limning his family members, and later journeyed through Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York State. Sold at Christie's Auction January 20, 2017. Estimate: $60,000-90,000 Price Realized: $150,000 | |
| A QUEEN ANNE FIGURED MAPLE SIDE CHAIR, possibly William Savery (1722-1787), Philadelphia, 1740-1755, en suite with the preceding lot; with its original rush seat, 42 in. high. Sold at Christie's Auction January 20, 2017. Estimate: $80,000-120,000 Price Realized: $125,000 | |
| THE ISAAC PERKINS FAMILY FEDERAL EAGLE-INLAID MAHOGANY CARD TABLE, probably New York, 1800-1815, retains an old and possibly original dry surface, rich brown color, 29.75 in. high, 35.75 in. wide, 17.75 in. deep. Exquisitely inlaid with eagle, floral and husk inlay, this card table is a magnificent survival of America’s Federal-era aesthetic. While it bears similarities to both New York and Connecticut examples, the preponderance of evidence suggests a New York origin. The inlaid ornament is sophisticated and of particularly high quality and was most likely supplied by a specialist maker working in an urban center. Other forms from New York display closely related inlaid details, suggesting that several cabinet shops patronized the same specialist inlay makers. Details of the eagle ornament on this table that are seen with greatest frequency on New York forms include 16 stars, the lack of any feather markings immediately above the shield and a smooth rather than jagged outline to the lower edge of the wings. The husk inlay on the legs is unusual in that the uppermost husk overlaps the second husk rather than the reverse. This same feature is seen on a Pembroke table tentatively attributed to New York by Charles Montgomery, who also noted similarities to Connecticut and New Jersey work. Finally, the leafy floral reserves above each leg are similar to those on a pier table labelled by New York cabinetmaker Charles Honoré Lannuier (Charles F. Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period (New York, 1966), pp. 349, 365, cats. 327, 347). The presence of five legs, narrowly spaced front legs, flush rear-rail construction and rail substrates consisting of five laminates are all features that are seen in New York tables and to a slightly lesser degree in Connecticut forms (Montgomery, p. 342, fn. 11; Benjamin Hewitt et al., The Work of Many Hands: Federal Card Tables in America, 1790-1820 (New Haven, 1982), pp. 94, 194, chart XII). At the time of its sale in 2002, the table was said to have been a gift to Isaac Perkins (1780-1840) from his fellow Brothers in the Masonic St. John’s Lodge #4. Perkins was a lawyer in Hartford, Connecticut and besides serving as Master of this Lodge from 1829-1832, he was the first secretary of the Aetna Insurance Company and served as State Attorney from 1839 to 1840 (see Henry Ross Gall and William George Jordan, One Hundred Years of Fire Insurance: Being a History of the Aetna Insurance Company (Hartford, 1919), p. 30; William C. Murray, St. John's Lodge No. 4, 1762-1962 (Hartford, 1962), pp. 46, 50, 54-56, 62, 68-69). After his death, the table passed to his son, Henry Perkins (1814-1862), also a lawyer and member of the same Masonic lodge and thereafter the table descended in the family until its sale at auction in 2002. Sold at Christie's Auction January 20, 2017. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $100,000 | |
| REMBRANDT PEALE (1778-1860), GEORGE WASHINGTON OIL ON CANVAS, 1859, signed Rembrandt Peale lower left; inscribed (later tracing of original) on reverse Painted by Rembrandt Peale/ in 1859/ from his Original portrait/ of 1795, 35.75 x 29 in. George Washington sat for Rembrandt Peale three times in the autumn of 1795, sessions arranged by the young artist’s famous father, Charles Willson Peale. By the 1840s, Rembrandt began to paint "porthole" portraits of George Washington after his from-life portraits of the President, using them as a source of income and a way to solidify his artistic reputation. Sold at Christie's Auction January 20, 2017. Estimate: $150,000-250,000 Price Realized: $235,500 | |
| PORTRAIT OF MARY MARGARET DEUEL, AMMI PHILLIPS (1788-1865) OIL ON CANVAS, circa 1829, 30 X 24 in. Mary Margaret Deuel was the daughter of Catharine and Samuel Deuel of Dutchess County, New York. This portrait, painted in Dover Plains, New York, features a young Mary holding strawberries and donning red shoes. Her arresting blue eyes engage the viewer and her ruddy cheeks are flushed and full of life. Phillips skillfully offsets these features with vibrant reds and greens present in her coral necklace, shoes, the ripe berries, the carpeted floor and the upholstered stool. The painting descended from the sitter in the Deuel family until 1982, when it was purchased by the present owner. Sold at Christie's Auction January 20, 2017. Estimate: $100,000-150,000 Price Realized: $391,500 | |
| THE COSTER FAMILY SET OF SEVEN CLASSICAL CARVED MAHOGANY CURULE-BASE DINING CHAIRS, Attributed to Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854), New York, 1810-1820. With their seaweed-carved crests, curule bases and brass paw feet, these chairs and those in the following lot are virtually identical to two sets of seating furniture attributed to New York’s most famous cabinetmaker, Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854). The first, made for New York merchant Nathaniel Prime, is in the collections of Boscobel and like the sets offered here, features half over-upholstered seats. Now in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of the City of New York, the second set has caned seats and was made for Thomas Cornell Pearsall. As discussed by Peter Kenny, these forms illustrate the latest trends in furniture design, which accurately incorporated findings from recent archeological excavations. Based on Roman antecedents, curule-base seating furniture was illustrated and described as “Chairs with Grecian Cross Fronts” in the 1808 Supplement to the London Chair-Makers’ and Cavers’ book of Prices for Workmanship, probably the direct source for curule-base forms made in New York (Peter Kenny, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York (New York, 2011), pp. 118-119, 178-181; Berry B. Tracy, Federal Furniture and Decorative Arts at Boscobel (New York, 1981), p. 41, cats. 11, 12). According to the notes of Charles Henry Coster (1898-1977), one of the previous family owners of these chairs, this set was made for the Coster side of the family and Charles’ paternal great grandfather, John Gerard Coster (1762/3-1844) stands as a likely first owner. Born in the Netherlands, Coster immigrated with his brother in the late eighteenth century to New York, where he became a successful merchant. Sold at Christie's Auction January 20, 2017. Estimate: $50,000-80,000 Price Realized: $62,500 | |
| A 79 TROY POUND SILVER BAR RECOVERED FROM THE WRECK OF THE NUESTRA SENORA DE ATOCHA, DATED 1621. The top impressed with various marks including the shipper/owner M. (Martin) Salgado, the Oruro mint mark, manifest/tally number indicating this was the 498th bar founded at the mint in 1621, the Atocha silver master's mark of Jacove de Vreder, the fineness number 2380/2400 and three tax stamps, with assayer's bite at one end, underside with later inventory mark, with certificate of authenticity of authenticity, 5 in. (12.7 cm.) high, 15 in. (38.1 cm.) wide, 2.25 in. (5.7 cm.) deep; 79 lb t. 1 oz t. 2 dwt. Sold at Christie's Auction January 20, 2017. Estimate: $20,000-25,000 Price Realized: $40,000 | |
| EXTREMELY FINE AND RARE MINIATURE WILLIAM AND MARY TURNED AND JOINED WALNUT FLAT-TOP CHEST OF DRAWERS, Chester County, Pennsylvania, circa 1725, retains a rich historic surface, appears to retain its original cast brass hardware. Height 24.75 in. by Width 14.25 in. by Depth 9.75 in. During the Colonial period, miniature high chests of drawers like this one served as valuables cabinets and period inventory references indicate they stored prized household possessions such as jewelry and silver. One example listed in the 1750 estate inventory of Jacob Hibberd of Chester County contained gold and silver sleeve buttons, silver and brass shoe buckles, a pincushion with a silver chain, silver scissors and a thimble, eight silver teaspoons and a pair of silver tongs. The form was more popular in Pennsylvania than in any of the other American colonies and was produced there throughout the eighteenth century. Despite its small scale, this one closely follows the design and construction of its full-size Philadelphia counterparts in the William and Mary style. It incorporates the early characteristics of paneled sides, a single long drawer in its base, a broad waist and pediment moldings and ball-and-ring turnings. Its construction required the efforts of the joiner and turner. A related walnut valuables cabinet on stand was sold in these rooms, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords, October 29, 2004, sale 8016, lot 237. Another with a bonnet-top and pad feet made for Catharine Graeff of Lancaster sold in these rooms, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lammot Du Pont Copeland, January 19, 2002, sale 7757, lot 57. A flat-top example of cherrywood with slipper feet sold in these rooms, Fine American Furniture, Folk Art, Fine Paintings, & Silver, June 21, 1989, sale 5883, lot 418. One of walnut with a scalloped apron and trifid feet was sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet, The American Heritage Auction, November 16-18, 1978, sale 4180, lot 1068. Provenance: Iren B. Orwell, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charlotte and Edgar Sittig, Shawnee-on-Delaware, Pennsylvania; Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Cambridge, Maryland; Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, The Garbisch Collection Volume Four, Important American Furniture and Related Decorative Arts, May 23, 1980, sale H-2, lot 1054. Literature: Lindsey, Jack. Worldly Goods: The Arts of Early Pennsylvania, 1680-1758, (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1999) fig. 165, pg. 105, no. 41, pg. 143. Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $80,000-120,000 Price Realized: $612,500 | |
| RARE WILLIAM AND MAARY LINE-AND-BERRY INLAID WALNUT CHEST OF DRAWERS, Chester County, Pennsylvania, circa 1740, feet and base molding replaced. Height 44 in. by Width 39.25 in. by Depth 23 in. Provenance: Herbert L. Schiffer, Exton Pennsylvania. Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $10,000-20,000 Price Realized: $52,500 | |
| DOMINIC SERRES, R.A. (AUCH 1722 - 1793 LONDON) OIL ON CANVAS HIS MAJESTY’S SHIPS PHOENIX, ROEBUCK AND TARTAR, ACCOMPANIED BY THREE SMALLER VESSELS, FORCING THEIR WAY THROUGH THE CHEVAL-DE-FRISE ON THE HUDSON RIVER BETWEEN FORTS WASHINGTON AND LEE, NEW YORK, 9 OCTOBER 1776 signed D. Serres and dated 1779 (lower left); also inscribed His Majesty's Ships/. 40 guns/the 'Roebuck' 40 guns/the Tartar 28... guns/passing Fort Washington/going up the Hudson River/to prevent the Americans/throwing supplies into/the fort. Oct 1776/Robert Barlow/...one of officers/of Tartar/...R Barlow on the frame, 25 by 47.875 in. 1779 The painting depicts an important action during the Revolutionary War, shortly after the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Having defeated the Continental Army at the Battle of White Plains, General Howe ordered a small squadron of British war ships, under the command of Captain Hyde Parker in H.M.S. Phoenix, to occupy the Hudson River and prevent the remaining Continental troops on Manhattan Island from receiving supplies in preparation for his assault on Fort Washington. Serres illustrates the Phoneix, together with H.M.S. Roebuck, under the command of Captain A.S. Hammond, H.M.S. Tartar, commanded by Captain George Jackson, and three smaller vessels forcing their way through a cheval-de-frise, comprised of artificial barriers and sunken vessels defending the north part of the river. On the right lies Fort Washington, on a large outcrop at the northern end of Manhattan, with its several shore batteries engaging the enemy at close range, whilst from the left the British forces are bombarded by the guns of Fort Lee, sitting atop the New Jersey Palisades. Despite the heavy bombardment Captain Parker and his fleet passed successfully through, capturing two gunboats in the process, and he was subsequently knighted in 1779 for his heroic efforts. Another version of this picture, painted for Captain Parker, is at Melford Hall, Suffolk, and a copy by Thomas Mitchell, dated 1780, is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. (See A. Russett, Dominic Serres. War Artist to the Navy, Woodbridge 2001, pp. 103-112.) Provenance: Commissioned by Robert Barlow, an officer serving aboard H.M.S. Tartar during the engagement; Thence by descent; Sotheby's, London, British Paintings 1500-1850 April 15, 1995, sale 5226, lot 8. Exhibited: London, England, Royal Academy of Arts, 1779, no. 295. Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $100,000-150,000 Price Realized: $225,000 | |
| THE BUNTING FAMILY CHIPPENDALE CARVED AND FIGURED MAHOGANY PIE CRUST TILT-TOP TEA TABLE, Philadelphia, circa 1770, underside of top bears an old jelly label with ink inscription Property of Estate of Susanna/ Lloyd Bunting. Fine example/ of Chippendale cabinet ware/ obtained by appraisement from/ home of G-- Ann Bunting/ by her nephew, Saml Bunting. Height 28.25 in. by Width 35.875 in. by Depth 35.25 in. Philadelphia Rococo tilt-top tea tables of this quality with a piecrust top, a carved standard and claw feet are among the greatest achievements of American furniture design. The 1786 Philadelphia book of prices indicates that the form was a significant expense, costing £5-15-0 for a mahogany table like this one with a “Scollop’d Top & Carv’d Pillar” and “claw feet.”1 Fluting the pillar added an additional five shillings to the cost. The present example was made with a finely figured piecrust mahogany top comprised of eight repeat passages, a fluted compressed ball standard, and a tripod base with C-scroll and acanthus-carved knees gracefully descending to powerful claw feet. The distinctive knee carving with its cartouche of opposing C-scrolls flanked by acanthus leaves recalls patterns of carving found on the knees of tea tables attributed to the “Garvan carver,” a talented and prolific carver who worked in Philadelphia during the mid-eighteenth century and consistently repeated design motifs amongst his oeuvre. One table with this motif descended in the McMichael-Tilghman family of Philadelphia and was likely originally owned by John Baynton, a prominent merchant in Philadelphia. It sold in these rooms, The Acme of Perfection Tea Table, January 19, 2008, lot 168. Another with a history in the Fisher-Fox family sold at Christie’s, Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Prints, October 3, 2007, sale 1882, lot 94. A third example was formerly in the collection of Stratford Hall and sold at Christie’s, Highly Important American Furniture: Property Deaccessioned from Stratford Hall Plantation, December 4, 2003, sale 1334, lot 3. A fourth tea table with this knee carving is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.2 Another is in the Karolik Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.3 The tables in this group also display similarly articulated claw and ball feet with pronounced angular talons. A tea table with the same overall form was formerly in the collection of Hermann Clarke of Boston, Massachusetts and later in the collection of Charles K. Davis.4 1Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, p. 193. 2Accession 18.110.12. 3Accession 39.146. 4See Israel Sack Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Colleciton, Volume V, P4354, pp. 1326-7. Provenance: Israel Sack, Inc., New York. Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $40,000-60,000 Price Realized: $106,250 | |
| | VERY RARE CHIPPENDALE COMPASS INLAID WALNUT, RED CEDAR, LOCUST AND HOLLY SPICE BOX, probably Chester County, Pennsylvania, circa 1760, the door with initials LL, several foot facings replaced. Height 19.75 in. by Width 16.25 in. by Depth 11 in. Provenance: David Stockwell, Wilmington, Delaware. Exhibited: West Chester, Pennsylvania, Chester County Historical Society, The Pennsylvania Spice Box: Paneled Doors and Secret Drawers, March 1986 - August 1986; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, The Pennsylvania Spice Box: Paneled Doors and Secret Drawers, September 1986 - November 1986. Literature: Helen Comstock, American Furniture: Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Century Styles, (Altgen, PA: The Viking Press, Inc., distributed by Schiffer Publishing Ltd.: 1962), no. 242, p. 138; Lee Ellen Griffith, The Pennsylvania Spice Box: Paneled Doors and Secret Drawers, (West Chester, PA: Chester County Historical Society, 1986), no. 44, pp. 126-7; Lee Ellen Griffith, "The Pennsylvania Spice Box," The Magazine Antiques, vol. 129, no. 5, May 1986, p. 1065, fig. 9. Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $15,000-30,000 Price Realized: $50,000 |
| VERY FINE AND RARE CHIPPENDALE MAHOGANY DOUBLE-PEAK CAMEL-BACK SOFA, Philadelphia, circa 1770, Height 40.75 in. by Width 94.25 in. by Depth 35 in. A combined effort of a cabinetmaker and upholsterer, the camel-back form represented here corresponds to the description “Soffas Marlborough Feet” listed in the 1772 and 1786 Philadelphia price list, with the additional refinement of “bases” terminating the feet. The frame with “plain feet & rails without Casters” would have cost £4.10 in mahogany with the upholstery adding as much as £10 to £20 to the cost. Equal in price to a desk in bookcase, sofas of this type were extremely costly and not common in Philadelphia, even among affluent families. Boldly proportioned and measuring nearly eight feet long, this handsome sofa bears the elaborate and rare detail of pointed peaks breaking the serpentine curve of the back on either side of the central hump. It otherwise follows the classic Rococo style design with its boldly arched crest rail, steeply pitched outward-scrolling arms, and Marlborough legs that became fashionable in Philadelphia about 1765. It is one of very few Philadelphia sofas with a peaked camelback that are extant. One is offered as lot 29 in this sale. Another is in the collection of Winterthur Museum and illustrated in Joseph Downs, American Furniture, New York, 1952, no. 272. One with a serpentine front rail carved with a fretwork design owned by the Chew family at Cliveden is illustrated in William M. Hornor, Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture, Philadelphia, 1935, pl. 258. Another also with a serpentine front seat rail and a history in the Morris family of Philadelphia is pictured in American Furniture, 1620 to the present by Jonathan Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bates (New York, 1981, p. 159). An additional example with a serpentine front rail is illustrated as a masterpiece in The New Fine Points of Furniture by Albert Sack (New York, 1993, p. 249). Other related Philadelphia camel-back sofas with cuffed Marlborough legs and broad proportions include one in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and illustrated in plate 202 of Hornor’s Blue Book as the property of Harry G. Haskell of Wilmington, Delaware; one at Winterthur Museum illustrated in Downs, pl. 27; and one at Bayou Bend with a history in the Harrison Wood family (see David Warren, American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection, Houston, 1998, F101, p. 60). Provenance: Joe Kindig, York, Pennsylvania. Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $250,000-500,000 Price Realized: $212,500 | |
| ROBERT SALMON (1775 - c. 1845) CALM & SUNSET, SHIPPING; TYNEMOUTH POINT AND BOAT OIL ON PANEL, 1830, inscribed No. 651/Painted by R. Salmon/Boston on the reverse, 16.25 by 25.75 in. Provenance: Tayloe Collection; Mrs. Price, Troy, New York; Mrs. L. Grow; Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1969; Marine Arts, Salem, Massachusetts, 1971; Acquired by the present owner before 1977. Literature: John Wilmerding, Robert Salmon: Painter of Ship and Shore, Boston, Massachusetts, 1971, no. 651, p. 91 (as Calm and Sun Sett, Shipping; Tinemouth Point and Boat). Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $15,000-25,000 Price Realized: $52,500 | |
| JAMES EDWARD BUTTERSWORTH (1817 - 1894) RACING IN NEW YORK HARBOR (FETCHING THE MARK) OIL ON CANVAS, circa 1875, signed J.E. Buttersworth (lower right), 24 by 32 in. Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $250,000-350,000 Price Realized: $300,000 | |
| | EXTREMELY RARE QUEEN ANNE CARVED CHERRYWOOD TALL-CASE CLOCK, works by Peter Stretch, case attributed to John Head, Philadelphia, circa 1750, dial inscribed, fretwork replaced. Height 107 in. by Width 18 in. by Depth 10.5 in. Provenance: William K. du Pont, Newark, Delaware. Literature: Fennimore, Donald L. and Frank L. Hohmann III, Stretch: America’s First Family of Clockmakers, (Winterthur, DE: The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2013), no. 56, pp. 232-3. This important early Philadelphia tall-case clock displays a magnificent case with stately proportions and rare blind fretwork carving housing an elaborate movement with a silvered dial with Roman chapters, date aperture, a seconds hand and a phases of the moon mechanism. The movement centers a cartouche engraved by Peter Stretch (1670-1746), the talented and influential early Philadelphia clockmaker and pioneer of the famous clock making family. The case is attributed to John Head (1688-1754), a Philadelphia cabinetmaker who supplied cases for Stretch’s clocks from 1724 to 1742.1 A Quaker, Stretch was born in Leek, Staffordshire, England and probably trained with his uncle, Samuel Stretch, of Leek before immigrating to Philadelphia in 1702. He worked at a shop at the corner of Front and Chestnut Streets known as “Peter Stretch’s Corner,” where he made clocks for many prominent Philadelphia families. He was a member of the Common Council of Philadelphia from 1708 until his death and was commissioned by the Council in 1717 to work on the town clock. His sons Thomas (d. 1765) and William (d. 1748) were also accomplished clockmakers and William received all of his father’s tools, imported clocks and unfinished clockworks upon his death.2 The wide range of the output of Peter Stretch illustrates his versatility as a craftsman. He made both thirty-hour and eight-day engraved brass movements with plain dials and single hands, as well as those with a sweep second hand, a revolving moon dial and musical works. Of the extant tall case examples, those dating earliest have cases with flat top hoods and square doors, others offer flat tops and arched doors while later clocks are housed in cases with domed tops, arched doors and straight bracket feet. All reflect the changing tastes of Philadelphia patrons of the second quarter of the eighteenth century. With its sarcophagus top, baroque fretwork carving with bird motifs, gilded turned ball-and-spire finials, colonnettes with gilded capital and arched door, the case of this clock represents a fully developed Philadelphia interpretation of the form in the late Queen Anne style. It is attributed to John Head, a cabinetmaker who emigrated from England to Philadelphia in 1717 and established his shop on Mulberry (now Arch) Street east of Third Street. His extant account book survives in the American Philosophical Society. It is the focus of Jay Stiefel’s article, “Philadelphia Cabinetmaking and Commerce, 1718-1753: The Account Book of John Head, Joiner,” published in the American Philosophical Society Library Bulletin (Winter 2001). The account book indicates that Peter Stretch commissioned his first case from Head in 1724 and continued to order over forty more cases until 1742. The least expensive cases cost £2-0-0 while others of walnut and some with a “Squar Case” cost £3-0-0. Additional examples were £4-0-0, two of which were “Arched.” Two others of cherry were itemized at the most expensive price of £5-0-0.3 Entries in the account book note that Head also supplied cases on occasion directly to clients, who commissioned the movement from Stretch. While Stretch routinely signed his clocks, Head did not sign the cases. Construction characteristics identified as part of Head’s clock case practice include horizontal joint lines at the corners of the glazed dial doors, the uniform and unchanging column design and molding profiles, and the applied molding to the front edges of the plinths under the finials.4 Other features include that the narrow uppermost molding of the ogee head is nailed directly to the top of the cavetto, causing it to sit an angle; the inside edge of the ogee head behind the ovolo is curved rather than straight; the outermost molding on the bonnet is backed with a soft wood; and a double bead is run into the vertical edge at the back of the bonnet below the outermost molding.5 A closely related clock with a movement by Peter Stretch and a case attributed to John Head is in the collection of Bayou Bend.6 The Bayou Bend clock is similarly housed in a case with a sarcophagus top, arched door, colonnettes and fretwork carving with a silvered brass movement lacking a phases of the moon mechanism. Others with a very similar case and Stretch movement include a walnut example with a history in a family from Cecil County, MD, one of walnut at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, another of walnut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, three walnut examples in private collections, one of walnut in the collection of Ross Brudenell and Jackie Robinson, one of walnut in a Southern collection, one of maple that descended in the family of Anthony Morris III and one of walnut in the collection of H.L. Chalfant.7 Another tall case clock with a movement by Peter Stretch and a case with elaborate carving attributed Samuel Harding (died 1758) at Winterthur Museum was sold in these rooms, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Jeffords, October 28-9, 2004, sale 8016, lot 205, for a world record price of $1,688,000. 1Stiefel, Jay, “Philadelphia Cabinetmaking and Commerce, 1718-1753: The Account Book of John Head, Joiner,” American Philosophical Society Library Bulletin (Winter 2001). 2Brooks Palmer, The Book of American Clocks, New York, 1950, p. 286 and Jack Lindsey, Worldly Goods, Philadelphia, 1999, p. 136-7. 3Stiefel, “The Account Book of John Head.” 4As identified by Christopher Storb in Donald L. Fennimore and Frank L. Hohmann III, Stretch: America’s First Family of Clockmakers, Winterthur, DE: The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2013, p. 110. 5All noted by Storb in Fennimore and Hohmann, p. 110. 6Ibid, Cat. No 46, pp. 208-9. 7Ibid cat 17, pp. 150-1, cat. 19, pp. 154-5, cat. 21, pp. 158-9, cat. 22, pp. 160-1, cat. 24, pp. 164-5, cat. 26, pp. 168-9, cat. 37, pp. 190-1, cat. 42, pp. 200-1, cat. 48, pp. 212-3, and cat. 49, pp. 216-7. Sold at Sotheby's Auction, Property from the Collection of E. Newbold and Margaret du Pont Smith January 21, 2017. Estimate: $150,000-390,000 Price Realized: $348,500 |
| A QUEEN ANNE FIGURED MAPLE SIDE CHAIR, possibly William Savery (1722-1787), Philadelphia, 1740-1755, en suite with the following lot; with its original rush seat, 42 in. high. Designed with individualistic flare and surviving in impeccable condition, this chair and its mate in the following lot are outstanding examples of Philadelphia chair making during the mid-eighteenth century. The chairs have long been associated with the renowned craftsman William Savery (1722-1787), a possible attribution that is supported by evidence from the chairs and the genealogical evidence from other chairs from the same set. Enhancing their appeal, both retain an old and possibly original surface and rush seats, which still bear remnants of rolled sea grass stuffing, a period technique for creating a plusher seat. The chairs’ yoke crests, lambrequin-carved knees and trifid feet all exemplify the regional preferences of Philadelphia chair makers at this time. Other details, however, reveal the handiwork of an accomplished craftsman with a penchant for the idiosyncratic. These unusual features include the waisted shaping between the inverted baluster forms on the lower splat and side stretchers that unlike the norm, have inner edges with a curved profile. Supporting the attribution to Savery, the execution of the lambrequins and trifid feet compare favorably with those seen on a side chair labelled by Savery and now at Colonial Williamsburg (acc. no. 1958-616,1). Comprising a single example at the Henry Ford Museum (fig. 1) and a pair illustrated in 1924 (fig. 2), at least three other chairs from the same set are known. Those represented in fig. 2 were owned in 1924 by “T. W. Scattergood,” who has been identified as Thomas Walter Scattergood (1874-1963), a great great grandson of William Savery. As Savery married in 1746, it is unlikely he would have been running his own shop long before this time, so if he did make these chairs, they were undoubtedly executed in the late 1740s or early 1750s. While the family ties and the comparison with the Williamsburg chair above point toward a Savery attribution, Scattergood was also a direct descendant of other Philadelphia woodworkers, including John Head, Sr. (1688-1754) and Stephen Armitt (1705-1751), so may have inherited these chairs from another of the illustrious woodworkers in his ancestry. For genealogical information on the Savery-Scattergood family, see A. W. Savary, A Genealogical and Biographical Record of the Savery Families (Boston, 1893), pp. 139-143. Sold at Christie's Auction January 20, 2017. Estimate: $80,000-120,000 Price Realized: $118,750 |
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