The bidding opened at $250,000, and ended at $803,200 (including
premium), for a Chippendale carved and figured mahogany tall-case
clock with musical works, the dial inscribed "Paul Rimbault,
London" and the carving attributed to Nicholas Bernard and Martin
Jugiez, Philadelphia, circa 1775.
Chippendale chest of drawers from the Braunfeld Collection,
$377,600.
The auction room was silent as two Sotheby's representatives
took bids from their clients, jumping $10,000 each time until it
set an auction record for an American clock at auction and became
to the top lot of the American sales at Sotheby's. The clock
measures 9 feet 31/2 inches tall, 20 inches wide, and 101/2 inches
deep. The presale estimate was $400/600,000. The total for the
sales of Americana at Sotheby's was $13,575,920.
A single-owner sale, The Collection of Alice and Murray
Braunfeld, was the attraction at Sotheby's on Saturday, January
17, when 292 lots were offered with a 252/40 sold/unsold record.
The top lot was a Chippendale carved cherry wood blocked and
reverse-serpentine front chest of drawers, Connecticut River
Valley, Mass., circa 1800, that sold for $377,600, including
premium. The chest appears to retain its original surface and
measures 321/2 inches high, 431/2 inches wide and 223/4 inches
deep. The presale estimate was $80/100,000.
Thirty-three lots of American folk art from the Collection of
Raymond and Susan Egan led off the Americana Week sales at
Sotheby's on Friday, January 16, and 30 lots were sold for a
total of $1,157,240. The top lot was a charming portrait of
Virginia Ada Wright by M.W. Hopkins, 1789-1844, an oil on canvas
painted circa 1830. It is in a period frame measuring 42 by 26
inches. This child in a red dress, holding a basket of roses, was
last seen when it was sold at Oliver's Americana Auctions,
November 18, 1990. It was bought last week by a private collector
for $232,000, including premium.
.The third highest lot in the sale of American folk art at
Sotheby's was a rare carved and painted pine American eagle by
Wilhelm Schimmel, Cumberland Valley, Penn., circa 1880. It has a
wingspan of 141/2 inches and measures 93/4 inches tall. The
eagle, one of three Schimmel carvings in the sale, brought
$108,000, including premium, from Marietta, Penn., dealer Harry
Hartman. It was underbid by Pat Bell of Olde Hope Antiques, New
Hope, Penn. Mr Hartman also bought the squirrel and the parrot.
The presale estimate was $20/30,000.
A full report of these sales will appear in a future issue of
Antiques and The Arts Weekly.
