Pilgrim Chest Tops At Copake Auction

COPAKE, N.Y.

:Chocked full of Americana consigned from a variety of local New York State homes, Copake Auction's cataloged estate sale attracted attention from throughout the country on April 1. No "April Fools" jokes were forthcoming from the large crowd in attendance as the merchandise offered garnered a serious tone.

While a great selection of historically important local items, consigned by direct descendants of the Skidmore family, attracted a lot of local interest, it was a Pilgrim Century chest that had come from a Hillsdale, N.Y., home that drew calls from far and wide.

"It was a very strong sale," commented Seth Fallon, "one of the best we have had in a long time, and the chest established a record for us as the highest priced item we have ever sold." A huge crowd was in attendance with every seat in the auction hall filled and a large crowd filling every nook and cranny. Bidding was brisk throughout the night with numerous lots exceeding expectations.

The auction opened with a selection of Oriental carpets that had apparently been overlooked by the normal crowd of carpet buyers. The rugs were left to those in the crowd and most sold reasonably. A large Sarouk, estimated at $1/1,500, went out at $412, two room-sized carpets brought $137 each, and a large Persian rug topped the list at $1,210.

It was not long before some of the items that the crowd had salivated for crossed the block with a Skidmore family blue and white coverlet selling at $1,100. One item with Skidmore provenance that had attracted a great deal of interest was a miniature blanket chest with bracket base that shot past the $200/300 presale estimates to bring $945. Both of those items sold to an absentee bidder, later to be identified by Michael Fallon as the recent purchaser of the Skidmore family real estate. Also with Skidmore provenance was an Eighteenth Century deed for Skidmore property that sold for $660, and a very large turned wooden bowl realized $715.

The top lot of the sale came as a rare Pilgrim Century chest was offered. "I saw the chest during a house call," commented auctioneer Michael Fallon, "but the woman told me that she didn't think she wanted to sell it. After we had left, I couldn't get it off my mind, so I called her back and asked if we could come back out and take a look at it. She agreed and after we had looked it over, I told her we could get at least $10,000 for it," related Fallon. "She thought about it for a while and a couple days later she called back and told us to come get the chest. She was moving to a smaller home and had decided that it wasn't going to work well in the new house," he said.

The chest had descended in the family of Amos Lawrence, an early founder of the Lawrence Mills in Lawrence, Mass. As is the norm for Seventeenth Century furniture, the chest had a replaced top and possibly a couple replaced ebonized spindle mounts. That bothered few, however, who had made the trip to the auction hall to inspect the rare piece.

The chest was pictured in Copake's first advertisement, according to the auction gallery and "As soon as the ad in The Bee came out, we started getting calls from all over the place," stated Fallon. "Everyone that should have called has called and most of them have come out to look the piece over," he said.

With phone lines secured and several in the gallery poised and ready, Fallon quickly related the history to the crowd and then announced that he had an opening bid of $15,000. Asking for $16,000, several hands in the gallery shot into the air and the piece was off and running. Bids came rapidly from several in the gallery; it wasn't long, however, before the field had narrowed to Massachusetts dealer Paul DeCoste, seated on a stool in the far aisle, and a woman standing near the rear of the room.

Bids bounced back and forth between the two until the lot was claimed by DeCoste at $55,000. The dealer quickly rose from his seat, proceeded to check-out and then to the loading area where the chest was promptly placed in the rear of his van.

"I bought it for a client," stated DeCoste. "It is going home to Massachusetts," he said with a twang of pride in his voice. "It is a really nice thing and it is going into a nice collection."

A consignor brought in an Edison cylinder record player and told the auction house to sell it and to donate half of the proceeds to the St Jude's Children's Hospital. Just prior to the auction the consignor got back to the gallery grumbling about "what he must have been thinking" at the time he gave it to them. Fearing the worst, Fallon queried the consignor, who unexpectedly responded, "Give the hospital all of the money." The lot sold for $440, and a small microscope was also sold as a benefit item with it bringing $71.

A large selection of weathervanes was offered with a cast iron Rochester horse leading the group. The large version of the weathervane had come off a barn in Maine where it had been since purchased new. Complete with the original directionals the weathervane sold for $28,600.

Other weathervanes offered included a rare pig in a small size that sold for $8,800, a sloop vane went out at $4,510, and a Black Hawk horse vane realized $4,620.

A couple paintings in the auction did well with an oil on canvas depicting a landscape with cows by C.W. Knapp selling at $4,400, a large classical allegorical scene brought $3,630, and a Nineteenth Century oil depicting a horse fair went for $1,650.

Other lots of interest included a Nineteenth Century Sheraton work table that hammered down at $945, a small Chippendale chest on an ogee bracket base made $1,045, a small walnut knee-hole desk fetched $1,430, and a diminutive cupboard in old yellow paint brought $852.

Two carved ivory pieces included a seal stamp in the form of a figural hand that sold for $577, and a carved hip-bone depicting a man with outstretched arms on one side and a wolf on the other that sold for $632.

Prices include the buyer's premium charged. For information contact Copake Auction at 518-329-1142 or www.copakeauction.com.