: A painted chest-on-chest found in a local home was the top lot at
Brunk Auctions' September 24 sale, realizing $276,000, a price
believed to be the second highest price ever paid for a Dunlap.
The chest, made in New Hampshire by a member of the Dunlap family
of cabinetmakers about 1780-1820, had descended in the family of
the consignor. A treasured family possession, it traveled to
North Carolina many years ago, and the owner had cared for it
meticulously. It survived in nearly untouched condition, with the
dramatic faux-grain red and black paint still intact.
A dozen telephone bidders from around the country competed with
absentee bids, Internet bidders and live bidders among the large
crowd in attendance. The bidding started at $10,000, with many
hands in the air until the pack finally narrowed to just two at
the $160,000 mark. From there, a phone bidder battled a bidder in
the room in $10,000 increments until the phone bidder, folk art
dealer David Wheatcroft of Westborough, Mass., finally prevailed
at $240,000 plus the 15 percent buyer's premium for a total of
$276,000.
"Windward Koko Head Honolulu" by Joseph Henry Sharp, 20 by 24
inches, was hammered down at $30,000.
Grain-painted furniture did well as evidenced by the sale's
second highest lot, a Pennsylvania step back cupboard in excellent
condition that was hammered in at $86,250. Other New England
furniture standouts were a Federal secretary bookcase attributed to
William Appleton in Salem, Mass., and an American mahogany
breakfront, probably Norfolk, Va., that each sold for $17,250.
The sale included other examples of American and European
furniture, paintings, silver, jewelry, folk art, Asian arts, and
carpets. Many of the items saw stiff competition from floor
versus phone bidding.
Fine art highlights included "Steamer Golden Gate on
Fire," circa 1862, by Claude S. Hugard, 24 by 39 inches, that
fetched $16,100 and "Windward Koko Head Honolulu" by Joseph Henry
Sharp, 20 by 24 inches, that was hammered down at $34,500. Both
were bought by private collectors. Four works in the manner of
Francésco Guardi, each 41 by 27 inches, brought $23,000.
Southern decorative arts performed strongly. A coin silver
covered sugar and pitcher by James E. Spear & Co.,
Charleston, S.C., did well with the sugar fetching $24,150 and
the pitcher realizing $18,400.
A set of four George II silver candlesticks, Elizabeth Godfrey,
London, 1752, sold for $16,100 and a Russian silver/enamel
triptych made by P. Ovchinnikov, one of Russia's leading jeweler
firms in the late 1800s, sold to the phone for $16,100.
An Eighteenth/Nineteenth Anglo Irish chandelier sold to the
phone for $24,000.
A lot of fine chandeliers included an Eighteenth/Nineteenth
Century Anglo Irish chandelier that realized $28,750 on the phone.
Up for bid was a grouping of George Custer ephemera and
photographs that descended in the family of Daniel Kanipe, one of
two men under the direct command of Custer who survived the
Battle of the Big Horn, according to the auction house. One
featured item in that lot was a George Custer signed appointment
that was hammered down at $18,400.
A group of Spanish copper lusterware deaccessioned from The
Hickory Museum of Art was hotly contested and one piece depicting
a cat sold for $8,625.
All prices include the 15 percent buyer's premium. For more
information, visit , or call 828-254-6846.
