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RARE WATERCOLOR FRAKTUR: BAPTISMAL RECORD OF ANNA NEFF, HENRY YOUNG, Potter Township, Center City, Pennsylvania, 1849, Inscribed Miss Anna Neff a daughter of Mr. John Neff and his wife Catherine born a Deckert, was born December the 17th, 1849 in Potter Township, Center County, Pennsylvania, and baptized by the Revd P.S. Fisher, Sponsors were Mr. Nicholas Deckert and his wife (((Ann Mary))).

9.5 by 7.5 in.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $4,000-6,000

Price Realized: $6,875


VERY RARE WILLIAM AND MARY TURNED AND JOINED WALNUT CANDLESTAND, Mercer County, New Jersey, Circa 1715, one foot replaced, cleat rotated 180°. Height 26 in. by Width 18 in. by Depth 16.75 in.

Exhibited: Trenton, New Jersey, The New Jersey State Museum, From Lenape Territory to Royal Province: New Jersey 1600-1750, April 30 - September 12, 1971.

Literature: New Jersey State Museum, From Lenape Territory to Royal Province: New Jersey, 1600-1750, (Trenton, New Jersey: New Jersey State Museum, 1971), p. 64, no. 181.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $5,000-7,000

Price Realized: $13,750


AMERICAN SCHOOL, 19TH CENTURY, VIEW OF MOUNT VERNON,

a brilliantly painted and colored picture, in what appears to be original gilded frame and wood backing. Watercolor, pen and ink on paper, 14 by 17.5 in. circa 1830

Exhibited: New York, Museum of Early American Folk Arts, Collectors Choice, April 11, 1970 - July 5, 1970.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $7,000-9,000

Price Realized: $15,000


JOSEPH WHITING STOCK (1815 - 1855) PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GIRL IN A PINK DRESS WITH A DOLL, the back of the canvas is stamped Prepared by EDwd. Dechaux New-York, Oil on canvas, 35 by 28 in. Circa 1840.

Exhibited: Northampton, Massachusetts, Smith College Museum of Art, Joseph Whiting Stock, February 4 - May 8, 1977, p. 20, no. 12;

Traveling Exhibition, Small Folk: A Celebration of Childhood in America, New York, Museum of American Folk Art, New York Historical Society; St. Louis, Missouri, First Street Forum; Tokyo, Japan, The Ginza Gallery; Osaka, Japan, The Hankyu Gallery, December 11, 1980 - July 1981, no. 253;

Summit, New Jersey, Summit Art Center, The World of the Child in 19th Century America, December 6, 1981 - January 17, 1982;

Shrewsbury, New Jersey, Monmouth County Historical Association's Allen House, Beloved by All: Dolls, Childhood, and American Consumerism, April 5, 1987 - September 29, 1987.

Literature: Juliette Tomlinson, [et al], The Paintings and the Journal of Joseph Whiting Stock, (Middletown, Connecticut: Springfield Library and Museum Association, 1976), pl. II:39;

Sandra Brandt and Elissa Cushman, Small Folk: A Celebration of Childhood in America, (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1980), p. 146, no. 253.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $8,000-12,000

Price Realized: $13,750


VERY FINE DIMINUTIVE QUEEN ANNE WALNUT DROP LEAF TABLE, Massachusetts, Circa 1760, appears to retain its original surface.

Height 25.75 in. by Width 12 in. by Depth 30.75 in.; Width open 31.125 in.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $3,000-5,000

Price Realized: $9,375


HIGHLY IMPORTANT ZABRISKIE FAMILY ENGRAVED PEWTER TANKARD. Attributed to Francis Bassett I, New York, dated 1728

Inscribed WHEN THIS YOU SEE REMEMBER ME, JZ/CZ, and 1728.

Height 7.125 in. by Width 4,875 in.

Provenance: Joost Zabriskie (1687-1756) and Christine Mabie (Meby) (1692-1733), Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey;

Tankard given to eldest daughter Machteltje (Matilda) Zabriskie (1715-1765) who married Sylvester Earle to their descendants in Middletown, Connecticut;

Donald H. Ladd Antiques, Hampton, Connecticut.

Exhibited: Traveling Exhibition, Dutch-American Colonial Arts, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Museum Boymans van Beuningen; Groningen, Netherlands, Groningen Museum (Fine Arts); New York, The New York Historical Society and the Museum of American Folk Art; Albany, New York, Albany Institute of History & Art, February 1, 1982 - April 1, 1983;

Albany, New York, Albany Institute of History & Art, Remembrance of Patria: Dutch Arts and Culture in Colonial America, May 9 - August 24, 1986.

Literature: Roderic H. Blackburn and Ruth Piwonka, Remembrance of Patria: Dutch Arts and Culture in Colonial America 1609-1776, (Albany, New York: Albany Institute of History and Art, 1988), p. 157, no. 155;

Donald Fennimore, "A True American Stuart Tankard - Maybe," Pewter Collector's Club Bulletin, vol. 7, April 1977, no. 5.

Catalogue Note: This elaborately engraved tankard, attributed to Francis Bassett I (1690-1758), is one of only two surviving examples of early eighteenth century pewter with New Jersey history. Bassett I apprenticed with William Horsewell and became a freeman in 1718. Joost Zabriskie (1687-1756) was the son of Albert Zabriskie (1638–1711) a Lutheran from the Duchy of Prussia (present day Russia). He settled in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1662. Joost became a member of the Dutch Reformed Church of Hackensack, New Jersey, April 8, 1711.

The companion piece to this tankard is a desert dish with Zabriskie family history that is dated 1728 and has identical engraving and is inscribed JZ and CZ. It sold at Freeman's, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, American Furniture, Decorative & Folk Art, April 19, 2009, lot 31 for $85,000 and is now in the collection of Winterthur Museum (acc. no. 2009.0020) For additional information on Francis Bassett I Ledlie LIrwin Laughlin, Pewter in America: its Makers and Their Marks, Vol. 2, (Barre, MA: Barre Publishers, 1969), p. 5-8. For a discussion about the dish see Charles F. Montgomery, A History of American Pewter, (New York: Praeger, 1973), fig. 8-9, p. 142.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $50,000-80,000

Price Realized: $50,000


EXTREMELY RARE AMERICAN TINNED SHEET IRON MENORAH, 19th Century, lacking the shamash. Width 11 in.

Catalogue Note: Hanukkah lamps have ancient origins as oil-burning lamps, but by the 1700s, they were produced with candles and candle sockets as well as oil reservoirs. Historically, these lamps were made from a variety of inflammable materials, but base metals (pewter or brass) and silver examples survive with frequency from craftsmen working in Europe and North Africa. These lamps are used inside homes for religious observances only, commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem (2nd century BCE), and not for domestic purposes.

Early American immigrants included people of the Jewish faith traveling from England, Europe, the Caribbean, and South America.  Historic Hanukkah lamps, especially with an American origin rarely appear in the marketplace.

Another early American tin candleholder menorah was donated by this family to Winterthur (accession no. 2011.30.2).

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $20,000-30,000

Price Realized: $30,000


VERY FINE AND RARE PAIR OF TINNED SHEET IRON RED OAK LEAF SCONES, attributed to Nelson Garey (1820-1910), Berlin, Pennsylvania, Circa 1860

Provenance: Elise R. Beaven American Antiques, Allendale, New Jersey.

Exhibited: Lincroft, New Jersey, Monmouth Museum, Masterpieces of American Folk Art, September 30-November 29, 1975;

Wintherthur, Delaware, The Winterthur Museum, Beyond Necessity: Art in the Folk Tradition, September 17 - November 16, 1977.

Literature: Monmouth County Historical Association and the Monmouth Museum, Masterpieces of American Folk Art, (Lincroft, NJ: Monmouth Museum, 1975), p. 50 (illustrated);

Kenneth L. Ames, Beyond Necessity: Art in the Folk Tradition, (Winterthur, DE: The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1977), p. 63, fig. 66 (one of the pair).

Catalogue Note: These sconces were made for the Lutheran Church in Berlin, Pennsylvania. A set of six nearly identical sconces are in the collection of Winterthur Museum (see Donald L. Fennimore, Iron at Winterthur, (Winterthur, DE: Henry Francis Du Pont Winterthur Museum; Hanover, NH: Distributed by University Press of New England, 2004), no. 143).

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $4,000-6,000

Price Realized: $18,750


CHARLES BALTHAZAR JULIEN FEVRET DE SAINT MEMIN (1770 - 1852) PAIR OF PORTRAITS: SOLOMON AND REUBEN ETTING, Charcoal and chalk on paper, 21 1/2 by 16 in.; 22 by 16 1/2 in., likely Philadelphia.

Provenance: Each by descent from the sitter to Emlen Etting (1869-1905); Robert Carlen Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Exhibited: Reuben Etting-

Washington, D.C., Daughter's of the American Revolution Museum, The Jewish Community in Early America: 1654 - 1830, December 10, 1980 - March 31, 1981;

Philadelphia, Museum of American Jewish History, A Philadelphia Sampler: Art and Artifacts from Jewish Collections, March 1, 1981 - January 3, 1982, no. 207.

Literature: Robert Carlen Gallery Advertisement, Magazine Antiques, vol. 69, February 1956, p. 122;

Hannah R. London, "The Saint-Memin Portraits of Solomon and Reuben Etting," The Magazine Antiques, vol. 76, July 1959, pp. 54-55; 

Ellen G. Miles, Saint-Memin and the Neoclassical Portrait in America, (Washington, D.C.: National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994), p. 299, no. 309 and 310.

Reuben Etting - 

Cipora O. Schwartz, An American Jewish Odyssey: American Religious Freedom and The Nathan Barnert Memorial Temple, (Newark, New Jersey: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2007), p. 2.

Catalogue Note: Solomon Etting (1764–1847) was a merchant and politician of Jewish faith in Baltimore, Maryland. Before moving to Baltimore in 1791, Etting lived in York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Etting followed another Jewish immigrant, Jacob Henry, in the endeavor to attain public office. North Carolina denied public office to all non-Protestants, when in 1809, Henry made a speech which became famous, asserting his inalienable right to sit in the state’s House of Commons, and the House took his part. Henry asked, "Will you drive from your shores and from the shelter of your constitution all who do not lay their oblations on the same altar, observe the same ritual, and subscribe to the same dogmas? If so, which among the various sects into which we are divided shall be the favored one?"

Reuben Etting (1762-1848) chose a military career and was commissioned (1798) first captain of the Independent Blues. In 1801 he was appointed United States marshal for Maryland by Thomas Jefferson.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $25,000-35,000

Price Realized: $112,500


ATTRIBUTED TO MARY WAY OR BETSY WAY CHAMPLAIN, MINIATURE FULL-LENGTH PORTRAIT OF THEODOSIA BURR ALSTON (1783-1813), Silk and lace applique with pencil and cut paper on black silk ground, 4 by 3 in., Late 18th Century.

Exhibited: New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Art: From American Collections, March 6 – April 28, 1963;

Traveling Exhibition, The Pulse of the People: New Jersey 1763-1789, Trenton, New Jersey, New Jersey State Museum; Newark, New Jersey, The New Jersey Historical Society, January 17, 1976 – June 16, 1976; 

Traveling Exhibition, Small Folk: A Celebration of Childhood in America, New York, Museum of American Folk Art, New York Historical Society; St. Louis, Missouri, First Street Forum; Tokyo, Japan, The Ginza Gallery; Osaka, Japan, The Hankyu Gallery, December 11, 1980 - July 1981, no. 56.

Literature: James Biddle, American Art: From American Collections, (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1963), p. 110, no. 244;

Suzanne Corlette [et al], Pulse of the People: New Jersey 1763-1789, (Trenton, New Jersey: New Jersey State Museum, 1976), p. 187, cat. no. 312; 

Sandra Brandt and Elissa Cushman, Small Folk: A Celebration of Childhood in America, (New York, E.P. Dutton: 1980), p. 39, no. 56.

Catalogue Note: The brilliant daughter of Aaron Burr, Theodosia was the recipient of an intensive education rigorously supervised by her father.  Her curriculum included the harp, piano, riding, dancing, French, Greek, and Latin. Theodosia tragically died at twenty-nine, when her ship was sunk at sea (see Sandra Brandt and Elissa Cushman, Small Folk: A Celebration of Childhood in America, (New York, E.P. Dutton: 1980), p. 3).

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $12,000-18,000

Price Realized: $30,000


A RARE CHINESE EXPORT FIGURE OF A HORSE, Qing Dynasty, Late 18th/Early 19th Century, naturalistically modeled, standing foursquare with a brindled chestnut coat, the mane combed to the right side, the long tail almost reaching the ground, the mane and tail both with red tassels, length 11.25 in.; 28.6 cm.

Provenance: The Jacob Goldschmidt Collection

Christie's London, June 29, 1938, lot 73 (probably)

The Collection of a Lady of Title

Christie's London, November 10, 1983, lot 813

Exhibited: Chinesische Kunst, Berlin, 1929, cat no. 1030 (probably).

Catalogue Note: From the celebrated Tang dynasty stone relief carving of the Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum, to the Qing dynasty’s Jesuit court painter Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shi Ning) and his A Hundred Steeds, horse portraiture has always been a major genre in Chinese art. The present example and the following lot adhere closely to the style of the latter, Giuseppe Castiglione (Lang Shi Ning). Castiglione travelled to China in 1715 as an Italian Jesuit missionary, and later became the most well-known and prolific of European painters working at the Qing court. Known for his ability to combine European techniques and Chinese themes, his works have had a clear influence on these two figures of horses.

It is likely that these figures were made as a series, with differing coat colors. Five examples appear to be extant, including the two in this catalogue. One, nearly identical to the present example, was in the Mottahedeh Collection, illustrated in David Howard and John Ayers, China For the West, 1978, Vol. II, p. 600-601, cat no. 626, and sold in these rooms on October 19, 2000, lot 390. Howard and Ayers point out the resemblance between this figure and one of Castiglione’s  portraits of an Imperial steed, Hung Yü Zuo now in the collection of the National Palace Museum and illustrated in Collected Works of Giuseppe Castiglione, Taipei, 1983, p. 34, pl. 9. The two other examples are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and are illustrated in Rose Kerr and Luisa E. Megoni, Chinese Export Ceramics, London, 2011, p. 78, pl. 111. All five examples originally had later rectangular bases probably added in the late 19th or early 20th century; only the two in the Victoria and Albert Museum have retained their bases.

The provenance of the present horses is of particular interest. Two figures from the collection of Jacob Goldschmidt, one with a chestnut coat and one blue and white piebald, were included in the exhibition Chinesische Kunst, Berlin, 1929, and illustrated as catalogue no. 1030. In reviewing auction records, the Goldschmidt collection originally included three figures of horses of this type. Two are almost identical, with brindled chestnut coats, and one with blue and white piebald coat. Christie’s London, on June 29th 1938, sold two horses from the Goldschmidt collection, one described as brown with hair markings and the other splashed in blue on a white ground (erroneously described as famille-vert). The remaining chestnut horse from the collection was sold in our London rooms, on July 16th 1957, and subsequently entered the Mottahedeh collection. This has caused some confusion in attribution as to which two horses were included in the 1929 exhibition in Berlin, as all three horses were catalogued with this particular exhibition history, in 1938 and 1957 respectively. It is most likely that the present figures are the same ones that were included in the 1929 exhibition (the present blue and white piebald horse is identifiable from the catalogue illustration), and sold together at Christie’s London in 1938, while the remaining horse was retained and sold later in 1957 (and not included in the exhibition). The two present examples were sold in London as separate lots by Sotheby’s and Christie’s, three days apart in November 1983, and were reunited after that date.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $20,000-30,000

Price Realized: $150,000


A RARE CHINESE EXPORT FIGURE OF A HORSE, Qing Dynasty, Late 18th/ Early 19th Century, naturalistically modeled, standing foursquare with a blue and white piebald coat, the mane combed to both sides, the long tail falling close the ground, the main and tail with red tassels.

Provenance: The Jacob Goldschmidt Collection

Christie's London, June 29, 1938, lot 73

Sotheby's London, November 8, 1983, lot 240

Exhibited: Chinesische Kunst, Berlin, 1929, cat no. 1030.

Catalogue Note: See catalogue note for the preceding lot.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $20,000-30,000

Price Realized: $150,000


CIRCLE OF JOHN WOOTTON, PORTRAIT OF A HOUND, POSSIBLY A TALBOT, STANDING IN A LANDSCAPE, oil on canvas, 49.5  by 63 in.; 125.7 by 160 cm.

Provenance: Richard Philp, London;

From whom acquired by a private collector in 1977;

Thence by descent in the present family.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $20,000-30,000

Price Realized: $68,750


EXCEPTIONAL WILLIAM AND MARY RED-PAINTED FIGURED MAPLE SHOE-FOOT TABLE, New York, Circa 1720, appears to retain its original red wash paint. Height 28.5 in. by Width 46 in. by Depth 33.25 in.

Provenance: Bill Samaha, Milan, Ohio.

Catalogue Note: This spectacular hutch table is likely the earliest surviving example of its form from the Hudson River Valley. This table exhibits the use of rivets to secure the cleats to the top.  As Peter Kenny noted in “Flat Gates, Draw Bars, Twists, and Urns: New York’s Distinctive, Early Baroque Oval Tables with Falling Leaves” in American Furniture 1994, ed. Luke Beckerdte, (Madison, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 1994), p. 128 a number of early New York drawbar and gateleg tables had riveted hinges.  The cross brace in the base relates directly to other Hudson River Valley tables with similar construction (see Joseph T. Butler, Sleepy Hollow Restorations: A Cross-Section of the Collection, (Tarrytown, NY: Sleepy Hallow Press, 1983), p. 66, no. 67).

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $15,000-25,000

Price Realized: $81,250






THE IMPORTANT MANSFIELD-MERRIAM FAMILY PILGRIM CENTURY BLACK-PAINTED CARVED AND JOINED OAK WAINSCOT ARMCHAIR, New Haven Colony, probably New Haven, Connecticut, circa 1640-1660

appears to retain its original surface under a later 19th century black paint.

Height 43.25 in. by Width 24 in. by Depth 20 in.; Seat Height 19 in.

Provenance: Richard Mansfield (1611-1655), New Haven, Connecticut;

Major Moses Mansfield (1640-1703), New Haven, Connecticut;

Captain Moses Mansfield (1674-1740), New Haven, Connecticut;

Samuel Mansfield (1717-1775), New Haven, Connecticut;

William Merriam (1700-1751), Meriden, Connecticut;

William Merriam (1728-1791), Meriden, Connecticut;

Asaph Merriam (1757-1837), Meriden, Connecticut;

Noah Merriam(1791-1862), Meriden, Connecticut;

Charles Neale Merriam, Sr., West Haven, Connecticut;

Charles Neale Merriam, Jr. (1929-2001), West Haven, Connecticut

thence by descent.

Exhibited: Meriden, Connecticut, Parish House of St. Andrews Church, Loan Exhibition, June 10-16, 1906;

New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven Colony Historical Society, Furniture of the New Haven Colony: The Seventeenth-Century Style, (New Haven, CT: The New Haven Colony Historical Society, April 1973.

Literature: Centennial of Meriden June 10-16, 1906, (Meriden, CT: Journal Publishing Co., 1906), p. 355-6 mentioned;

Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America, Vol. II, (New York, Chalres Scribner’s Sons, 1927), p. 23, fig. 435-6;

Patricia E. Kane, Furniture of the New Haven Colony: The Seventeenth-Century Style, (New Haven, CT: The new Haven Colony Historical Society, 1973), pp. 22-3, pl. VII;

Patricia E. Kane, “New Haven colony furniture: the seventeenth-century style,” Magazine Antiques, (May 1973),p. 961, pl. V.

This sale offers a unique opportunity to purchase one of the earliest and most important Wainscot chairs to ever come on the market. Armchairs of this form were owned primarily by male landed gentry and would have been prominently displayed in the main room of the house.1 This example was made in New Haven, Connecticut during the mid-seventeenth and likely originally owned by Richard Mansfield (1611-1655), one of the first settlers of New Haven. It descended through successive generations of his family and the Merriam family of Meriden for over three hundred and sixty-five years until the present time. It was exhibited during Merriam family ownership at a loan exhibition celebrating the Centennial for Meriden in 1906. It was also included in the seminal exhibition on furniture made in New Haven during the seventeenth century held at the New Haven Colony Historical Society in 1973. This armchair has survived in remarkable condition and retains all of its multiple layers of original surface. According to a recent scientific surface analysis conducted on the chair, the earliest paint applied at the beginning of the eighteenth century was a pale Prussian blue pigment that was dispersed in white lead bound in oil. This blue painted surface is extant under at least nine other surface coatings, some pigmented.2

Richard Mansfield (1611-1655) was born in Exeter, Devon, England in 1611 and had emigrated to the New Haven Colony by 1639, when he is recorded as purchasing several pieces of land there. In 1641, he established a large farm and built a dwelling house called “East Farms” on the North Haven road where he lived until his death in 1655. This chair likely descended to his son, Major Moses Mansfield (1640-1703) who was born on January 14, 1640 in New Haven to Richard and his wife, Gillian (Field) (c. 1612-1669). Moses was a member of the General Court of Assembly and a Judge of the Probate Court and County Court. He lived in a house at Elm and Church Streets in New Haven on land that formerly belonged to his father. His son, Captain Moses Mansfield (1674-1740), likely owned the chair next. He married Margaret Prout (b. June 7, 1682) and their son, Samuel Mansfield (1717-1775), inherited the armchair from his father. Samuel was a successful businessman in New Haven as well as High Sheriff of the County. He and his wife Esther (Hall) (1718-1795) lived on Water Street in New Haven. Family tradition notes that this armchair was given to a member of the Merriam family by a member of the Mansfield family of New Haven during the Revolution. It was during this time that Samuel Mansfield likely gave this armchair to William Merriam Sr. (1700-1751) or William Merriam Jr. (1728-1791), both of Meriden. The Wainscot chair continued to descend through five more generations of their family until this sale.

This armchair bears additional significance for being one of only seven Wainscot chairs known that were made in Connecticut during the seventeenth century. The other six examples include one at the Wadsworth Atheneum made in Guilford and owned by Thomas Robinson; one at Yale University made in New Haven and owned by Rector Pierson; one owned by Governor Leete in the collection of the Stone House in Guilford; one owned by Governor John Winthrop, Jr. now at Wesleyan University; one at Chipstone Foundation; and one in a private collection made in Milford and owned by Robert Treat.

This chair is decorated with five distinct carved motifs adorning the crest rail, stiles, back panel, lower back rail and seat rails. Francis Gruber Safford stated that “out of the multiplicity, which reflects the predilection in this period for complex ornamental schemes, a vibrant whole is achieved through the recall and opposition of forms.” The high relief double S-scrolls, lunettes with leaves, and strapwork represents carving traditions rooted in sixteenth century English West Country design. Two chest made by the same joiner as the Manfield-Merriam armchair survive. The first is the Brintnall family red oak chest at the New Haven Colony Historical Society.3 Both it and the armchair share all of the same carved motifs: the paired S-scrolls on their panels, alternating lozenge and rosettes on their stiles, the lunettes present on the top rail of the chest are placed on the seat rail of the armchair, and the paired leaves on the bottom rail of the chest are present on the lower back rail of the armchair. The other chest that descended in the Clark family of New Haven is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. As with the Brintnall chest it also shares the same carving vocabulary of lunettes, rosettes, and leafage.4 An oak document box once in the Fuessenich collection has carved half rosettes and lozenges that relate to the stile carvings present on the chests and armchair. The design and construction of the crestrail is inspired. In this instance the New Haven joiner placed the crest rail between the stiles which is structurally significantly stronger. His slightly higher placement of the uppermost stile rosettes, permits them to appear as flanking finials. Furthermore their placement is orchestrated so that visually the bottom arc of the rosette flows seamlessly into the upper S-scroll on the crest rail. The wainscot chair owned by Robert Treat (c. 1622-1710) of Milford displays similar carving by a different hand and represents the work of a craftsman in Milford.5 The Treat joiner employs a related S-scroll for their crest but as it sits on top of the stiles no planning was necessary to lineup carving.

A wainscot chair at Yale University owned by Reverend Abraham Pierson (c. 1645-1707), first rector of the Collegiate School (later Yale University) superficially relates in form. 6 Its Doric order turnings seem related but upon examination they are vastly different. Pierson acquired the armchair in 1669, from the widow of Lawrence Ward (d. 1671), a skilled turner to whom the Yale University chair is attributed. The Mansfield-Merriam armchair “turnings” are not actually turned but rather shaped likely with a draw knife. Even using such a simple tool, the Mansfield-Merriam joiner was able to provide a perfect taper to the front legs and arm supports. The original mill sawn seat board on the Mansfield-Merriam armchair was likely milled at first documented saw mill in New Haven built by William Fowler about 1640.7

Twenty-one other extant Wainscot chairs are in public collections and two are in private collections. Of these, six made in Essex County are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Winterthur Museum, Pilgrim Hall Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Danvers Historical Society, respectively. Two others from Ipswich, Massachusetts made by Thomas Dennis are at Bowdoin College and the Peabody Essex Museum. A third chair from Ipswich is in the collection of the Henry Ford Museum. Seven others from Massachusetts include one originally owned by Edward Winslow at the Pilgrim Hall Museum; two made in Dedham in the collection of the Dedham Historical Society; one at the Brooklyn Museum of Art made in Hingham and owned by the Lincoln family; another in a private collection made in Hingham and also owned by the Lincoln family; one in a private collection from the Burgess family that was made in Duxbury or Yarmouth; and one at the National Society of Colonial Dames owned by Hugh Cole and made in Swansea.

One at the Redwood Library was made in Newport and owned by Benedict Arnold. Another example made by Robert Rhea of New Jersey is in the collection of the Monmouth Historical Society. Two others at Winterthur Museum were made in New York. Another example from New York is at the Wadsworth Atheneum, which also owns a chair of this type made in Virginia with a history in the Goodwin family. One other example attributed to Eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island, or Massachusetts at Chipstone was owned by the Waldo family and made by John Elderkin.

Wainscot armchairs of this quality rarely come up for sale. The last to sell at auction is one with a history in the Bachiler family that was made in Essex County, Massachusetts. It sold at Christie’s, The Collection of Mrs. And Mrs. Eddy Nicholson, January 27-28, 1995, lot 1024 and is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prior to that, a Wainscot chair from Essex County now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston was sold in these rooms, Important Americana: The Bertram K. Little and Nina Fletcher Little Collection, Part II, October 21-22, 1994, sale 6612, lot 661.

1Benno Forman, American Seating Furniture, (New York, 1988): fig. 59, p. 134.

2This analysis was conducted at Sotheby’s by James Martin, SVP and Director of Scientific Research. The analysis included visual inspection, stereomicroscope examination, and cross-section examination.

3Patricia E. Kane, Furniture of the New Haven Colony: The Seventeenth-Century Style, (New Haven: The New Haven Historical Society, 1973), no. III, pp. 14-5.

4Frances Gruber Safford, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vol. 1. Early Colonial Period: The Seventeenth-Century and William and Mary Styles, (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, distributed by Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2007), pp. 205-7, no. 86.

5Patricia E. Kane, “New Haven Colony Furniture: The Seventeenth Century Style,” The Magazine Antiques (May 1973): 951, fig. 2 and Kane, Furniture of the New Haven Colony, no. VI, pp. 20-1.

6Kane, Antiques, fig. IV, p. 960 and Kane, Furniture of the New Haven Colony, no. XXV, p. 58-9.

7At the second general court of Wepowage, held March 9th,1640, "It was agreed between William Fowler and the Brethren, that he should build a mill and have her going by the last of September.” Edward R. Lambert, History of the Colony of New Haven Before and After the Union with Connecticut, (New Haven, CT: Hitchcock & Safford, 1838), p. 94.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $300,000-500,000

Price Realized: $375,000


VERY RARE PILGRIM CENTURY CARVED AND JOINED OAK CHEST WITH DRAWER, Attributed to John Savell (1642-1687), Braintree, Massachusetts, Circa 1670, retains an early, possibly original surface; lid is replaced and drawer lacking knobs. Height 31.75 in. by Width 55.5 in. by Depth 21.25 in.

Provenance: Adam A. Weschler & Son, Inc., May 20, 2006, lot 485.

Literature: Robert F. Trent, Erik K. Gronning and Joshua W. Lane, "Dutch Joinery in 17th-Century Windsor, Connecticut," Maine Antique Digest, Vol. 35:8 (August 2007), 8D - 13D.

Catalogue Note: This joinery and carving detail on this chest attribute it to the Savell shop explained in depth in Peter Follansbee's and John D. Alexander's article "Seventeenth-Century Joinery from Braintree, Massachusetts: The Savell Shop Tradition," American Furniture 1996, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone foundation 1996), pp. 81-104. The carving details in the upper corners of the panels and the horizontal "bar" flanking the central drawer medallion associate this chest to the work of John Savell (1642-1687). This chest is particularly noteworthy in that it appears to retain its original red wash.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $12,000-18,000

Price Realized: $32,500


RARE PILGRIM CENTURY CARVED, TURNED AND JOINED OAK MAPLE AND PINE CHEST WITH TWO DRAWERS, Wethersfield, Connecticut, Circa 1685, top, feet, two inner half columns and both outside half columns replaced. Height 40.25 in. by Width 48 in. by Depth 21.5 in.

Provenance: Philip Budrose, Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Exhibited: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Art Center, American Decorative Arts, September 19, 1975 - September 19, 1976.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $6,000-12,000

Price Realized: $32,500






THE IMPORTANT FEDERAL HIGHLY INLAID CHERRYWOOD AND MAHOGANY TALL CASE CLOCK, case authenticated to Nathan Lumbard (1777-1847), Sturbridge or Sutton, Massachusetts, circa 1800. Fretwork, finials and feet replaced. Height 89.5 in. by Width 18.5 in. by Depth 9 in.

Provenance: Joe Kindig, Jr. & Son, York, Pennsylvania.

Exhibited: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Art Museum, Skin Deep: Three Masters of American Inlaid Furniture, November 22, 2003-March 2, 2003.

Literature: Brock Jobe and Clark Pearce, “Sophistication in Rural Massachusetts: the Inlaid Cherry Furniture of Nathan Lombard,” American Furniture (Hanover and London: The Chipstone Foundation, 1998), fig. 42, p. 187;

Christie Jackson, Brock Jobe, and Clark Pearce, Crafting Excellence: The Furniture of Nathan Lumbard and His Circle (Winterthur, DE: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2018), n. 41.

Catalogue Note: An icon of rural New England craftsmanship in the Federal style, this tall-case clock is the most extravagant of a group of clocks attributed to the shop of Nathan Lumbard (1777-1847), a cabinetmaker working in the Sutton area of Massachusetts. Born in 1777 in Brimfield, this highly skilled and creative craftsman may have apprenticed to a local cabinetmaker before establishing a business in 1798 in Brimfield.1 He moved to nearby Sutton circa 1803. He employed numerous journeymen and apprentices in his shop including his oldest son, Alanson A. Lumbard, who acquired the business after Nathan died in 1847. Today, the furniture documented and attributed to Lumbard is all in the early Federal style and most pieces date from the first decade of the nineteenth century.2

This clock is included in the article written by Brock Jobe and Clark Pearce, “Sophistication in Rural Massachusetts: the Inlaid Cherry Furniture of Nathan Lombard,” published in American Furniture in 1998. It also appears illustrated in the most recent scholarship on Lumbard, Crafting Excellence: The Furniture of Nathan Lumbard and His Circle by Christie Jackson, Brock Jobe, and Clark Pearce that will be published by Winterthur Museum in 2018. In the latter publication, the authors note that Lumbard likely trained with the cabinetmaker Oliver Wight (1765-1837) of Sturbridge, based on direct similarities in the work of these two craftsmen.3

The construction features found on this clock such as the molding profiles and tapered flanges confirm that it is a product of the Lumbard tradition.4 It displays the full range of Lumbard’s whimsical decorative vocabulary for inlays including double eagles clutching a shield on the base; a spread wing eagle perched in a cup beneath a quadrant filled with sixteen stars; swirling oval paterae with alternating dark and light rays set within diamond-shape chevron stringing; quarter fans of alternating light and dark wood set into the corners of the waist door and base; husks; inlaid variegated spear points; and the sunburst within a shield. Jackson, Jobe and Pearce note that several other motifs such as the light-wood glyphs, light and dark eight-petal flowers and zigzag stringing are a departure and seem to be by another hand – perhaps that of a journeyman in the shop.5 It is further enhanced with the additional embellishments of a case with colonnettes and quarter columns that are stop-fluted with brass reeds.

Several other related tall case clocks from the Lumbard shop are known. One in a private collection made of cherry with mahogany veneer is signed and dated by Lumbard: “Top / December 9 [or 7]th 1801 / N Lumbard / Maker.”6 It features many of the same inlays as the present clock including the swirling oval paterae, shield, chevron stringing, and quarter fans. The tapered and beveled vertical flanges, vertical quarter round cove moldings, and triangular continuous glue blocks securing the vertical corners of the case are distinctive construction features found on this clock.7 These same features are found on a cherry tall case clock signed and dated by Oliver Wight: “March / 23 1791 / Oliver Wight / Sturbridge,” with related inlays of light and dark wood quarter fans and half of an oval paterae.8 A tall case clock of cherry with double eagle inlay and swirling oval paterae is attributed to Nathan Lumbard and may have been made while he was still working in Oliver Wight’s shop.9 With Lumbard’s signature inlay motifs – swirling oval paterae framed with diamonds – and carving by the same hand as other furniture from his shop, a mahogany tall case clock is also possibly Lumbard’s work.10

1Brock Jobe and Clark Pearce, “Sophistication in Rural Massachusetts: the Inlaid Cherry Furniture of Nathan Lombard,” American Furniture 1998, p. 165.

2Ibid, p. 170.

3Christie Jackson, Brock Jobe, and Clark Pearce, Crafting Excellence: The Furniture of Nathan Lumbard and His Circle (Winterthur, DE: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2018), p. 195.

4Ibid, p. 201.

5Ibid, p. 201.

6See ibid, plate 38.

7Ibid, p. 195.

8See ibid, plate 39.

9See ibid, plate 42.

10See ibid, plate 43.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $80,000-120,000

Price Realized: $471,000


FEDERAL TURNED AND INLAID CHERRYWOOD OCTAGONAL TILT-TOP CANDLESTAND, manner of Nathan Lumbard, Central Massachusetts, Circa 1800, the drawer bottom inscribed in pencil H.A. Rindge / Monson / Mass and Lottie F. Rindge / Monson / Mass on the backside of the drawer. Height 27.625 in. by Width 18.375 in. by Depth 13.25 in.

Provenance: Descended in the Rindge family of Wilbraham to Henry A. Rindge (1832-1913) in Monson and later to his granddaughter Charlotte Fay Rindge Shores (1889-1964); to present owner.

Literature: Christie Jackson, Brock Jobe, and Clark Pearce, Crafting Excellence: The Furniture of Nathan Lumbard and His Circle (Winterthur, DE: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2018), p. 251, no. 55.

Catalogue Note: This candlestand with an eagle- and shield-inlaid top is associated with the work of Nathan Lumbard (1777-1847), a talented and highly individualistic cabinetmaker working for a prosperous rural clientele in Sutton, Massachusetts during the first half of the nineteenth century. The stand is included in the book about Nathan Lumbard and his contemporaries, Crafting Excellence: The Furniture of Nathan Lumbard and His Circle, written by Christie Jackson, Brock Jobe and Clark Pearce and published by the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum in 2018. The authors note that Lumbard was joined by other cabinetmakers in using eagle inlays for their furniture.1 As the symbol of the new nation, the eagle was by far the most popular motif of the Federal period.

Similar stands with eagle inlays were made by cabinetmakers working in southern Worcester County and southeastern Hampden County. The eagle on the present stand is articulated with outstretched wings comprised of feathers originating from a center vein behind a striped shield with a chevron outline and above scrolling leaves with a center antefix. The authors note that certain details on this stand relate to Lumbard’s oeuvre – such as the pillar, leg silhouette, use of a drawer, and inlay – but distinctive construction details suggest it is the work of another craftsman.2These include the box constructed in a bulky manner with thick sides, the heavy cleats that lack the tapering found on Lumbard’s work, and the thick chevron stringing and its placement on the outermost edge of the drawer. A related eagle inlay with a similar silhouette is found on an oval stand made in Southern Worcester County that was owned by Carl Hitchcock (1895-1972) of Derby/New Haven, Connecticut.3

Retaining its original brass drawer knob, this stand is inscribed in pencil on the drawer with names of two of its former owners: H. A. Rindge and Lottie F. Rindge of Monson, Massachusetts. Jackson, Jobe and Pearce note that Henry A. Rindge, a farmer and landowner in Monson, was born in Wilbraham, Massachusetts on April 9, 1832; he married Charlotte Fay in 1857.4 Their granddaughter Lottie F. Rindge (Charlotte Fay) was born in Monson in 1889. Henry Rindge was a member of the prestigious Rindge family of nearby Wilbraham, where he grew up and attended the Wesleyan Academy. His parents, Royal and Roxana Rindge, owned a large Federal house in Wilbraham known as the “Century Homestead,” in reference to its continuous ownership in the same family for 100 years.5 As this stand pre-dates Henry, he may have inherited it from his parents who were prosperous enough to own such an expensive piece.

1Christie Jackson, Brock Jobe, and Clark Pearce, Crafting Excellence: The Furniture of Nathan Lumbard and His Circle (Winterthur, DE: Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2018): 242.

2Ibid, p. 245.

3See ibid, no. 57.

4Ibid, p. 244.

5Ibid, p. 246.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $25,000-50,000

Price Realized: $100,000


WILLIAM MATTHEW PRIOR (1806 - 1873), PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GIRL IN A PINK DRESS HOLDING ROSES, appears to retain original stretchers, signed on the back of the canvas by W.M. Prior 1843. Oil on canvas, 21.25 by 15 in., 1843.

Provenance: Thomas and Nancy Tafuri, Roxbury, Connecticut.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $60,000-80,000

Price Realized: $112,500


JOHN BREWSTER, JR. (1766 - 1859), PAIR OF PORTRAITS: LAVINIA AND DR. JAMES HALL, Oil on canvas, 24.5 by 19.5 in., circa 1800, South Freeport, Maine

Provenance: Thomas Tafuri, Roxbury, Connecticut.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $20,000-30,000

Price Realized: $56,250


GILBERT STUART (1755 - 1828), JONATHAN AMORY, oil on panel, 26.25 by 20.375 in., painted circa 1810.

Provenance: Caroline S. Amory (the sitter's daughter), Boston, Massachusetts;

Arthur Amory Eckley (her son);

Susan Hammond Thwing (his wife);

Arthur Heathfield, Esq. (her nephew), Paris, France;

M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1913 (acquired from the above);

Robinson & Farr, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1920 (acquired from the above);

Marvin Sadik Fine Arts, Scarborough, Maine;

Private collection, Washington, D.C. (acquired from the above; sold: Sotheby's, New York, December 1, 2004, sale 8032, lot 117);

Acquired by the present owner at the above sale.

Exhibited: Boston, Massachusetts, Exhibition of Stuart's Portraits, 1828, no. 179;

Boston, Massachusetts, Boston Athenaeum, 1866, 1867, 1869;

Providence, Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design, 1914;

Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, Inaugural Exhibition, 1916.

Literature: George C. Mason, The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart, (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1879), p. 129;

"The Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," (Boston, MA, 1918), illustrated opp. p. 76;

Lawrence Park, Gilbert Stuart: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works, (New York, William Edwin Rudge, 1926), vol. I, no. 18, p. 102; vol. III, illustrated p. 10.

Catalogue Note: Jonathan Amory was a merchant from Boston, Massachusetts. This portrait was likely painted shortly before he sailed to Europe with his family in 1810.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $20,000-30,000

Price Realized: $43,750


VERY FINE AND RARE YELLOW-PAINTED BAMBOO-TURNED WINDSOR ROCKING CRADLE WITH HOOD, Pennsylvania, Circa 1805, Height 29 in. by Length 41.25 in. by Width 24.75 in.

Provenance: Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut.

Catalogue Note: For three examples of Pennsylvania Windsor rocking cradles with hoods, see Charles Santore, The Windsor Style in America: 1730-1830, (Philadelphia: Running Press, 1981), pp. 187-188, figs. 255-257.

Sold at Sotheby's Auction January 18-21, 2018.

Estimate: $4,000-6,000

Price Realized: $10,625


RED AND PURPLE SPATTER BULL'S-EYE SHALLOW BOWL, 10.5" diameter.

Provenance: The Private Collection of Roland & Marilyn Kemble, Norwich, Ohio

Condition: Good condition. No apparent damages or repairs.

Sold at Pook and Pook, The Private Collection of Roland and Marilyn Kemble January 13, 2018.

Estimate: $200-300

Price Realized: $732


MINIATURE CHIPPENDALE LOOKING GLASS, ca. 1800, retaining an old dry varnish surface, found in Wiscassett, Maine, 10" h.

Provenance: The Private Collection of Roland & Marilyn Kemble, Norwich, Ohio

Condition: Good condition. No apparent damages or repairs.

Sold at Pook and Pook, The Private Collection of Roland and Marilyn Kemble January 13, 2018.

Estimate: $300-500

Price Realized: $6,250


NEW ENGLAND QUEEN ANNE BOLDLY STRIPED TIGER MAPLE AND PINE HIGH CHEST, ca. 1760, the upper section with five drawers resting on a four drawer base with delicate turned legs terminating in slipper feet, 69" h., 38" w.

Provenance: The Private Collection of Roland & Marilyn Kemble, Norwich, Ohio;

Thomas Kramer, Indiana

Sold at Pook and Pook, The Private Collection of Roland and Marilyn Kemble January 13, 2018.

Estimate: $10,000-15,000

Price Realized: $14,640


MOCHA YELLOWWARE PITCHER WITH TOBACCO LEAF DECORATION, 6.5" h.

Provenance: The Private Collection of Roland & Marilyn Kemble, Norwich, Ohio

Condition: Two spout chips.

Sold at Pook and Pook, The Private Collection of Roland and Marilyn Kemble January 13, 2018.

Estimate: $1,500-2,000

Price Realized: $3,172


RARE DIMINUTIVE CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA QUEEN ANNE WALNUT DRESSING TABLE, ca. 1750, with a scalloped skirt and two full width drawers, supported by cabriole legs ending in crooked feet, retaining a historic Spanish brown surface, 29.25" h., 31" w.

Provenance: Provenance: The Private Collection of Roland & Marilyn Kemble, Norwich, Ohio;

Found at auction near Wooster, Ohio by Harry Dudka and Frity Newmiller, old time Ohio pickers.

Condition: Two large lip repairs, brasses replaced, missing one knee return.

Sold at Pook and Pook, The Private Collection of Roland and Marilyn Kemble January 13, 2018.

Estimate: $10,000-14,000

Price Realized: $11,590


IMPORTANT AMERICAN MAPLE CELLO DATED 1763, bearing the label of Johann Antes Bethlehem, PA. Widely regarded as the first bowed string instrument maker in America, few examples of his work survive, including a violin at the Moravian Historical Society Nazareth, Pa and a viola in the Lititz Congregation Collection. The present example could very well be the earliest American made cello extant.

Condition: As found. Top of scroll broken off. See additional photographs to view condition issues. Bears a restorers label of Carl Thorbahn, Lancaster, PA. Provenance: removed from a Pittsburgh home.

Sold at Pook and Pook January 27, 2018.

Estimate: $5,000-10,000

Price Realized: $20,740


WILHELM SCHIMMEL (CUMBERLAND VALLEY PENNSYLVANIA 1817-1890), CARVED AND PAINTED ROOSTER, retaining its original polychrome decoration, 6.375" h.

Provenance: Private Collection Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Condition: Good condition. No apparent damages or repairs.

Sold at Pook and Pook January 27, 2018.

Estimate: $6,000-9,000

Price Realized: $10,980


IMPORTANT LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA MAHOGANY AND CHERRY DWARF CLOCK, ca. 1830, the broken arch bonnet enclosing an eight day works with painted face, signed Geoe. Eby Manheim, above a reverse painted panel supported by front cabriole legs terminating in trifid feet, 40.52" h. Very few examples of this form are known.

Sold at Pook and Pook January 27, 2018.

Estimate: $20,000-30,000

Price Realized: $24,400


CENTRE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA PAINTED PINE DOWER CHEST, dated 1817, inscribed Daniel Houser, retaining its original decoration with two large trees, love birds and flowers on a salmon ground, 24.5" h., 47.5" w.

Condition: Expected wear. Hardware replaced. Repaired breaks to foot facings.

Sold at Pook and Pook January 27, 2018.

Estimate: $8,000-12,000

Price Realized: $19,520


PAINTED EGGS TRADE SIGN, 19th c., 5.5" h.

Condition: Original paint. Good condition. Expected wear consistent with age and use. Writing is only on one side.

Sold at Pook and Pook January 27, 2018.

Estimate: $200-400

Price Realized: $7,320


PHILADELPHIA PEWTER TANKARD, ca. 1805, bearing the touch of Parks Boyd, 7.375" h.

Condition: Good with expected wear.

Sold at Pook and Pook January 27, 2018.

Estimate: $3,000-5,000

Price Realized: $6,875


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