: The gallery was full, some people were standing at the back of
the room, when Sotheby's continued its sale of Important
Americana, kicking off session two on Friday morning, January 16,
immediately following the sale of the Egan collection.
Ninety lots, 77 sold, crossed the block for a total of
$1,966,900.
This time around paintings registered the highest bids, with
Ralph Fasanella's view of New York City taking honors as the top
lot, selling for $366,400. Second place went to lot 314, The
Village of Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, a Nineteenth Century
American School oil on canvas. This work sold to a private
collector.
Several pieces of needlework led the sale, including lot 272,
estimated at $6/8,000, a sampler and family record, Jane Glenn,
Mrs Buchanan's School, Marietta, Penn., dated 1826. This piece
was worked on a gauze ground in dark blue, green, yellow, gold
and pink stitches, the figure having real hair and spangles on
the clothing. It measures 20 by 171/2 inches, some small holes
and fabric loss, and sold for $42,000.
This painted pine and poplar chest of drawers, Mahantango
Valley, Pa., circa 1830, sold to David Wheatcroft for $81,000.
A paint decorated toleware document box belonging to the
Hartwell family, probably New England, early Nineteenth Century,
71/2 inches high, the front painted with white houses and trees in
a landscape, containing documents relating to the Hartwell family
of Hartford, Conn., sold well over the high estimate of $2,000, at
$6,600. The next lot, a cut sheet metal locomotive weathervane,
American, late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century, sold for
$19,200, just over the high estimate.
A bid of $39,000 for a carved and painted pine cigar store figure
of an Indian, attributed to Thomas Brooks, New York, third
quarter of the Nineteenth Century. It measures 80 inches tall and
there was some restoration to the paint. A rare "Peaceable
Kingdom" applewood walking stick, signed Isaac S. Beecher, Owego,
New York, dated 1878, carved with quotations and figures from the
prophecy of Isaiah, 331/2 inches long, sold for $13,200 to dealer
David Wheatcroft.
Several dealers and collectors prior to the sale expressed
interest in lot 299, a young mother and her child depicted on a
clock face panel portrait, American, circa 1820. It depicted a
young fashionably dressed and coiffed woman seated in a yellow
side chair, her child in a red dress standing in her lap, the
surrounding panel gessoed and gilded to resemble an ornate verre
eglomise mat and frame. It measures 71/4 by 9 inches and was sold
by Sotheby's in the 1986 sale of Don and Faye Walters. The high
estimate was $7,000, and it sold for $42,000.
A First Confederate National flag presented to the Dancyville
(Tennessee) Grays, 1861, approximately 86 by 58 inches, blue silk
canton containing 12 finely hand sewn stars, three stripes, sold
for $48,000, while a map of the most inhabited part of Virginia
containing the whole province of Maryland, with part of
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina, drawn by Joshua Frye
and Peter Jefferson, 1775, 351/2 by 493/4 inches, sold well over
the high estimate of $7,000 at $45,000.
A pieced and appliqued cotton Baltimore album quilt attributed
to Hannah Foote, Baltimore, circa 1860, sold for $72,000.
William Edmondson's girl with braided hair, 10 1/2 inches
high, limestone and driftwood, sold within estimate at $78,000, and
a fine painted and decal-decorated sewing box, Joseph Lenh,
Lancaster County, Penn., circa 1890, 71/2 inches high, 131/2 inches
wide, and 71/4 inches deep, sold to Pennsylvania dealer Harry
Hartman for $8,400.
A fine pair of papier mache and fabric dolls, probably German,
circa 1850, with carved and painted legs, still wearing the
original glazed cotton and lace dresses, pink ribbons and white
pantaloons, sold for $1,800.
"The dolls appear never to have been played with and are in
perfect condition," said a happy Judy Herdeg who bought the pair
on behalf of Winterthur. $7,800 was paid for a painted and
polychrome decorated diminutive pine dome-top chest, New England,
first half of the Nineteenth century, yellow ground with red
circle decoration, green border, 11 inches high and 193/4 inches
wide. It sold for $7,800 and appears to have the original
hardware and hinges.
As for the sale, after it was all over Andrew Holter, director of
the American Furniture Department, said, "The strong prices seen
this season are a very good indication of the strength of the
Americana market, and there was a healthy mix of private and
trade buying."
