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 August, 2014 | 47 Items | October, 2014  |
| CORNER CUPBOARD, Attributed to the Ralph family, Sussex County, Delaware, early 19th century, pine. One piece, the upper section with two eight-pane doors, the lower section with a single, diamond-paneled door, the whole decorated with elaborate molded and carved decoration. Retains old, darkened green paint. 87"h. 60"w. 27"d., requires a 41" corner. For a closely related example, see Brunk Auctions (North Carolina), November 2010, lot 335. Condition: Green paint is old and oxidized, with good wear, evidence of an earlier white/cream color underneath. Minor wear and losses, including a couple of the dentils. One cracked pane. Pieced repairs to the cornice... New material added to the right corner, original material used at the left corner. Left block in the base is replaced. Interior is refinished. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $2,500-5,000 Price Realized: $10,200 | |
| DRY SINK, American, 19th century, walnut and poplar. Old red wash. 30"h. 42"w. 17.5"d. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $300-600 Price Realized: $1,140 | |
| OIL LAMP, Wheeling, West Virginia, mid 19th century. Hobbs Brockunier with opalescent base and hobnail font with blue ground. 10.5"h. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $300-400 Price Realized: $1,440 | |
| PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG CHILD (AMERICAN SCHOOL, 1ST HALF-19TH CENTURY), Oil on poplar panel, unsigned. Seated child holding a book. Some imperfections. 26"h. 21.5"w., in a decorated frame, 31"h. 26.5"w. Condition: The painting has been varnished, varnish and paint have relatively heavy alligatoring, and instances of inpainting. Three ages of inpainting are existent, including on the face, hands, dress, some smaller areas in the background, and the book. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $600-800 Price Realized: $1,140 | |
| THREE BENNINGTON BOOK FLASKS, Vermont, ca 1850. Flint enamel, two with blue accents and impressed spines "Departed Spirits”. Minor imperfections. 5.5", 5.5" 6"h. Condition: The two smaller flasks are overall in good condition. One with a minor chip in the glaze on the back proper, opposite of the "binding" The larger flask has chips on the back edges, with a few blisters in the glaze; both flasks have crack-lour. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $300-600 Price Realized: $1,200 | |
| PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN (AMERICAN SCHOOL, 2ND QUARTER-19TH CENTURY), Oil on canvas, unsigned. Man holding a book. Restoration. 30"h. 24"w., in a frame, 34"h. 28"w. Condition: Under the black light, the portrait reveals touch-paint over the forehead of the gentleman, over his left and right shoulders, and over the hands. Additionally, a screen varnish has been applied, and an early repair to the portrait is evident above the top of his head. Crack-lour is also consistent throughout. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $250-500 Price Realized: $1,230 | |
| QUEEN ANNE MULE CHEST, Probably Connecticut or Massachusetts, 3rd quarter-18th century, pine. Five faux drawers and a carved patera over two drawers, resting on high cutout feet with an elaborately shaped skirt. Retains old red paint. 48"h. 40"w. 18"d. Ex Momchilov (Ohio). Condition: Replaced brasses in original holes. Pieced repairs on back left, back right and right center of lid. Drawer fronts have some edge damage. Age split on right side end panel. Split in right side of front apron. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $1,500-3,000 Price Realized: $2,040 | |
| BUCKET BENCH, American, 19th century, pine. Dovetail and tenon construction with five shelves and shaped ends. Retains old green and orange paint. 61.5"h. 42.5"w. 16"d. Ex Sally Schell (Illinois). Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $800-1,500 Price Realized: $1,800 | |
| TOBACCONIST'S FIGURE, American, late 19th century, pine. Indian maiden, holding cigars in her left hand. Original base has "Terry and Nobiling” and appears to be signed "In. A. Clong Ptr.” Old polychrome paint. Imperfections. 80.5"h. In Kiner, History of Henry County, Illinois, a grocery store is identified as being owned by F.E. Terry and L.E. Nobiling. In Craig, Sketches of Wethersfield Township [Henry County], he details the history of lot 64, which was was a barber shop until purchased by Fred E. Terry in 1901, who later sold it to Verne Nobiling. Condition: The paint is old, grungy, and worn, and likely was the last paint put on the figure during its use in front of a store. There are numerous age cracks and losses (some significant), and few later nails added for crack stabilization. The stabilizing braces and the wheels on the base are likely mid-20th century or earlier. A couple of the age cracks have widened in recent years, exposing unoxidized wood, and the age crack on the front of the tunic has some fill and may have some color that was added about the time the base was stabilized. The missing arm (shoulder) has not been cut off. The three dimensional nature of the Indian, on some appendages, is achieved through a laminated process - the gluing up of layers of wood, and then the shaping (of the arm in this case). The missing arm is simply the loss of a laminated section. The oxidation looks appropriate. From head to feet (not including the base) it measures 60'' in height. The width across the shoulders is 13''. The crack stabilization nails are located on the base, from the more recent boards on the top and bottom of the base, into the older wood. Relief is carved and painted. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $4,000-8,000 Price Realized: $22,800 | |
| CORNER CUPBOARD, American, mid 19th century, pine. One-piece cupboard: the upper section with twelve panes, the lower section with raised-panel doors and a shaped base. Overall beaded trim and applied decorations, with alligatored cream paint over green. 84.5"h. 44"w. 23"d., requires a 32" corner. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $1,000-1,200 Price Realized: $2,640 | |
| DECORATED MULE CHEST, New England, early 19th century, pine. Well with two faux drawers over two real drawers, on a shaped base. Retains its original brown over grey vinegar decoration. 38.5"h. 42"w. 18.5"d. Condition: The lid is loose and the hinge is incomplete, paint loss on the lid and is evident. The early sponge graining is an early over-paint over a red wash. There is edge loss to both of the true drawers. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $800-1,200 Price Realized: $1,680 | |
| THE PROPERTY OF PETER YODER, WADSWORTH TP. MEDINA CO. OHIO. 1882 BY FERDINAND BRADER (SWISS/AMERICAN, BORN 1833), Pencil on paper, signed lower left and numbered 685. Large scale with the Yoder farm at center, other farms and fields in the background. 32"h. 48"w., appears to be in its original gilt and gesso frame, 40"h. 56"w. Descended in the original family. Condition: Not laid down. Lighter-than-average toning, water stain along upper right margin that tangentially affects the image. Original frame has some losses.The drawing is not glued down, it is backed only by the original backboards. The paper is brittle and with expected toning and some burn, but still fairly bright and clean. Other than some marginal chipping, no tears or repairs. NOTE: based on other Brader drawings from Medina County, this drawing actually dates to 1889. The 1882 date is likely a commemorative date, as Peter Yoder died in 1882. This makes this Brader farm portrait rather unusual and important. Thanks to Kathleen Weischaus and her curatorial team who is putting together The Legacy of Ferdinand Brader, for this discovery. From Ancestry.com: Peter Yoder Obituary - Peter Yoder, of Medina Co., Ohio, whose death we briefly noticed last week, was born in Lehigh Co., Pa., Jan. 7th, 1808, and came to this neighbothood twenty-eight years ago, and for several years lived on the farm now owned by John Smoyer, and then moved to the farm on which he died. He was married to his surviving widow 46 years ago, and 11 children - 7 sons and 4 daughters - were forn to them, all of whom as living and all were present at the funeral. He became a member of the Mennonite Church early in life, and remained a faithful and devoted member, and for many years was a deacon in that body, he stood high in the estimation of the community. Was a devoted husband, a kind father, and beloved by all. He was sick for several months of pneumonia and other troubles and died Feb.11th, Aged 74 years, 1 month and 4 days. The funeral was largely attended on the 14th. Services by E. Hunsberger, assisted by M. Leatherman. - Herald of Truth, March 1882. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $6,000-9,000 Price Realized: $8,700 | |
| DECORATED SET OF DRAWERS, American, 1st half-19th century, pine. Box with fall front and four fitted drawers. Old green ground with painted scenic images including trees, a sailing ship off the coast flying an American flag, and a military yard with soldiers and lighthouse. Alligatored surface. 9"h. 13.5"w. 8"d. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $1,000-1,500 Price Realized: $3,600 | |
| HANGING CORNER CUPBOARD, American, 18th century, pine. Raised-panel door, lower shelf, and old blue paint. Imperfections. 54"h. 30"w. 17.5"d., requires a 23" corner. Condition: Hanging cupboard, wear to paint, minor loss to corners of cornice, area of loss to frame edge beneath latch, evidence of old insect damage in various area of interior, hole in backboard on upper right side. The later blue paint on the corner cupboard is worn throughout. There are traces of a white under paint along the edges. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $800-1,200 Price Realized: $1,680 | |
| SHERATON WORK TABLE, American, 1815-1840, birdseye maple, cherry, and pine. Two drawers, the lower draw with a faux two-drawer facade, flanked by molded stiles, and on turned legs. 28.5"h. 20"w. 17.5"d. Sold at Eldred's Auctions in 2006. Condition: The country Sheraton work table has been refinished, there is a split on the left proper leg, and there is veneer loss on the lip underneath the top. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $300-600 Price Realized: $1,140 | |
| DECORATED PIE SAFE, Midwestern 19th century, poplar. Gallery over two tin-paneled doors, and tin-paneled sides. Retains old yellow paint on the case, and robin's egg blue on the tins. 61"h. 42"w. 18.5"d. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $800-1,200 Price Realized: $1,680 | |
| SIGNED KETTLE LAMP, Pennsylvania, 2nd quarter-19th century, iron. Signed on the arm. Saucer base with wick tweezers. 8.5"h. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $300-600 Price Realized: $3,840 | |
| SPATTERWARE PLATTER, England, 2nd quarter-19th century. Octagonal with blue rim and center with peafowl. 14" x 18". The platter has a few small glaze flakes on the underside of the rim. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $400-600 Price Realized: $1,200 | |
| HANGING CUPBOARD, American, 19th century, pine. Single four-pane door and old red paint. 36"h. 34"w. 14"d. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $150-300 Price Realized: $1,080 | |
| HANGING CUPBOARD, New England, 19th century, pine. Paneled door, interior shelves, and original blue-green paint. Imperfections. 33.25"h. 23"w. 12.5"d. Sold at Skinner, March 2010, lot 569. Condition: Wear to paint, replaced knob, minor loss to cornice and lower left corner of door, latch probably a later addition, evidence of missing previous latch on front of cupboard. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $500-1,000 Price Realized: $1,920 | |
| DECORATED CHIPPENDALE BLANKET CHEST, Probably Berks County, Pennsylvania, early 19th century, pine. Dovetailed case over three drawers flanked by chevron details, all on ogee bracket feet. Interior till with three small drawers. Retains its original putty painted decoration. Imperfections. 31"h. 50"w. 22.5"d. The inside of the lid is stenciled "Henrietta Taylor”. Henrietta Taylor was born in 1833 to Andrew and Elizabeth Taylor. Andrew, and his sons (William and B. Franklin) took possession of the iron master's house at Charming Forge in Berks County, in 1855. A later printed note in one of the interior drawers reads "William Taylor Charming Forge”. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $1,500-3,000 Price Realized: $5,520 | |
| CONESTOGA WAGON JACK, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, dated 1767, wood and decorated wrought iron. Some wear and rust. 20"h. 6.5"w. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $150-300 Price Realized: $480 | |
| DECORATED PIE SAFE, American, 19th century, poplar. Two doors with heart and star tin panels, side tin panels, and old blue and yellow paint. 51"h. 44"w. 16"d. Ex Sally Schell (Illinois). Condition: The right proper door on the cabinet leaves a gap, approx. 1'' at its largest. The top of the cabinet is slightly raised on this side. However, it is a little misleading from the fourth picture, as to how much the top is above the door on this side. The top is completely secure on the cabinet, and is fully attached with the early nails. Sold at Garth's Auction September 6, 2014. Estimate: $500-1,000 Price Realized: $3,120 | |
| A CARVED AND RED-PAINTED MAPLE BOX, Essex County Probably Ipswich Area, Massachusetts, 1680-1700, 10.25 in. high, 25.25 in. wide, 17.25 in. deep. With its intricately rendered guilloche-and-rosette facade, this box is among the more elaborate survivals of seventeenth-century carved ornament from Massachusetts' Essex County. A closely related three-part guilloche with rosettes appears on a Great Chair at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. no. 37.316) dated from circa 1640 to 1685. Although the detailing varies from that on the box offered here, the overall layout of both designs is similar and both feature surrounding leafy abstractions composed of opposing gouge cuts. As noted by Gerald W. R. Ward, the ornament on the chair and five other related examples is based on East Anglian prototypes and the MFA chair, as well as two others in the group, were found in Essex County. Similar carved ornament is seen on furniture attributed to Devon-trained joiner William Searle (d. 1667) and his successor Thomas Dennis (1638-1706), who worked in Ipswich in the late seventeenth century. It is likely that the maker of the box offered here was familiar with their work. In addition to the guilloche, rosette and opposing-gouge designs, some survivals of the Searle-Dennis tradition display detailing remarkably close to that on this box. For example, the guilloche borders on this box are intermittently punctuated by a motif created by two small gouge cuts enclosing an incised dot, appearing like "(.)"; the same motif is repeated along the arched surrounds on the central panel of a 1676 chest at Winterthur Museum and on those above flower heads on a chest at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Great Chair at the Peabody Essex Museum, all attributed to the Searle-Dennis tradition. Like the MMA chest, this box incorporates maple, a feature that Frances Gruber Safford notes indicates production toward the end of the century (Winterthur Museum, 1982.276; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 10.125.123, Frances Gruber Safford, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 2007), pp. 202-204, cat. 85; the gravestone of Grace (Cole) Searle Dennis (d. 1686), William Searle's widow and later Thomas Dennis' wife, also bears guilloche-and-rosette designs, see Robert Tarule, The Artisan of Ipswich: Craftsmanship and Community in Colonial New England (Baltimore, 2004), p. 129). Related rosettes, each with an inner and outer ring of petals as seen on the box offered here, adorn a chest dated 1679 also thought to be from Essex County, which was recently acquired by Winterthur Museum, and a Great Chair in the collections of the Chipstone Foundation (Sold, Pook & Pook, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, 25-26 April 2014, lot 618; the Chipstone Foundation, acc. no. 1997.3). For guilloche-carved furniture with variant rosette designs, see three boxes attributed to the Buell shop tradition of Windsor and Killingworth, Connecticut (Joshua W. Lane and Donald P. White III, The Woodworkers of Windsor (Deerfield, 2003), p. 51, cat. 20). Provenance: Frederick W. Fuessenich (1886-1973), Torrington and Litchfield, Connecticut Cecile (Seligman) Lehman Mayer (1893-1962), Manhattan and Tarrytown, New York Betty (Lehman) Asiel (1918-1999), White Plains, New York, daughter Property formerly in the collection of Cecile Lehman Mayer. Literature: Wallace Nutting, Furniture Treasury, vols. I and II (New York, 1928), no. 131. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $10,000-20,000 Price Realized: $32,500 | |
| OIL ON CANVAS PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN JOHN LEWIS, CHARLES WILLSON PEALE, signed C.W. Peale lower right, 31 x 26 in. As recorded by Charles Coleman Sellers, it is likely that the sitter is Captain John Lewis (1747-1825) of 'Warner Hall' in Gloucester County, Virginia. The Lewis family had numerous familial ties to President George Washington. John was the son of Colonel Fielding Lewis (1725-1781) and Catharine Washington (1723/4-1750), and grandson of John Washington, the President's first cousin. Fielding later married Betty Washington (1733-1797), the President's younger sister. As noted in his diary, Washington was very close with his kinsman John Lewis. On August 20, 1769, at his estate Mount Vernon, Washington "[w]ent to Church in the fore and Afternoon. Mr. Jon. Lewis dined here. Lord Fairfax &ca. drank Tea here."([August 1769], Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-02-02-0004-002,ve r. 2014-05-09). Source: Donald Jackson, ed., The Diaries of George Washington, vol. 2, 14 January 1766-31 December 1770 (Charlottesville, 1976), pp. 173-177). During the Revolutionary War, the sitter was a partner in his father's gunpowder manufactory in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Upon his father's death, John inherited his land holdings in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County. He was married five times and moved to Kentucky in 1811, where he died in 1825 (Frank E. Grizzard, George Washington: A Biographical Companion (Santa Barbara, 2002), p. 192). Provenance: Colonel Fielding Lewis (1725-1781), "Warner Hall," Gloucester County, Virginia, father of the sitter Thence by descent in the family Cecile (Seligman) Lehman Mayer (1893-1962), Manhattan and Tarrytown, New York Betty (Lehman) Asiel (1918-1999), White Plains, New York, daughter Property formerly in the collection of Cecile Lehman Mayer. Literature: Charles Coleman Sellers, Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale (Philadelphia, 1952), pp. 126, 282. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $15,000-30,000 Price Realized: $56,250 | |
| WILLIAM AND MARY MAPLE TABLE-TOP CHEST-OF-DRAWERS, New England, Probably Rhode Island, 1700-1720, 20.75 in. high, 20 in. wide, 11.5 in. deep. Exquisitely proportioned and crafted, this table-top chest-of-drawers illustrates a rarefied form from early eighteenth-century New England. Details of its design strongly suggest a Rhode Island origin, though its wood use and construction also relates to furniture from the Connecticut River Valley. With their elongated necks, the turned feet are particularly distinctive and illustrate a design favored by Rhode Island woodworkers during the first half of the eighteenth century. Furthermore, a three-tiered example dated from 1700 to 1720 with related moldings and feet descended in the Manchester and Elliott families of Portsmouth, Rhode Island (fig. 1) and two full-size chests-of-drawers serve as additional Rhode Island cognates (fig. 2) (Erik Kyle Gronning and Dennis Andrew Carr, "Early Rhode Island Turning," American Furniture 2005, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, 2005), pp. 2-21; for the chest in fig. 1, see The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at The Yale University Art Gallery (RIFA), RIF2467 and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 29-30 April and 1 May 1981, lot 932; for the chest in fig. 2, see RIFA, RIF2163; see also, RIFA, RIF2079). The chest's maple primary woods survive with traces of what was probably an original red coat of paint and like many other examples of Rhode Island furniture from this early time period, its secondary woods are of yellow pine. Another distinctive feature is the use of large dovetails that extend significantly beyond the drawer backs. For a full-size Rhode Island chest-of-drawers displaying both this combination of woods and the large rear dovetails, see RIFA, RIF198. The chest's wood use, applied half-round moldings and large rear drawer dovetails, however, are also seen on Connecticut River Valley furniture from the early eighteenth century and it is possible that this table-top chest was made in central Connecticut or Massachusetts. A group of chests employing maple and yellow pine woods with similar moldings and with rear drawer dovetails of exaggerated size are thought to have been made in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Several of these also feature both cornice and base moldings related to those on the chest offered here. See Dean A. Fales, Jr., The Furniture of Historic Deerfield (New York, 1976), p. 177, nos. 371-373; Gerald W. R. Ward and William N. Hosley, Jr., eds., The Great River: Art and Society of the Connecticut Valley, 1635-1820 (Hartford, 1985), p. 207, cat. 85; Sotheby's, New York, 25-26 January 2013, lot 373). Saleroom Notice: Please note that the moldings are replaced. Property from the Louise Bloomingdale and Edgar M. Cullman Collection. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $25,000 | |
| A FEDERAL INLAID AND MAHOGANY-VENEERED BOX WITH DRAWER, Baltimore or Annapolis, Maryland, 1790-1805, 10 in. high, 13 in. wide, 7.5 in. deep. A true gem of American craftsmanship, this box with drawer is a rare example of the form and replicates in miniature the refined cabinetry of Federal-era Baltimore and Annapolis. Meticulously delineated and shaded, the conch shell inlay points to the work of a specialist inlay maker who, based on surviving examples, supplied cabinetmakers working in these two Maryland cities. The motif was used throughout America during the early republic, as well as in England, but the specific detailing on the shell on this box, such as the frenetic, wavy outline of the upper edge, which continues under the third whorl of the shell's body, the exposed inner surface with four shaded lobes, the scrolled terminus and the pale green ground, is also seen in the inlaid ornament on furniture labeled by or attributed to John Shaw (1745-1829) of Annapolis and William Patterson (1774-1816) of Baltimore, as well as on forms generally ascribed to Baltimore. Those from Shaw's shop include a desk-and-bookcase labeled by Shaw and dated 1797 (fig. 1), an armchair attributed to Shaw made for the State House in about 1797 and a sideboard attributed to Shaw and/or his previous partner Archibald Chisolm (d. 1810) dating to about 1800 (William Voss Elder and Lu Bartlett, John Shaw: Cabinetmaker of Annapolis (Baltimore, 1983), cats. 40, 43, 55); those from Baltimore include a tall-case clock with a dated 1797 label of William Patterson and contemporaneous Baltimore demi-lune card tables (Sumpter Priddy III, J. Michael Flanigan and Gregory R. Weidman, "The Genesis of Neoclassical Style in Baltimore Furniture," American Furniture 2000, Luke Beckerdite ed. (Milwaukee, 2000), pp. 83-84, figs. 36, 39; Russell Buskirk, "A California Collection," Antiques & Fine Art (Spring 2008), p. 168; [Baltimore Museum of Art], Baltimore Furniture: The Work of Baltimore and Annapolis Cabinetmakers from 1760 to 1810 (Baltimore, 1947), cat. 14, pp. 40-41). The distinctive design of the shell inlay, its frequent appearance on urban Maryland furniture, and, as far as is known, its absence on furniture made elsewhere in America or England strongly suggests that the maker of the box's inlaid ornament was a local artisan. "Ebonist" Thomas Barrett (d. 1800) of Baltimore stands as a likely candidate for the maker of these pictorial inlays. An inventory of Barrett's estate includes 1316 "Shells for inlaying furniture" of which 238 were purchased in 1800 by William Patterson, whose circa 1797 clock cited above bears one of these conch shell inlays. While little is known of Barrett's origins, he probably emigrated from England and may have worked for cabinetmakers John Bankson (1754-1814) and Richard Lawson (1749-1803), who were in partnership in Baltimore from 1785 to 1792 (Priddy et al., pp. 83-84; Jane Webb Smith, "'A Large and Elegant Assortment': A Group of Baltimore Tall Clocks, 1795-1815," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, vol. XIII, no. 2 (November 1987), p. 59 (Smith records a slightly different number of shells: 1288 in Barrett's estate and 119 purchased by Patterson); Marilynn Johnson Bordes, Baltimore Federal Furniture in the American Wing (New York, 1972), n. p.). While pictorial inlays were often imported from abroad and many closely related conch designs adorn English forms, the exact articulation seen on this box has not been found on forms made outside of Maryland (see for example Shreve, Crump & Low, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (September 1984), back cover). Like the pictorial inlay, the box is meticulously constructed and suggests the hand of one of the leading cabinetmakers working in Annapolis or Baltimore. These include Shaw, who is thought to have purchased inlays from Baltimore, Patterson and the 11 other prominent Baltimore cabinetmakers listed as debtors to Barrett's estate (Smith, pp. 59-61, 99 (fn. 28), 101-102 (fn. 68); Alexander Lourie, 'To Superintend the Necessary Repairs': The Careers and Work of William and Washington Tuck," American Furniture 2006, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, 2006), p. 158). The form and size of this box, with a width of 13 inches, is closely related to tea chests, which were slightly larger than tea caddies. The use of shell inlay and rope stringing on the edges on the box offered here appear to have been decorative devices favored by both English and American makers for tea caddies, tea chests, liquor boxes and other small boxes (Charles F. Montgomery, American Furniture: The Federal Period (New York, 1966), pp. 432-433, cats. 436-438; Shreve, Crump & Low advertisement, cited above; a Maryland tea chest with rope stringing is in the collections of Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 2001-1,1). Featuring a lock and drawer, but lacking a divided interior, this box was probably used to store small valuables and documents rather than tea. Supporting a possible attribution to Shaw, a box of the same form survives bearing the label of Shaw and Chisolm and probably dates to their second partnership in 1783-1784 (the labeled box is in the Annapolis Collection, Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-0814, available at http://msa.maryland.gov/). Furthermore, Shaw frequently advertised the sale of tea caddies imported from England and thus, would have been familiar with the form and its decorative treatments (Elder and Bartlett, pp. 14, 23). Other features supporting its production in Annapolis or Baltimore includes its use of poplar secondary woods, oval inlay with rope inlaid border, ovoid stringing on the drawer and lobed skirt with patera inlay, details that separately are found in various locales but taken together, strongly suggest a Maryland origin. Provenance: Israel Sack, Inc., New York, 1989 Property from the estate of Eric Martin Wunsch. Literature: Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack, Inc., vol. IX, p. 2492, P6154. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $12,000-18,000 Price Realized: $93,750 | |
| ENGRAVED BRASS SURVEYOR'S COMPASS, The dial signed by David Rittenhouse, probably David Rittenhouse, (1732-1796), Philadelphia, late 18th Century, the silvered-brass dial signed David Rittenhouse PHILADELPHIA; in original fitted case, the compass 13.5 in. long, 6.5 in. diameter of dial. "As an artist he has exhibited a great proof of mechanical genius as the world has ever produced" was just a one of the accolades that future President Thomas Jefferson bestowed upon David Rittenhouse (1732-1796). Renowned during his day and today, Rittenhouse stands as eighteenth-century America's most important clockmaker, astronomer and land surveyor and with his development of the Vernier compass in the early 1780s, invented the first American contribution to the field of mathematical instruments. Politically active in Philadelphia, Rittenhouse befriended statesmen and future Presidents, including Jefferson, George Washington, for whom he made two surveyor's compasses in 1782 and Benjamin Franklin, whom he succeeded as President of the American Philosophical Society. Less than a dozen compasses bearing his name survive and some marked David (or D.) Rittenhouse may have been made by the famed maker's nephew of the same name (see Skinner, 29 July 2006, lot 94). As the latter is thought to have trained under his father and the elder David's brother, Benjamin Rittenhouse (1740-1825), the work of the younger David is presumed to resemble Benjamin's style. As seen in lots 24 and 26 in this sale, Benjamin's engraved designs feature similarly decorated 8-point compass stars; however, the segments pointing to the half-cardinal points on the compass offered here are less florid than those on Benjamin's work and more closely resemble the elder David's work, including a compass at the Smithsonian thought to have been made for Washington (Smithsonian, National Museum of American History, acc. nos. PL*092538 and 1983.0498.01). For more on Rittenhouse, see Martha H. Willoughby, biographies, Timeless: American Masterpiece Brass Dial Clocks, Frank Hohmann III, ed. (New York, 2009), pp. 349-352. Property from the estate of Eric Martin Wunsch. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $4,000-6,000 Price Realized: $37,500 | |
| A CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIR, Attributed to the shop of John Townsend (1733-1809), NEWPORT, 1765-1785, appears to retain its original surface; the chair frame numbered IIIIV with its original slip-seat frame also numbered IIIIV, 38 in. high. Surviving with its original surface and expertly crafted by one of colonial America's most celebrated cabinetmakers, this side chair is a powerful expression of the Newport aesthetic during the Chippendale era. In his seminal catalogue on Newport cabinetmaker John Townsend (1733-1809), Morrison H. Heckscher notes that this chair's primary wood, "the heavy purplish mahogany, now turned a tawny brown, has its original surface." He also firmly attributes this chair and its mate, in a private collection, to Townsend as virtually identical designs, workmanship and construction methods are seen on a pair that descended in the cabinetmaker's family (fig. 3). Although the chair offered here and its mate display different splat designs and pad feet, they feature "the same solid, ground-hugging design and crisp, angular handling of densely textured mahogany." Both pairs, as described by Heckscher, feature diaper-incised ornament in the crest rail, rear stiles that are rounded in back above the seat and fully squared below the seat, cabriole front legs that are rounded in front and form a right angle in back, small round pins securing mortise-and-tenon joints, rounded chestnut front glueblocks with chamfered edges, triangular white pine rear glueblocks, maple slip-seat frames and incised numbering on the seat frames front rabbets. Case furniture and tables by Townsend survive in comparatively large numbers, but very few seating forms are attributed to his shop. Representing four sets, only seven side chairs with cabriole legs are ascribed to Townsend in the Rhode Island Furniture Archive at The Yale University Art Gallery. Aside from the two pairs represented by the chair offered here and that illustrated in fig. 3, the other three chairs comprise a single example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a pair advertised in 1996 (Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend Newport Cabinetmaker (New York, 2005), pp. 96-101, cats. 11-13; the Rhode Island Furniture Archive at The Yale University Art Gallery, RIF nos. 380, 1196, 4005, 4038). The ornamental diaper incising on the crest rail was also used by Townsend on other furniture forms. Related cross-hatched embellishment appears within the C-scroll centers of the shells on some of Townsend's block-and-shell furniture, as well as on the skirts of some of his tables (for labeled examples, see Heckscher, pp. 114-123, 142-149, cats. 19-21, 32-34). Of the cabriole leg chairs ascribed to Townsend, this example and its mate are the only ones with the more complex scrolled and pierced splat design. This design was loosely based on a pattern published in 1765 by London designer Robert Manwaring (fig. 1), but as argued by John T. Kirk, American versions of the design were probably inspired by imported chairs (John T. Kirk, American Furniture and the British Tradition to 1830 (New York, 1982), p. 267). It is also possible that the direct antecedent for Rhode Island manifestations of the design were chairs made in Philadelphia. A chair with this splat design (fig. 2) may be one of four ordered from Philadelphia by Providence merchant John Brown (1736-1803) in 1767. Through his kinsman and primary competitor, John Goddard (1724-1785), who provided furnishings for the Brown family, Townsend may have been aware of this set or similar chairs. Tellingly, the glueblocks on the chair offered here, with two-part quarter-round blocks with vertical grain placed in front and triangular blocks with horizontal grain in back, emulate the configuration favored by Philadelphia chair makers and seen on the chair in fig. 2 (Wendy A. Cooper, "The Purchase of Furniture and Furnishings by John Brown, Providence Merchant," The Magazine Antiques (February 1973), pp. 328, 330, 331-332, fig. 2 and caption under fig. 6). The chair offered here was originally part of a set of at least ten chairs. Its chair frame and original slip-seat frame are marked IIIIV (or 9) and its mate is similarly marked VV (or 10). Small differences between the two chairs point to variations within the John Townsend shop. On the chair offered here, the punchwork detailing of the splat and incising on the crest were created with tools that were smaller than those used for the same details on the chair marked VV (for a detail of the latter chair, see Heckscher, p. 101). This could indicate that the same craftsman used different tools or, as Heckscher argues, the presence of multiple workers within the John Townsend shop (Heckscher, p. 99). The same splat pattern appears with considerable frequency on Rhode Island chairs with stop-fluted legs, which are thought to date after 1780. Of these, chairs representing three different sets are attributed to Townsend, yet all lack the diaper-incised ornament and are instead decorated with leafy motifs carved in relief (See RIF nos. 4942, 865, 1471, 1100). Provenance: Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr. (1909-2009), Scarsdale, New York and Newport, circa 1955 Property from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr. Literature: For both the chair offered here and its mate: Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., "Discoveries in Newport Furniture and Silver," The Magazine Antiques (July 1955), p. 45, fig. 2. James Biddle, American Art from American Collections: Decorative Arts, Paintings, and Prints of the Colonial and Federal Periods from Private Collections (New York, 1963), p. 8, nos. 12, 13. Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., "Mowbra Hall and a Collection of Period Rooms: Part 2," Connoisseur (August 1972), p. 86, fig. 9, 10. Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker (New York, 2005), pp. 99-101, no. 13. Laura Beach, "The Past Is Present in Newport: A Couple's Lifelong Love of Antiques," Antiques & Fine Art (Summer 2005), pp. 118, 119, 121. The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at The Yale University Art Gallery, RIF7001 (chair IIIIV, forthcoming) and RIF4038 (chair VV). Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $100,000-150,000 Price Realized: $125,500 | |
| A CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY EASY CHAIR, Philadelphia, 1760-1780, 47.5 in. high. "The Philadelphia group, of which this is an outstanding example, represents the highest development in an American wing chair."-Israel Sack, Inc., on the chair in lot 34, 1959 With its masterful composition of S-curves and C-scrolls, this easy chair pays homage to the curvilinear style of Chippendale-era America and demonstrates why its Philadelphia practitioners reigned supreme. Virtually every framing element incorporates a curved line, creating a dynamic design that with careful attention to proportion and placement, results in a balanced, unified whole. The chair's raking back, double out-scrolling arms and arm supports and raking rear legs are hallmarks of the Philadelphia school and contrast with the more upright and severe designs of New England. As noted by Israel Sack, Inc., above, the Philadelphia-style easy chair has long been considered the superior of the two by many of today's collectors and the same appears to have been the case for at least one eighteenth-century customer. When looking to furnish his newly built Providence home on Water Street, renowned merchant John Brown (1736-1803) turned to Philadelphia's chair makers. Two surviving easy chairs closely related to the chair offered here are thought to be those ordered by Brown in 1761 and 1764 from Philadelphia upholsterer Plunkett Fleeson (Wendy A. Cooper, "The Purchase of Furniture and Furnishings by John Brown, Providence Merchant, Part I: 1760-1788," The Magazine Antiques (February 1973), pp. 329, 332). Details of the chair's design and interior construction are seen on a number of other examples and their repeated appearance en masse suggests the workings of a single shop. Including the two John Brown chairs discussed above, the group comprises about a dozen forms and is distinguished by knee returns with small volutes that lie against the inner edge, wing crests with a straight lower edge, front seat rails with a rear edge that conforms to the front edge, front legs that are dovetailed to the chair frame and downswept and chamfered raking rear legs (see figs. 1, 1a for another example). For each of these elements, the chair maker had other options, and illustrating a different set of choices is a group represented by the chair in figs. 2, 2a. The second group has peaked knee returns, wing crests with lower edges that echo the curve of the upper edge, front seat rails with a straight rear edge, front legs that are doweled to the seat frame and straight, unchamfered raking rear legs. Such similar outward appearances between the groups, but notable differences particularly in the hidden areas, suggests that there were two, large competing shops operating around the same time. From available evidence, other chairs displaying the same details as the chair offered here and the Brown chairs are illustrated as follows: Two in public collections, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 38.52.1) and the Bayou Bend Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (acc. no. B.69.31), in Morrison H. Heckscher, American Furniture: The Queen Anne and Chippendale Styles (New York, 1985), pp. 128-129, cat. 76 and David B. Warren et al., American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection (Princeton, 1998), p. 36, F62); Israel Sack, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (January 1953), inside front cover; Charles F. Montgomery and Patricia E. Kane, American Art: Towards Independence (New Haven, 1976), pp. 145-146, no. 91; Ginsburg & Levy, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (November 1978), p. 848; Christie's, New York, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Bertram D. Coleman, 16 January 1998, lot 235 (illustrated here as figs. 1, 1a); Christie's, New York, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. James L. Britton, 16 January 1999, lot 595; Sotheby's, New York, 18-19 January 2001, lot 700; Sotheby's, New York, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Lammot du Pont Copeland, 19 January 2002, lot 55; Sotheby's, New York, Property of Rear Admiral Edward P. Moore and Barbara Bingham Moore, 26 September 2008, lot 20. Provenance: Israel Sack, Inc., New York, 1959 John S. Walton, Inc., New York, 1973 Property from the estate of Eric Martin Wunsch. Literature: Israel Sack, Inc., American Furniture from the Israel Sack Collection, vol. I, (New York, 1969), p. 63, no. 200. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $60,000-90,000 Price Realized: $293,000 | |
| A CHIPPENDALE BRASS-MOUNTED MAHOGANY SHELF TIME PIECE CLOCK, The dial signed by Simon Willard (1753-1848), Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1780-1790, the brass dial signed Simon Willard/ Roxbury, 29.75 in. high, 12.75 in. wide, 4.5 in. deep Demonstrating the ingenuity of Simon Willard (1753-1848) and his experimentation with the 'half' or 'short' clock form during the 1780s, this shelf time piece is an exceedingly rare form by arguably eighteenth-century America's most influential clockmaker. The balloon-shaped case is seen on very few American clocks from this period; the example offered here is the only one found with a dial signed by Simon Willard as well as being the sole example with a brass dial. While others may exist, only four other American balloon-shaped shelf clocks from this period have been found, all of which feature white-painted dials signed by Simon's younger brother Aaron (1757-1844) (two are in the collections of Old Sturbridge Village, see figs. 2 and 3; a third is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 30.120.66; a fourth sold, Sotheby's, New York, Selections from Israel Sack, Inc., 20 January 2002, lot 1379). The balloon-shaped case was a European form, seen on primarily French bracket clocks throughout the eighteenth century. However, the Willard brothers may have been inspired by contemporary events as their renditions of the form coincide with the first successful ascension of a manned hot-air balloon, an event that took place in France on June 5, 1783 by brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier (fig. 4). Subsequent public demonstrations and extensive media coverage created a fashion for balloon-shaped ornament in decorative arts, dress and even hairstyles. In America, the events were widely reported in the Boston newspaper, the Columbian Centinel, and the Willard brothers would have certainly been aware of the public interest in the new invention (Richard W. Husher and Walter W. Welch, A Study of Simon Willard's Clocks (1980), p. 31; Philip Zea and Robert C. Cheney, Clock Making in New England, 1725-1825 (Massachusetts, 1992), pp. 33-34). The time piece offered here is one of Simon Willard's early versions of a shelf clock. Referred to as 'half' or 'short' clocks during the period, many know them today as 'case-on-case' clocks. They are weight-driven yet attempt to replicate the appearance of a single-case form used for more expensive spring-driven bracket clocks. Like Simon's early wall clocks, which he began making in the 1770s while still in Grafton, this model has an upper case with kidney-shaped door aperture and false scroll feet that appear to be sitting atop a rectangular lower case; in fact, the two cases are integral and the lower case was needed to accommodate the falling weight (Zea and Cheney, pp. 32-33; Husher and Welch, p. 31). Simon began making shelf clocks during his time in Grafton as at least one example survives with his name and Grafton engraved on the dial (Herschel B. Burt, Eighteenth Century Thirty-Hour Willard Clocks 1770-1790 (1997), pp. 2-3, cat. 1). By 1783, but probably in 1780 or soon thereafter, Simon and Aaron had moved to Roxbury, where Simon would remain throughout his career (Paul J. Foley, Willard's Patent Time Pieces: A History of the Weight-Driven Banjo Clock, 1800-1900 (Massachusetts, 2002), pp. 2, 4, fig. 4). Signed "Roxbury," this time piece was probably one of the earliest shelf clocks made by Simon after his move. With plates in the shape of an inverted 'T' and screwed to the backboard, this time piece's movement is like those used by Simon and Aaron on some of their 30-hour Grafton wall clocks (Burt, pp. 10-11, cat. 5). In contrast, other shelf clocks by Simon and Aaron Willard, including the latter's examples in balloon-shaped cases, feature movements with rectangular plates that are accessible through the back or that sit atop saddle boards as seen on tall-case clocks. One of Aaron's balloon-shaped shelf clocks (in fig. 3) bears a hand-written label claiming it is "The 1st short time piece made in America 1784" and, while this claim is not accurate, Philip Zea and Robert Cheney have noted that perhaps it was the first shelf clock made in Roxbury (Zea and Cheney, p. 34). If so, it would have been unusual for Simon to follow in his brother's footsteps as Simon has long been regarded as the inventor and Aaron the mass-marketer. The affinity to the Grafton wall clocks, along with its brass rather than white-painted dial, makes it very possible that the time piece offered here pre-dates Aaron's examples. If its case design was a response to the hot-air ballooning craze and the 1784 date is correct for the time piece in fig. 3, it would mean that the time piece offered here was made in 1783 or 1784. Illustrated in 1950 and described as 'Best' by Albert Sack, this shelf time piece may have been sold by the Sack firm to noted collector, Mitchell M. Taradash (1889-1973). It was in the Taradash collection by 1953, when it was featured in a bedroom in the Taradash's Ardsley-on-Hudson house in The Magazine Antiques (fig. 1; see Literature, above). Provenance: Mitchell M. Taradash (1889-1973), Ardsley-on-Hudson, New York, prior to 1953 Israel Sack, Inc., New York, 1974 Property from the estate of Eric Martin Wunsch. Literature: Albert Sack, The Fine Points of Furniture, Early American (New York, 1950), p. 130. Alice Winchester, "Living with Antiques: The Home of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchel Taradash," The Magazine Antiques (January 1953), p. 47 (top). William H. Distin and Robert Bishop, The American Clock (New York, 1976), p. 98, fig. 202. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $60,000 | |
| THE CROWNINSHIELD FAMILY CHIPPENDALE MAHOGANY BOMBE CHEST-OF-DRAWERS, Marblehead, Massachusetts, CIRCA 1770, appears to retain its original cast brass hardware, 33.25 in. high, 40 in. wide, 22 in. deep. Combining pristine condition and cabinetry indicative of the work of a Marblehead, Massachusetts shop, this chest-of-drawers is both a rare and historically important survival of the bombé form in America. With an old surface, original brasses and largely undisturbed construction, the chest is exceptionally well-preserved and points to the benign neglect and respectful care of its previous owners, including those in the Crowninshield family of Salem, two Midwestern collectors and renowned dealers Israel Sack and Jess Pavey. The chest is one of approximately eleven examples of the form that were most likely made in the same shop or perhaps two shops in close contact with each other (fig. 3; see list below). Details in the group's shared designs and, from available evidence, their interior construction methods strongly indicate that their maker or makers worked in the Essex County seafaring town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. As first identified by Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, the group of chests is defined primarily by their use of similar designs for the ogee foot brackets and central drop, exposed rails beneath the bottom drawers and, apart from the chest offered here and one other, tops with notched front corners. Jobe and Kaye also note that the example formerly in the collections of Historic New England and one that descended in the Northey family of Salem were almost certainly made in the same shop as their makers used the same construction methods, templates, molding planes and brasses (Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984), p. 152). While construction methods are not evident for the entire group, it appears that they all display case sides with remarkably similar curvatures, base mouldings of the same distinctive profile and for the most part, brasses of one of two designs-either those like the design seen on the chest offered here or those of the so-called "pine cone" pattern (the originality of the brasses has been noted for at least five of the chests). The presence of the same base molding profile is particularly relevant as the composite profile, consisting of a small fillet, ogee and large fillet, is unusual and has yet to be found on furniture outside of the group. Positioned along the base of the exposed rail, the molding pattern may have been specially chosen as the uppermost small fillet visually repeats the cockbeaded surrounds on the other rails. Other bombé furniture generally display molding profiles composed of an ogee, quarter-round and large fillet and for the most part also lack the fully exposed lowermost rail. Such consistency in certain features may prove to be a key feature indicating the work of a single shop and variations in construction methods may be attributed to evolution of practices and/or the presence of multiple workers within the same shop. These differences comprise the presence or lack of a full dustboard between the second and third drawers, the presence or planed removal of excess wood on interior bulge of the case sides and various shaping to the rear foot brackets (here with straight, slanted edges and elsewhere with curved edges or slanted edges with arched cut-outs). Based on the research of Kemble Widmer II, the details of construction seen in this group of chests suggest that they were made in Marblehead. In his comparative studies of eighteenth-century furniture from Boston and the North Shore towns of Salem, Marblehead and Ipswich, Widmer has uncovered patterns of characteristics that when seen together point to the craftsmanship of one particular town. The drawer bottoms on this chest and several others from the group are placed with the grain running from front to back, a practice seen in Marblehead and Boston until about 1780. After about 1780, cabinetmakers from these towns began the more sound practice of placing the boards with the grain running from side to side, a method that had been used by Salem woodworkers since the 1740s. The tops of the drawer sides are embellished with a widely spaced double bead, a profile that appears on furniture from both Salem and Marblehead. Thus, based on just these two features, the only town in which they both appear is Marblehead. Further details support this attribution. The ogee foot brackets and central drop have distinct profiles-drops with a central astragal lobe flanked by small astragal drops and feet with small astragal drops and with an outward-pointing cusp, in effect echoing in mirror image profile of the central drop. As noted by Widmer, these designs are not seen on either Boston or Salem furniture, but do appear on furniture documented to Marblehead cabinetmakers Nathan Bowen (1752-1837) and Ebenezer Martin (1750-1800), such as the desk by Bowen in fig. 2 (Kemble Widmer II and Judy Anderson, "Furniture from Marblehead, Massachusetts," The Magazine Antiques (May 2003), pp. 99, 102, 103; Kemble Widmer II, catalogue note, Sotheby's, New York, 22-23 January 2010, lot 505, available online; see also a serpentine-front chest-on-chest signed by both Martin and Bowen, 1780, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, acc. no. 33.373; a 1784 desk signed by Martin, cited by Widmer 2010). In addition, four chest-on-chests display similar drops and ogee bracket feet and base moldings seemingly of the same distinct profile. It is possible that the maker or makers of the group represented by the chest offered here were also responsible for these majestic bombé forms, one of which was first owned by Robert "King" Hooper (1709-1790) of Marblehead (for the four chest-on-chests, see Skinner, 1 November 2003, lot 110; Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2009, lot 174; Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 1935-343; Carnegie Museum of Art, acc. no. 72.55.1.A-B). Furthermore, the chest offered here bears additional details that resemble the work of Marblehead cabinetmaker Francis Cook (1734-1772) and it is likely that the maker of the group was a woodworker familiar with the practices of the Cook shop. Using the evidence from a chest-on-chest signed by Cook, Widmer attributed a bombé slant-front desk to Cook's shop and certain details of the Cook pieces are seen to an exacting degree on the chest offered here. The double-beaded tops of the drawer sides of the Cook desk and this chest appear to have been shaped with the plane placed slightly off center, leaving a part of the top of each side protruding beyond the outer bead. The dovetails joining the drawer fronts and sides are remarkably similar, with narrow, shallow dovetail pins of the same configuration with a pin on top and lacking a pin on bottom, the drawer fronts on both pieces are slightly greater in height than the drawer sides and the drawer bottoms are nailed to the underside of the drawer backs with approximately 10 small nails on each drawer. The underside of the Cook desk and this chest also display virtually identical blocking on the underside, with framework running around the sides and front and glueblocks carefully planed to echo the shaping of the foot brackets and central drop; and like the chest offered here, the Cook desk has rear brackets with straight canted inner edges. Finally, the two Cook pieces display the same two brass designs seen on the group represented by the chest offered here (Widmer 2010, cited above). Significant differences, however, prevent an attribution to Cook's shop. The most significant variation is the shaping of the base molding. In contrast to the molding profile on this chest as discussed above, the Cook desk's base molding is in the more typical configuration with an ogee, quarter round and large fillet. Though possible, it seems unlikely that a cabinetshop would have had two expensive molding planes of such closely related profiles. Another key difference is the lack of shop marks on the chest offered here, which contrasts with the numbering system employed on both the Cook desk and the chest-on-chest. Other differences could be explained by variations within the same shop. Whereas the drawer sides of the Cook desk are curved and follow the bombé shaping of the case sides, those on this chest and others in the group are straight sided. Because curved drawer sides were less sturdy, Widmer argues, Cook compensated for their weakness by reversing the usual configuration of dovetail pins at the junctures of the drawer sides and drawer backs and placed supporting strips underneath the drawer sides, two features not seen on the chest offered here (Widmer 2010, cited above). According to information passed down to the consignor, this bombé chest was owned by the Crowninshield family of Salem until 1910. Founded in America by German immigrant Johannes Caspar Richter von Kronenschieldt (anglicized to Crowninshield) (1661-1711), the family was among the most powerful in eighteenth-century Salem. Members of the Crowninshield family built magnificent homes and with the proceeds generated by vast shipping empires furnished them accordingly. Related by marriage to Elias Hasket Derby (1739-1799), "America's first millionaire," George Crowninshield (1734-1815) stands as a possible first owner of the chest offered here and an 1806 view of his wharf (fig. 1) well illustrates the basis of wealth for many of those who prospered along the North Shore in the late eighteenth century. This chest was obtained from Crowninshield family descendants by Israel Sack and sold to Louis Esselstyn Brooks (1880-1958) of Marshall, Michigan. An executive at an appliance manufactory, Brooks acquired his first American antique at the age of 15 in 1895 and went on to form a magnificent collection of American furniture, which he housed in a restored Greek Revival mansion, "Stonehall," at 303 N. Kalamazoo Avenue in Marshall. Items formerly owned by Brooks include the slab-top table attributed to John Goddard (1724-1785) of Newport now owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County, one of the greatest Philadelphia easy chairs to survive and a number of eighteenth and early nineteenth-century chairs, some of which were later acquired by The Henry Ford Museum (The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at The Yale University Art Gallery, RIF752; Christie's, New York, 21 January 2005, lot 308; Helen Comstock, "Acquisitions from the Louis E. Brooks Collection at the Henry Ford Museum," The Magazine Antiques (December 1960), pp. 566-569). After Brooks' death, the chest was sold by Jess Pavey to collectors Russell Wasson Nowels (1893-1976), an owner of a lumber yard, and his wife Grace (Fink) (1893-1979) of Rochester, Michigan. Other items from their collection were sold after her death at Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 19-22 November 1980. The other bombé chests in this group are as follows. Five with some family history: The Haraden-Ropes family of Salem (fig. 3) (sold, Christie's, New York, 15-16 January 2004, lot 435); the Russell and Dalton families of Boston (sold, Christie's, New York, 16 January 1998, lot 469); Frances Elizabeth Everett Sawyer (d. 1915), Newton, Massachusetts and formerly in the collection of Historic New England (Jobe and Kaye, pp. 151-154, cat. 18); Northey family of Salem (Charles W. Lyon, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (April 1961), p. 319 and Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, The Lansdell K. Christie Collection of Notable American Furniture, 21 October 1972, lot 60); Perkins family (Sotheby's, New York, 18 January 2001, lot 814 and Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2009, lot 247). Five with no family histories (Christie's, New York, 24 January 2014, lot 146; Israel Sack, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (August 1976), inside front cover; Ginsburg & Levy, advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (February 1950), p. 101; Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, The Garbisch Collection, 23-25 May 1980, vol. 4, lot 1159; ex Katrina Kipper, Winterthur Library, Decorative Arts Photographic Collection (DAPC), 66.2373). An eleventh example which may or may not duplicate the chest that sold at Christie's in January 2014 cited above is referenced in DAPC, 70.3778 and was previously sold by John Walton). Provenance: According to tradition, the Crowninshield family of Salem until 1910 Israel Sack, Inc., Boston or New York Louis Esselstyn Brooks (1880-1958), Marshall, Michigan Jess Pavey, Birmingham, Michigan Mr. and Mrs. Russell Wasson Nowels, Rochester, Michigan Property from the Rosebrook Collection. Literature: [Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village], Americana, Midwest Collectors' Choice (1960), p. 15, no. 31. [The Detroit Institute of Arts], American Decorative Arts: From the Pilgrims to the Revolution (Detroit, 1967), p. 25. Brock Jobe and Myrna Kaye, New England Furniture: The Colonial Era (Boston, 1984), pp. 152-153 (fn. 11) (referenced). Johanna McBrien, "A Sense of Place," Antiques & Fine Art (Winter/Spring 2009), pp. 202-203. ExhibitedL Dearborn, Michigan, Henry Ford Museum, Americana: Midwest Collectors' Choice, 14 October - 27 November 1960. Detroit, Michigan, The Detroit Institute of Arts, American Decorative Arts: From the Pilgrims to the Revolution, 1967. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $300,000-600,000 Price Realized: $581,000 | |
| THE JOHN BROWN CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY DIMINUTIVE DROP-LEAF TABLE, Documented to John Goddard (1724-1785), Newport, 1760, each stationary rail with graphite inscription out on exterior surface near hinge of swing rail; one stationary rail with graphite inscription 2 on interior surface at juncture with short rail; underside of one leaf with inscriptions in chalk, 23A and 32A, 27.5 in. high, 11.75 in. wide, 37.5 in. deep. [I have compleated the Tea Table, and have the other Tables and Chairs in good Forwordness." --John Goddard to John Brown, 29 August 1760 A documented masterpiece, this diminutive drop-leaf table displays the exceptional talents of renowned Newport cabinetmaker John Goddard (1724-1785) and provides a rare window into the commission, execution and pricing of high-style American furniture during the eighteenth century. With its history of descent from Providence merchant John Brown (1736-1803) (fig. 1), this table is one of the "2 Do [Mahogany]: Square Leaf & Claw Feet Tables" priced at £70 each in a 1760 bill of sale (fig. 2) from the cabinetmaker to Brown, one of his most important clients. The bill lists seven forms, of which four, including the table offered here, are known today. The "Scolluped Tea Table" at £90 and one of the "Roundabout Chairs" at £60 are in the John Brown House at the Rhode Island Historical Society, a mansion built by Brown in 1786. The other chair has recently been placed on loan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (fig. 3). Along with another drop-leaf table (presumably a mate to the table offered here), a tea table at £45 and a "Compas Front Dressing Table" at £125, these pieces were commissioned in the months preceding Brown's marriage to Sarah Smith (1738-1825) on 27 November 1760. Brown had probably placed the order during the previous summer; by the end of August, Goddard had finished the tea table and the other items, including presumably the table offered here, were in "good Forwordness." According to notations on the bill, five of the pieces, including this table, were completed in October and the other two in December. The large commission totalled £520 in Rhode Island currency and was settled in two cash payments and "By a Firkin Butter" (Amy Coes, "A Bill of Sale from John Goddard to John Brown and the Furniture It Documents," The Magazine Antiques (May 2006), p. 130; Wendy A. Cooper, "The Purchase of Furniture and Furnishings by John Brown, Providence Merchant," The Magazine Antiques (February 1973), p. 333). Interestingly and perhaps due to its use of expanses of dense, figured mahogany boards, the table offered here was priced slightly higher than the roundabout corner chairs, which with their deep, serpentine-shaped seat rails are now among the most celebrated forms from eighteenth-century America. The foot carving on this table is particularly masterful. Vigorously carved with expertly modeled talons, raised tendons and attenuated claws, the feet have survived in remarkably good condition. They appear to retain their original height, thus revealing the full extent of the delicately rendered claws, and the carved details, such as the arched shaping of each talon at the top of the claw, are especially crisp. The feet are virtually identical to those on the roundabout chairs from Goddard's 1760 bill, confirming their contemporaneous production by the same hand (fig. 3a). Closely related feet are seen on other forms documented to Goddard (see below) and, using these as benchmarks, scholars have identified Goddard's style, especially as it compares to that of his kinsman and competitor, John Townsend (1733-1809). With rounded and evenly spaced knuckles, "relaxed birdlike claws," and a pronounced bulb at the top of the rear talon, Goddard's foot carving contrasts with the more angular renditions produced by Townsend (Liza Moses and Michael Moses, "Authenticating John Townsend's and John Goddard's Queen Anne and Chippendale tables," The Magazine Antiques (May 1982), p. 1132; Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (New Jersey, 1984), p. 210; Philip Zea, "The Serpentine Furniture of Colonial Newport," American Furniture 1999, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Wisconsin, 1999), p. 262). This table also reveals new information about the practices of John Goddard's shop. Goddard has long been associated with the use of cross braces that "pass-through" both the stationary and fly rails on drop-leaf table forms, as such braces are seen on a table long thought to be that referenced in a 1774 bill of sale from Goddard to James Atkinson. However, recent research reveals that the table's descent in the Atkinson family is no longer certain and thus its documentation to Goddard remains conjectural (Coes, p. 132). As noted by Coes, the table offered here may be the only drop-leaf table documented to Goddard and interestingly, perhaps because of its small frame, it lacks cross braces entirely. Displaying "pass-through" cross braces and slightly different dimensions, another drop-leaf table that descended in the Brown family and now in a private collection is very close to the example offered here. Although the overall sizes are comparable, that in a private collection has a wider frame. It is twice inscribed "2" in chalk, suggesting that like the table offered here, it too was made as one of a pair (Keno Auctions, Stamford, Connecticut, 1 May 2010, lot 253). Unlike John Townsend, Goddard rarely signed or labeled his furniture and this table is one of only ten pieces of furniture that can be firmly ascribed to his shop. These pieces comprise three early slant-front desks--each signed, labeled or bearing evidence of a signature--and seven pieces in the following bills of sale: 1755, a slab-table to Anthony Low; 1760, a scalloped tea table, two roundabout chairs and the drop-leaf table offered here, to John Brown; 1763, a tea table to Jabez Bowen; 1774, a fly tea table to James Atkinson (Coes, pp. 129-130, 132, fn. 2; for the desks, see Christie's, New York, Property from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Nusrala, 21 January 2006, lot 680; for the Low table, see Christie's, New York, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph K. Ott, 20 January 2012, lot 139; for the Bowen tea table, see Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods (Delaware, 1997), pp. 238-240, cat. 123; for the Atkinson table, see Sotheby's, New York, 20-21, 23 January 2005, lot 1201). Along with his three brothers, Nicholas (1729-1791), Joseph (1733-1785) and Moses (1738-1836), John Brown was one of the leading merchants of late eighteenth-century America. Through their family's vast shipping empire and investments in local enterprises, the Brown brothers obtained enormous wealth and in 1795, John was described by a visitor as "the richest merchant in Providence." They were prominent figures in Rhode Island's civic and political life and John served as treasurer of the College of Rhode Island (later Brown University), was elected to Congress and funded key projects supporting the State's infrastructure (Cooper, pp. 329, 331). As indicated by Goddard's 1760 bill, John had already amassed substantial means at the age of twenty-four. The same year, he built a 40 by 36 brick house on Water Street (now South Main Street), and the table offered here and the other items from the same bill undoubtedly were made to furnish this home. John and his family lived on Water Street until 1788, when they moved to the newly completed mansion on Power Street, now run by the Rhode Island Historical Society as The John Brown House (Cooper, p. 331). This table, along with the vast majority of surviving furnishings first owned by John Brown, was inherited by John Brown's daughter, Sarah 'Sally' (1773-1846) (fig. 4), who in 1801 married German-born Charles Frederick Herreshoff (1763-1819). A talented musician with interests in mathematics and astronomy, Sarah may have received the table after her mother's death in 1825 or it may have been among the furnishings of Point Pleasant Farm, a property on Poppasquash Neck in Bristol that John Brown purchased in 1781 and gave to his daughter as a wedding present. Sarah (Brown) Herreshoff lived on the farm until her death in 1846 and it continued to be occupied by her descendants until 1917 (Richard V. Simpson, "Point Pleasant Farm," Historic Bristol: Tales From an Old Rhode Island Seaport (2008), pp. 31-33). This table as well as the other three items from the 1760 bill appear to have descended together to her son, Charles Frederick Herreshoff III (1809-1888) until divided among his children, with this table passing to his daughter Caroline Louisa (1837-1924), widow of Lieutenant Ebenezer Stanton Chesebrough (1841-1875). She outlived her only child and this table passed to her grandson, Westcote Herreshoff Chesebrough (1908-1979), who was living with her on Hope Street in Bristol in 1920 (Thomas Williams Bicknell, The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, vol. 4 (New York, 1920), p. 327; 1920 US Federal Census). The latter inherited a large number of furnishings from John Brown, his great-great-great grandfather, and placed them in storage in Providence in 1929. Forty-five years later, these items were sold at auction in Newport, where the table offered here was purchased by Israel Sack, Inc. for $20,000 ("Auction Worth $150,000," Newport Mercury, 19 July 1974, p. 3). Provenance: John Brown (1736-1803), Providence, Rhode Island Possibly Sarah (Smith) Brown (1738-1825), wife Sarah "Sally" (Brown) Herreshoff (1773-1846), Point Pleasant Farm, Bristol, Rhode Island, daughter Charles Frederick Herreshoff III (1809-1888), son Julia Ann (Lewis) Herreshoff (1811-1901), wife Caroline Louisa (Herreshoff) Chesebrough (1837-1924), Bristol, daughter Westcote Herreshoff Chesebrough (1908-1979), Providence and Seekonk, Massachusetts, grandson Gustave J. S. White, Inc., Newport, Rhode Island, July 15, 1974 Israel Sack Inc., New York, 1974 Property from the Estate of Eric Martin Wunsch. Literature: Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., "Ralph Carpenter Papers," Joseph Downs Manuscript Library, Winterthur Museum. Gustave J. S. White, Inc., advertisement, The Magazine Antiques (June 1974), p. 1265. Gustave J. S. White, Inc., Newport, Rhode Island, Property of Westcote Herreshoff Chesebrough at "Wakehurst," Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, 15 July 1974. "Auction Worth $150,000," Newport Mercury, 19 July 1974, p. 3. Israel Sack, Inc., American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. V, pp. 1140-1141, no. P4059. Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (New Jersey, 1984), p. 47, fig. 1.34. Amy Coes, "A Bill of Sale from John Goddard to John Brown and the Furniture it Documents," The Magazine Antiques (May 2006), pp. 131-133, fig. 6. The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at The Yale University Art Gallery, RIF1614. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $185,000 | |
| CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY EASY CHAIR, Boston, 1750-1780, now with upholstery removed, 46.75 in. high. Provenance: Dr. Charles W. Strowger, Rochester, New York, 1954 Property from the Collection of The Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York, sold to benefit future acquisitions. Literature: [University of Rochester], Rochester Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester Handbook (Rochester, 1961), p. 100. Exhibited: Rochester, New York, Memorial Art Gallery, Early American Furniture from Rochester Collections, 15 July - 15 August 1963. Rochester, New York, Memorial Art Gallery, Sitzart: An Exhibition of Chairs, 5 July - 1 September 1974. Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $15,000-30,000 Price Realized: $87,500 | |
| THE MAJOR MARTIN FEARING FEDERAL MAHOGANY-VENEERED DWARF TALL-CASE CLOCK, The dial signed by Joshua Wilder 1786-1860), Hingham, Massachusetts, the case attributed to Abiel White (1766-1844), Weymouth, Massachusetts, dated 1821. The white-painted dial signed Warranted by/ Joshua Wilder/ Hingham; with watch paper, part affixed to interior door and remainder now detached, Joshua Wilder./ WATCH AND CLOCK/ MAKER./ South Parish/ HINGHAM.; the reverse of paper with handwritten inscription in ink, Mr. James Stephenson/ Hingham/ Cleaned-- 7.5/ 6 mo 30th 1855; interior of backboard with period paper label handwritten in ink, Manufactured for/ Martin Fearing/ by Joshua Wilder/ 1821; underside of baseboard with handwritten inscription in ink, appearing to read George Lew/ Feb [illeg.]/ 1888, 50.75 in. high, 10.75 in. wide, 5.625 in. deep. Provenance: Martin Fearing (1785-1868), Hingham, 1821 Israel Sack, Inc., Boston or New York, prior to 1935 Mitchell M. Taradash (1889-1973), Ardsley-on-Hudson, New York Israel Sack, Inc., New York, 1975 Literature: William H. Distin and Robert Bishop, The American Clock (New York, 1976), pp. 76-77, figs. 144, 144a, 144b. Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture (New York, 1993), p. 145. Property from the Estate of Eric Martin Wunsch Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $60,000-90,000 Price Realized: $197,000 | |
| THOMAS BIRCH (1779-1851), AMERICAN MERCHANT SHIP IN DISTRESS OIL ON CANVAS, signed and dated Thos. Birch 1842 lower right,34.5 x 53.5 in. Property of an American Private Collector Sold at Christie's Auctions September 22, 2014. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $149,000 | |
| APPLE PEELER, Maple, dark walnut stained varnish finish, finely turned components, a long turning handle, table clamp finial, upright holder for swinging arm encasing the peeler blade, purchased at Old Chatham, NY, 14.5” h, (Flo and Howard Fertig collection). Note: A superb example of Shaker architectural form in a functional kitchen tool. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $400-600 Price Realized: $3,500 (without buyer's premium) | |
| WORK TABLE, Cherry, original varnish finish, one board top is pegged onto skirt (with 10 hardwood pegs), 4.5” overhang, square to round turned legs, finely tapered, Mt. Lebanon, NY or Hancock, MA, c. 1830-1840, 26.25” h, 32” l, 14.25” w (top), 7.5” leaves, (Hazel and Robert Belfit collection; Ed Clerk collection). Note: This is a classic Shaker drop leaf table in exceptional condition. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $10,000-20,000 Price Realized: $22,000 (without buyer's premium) | |
| RARE ELDER'S GARDEN SHOVEL, Maple and steel, finely carved handle, tapering to a steel collar with a cast steel/forged rectangular spade style garden shovel, stamped on the handle “F.W. Evans” for Elder Frederick Evans, New Lebanon, NY, with attached yellow tag “Garden Spade belonged to Elder Frederick Evans N.F. New Lebanon”, sold to Howard and Flo by WHA 1982, Lot 100, Pittsfield, MA, 38.5” l, 7.25” w, (James Bissland collection; Flo and Howard Fertig collection). Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $700-1,000 Price Realized: $8,500 (without buyer's premium) | |
| WASHSTAND, Pine, ochre stain, poplar drawer bottoms, hardwood pulls, pencil signed on underside of bottom drawer “Made by James V. Calver, April 1862” (born 1839; joined New Lebanon Shakers 1850 – left 1871), New Lebanon, NY, 40.25” h, 27.625” w, 18.5” d. Exhibited: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, May 29 – August 31,1986. “The Shakers – An Exhibition Concerning Their Furniture, Artifacts and Religion”, The Women’s Auxiliary of the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Greater Hartford, CT, November 7-11, 1975, catalog #41. Illustrated: Shaker Design, June Sprigg, catalog #40, p. 87. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $60,000-80,000 Price Realized: $175,000 (without buyer's premium) | |
| CANDLESTAND, Finely beveled round top, old finish, slender tapered shaft, tripod snake leg base double pegged onto shaft, cherry (top and legs) threaded into the tiger maple chamfered cleat, attached to top with symmetrically inset screws, Enfield, CT, c. 1830, purchased from Hazel Hayes, 24.75” h, 15.5” dia top, (Hazel Hayes; Flo and Howard Fertig collection). Provenance: Given to Hazel Hayes by an Enfield, CT Sister. Hazel eventually sold it (after the Shaker Sister passed away) to Flo and Howard. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $4,000-6,000 Price Realized: $21,000 (without buyer's premium) | |
| SEWING BOX, Tiger maple, rectangular form, natural varnish finish, finely dovetailed construction, brass hinged lid, keyhole with elliptical brass escutcheon plate, interior with separate fitted and dovetailed lift-out spool tray, with three rows of five iron spindle spool holders and 1.125” turned wood spools in shades of red from cherry to bittersweet orange, underneath are two tomato pincushions, one in a basket of sweetgrass, and a red one with white silk, a silver shoe hook and a small brass thimble, the box is dated in pencil under the lid in the upper left corner “2 1852”, 4” h, 8.125” l, 5” d. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $2,000-4,000 Price Realized: $15,000 (without buyer's premium) | |
| SISTER'S CUPBOARD OVER DRAWERS, Pine, original bittersweet red/orange paint, raised panel doors, interior with five pegs for bonnets, original Shaker brass pulls, two original pegs on each side of upper case (2” and .5” l), four drawers with original brass pulls, bottom is supported by canted feet, a unique fitted hidden key in key “safe” in the bottom board with swiveling tin keyhole shaped cover, excellent condition, 71” h, 36.25” w, 17” d. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $50,000-70,000 Price Realized: $150,000 (without buyer's premium) | |
| RARE SHAKER BENCH, Birch and pine, original dark finish, 24 finely tapered spindles, shaped pine plank seat, four turned and tapered legs, each pair with front to back turned stretcher, five large handmade screws in back of seat at measured intervals, Enfield, NH, c. 1830, 14.5" seat h, 31.25" overall h, 6' 2" l, 13.75" d, (Hazel and Robert Belfit collection; Ed Clerk collection). Note: A great classic example of this form, best condition, finest finish and patina, exceptional provenance. Exhibited: The 1991 Philadelphia Antiques Show, Philadelphia, PA, April 6-10, 1991, p. 27. “The Shakers – An Exhibition Concerning Their Furniture, Artifacts and Religion”, The Women’s Auxiliary of the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Great Hartford, CT, November 7-11, 1975, catalog #18. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $20,000-40,000 Price Realized: $100,000 (without buyer's premium) | |
| STORAGE CHEST, Pine, original dark forest green painted finish, single board hinged lid, applied mitered and beaded molding around three sides, dovetailed case, interior open till, two exterior drawers on left side, finely dovetailed with walnut pulls, inverted teardrop escutcheon, Alfred or Sabbathday Lake, ME, c. 1830, 20" h, 40" w (case), 19.75" d. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $2,000-3,000 Price Realized: $20,000 (without buyer's premium) | |
| RARE SMALL OVAL BOX, Maple and pine, original chrome yellow painted finish, three fingers, signed in pencil under lid in script “Flora Newton, Age 13 April …”, found with eight small spools inside, possibly Enfield, NH, c. 1830-1840, 1.1875" h, 3.1875" l, 2" d. Note: This is the second smallest box in chrome yellow that we have ever sold. The first was 2.975" long and sold as Lot 239 in 1983. It eventually was part of the Esmerian Collection shown at the American Folk Art Museum and sold at Sotheby’s as Lot 703, January 25, 2014. This box (possibly made by the same maker as the one we sold in 1983) is a rare gem of Shaker craftsmanship. Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $4,000-7,000 Price Realized: $14,000 (without buyer's premium) | |
| TAILORING COUNTER, Birch and pine, original cranberry red painted finish, rectangular top board over two banks of three drawers, turned hardwood pulls, paper labeled “Mr. Hersey’s Shaker Tailoring Counter from Enfield, N.H.”, metal rod on sides once supported a drop leaf, 35.25" h, 6' 3.25" l, 22.75" d, (ex. Doug Hamel; Ed Clerk collection). Sold at Willis Henry Auctions September 6, 2014. Estimate: $12,000-18,000 Price Realized: $47,000 (without buyer's premium) |
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All material on this website © copyright 2009-23 by Colonial Sense, except where otherwise indicated.
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