Simon Willard grandfather
clock, $55,000.
DELAWARE, OHIO - On April 11-12, Garth's Auctions, Inc held a
knockout 875-lot Americana auction, despite unsettling world
events, a sub par economy and a looming tax deadline. The sale
featured the collection of Jim Parker of Dayton, Ohio, who had
collected everything from mocha and redware to Chinese export
porcelain and furniture.
"Buyers put their economic and war concerns aside for 48 hours,"
commented Jeff Jeffers, president of Garth's. "They showed great
appreciation not only for the items, which included some of the
best Americana to come to the market recently, but, in a broader
sense, for the collecting habits of all our consignors." The
auction also included Civil War items, several historical blue
Staffordshire cup plates, quilts and spatter - something for
practically everyone.
A crowd filled the salesroom on both days to compete with bidders
from the absentee bid book, the phone and the Internet. In
September 2002, Garth's partnered with eBay LiveAuctions,
allowing bidders to bid in real-time from the comfort of their
homes anywhere in the world. Not only has this opened bidding to
a global audience, but it has also helped items realize stronger
prices. For instance, a six-inch footed burl jar with a lid,
estimated at $500 to $1,000, went for a whopping $7,700. The
buyer was in the audience, but the underbidder was on the
Internet.
Six-drawer Chippendale curly maple chest, $10,450.
"The alliance with eBay LiveAuctions continues to be a good
thing," according to Jeffers. "They [Internet bidders] showed
strong interest early on in several items and continued with lots
of bidding activity during the auction."
The top-selling lot was an inlaid grandfather clock by Simon
Willard, which also sold at Garth's July 1999 auction of the
Stuck collection. The clock went to a phone bidder from Chicago
for $55,000, the same price it brought three years earlier.
Chippendale chests ranged in price from $10,450 for a six-drawer
in curly maple to $4,950 for a five-drawer attributed to New
Hampshire. A buyer paid $3,850 for a Queen Anne two-drawer mule
chest, while a Chippendale slant lid desk from Lancaster County,
Penn., made the same price. A Chippendale two-piece wall cupboard
in curly maple sold for $13,750, and a Hepplewhite nine-drawer
high chest went for $7,480.
As for obliterating presale estimates, redware reigned. A pie
plate with a tulip design in green and brown slip, attributed to
Dryville, Berks County, Penn., more than doubled its high
estimate by bringing $7,975. Another pie plate with a different
design but the same attribution sold for $4,125, while one with
an interesting crossed-snowshoe design in yellow slip made
$5,610. Three loaf pans, one reading "LaFayette," one "Martha"
and one "David" brought $3,300, $2,090 and $3,630 respectively.
Crossing the block at $2,640 was a redware chamber stick
measuring 51/4 inches high.
Another category that showed strong results was mocha. The
catalog's cover lot - a blue and white pepper pot with a white,
tan and black earthworm design - was hammered down for $3,850.
Pepper pots with decorations ranging from stripes to seaweed sold
anywhere from $797 to $2,750. Other notable forms included a
pitcher with green bands and black stripes for $4,620; a green,
black and tan creamer for $2,970; a large footed bowl for $3,850;
a small tumbler for $3,520; and a master salt with a wavy
cat's-eye pattern for $2,090.
Sandstone carving of Native American woman by Popeye Reed,
$16,500.
Buyers continue to show enthusiasm for spatter. The top lot, a
five-color rainbow plate, garnered $6,930, while another plate
with a yellow border and a thistle in the center sold for $4,290.
A bidder paid $1,100 for a miniature red handleless cup and
saucer with a morning glory. An eight-inch plate with a tulip
center was sold for $2,420, and yellow cup plate with a red and
green cockscomb in the center sold for $1,650.
But this was not the only cup plate worthy of mention. In fact,
these little items brought big prices: $2,860 for a rare
historical blue Staffordshire depicting an American eagle and
shield. Another with a portrait of Lafayette went for $1,980,
while one of Boston Harbor realized $1,210.
Some rare pieces of Chinese export porcelain sailed across the
block, including a rose Fitzhugh plate measuring 93/4 inches with
Chinese scholar symbols and mythological qilin figures. It sold
for $5,500. A two-color Fitzhugh plate with a green butterfly
border and a sepia center, $1,980. Canton also fared well. A
covered pitcher made $2,090; a covered tureen, $1,870; a
reticulated bowl and underplate, $1,045; and two candlesticks,
$1,100.
Other items of note included a Confederate cavalry guidon with
lance that went to the trade for $14,300. A buyer paid $16,500
for a large sandstone carving of a Native American woman and
children by Popeye Reed, and a bidder in the audience went to
$29,700 for an early stoneware cooler with an incised eagle and
flag decoration. A Liverpool pitcher with a transfer of the "Brig
Adventure of Salem" cruised to $4,675, well over its $2,500
estimate, while a seaman's chest retaining an original painting
in the lid of the "Witchcraft built at Chelsea" made $1,980. An
Ohio land grant dated October 14, 1801, and signed by Thomas
Jefferson sold for $3,300.
All prices include a ten percent buyer's premium.
