In New Orleans, a Virginia Sideboard Makes Top Bid of $124,750

NEW ORLEANS, LA.

:An American Chippendale sideboard table made in Tidewater, Va., between 1760 and 1775 was the news at Neal Auction Company's February 18-20, sale where it sold for $124,750. The mahogany table had a fine marble top and evidence of secondary cherrywood. Its legs were a distinctively eastern Virginian interpretation of Chippendale's style.

Another exceptional Southern piece was the circa 1800 American Federal cherry serpentine sideboard with graceful inlay that sold for $102,750. The 721/2-inch piece had come from the collection of Felix Herwig Kuntz, the celebrated New Orleans collector of Americana. It was probably made in Natchez and was one of three known to exist. Another is in a private collection in Natchez, the third was destroyed during Hurricane Camille.

A circa 1875 New York cherry pedestal in the Egyptian taste brought $58,750. It was deaccessioned from the Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta where an identical example remains on view. Proceeds from the sale of the Crawford Collection will be used to acquire other objects for the collection.

Other items from the Crawford Collection included a neo-Grecian rosewood, maple and marquetry cabinet made in about 1870 by Thomas Godey in Baltimore that sold for $51,700. A pair of American rococo side chairs in richly carved and laminated rosewood brought $30,550. The chairs were attributed to Belter and were executed in a style similar to the "Cornucopia" pattern with round seats.

Also from the Crawford Collection was a circa 1869 American fauteuil made in the Louis XVI taste that realized $11,162 against the estimated $2,5/3,500. The ebonized cherrywood and gilt-bronze mounted chair was made by Leon Marcotte and Co. of New York.

The Crawford Collection was replete with gems that included a circa 1857 carved American oak armchair made by Bembe and Kimbel of New York for the US House of Representatives. Designed by Thomas Ustick Walter, the chair garnered $23,500. A circa 1866 folding and reclining armchair in ebonized and gilt walnut by George Hunziger estimated at $1,2/1,800 drew $15,862. Another impressive Crawford piece was a monumental American Gothic carved oak armchair designed by Alexander Jackson Davis of New York and attributed to Burns and Brother, also of New York, that sold for $31,725. The gothic crest was carved with a remarkable maiden's mask.

A pair of J.H. Belter rococo laminated and heavily carved rosewood meridiennes acquired between 1850 and 1860 by Nicholas and Frances Lonsdale for their New Orleans home had descended in the family. The pair was $22,325.

A late Eighteenth Century southern cherry side table with a plank top over lively cabriole legs fetched $23,500 against its estimated $7/9,000.

An interesting New Orleans tall case clock by mid-Nineteenth Century maker Stanislaus Fournier drew $14,100. The 92-inch clock had a round enamel dial in a brass frame with a large pendulum and was housed in a stained pine case. Fournier was born and trained in Normandy, France, and arrived in New Orleans around 1841 to install a clock. The lack of clockmakers in the city led him to stay and establish a business.

A fairly utilitarian object brought a far from utilitarian price. A rare early Nineteenth Century Louisiana cypress ironing board estimated at $800-$1,200 sold for $4,112. Other coveted lots of Louisiana cypress were also strong. A Federal painted armoire from about 1790-1800 was found in St Landry Parish and brought $15,275, while a six-board blanket chest was also desirable and sold for $14,100.

An American sterling repousse coffee and tea service by Kirk that descended from George Mason of Gunson Hall, Mason Neck, Va., was $16,450 while a late Eighteenth Century pair of Italian carved walnut and parcel-gilt mirrors with Palladian influences brought $15,275 and a pair of grand Napoleon III bronze d'ore candelabra in the manner of Clodion was $14,100.

Among the fine paintings across the block two tied for top lot. "Patio of the Court of Two Sisters Restaurant" in the French Quarter executed in about 1945 by New Orleans painter Clarence Millet was $58,750. "The Soup Taster," an 1881 oil on canvas by Belgian artist Gerard Portielje, was signed, dated and inscribed "Antwerp" and also sold for $58,750. It came from the estate of Mrs William Burgess Eppler of New York and Dallas.

Also from the Eppler estate was Henri-Joseph Harpignies' "Le Bois de la Tremellerie a Saint-Prive (Yonne)" that reaped $27,025.

Chauncey Foster Ryder's "The Old Road to Frameston" came from the same estate and realized $20,562.

The whimsical watercolor "Rooster and Chicks" by Mississippi artist Walter Inglis Anderson was created in around 1940-1945 and drew $30,550.

The evocative snowy street scene "La Madeleine" by French artist Edouard-Leon Corte drew $41,125 and a portfolio facsimile of Audubon's The Birds of America printed in 1985 by Abbeville in New York realized $23,500.

All prices quoted reflect the 171/2 percent buyer's premium.