Storied Civil War Quilt Draws Eyes and an $82,250 Bid among Americana Lots in Boston

BOSTON, MASS.

: All eyes were drawn to the dazzling array of quilts offered at Skinner's Americana sale here February 20, where a Civil War appliquéd example was top lot when it sold for $82,250, twice the high estimate.

The quilt was made in 1864 by Margaret Hazzard of Bainbridge Township in Berrien County, Mich., for her husband Philetus to take with him when he went to fight the war. The quilt was executed in warm beige and brown tones with complementary greens, black and red, comprising 20 blocks, each depicting a building with meaning for Hazzard, such as his home, his school and other buildings in the towns where he lived. Hazzard died within months of joining the army, and the quilt was subsequently returned to his widow. The quilt was deaccessioned from the Pennsylvania Quilt and Textile Museum in Lititz, Penn. A vibrant Baltimore album heart-in-hand quilt that was also deaccessioned from the museum went within estimate for $22,325.

A mere butter plate turned out to be hardly that when it generated great interest during the preview and lively bidding during the sale where it sold for $38,775 to a very determined Jonathan Trace who outlasted significant room and telephone competition. The plate was made in Boston in about 1730 by Samuel Edwards and was one of a pair described in the 1757 inventory of the estate of Boston merchant Edward Jackson, whose name is engraved on the back. The mate is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The plate was consigned by a descendant.

A jazzy 1805 federal cherry tall case clock ablaze with patera inlay made by Joseph Mulliken of Concord, Mass., realized $32,900 from a phone bidder.

A federal mahogany sideboard with a fine serpentine top, probably made in New York in about 1795, brought $29,375, while a set of six federal mahogany inlaid shield back chairs from the same New Hampshire house went to Craig Prickett for $27,025. Mr Prickett also took a late addition to the sale, a New York Chippendale mahogany side chair with elegant carving and a shaped crest above a vasiform splat. Stirring lively interest, the chair made $36,425.

A handsome pair of engraved Philadelphia brass and iron urn-top andirons attracted a lot of interest, including that of Albert Sack's clients, but the pair sold on the phone for $28,200, nearly triple the low estimate.

An exceptionally charming circa 1830 oil on panel portrait of Elizabeth Ware Thompson that was attributed to her uncle Thomas Ware sold for $30,550. The portrait of the 4-year-old, who was wearing a yellow dress, was consigned by her great-great-grandchild.

A Massachusetts Queen Anne walnut roundabout chair with two vasiform splats and nicely shaped arms had been refinished but still stirred interest and sold for $23,500 against the estimated $3/5,000. A phone bidder took a painted pine checkerboard with breadboard ends with the inscriptions "Play Fair" and "Fair Play" for $7,638 against the estimated $800-$1,200.

Material from the Nantucket estate of Grace Swid Grossman that comprised 178 lots in the sale stirred a lot of interest. Bernard and Grace Grossman collected from the 1930s through the 1960s, and the objects they loved were fine indeed, but many had been refinished. One might have expected prices to falter but that was hardly the case. Bidders were enthusiastic and prices were strong.

Martha Hamilton of Skinner's Americana department attributed that strength to the "rare and wonderful forms of pieces that were absolutely right." She added, "People were able to look past any lack of surface." She suggested that the Grossmans, who began collecting in the 1930s when Wallace Nutting encouraged collectors to clean up those grungy old surfaces, probably felt his influence.

A Queen Anne maple tea table with a perky shaped and scalloped skirt thought to be of Massachusetts origin had once been painted and was refinished. Nevertheless, it was a terrific piece and sold for $21,150 against the estimated $3/5,000.

A mid-Eighteenth Century tiger maple desk-on-frame had also been refinished, but its rare form drove its final price to $18,800.

Lots of bidders coveted a particularly fine but shiny New England Windsor fanback armchair with a serpentine crest, and a flurry of bidding drove it to $29,375 from an absentee buyer. A set of four Rhode Island bow back Windsor armchairs with scratch-beaded bowed crest rails sold for $11,163.

Bidding on a beautifully formed Queen Anne tiger maple and maple porringer-top tap table opened at $6,500 and only ended at $23,500. The late Eighteenth Century piece came from southeastern New England.

Other gems from the Grossman estate included a federal giltwood mirror by Hosea Dugliss of New York with an eglomise tablet with an image of musical instruments that sold by left bid for $14,100. A New England Federal tiger maple chamberstand with an estimate of $4/600 realized a very healthy $3,525.

A handsome Queen Anne tiger maple dressing table thought to be a Massachusetts piece with extensive cockbeading had a few imperfections and was refinished and sold midestimate for $19,975.

An oil on canvas view of boat houses and sailboats by George Herbert McCord estimated at $3/5,000 was of much greater interest than its estimate and drew $18,800, as did a lot of four beautiful George III rococo sterling candlesticks by Londoner Jonathan Gould in 1752.

A nest of nine round Nantucket baskets made in the early 1970s fetched $11,750 on the phone, while an early Twentieth Century Gebelein colonial revival sterling flatware service drew $10,575 against its estimated $1/1,500. Hamilton said the silver was a particularly fine example.

Mrs Grossman's island car, a 1999 Mercedes CLK 320 with an odometer reading of 3,341, brought a quite strong $28,200.

Skinner's country Americana sale in Bolton on February 19 was replete with good crusty offerings. The star of the day was the imposing (79 inches) and colorfully painted Indian tobacconist trade figure of a woman that blew past its estimates to a resounding $28,200. A carved and painted pine and tin Indian weathervane of a kneeling warrior was also a star when it sold for $18,800. The vane came from Maine, was said to have topped the Order of Red Men meeting hall and had also been owned by Bernard Barenholtz. Another weathervane, a gilt cast-iron and sheet iron example of a proud rooster was made at the Rochester Iron Works in Rochester, N.H., and it fetched $8,225.

A New England William and Mary gate leg table, circa 1710-1720, in maple, sycamore and pine drew interest and ended at $17,625.

A lively Nineteenth Century Pennsylvania poplar step back cupboard had a lot going on: molded muntons, concentric roundels, reeded paneling, cock-beading and freehand painted designs of hearts and scalloping, and it sold for $16,450. A handsome New England Windsor bench with three panels along the crest and bamboo turned spindles in old yellow paint with painted tulip designs sold for $4,994.

What collectors prized as the "Holy Grail" of cast-iron fry pans, a cast-iron frying pan wall clock advertising the Griswold Mfg Co., of Erie, Penn., confounded observers when it sold for $4,406. A flurry of Internet interest alerted Skinner staff to the importance of the pan that was estimated at $4/600 and that they might otherwise have placed in a discovery sale.

All prices quoted reflect the premium of 171/2 percent of the first $80,000 of the purchase price and ten percent thereafter.