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 January, 2011 | 23 Items | Signs of Spring at Pook and Pook  |
| SILVER TANKARD, NATHANIEL HURD (1729-1777), Boston, c. 1760, urn and flame finial on a stepped domed lid over a tapered cylindrical body with applied band at lower body, the front engraved with bird surmounting a coat of arms within a rococo cartouche, surrounded by cornucopia and flower sprays over the inscription "S. P. Parrot"; hollow scroll handle with scroll thumb-piece with a rounded drop at upper joining, and with engraved monogram N over J+M, the maker's mark with initial and surname with a pellet between in a cartouche with straight lower edge (Kane mark A), located on the body to the left of the upper handle terminal, (minor imperfections), ht. 8 3/4 in., approx. 28 troy oz. Note: Nathaniel Hurd was the son of the prolific Boston silversmith Jacob Hurd (1702-1758). He was a noted silversmith as well as an engraver of currency, prints, trade cards, and bookplates. A typewritten note accompanies the tankard which was written in 1928 by noted antiques dealer, Miss Katrina Kipper, of Accord, Massachusetts. It is addressed to a Mr. Robert Morse of Boston. She writes that the tankard belonged to the Newhall family of Concord and was handed down to members of the family of S.P. Parrot and Susan Parker of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The tankard sided with subtle dents and scratches, more noticeable small dents on cover and base edge. Lid reinforced on hinge area, small split on base edge. Sold at Skinner Auction March 6, 2011. Estimate: $15,000-25,000 Price Realized: $19,553 | |
| RARE PAINTED PINE AND MAPLE CHEST ON FRAME, Edmund Titcomb, Newbury, Massachusetts, c. 1700, the rectangular molded top above a single-arched case of two short drawers and three graduated long drawers, set into a lower section with mid-molding, single arched frame, long drawer and S-scrolled legs joined by shaped stretchers on turned feet, retains one original pull and original escutcheons, old surface, the backboards of the upper section with painted signature "Made by Edmund Titcomb," ht. 51 1/2, wd. 42, dp. 21 3/4 in. Provenance: Historic Winslow House, Marshfield, Massachusetts, proceeds to benefit the maintenance and conservation of the collection. Literature: American Furniture, 1620 to the Present, Jonathan Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, Richard Marek Publishers, New York, 1981, p. 52, illustrated. Fairbanks writes, "As recently as 1969, the location of this key specimen of the cabinetmaker's art in New England was not known to furniture historians. It was recognized as one of the rare signed and documented examples of the second major style of furnituremaking in this country. The chest's design shows a dramatic movement toward vertical composition. It is lifted off the ground with a curvilinear stand that reflects the energy of Baroque art. The flat S-scrolls of its base suggest that the maker, Edmund Titcomb, must have been well aware of fashionable London design, which by the 1660s had been strongly influenced by immigrant designers and craftsman from the Low Countries. The Anglo-Flemish traditions reflected in this piece are remarkably sophisticated, considering the town in which it was made was a very modest rural village well into the eighteenth century...The chest's strong silhouette and dramatic base make the work successful." Sold at Skinner Auction March 6, 2011. The Magazine Antiques, September 2001, "Careswell: the Historic Winslow House in Marshfield, Massachusetts," John P. Hermanson, pp. 312-319, illustrated. Estimate $100,000-150,000 Sold for $213,300 | |
| Rare Federal Flame Birch and Mahogany Veneer Reverse Serpentine Chest of Drawers, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, c. 1805-15, the shaped top with crossbanded and string-inlaid edge above a case of four cockbeaded drawers with ivory inlaid escutcheons and original brasses signed "HJ" on bails, on slightly flaring tall French feet centering the inlaid drop panel, old refinish, (imperfections), ht. 38 1/4, dp. 20, wd. 39 3/4 in. Top with shrinkage cracks, one with warping, right rear foot with patched veneer, left front front side veneer cracked, shrinkage crack to both sides of case, minor losses to cockbeading, one escutcheon replaced, bottom of drop panel worn/bumped. Provenance: Descended through the Simes family of Portsmouth to the present owner. Literature: Portsmouth Furniture: Masterworks from the New Hampshire Seacoast, plate 11, p. 114, illustrates a bowfront chest with stylistic and structural similarities. Sold at Skinner Auction March 6, 2011. Estimate: $20,000-30,000 Price Realized: $314,000 | |
| Mahogany and Mahogany Veneer Dwarf Clock, Joshua Wilder, Hingham, Massachusetts, case attributed to Abiel White, Weymouth, Massachusetts, c. 1821-24, the removable hood with pierced fret joining plinths with turned, gilt gesso wooden finials, housing a white-painted polychrome and gilt iron dial with a basket of fruit in the arch, urn spandrels, Arabic numerals, inscribed "J Wilder/Hingham," with a brass eight-day weight-powered time and strike movement, the waist with molded door bordered by double-banded inlay and flanking brass mounted quarter columns on conformingly inlaid base and flaring French feet joining a scrolled apron, mellow patina, (minor imperfections), ht. 52 in. Provenance: Mrs. Robert Morse, Milton, Massachusetts, acquired c. 1928. Literature: In Harbor & Home, Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, Brock Jobe et al., University Press of New England, 2009, plate 105, pp. 325-327, a nearly identical clock is discussed by Gary Sullivan, who writes, "of the twenty known examples of this type, seventeen have cases ascribed to [Abiel] White's shop." Sullivan says that the clock shown in Harbor & Home "exemplifies the finest version of the form." Note: Other examples of this form include one sold at Christie's sale of the Property from the Collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, 21 January 2006, as lot 567. Another is discussed in Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture, Crown Publishers, New York, 1993, p. 145. In the entry, termed a "masterpiece" by Sack, he writes, "This is the highest level of form achieved in the group of grandmother clocks produced in the Hingham or Hanover area...This will always be recognized as one of the supreme clocks of this rare and desirable group." Some paint loss to dial, shrinkage crack in front panel of base, finials may well be original, breaks and repairs to fretwork. Sold at Skinner Auction March 6, 2011. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $189,000 | |
| DAVID STODDARD GREENOUGH, JR.'S PAINT DECORATED LEATHER FIRE BUCKET, fire bucket made by John Fenno, Boston, c. 1812, centered with a bowknot suspending an oval reserve painted with an erupting volcano over two banners, one inscribed "VULCANUS CEDAT NEPPUNO," the other "D.S. GREENOUGH Jr."; "No. 1" flanking the bowknot, on a brown-painted ground, black-painted collar and handle, the name "I.FENNO" impressed on either side of the back seam, (minor imperfections), ht. to collar 12 3/4 in. Note: The depiction of a volcano, along with the year 1812, probably commemorates two volcanic eruptions occurring in 1812: Soufrier on St. Vincent Island in the Caribbean, and Awu on Sangihe Islands, Indonesia. David Stoddard Greenough, Jr. (David S. Greenough II) (1787-1830) was the son of David S. Greenough I, and Anne (Doane). David Jr., was a member of the Harvard College class of 1805, he practiced law, served as a Justice of the Peace in Massachusetts, and was lieutenant colonel of the Boston Independent Cadets. In 1813 he married Maria Foster Doane (1793-1843), daughter of Elisha and Jane (Cutler) Doane of Wellfleet and Cohasset, Massachusetts. They resided in Jamaica Plain (Roxbury), Massachusetts, and had five children. The handle has a few cracks, craquelure and minor scattered small paint losses. Sold at Skinner Auction March 6, 2011. Estimate: $1,000-1,500 Price Realized: $`10,073 | |
| JOSEPH WHITING STOCK (AMERICAN, 1815-1855) Portrait of a Baby Boy with His Rattle, Riding Whip, and Ball. Unsigned. Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in., in an ornate gilt-gesso frame. Condition: Relined, minor retouch, primarily to edges and background. Some retouch all around the edges from frame and stretcher rub, a few spots of retouch on the carpet, stable craquelure. Sold at Skinner Auction March 6, 2011. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $15,405 | |
| BLACK PAINTED WINDSOR BOW-BACK APPLIED-ARM CHAIR, New England, late 18th century, old black paint over earlier red and green, ht. 37 1/2, seat ht. 17 in. Sold at Skinner Auction March 6, 2011. Estimate: $2,000-3,000 Price Realized: $4,977 | |
| LARGE HAND-HEWN BURL BOWL, probably native American, most likely Iriquois, early 19th century, oval form with pierced integral handles, ht. 7 1/2, wd. 15, lg. 19 1/4 in. Minor shrinkage cracks (about five) around rim, dry unvarnished mellow surface. Sold at Skinner Auction March 6, 2011. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $9,480 | |
| MOCHA PITCHER, England, 2nd quarter-19th century. Fine example with bands of cat's-eyes above and below a central band with tulips. Minor imperfections. 7 3/4"h. Small edge flakes, hairline. The hairline is approximately 3" long that starts at the rim. There is a flake on the spout and one on the rim. There is also a couple of glaze inperfections. One is on the handle and the other on the side in the stem of the tulip. All can be seen in the photos. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $1,500-3,000 Price Realized: $7,344 | |
| TIN LANTERN, American, 2nd half-19th century. Glass paned lantern marked "Mason's" with a ring for candle or font and a mercury glass reflector. 18"h. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $250-450 Price Realized: $705 | |
| DECORATED BLANKET CHEST, Attributed to Johannes Rank, Dauphin (now Lebanon) County, Pennsylvania, dated 1791, poplar. Dovetailed case with interior till, over three drawers and resting on bracket feet. Retains its original blue paint decoration, with three tombstones, each with pots of flowers, across which is "ML KB 1791." Imperfections. 27"h. 50 1/2"w. 22"d. Though similar to the work of other members of the Rank-Selzer families of makers and decorators, this chest is most closely related to the signed chests of Johannes Rank. See Fabian, The Pennsylvania-German Decorated Chest, figure 212. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $16,000-22,000 Price Realized: $17,625 | |
| CARVED BURL BUTTER PADDLE, American, 19th century. Good figure with a simply carved bird handle. 7 1/4"l. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $1,000-1,500 Price Realized: $8,225 | |
| GREASE LAMP, Attributed to Samuel Routson, Doylestown, Wayne County, Ohio, mid 19th century, redware with albany slip. Double spout with saucer base and applied handle. Hairline at base of column, 7"h. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $800-1,200 Price Realized: $1,175 | |
| SPATTERWARE PLATE, England, 2nd quarter-19th century. Blue paneled plate with red and yellow Schoolhouse. 8 1/2"d. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $900-1,200 Price Realized: $1,928 | |
| GAUDY DUTCH BOWL AND PLATE, England, 1st half-19th century. Both are the Oyster pattern with an additional King's Rose on the plate. Minor wear. Plate, 10"d., bowl 2 3/4'h. 5 1/2"d. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $300-400 Price Realized: $764 | |
| FOLKSY WOODEN DOLL, American, mid-late 19th century, wood. Hand carved with jointed shoulders and hips. Carved facial features and hair. Appears to be original paint. 16"h. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $1,000-1,500 Price Realized: $940 | |
| MINIATURE PORTRAIT, Probably American, 2nd quarter-19th century, watercolor on paper. Young man in a blue coat seated on a chair. In a birdseye maple veneer frame, 7 1/4"h. 6 1/4"w. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $300-600 Price Realized: $572 | |
| CANDLEMOLD IN FRAME, Marked "A. Wilcox", American, 19th century. Twenty-four redware tubes in a pine frame. Impefections. 14 1/2"h. 22"w. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $400-700 Price Realized: $572 | |
| QUEEN ANNE DRESSING TABLE, New England, mid 18th century, cherry and pine. One over three drawers, the central drawer having a carved shell, all resting on cabriole legs ending in pad feet. Minor imperfections. 31 1/2"h. 36 1/4"w. 21"d. Refinished, period brasses, top reattached, age cracks, replaced drops Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $1,000-2,000 Price Realized: $8,225 | |
| PAIR OF FEDERAL CANOPY BEDS, American, early 19th century, cherry. Shaped headboards, turned and reeded posts, and arched canopies. 76"h. 42 1/2"w., replaced rails are 76"l. Ex Tom and Carolyn Porter, sold at Garth's, November 2004, lot 662. Sold at Garth's Auction March 11-12, 2011. Estimate: $900-1,500 Price Realized: $1,116 | |
| (AMERICAN INDIANS.) McKenney, Thomas; and Hall, James. History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 121 hand-colored lithographed plates. iv, 333; [iv], 3-319; iv, 17-392 pages. 3 volumes. 8vo, publisher's blind-stamped morocco, moderate wear; hinges split, binding broken in Volume I, plate of Caa-Tou-See detached and slightly worn, faint marginal dampstaining near end of Volume III; bookplates on front endpapers. Philadelphia: Rice, Rutter and Co., 1865. McKenney compiled this work after serving as the United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs through 1830. It is most famous for its lithographs after Charles Bird King, who was commissioned by McKenney to paint portraits of American Indian delegates visiting Washington in the 1820s. No collation of this edition has been found; this set is erratically paginated but apparently complete. An attractive set of "the most colorful portraits of Indians ever executed"--Howes M129. Sold at Swann Auction Galleries March 31, 2011. Estimate: $10,000-15,000 Price Realized: $16,800 | |
| "RELATION OF THE LATE BLOODY MASSACRE AT BOSTON" (AMERICAN REVOLUTION.) Providence Gazette and Country Journal. 94 newspapers, most 4 pages each, in one volume. Folio, 15 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches, 19th-century 1/2 calf, worn, front cover detached; first issue worn, 15 of the 1771 issues with vermin damage in upper left corner, a few early marginal repairs, an occasional line cropped; early owners' signatures or docketing on many issues, extensive provenance notes on front endpapers. Providence, RI and elsewhere, 1764-82, bulk 1770-76 90 issues of the Providence Gazette and Country Journal, with 60 of them dated 1770 or 1771, and 20 of them dated from during the American Revolution. The revolutionary content is much too extensive to be listed here. The 10 and 17 March 1770 issues feature detailed coverage of the Boston Massacre (see illustration). In the 22 October 1774 issue is a long and eloquent "humble petitition of a number of poor Africans" to "the Sons of Liberty in Connecticut," asserting that liberty is "as necessary to the happiness of an African, as it is to the happiness of an Englishman." The 22 June 1776 issue features a letter from John Hancock warning of the impending British attack on New York. This was an important period in Rhode Island history even aside from the march toward war, as Brown University arrived in Providence: "Monday last the first Foundation Stone of the College about to be erected here was laid by Mr. John Brown" (19 May 1770). The lone 1764 issue features a slave advertisement: "Just imported in the sloop Elizabeth, from Africa, and to be sold by John Miller . . . a number of healthy Negro boys and girls." The 9 September 1775 issue discusses the proposed bill to abolish slavery being considered by the Rhode Island General Assembly. Also bound into the volume are single war-date issues of the New England Chronicle, Newport Mercury, Boston Gazette, and Connecticut Gazette. The 15 June 1775 New England Chronicle was issued two days befoer Bunker Hill, and features an inflammatory letter from British general Thomas Gage. The 10 July 1775 Boston Gazette was printed in nearby Watertown, having evacuated Boston the previous month; it features the text of letters between the Massachusetts Congress and George Washington in honor of his recent arrival on the scene. Provenance: Collected by Moses Brown (1738-1836), an important Providence abolitionist and industrialist (see his signature on the 3 January 1778 issue and elsewhere); by descent to granddaughter Anna Almy Jenkins, whose tenants on Moses Brown Farm had set it aside for kindling; given in 1846 to the farm's gardener William Nisbet (1816-1886); to daughter Jessie Gibson (Nisbet) Munro (1848-1912); thence by descent to the consignor. Sold at Swann Auction Galleries March 31, 2011. Estimate: $3,000-4,000 Price Realized: $38,400 | |
| HIS MISSION TO THE INDIANS AT STOCKBRIDGE EDWARDS, JONATHAN. Correspondence archive concerning his mission to the Indians at Stockbridge. 16 manuscript items, including 6 Autograph Letters Signed and Autograph Documents Signed by Jonathan Edwards, with the remaining documents relating directly to him. Various sizes and conditions, most with 19th-century repairs, each with inked library stamp. Stockbridge, MA, 1752-56 The famed New Light minister Jonathan Edwards was appointed in 1751 to the mission among the Mohicans at Stockbridge, MA. It was then a rugged frontier outpost with just a handful of English families, led by the wealthy landowner Ephraim Williams (father of the Williams College founder). Edwards had longstanding theological and personal disputes with the Williams family, so he arranged for his friend Brigadier General Joseph Dwight to assume secular control of the outpost. To his dismay, Dwight almost immediately wedded Williams's daughter. This set up a nasty power struggle between the powerful Williams/Dwight camp and Edwards, supported only by his little church's humble lay members. This small archive documents Edwards's tempestuous time in Stockbridge, which became a defining incident of his career. The general tone of the correspondence is mutual disgust covered over with a thin coat of Christian manners. The earliest document is an Autograph Letter Signed from Edwards to Dwight dated 10 February 1752, the same month as Dwight's engagement. Edwards writes with some alarm of a rumor that Dwight was "dismissing Mr. Ashley & his wife from their business at the boarding school, very speedily & suddenly." In a contemporary manuscript copy dated 18 August 1752, Edwards disputes with Elisha Williams about the decision to install the new Mrs. Dwight as head of the mission's female school, and complains that Ephraim Williams "without restraint or reserve declares by both his words & actions his disesteem & great dislike of me, and resolution to injure my character." Williams takes the offensive in a 2 May 1753 letter, denying Edwards a hearing on a recent infraction and pointing out that "I have been debarred of yours & the chhs communion for several months past." On 5 July 1753, Edwards agrees to let Dwight back into church membership, but only if his wife apologizes: "Mrs. Dwight should give the church the reasons of her openly turning her back on the sacraments of the Lord's Supper." On 11 September 1753, Edwards informs four members of the Williams family that they must explain their recent slanders of Edwards before the whole church body, "which I hope you will embrace, rather than to cast contempt on the church (which you have obliged your place in covenant to submit to) by refusing to appear before 'em." A week later, Edwards sent a long list of formal charges against five Williamses for their slander. A related charge in Edwards's hand states that Williams had called Edwards "a plague in the town" and orders church discipline for the slander. Ephraim Williams Jr. (the college benefactor) appears to be dragged into the mess for the first time on 19 November 1753, when he and other family members are taken to task for their "insidious & supercilious language" and are asked to "reflect on the temper you manifest." The family waited more than four months to deliver their 9-page response. A group of three depositions in support of the Dwight faction also sheds light on conditions in the settlement. Amidst this internal politicking, the English were living among Christianized Mohicans, and sometimes large delegations of Mohawks. On 2 March 1754, Edwards told Dwight that the Mohawks planned to leave this spring, adding that he would not feed them for the remainder of their time in Stockbridge. One Japheth Bush attested that in the winter of 1751 "there were ninety five in number of ye Mohawks beside six or seven Stockbridge boys; which number continued there, till some time in February, & then about twenty of ye Mohawks returned home, the rest remained there till ye spring of ye year when several others went away I suppose to their spring hunt." Bush also complained that when he was assigned to help build the controversial Female School to be led by Mrs. Dwight, he was warned harshly by an Edwards supporter that he better not hurry so much. See Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life, pages 375-426. Edwards letters appear very rarely on the market. Only a lone letter has been spotted at auction since 1970. A complete inventory of this important archive is available upon request. Sold at Swann Auction Galleries March 31, 2011. Estimate: $10,000-15,000 Price Realized: $50,400 |
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