J. Eberly & Co.
polychrome glazed lamb doorstop, $58,000.
MT CRAWFORD, VA. - Green Valley Auction, Inc's annual fall
auction of antiques, Americana and folk and decorative arts drew
a substantial attendance from from 26 states and Canada, with
even more participation by both absentee and phone bid.
Offerings included early American firearms, dolls and toys,
books, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture, fine art,
folk pottery, silver, ceramics and glass.
President and auctioneer Jeffrey Evans maintained an average of
120 lots per hour. The two-day event saw 1,469 lots auctioned
without reserve to 564 registered bidders, including 103
telephone bidders. Absentee bids totaled nearly 1,300. Sales
exceeded $517,000.
Session one featured a selection of early Americana firearms and
accessories, to include five Shenandoah Valley long rifles with
patch boxes, some signed, flintlock and screw barrel pistols,
powder horns and Civil War era revolvers. In addition to the
historic weapons was a reference library dedicated to Kentucky
long rifles, powder horns, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century
Indian and continental weapons and accoutrements. Other offerings
included country store and advertising, art pottery, early
objects of brass, pewter and iron.
Of special interest was an Art Deco cast-iron clown door stop
that ended at $1,300. Other highlights from this session included
a rare confederate 1864 imprint volume Sketches of the Life of
Captain Hugh White, of the Stonewall Brigade, authorized by
his father, which brought $2,300 and a child's buckboard wagon in
original paint that topped at $1,700.
A collection of early dolls saw a Tete Jumeau bisque head reach
$2,200 and a Simon Halbig bisque head end at $1,450.
Shenandoah Valley early long rifles saw much interest, with
nearly all selling at $2,200 to $3,000. An early commercial wood
and porcelain coat rack generated much interest and finished at
$2,300.
Saturday's session two featured a selection of antiques and
Americana totaling more than 900 lots. Patrons had barely taken
their seats when the action exploded with an extremely rare and
important J. Eberly & Co. polychrome glazed lamb doorstop
that soared above preauction estimates to a record $58,000,
according to the gallery.
The excitement had barely subsided when Shenandoah Valley
Nineteenth Century earthenware and stoneware jugs, crocks,
pitchers, jars and other forms also proved to be strong sellers.
An Isaac Good Rockingham County, Va., earthenware jug reached
$3,250; an Andrew Coffman, Rockingham County, decorated stoneware
squat pot, despite having a crack on its reverse, saw $3,500; a
John Bell mottled glaze earthenware cake mold sold for $4,900;
and a Cowden & Wilcox Harrisburg, Penn., decorated stoneware
batter pail with strong cobalt freehand fern wreath decoration
brought $2,200.
Painting of Natural Bridge, Virginia, attributed to Isaac Weld,
$3,500.
Many splint baskets included a Virginia painted kidney basket,
which saw $2,700. Another popular grouping, the quilts and
coverlets, saw a mid-Nineteenth Century North Carolina chintz
central medallion quilt reach $1,300.
The fine art offerings included a watercolor and gouache on paper
painting of Natural Bridge, Va., attributed to Isaac Weld
(1774-1856), which generated much interest and closed at $3,500.
An original P. Buckley Moss watercolor, 1975, landscape with deer
brought $2,500.
The selections of Shenandoah Valley and other southern antique
furniture resulted in some of the strongest showings with an
exceptional folk art carved Highland County, Va., empire walnut
chest of drawers topping at $5,000; a Shenandoah Valley Sheraton
walnut sideboard at $5,250; a Virginia Chippendale walnut single
piece corner cupboard at $5,500; and a diminutive Shenandoah
Valley yellow pine pie safe that also saw $5,500.
A highlight of the furniture offerings was a diminutive
Shenandoah Valley Chippendale hanging corner cupboard in fresh
as-found condition that commanded a final bid of $8,000. Other
southern furniture offerings included a Shenandoah Valley
Hepplewhite inlaid walnut chest of drawers at $2,400. Notable
Eighteenth Century furnishings included a George II mahogany
three-section banquet table at $2,900 and a William III japanned
oak chest-on-stand with gold on black chinoiserie decoration
climbing to $2,200, despite alterations. A fine Victorian
billiards table with burl wood veneer and marquetry inlay
attributed to J.M. Brunswick & Balke and in need of some
alteration went to a West Coast bidder for $5,000.
Ceramics took off with the help of a collection of more than 80
pieces of spatter ware. Leading the way was a spatter ware sop
bowl in the Acorn pattern reaching $2,800 and a spatter ware
rainbow teapot at $2,600. A few of the many other spatter ware
highlights included bull's-eye pattern plates at $1,150 each; a
yellow thistle teapot, missing its lid and with restorations at
$1,800; and a star pattern plate at $900.
Shenandoah Valley yellow pine pie safe, $5,500.
Another star of the ceramics offerings was the Ironstone Morning
Glory/Tealeaf five-piece coffee service that saw $1,200.
Many examples of Rockingham glaze and gaudy Dutch were on hand
for the collector or dealer, as well as a good representation of
Staffordshire, Flow Blue, featheredge, Chinese famille rose and
R.S. Prussia. Examples of a fine paperweight collection were not
far behind with a bouquet on swirled latticino attributed to the
New England Glass Co. that ended at $1,600 and an open concentric
color ground millefiori, attributed to Clichy, at $1,500.
Other notable offerings included a set of 12 Steuben dinner
plates, topaz with applied blue rim bands, that sold to a
prominent Canadian museum for $800 and a Royal Doulton "Pomeroy"
dinner service of 112 pieces that left the floor at $1,650. A
Flow Blue partial dinner set in the Balmoral pattern sold for
$1,200.
