The "Rosetta stone" of New
Hampshire Federal furniture.
New
Hampshire Federal and Chinese Export Items Highlight Bourgeault
Event
Currier Gallery of Art Purchases Top Lot
MANCHESTER, N.H. - On November 12, Ron Bourgeault's Northeast
Auctions sold a Federal desk/bookcase originally belonging to
Jacob Wendell of Portsmouth, N.H., for $332,500. Bourgeault is
the current owner of the Jacob Wendell house. The winning bidder
acted as an agent, but it was not known at the time of sale
whether the client was a museum, collector, or dealer.
Brock Jobe, author of Portsmouth Furniture, described the
desk as the finest example of Portsmouth Federal furniture that
he has seen; the piece is discussed at length in his book. New
Hampshire furniture consultant Bill Upton called the desk the
"Rosetta stone" of its genre.
The Currier Gallery of Art announced the following day that it
had purchased the desk, made by Judkins and Senter, Portsmouth's
preeminent cabinetmaking firm at the time that city's furniture
achieved its greatest success.
"The acquisition of the Wendell secretary is a major event for
the [gallery] and for New Hampshire," Currier's director Susan
Strickler noted. "[We are] delighted it could keep the Wendell
secretary in New Hampshire, and make it available to the public."
Plans are underway to put the secretary on view in the Currier's
American gallery by November 15.
In two parts, the 1813 French-footed lot features an upper
bookcase with twin Gothic arched glazed doors opening to shelves
over a row of short crossbanded drawers. The lower section
displays a pair of cupboard doors with flanking bottle drawers,
each with contrasting banded panels.
AntiquesAmerica.com was the winner of this Chinese Export
garniture set for $206,000.
Also at the sale, a Chinese Export garniture set was auctioned
for $206,000. Estimated $15/25,000, the tallest urn in the
five-piece set stood some 19 inches high. The lot was part of the
Livingston Family Collections from the Hudson River Valley.
According to the catalogue, family tradition named Captain Kidd
as an owner who gifted the set to a Livingston family member. The
lot, however, dates circa 1730; Kidd was hung in 1701. Each piece
is decorated en grisaille with flowering prunus branches. The
baluster vases feature russet Foo dog finials.
"This is the finest Chinese Export garniture set that I have ever
seen," Bourgeault stated.
The winning bidder was Josh Eldred. "All the items that I
purchased today were bought on behalf of clients of
AntiquesAmerica.com," he stated, "made as part of Private Client
Services [which] we expect to fully launch at the Winter Antiques
Show in New York during the third week in January."
Bob Jackman will provide a full report of this sale in an
upcoming issue of Antiques and The Arts Weekly.
