Folk Art Speaks To Crowd At Spirited Willis Henry Auction

Dedham, Mass.

:Desirable folk art drew a strong crowd to the April 19 Willis Henry folk art and Americana sale, which proved to be a boon for American folk art collectors and dealers alike. Two New Guinea carvings were the runaway favorites of the sale, however. A 15½-inch carved male ancestor figure with breast tattoos sold to the European trade on the phone for $9,068.

A smaller (7½ inches) male carving with red finish had raffia nose plugs and sold for $5,850. Both figures were estimated at $200/600 and both attracted significant attention. They came from different Massachusetts collections.

A 16-inch carved New Guinea female figure attracted $1,287. She carried an estimate of $100/500. A dramatic West African (Bambaran) antelope headdress mounted on the body of a male antelope with an attached female figure in a bird headdress sold for $585.

A Nineteenth Century dovetailed pine spice chest with 15 drawers with small, turned wood pulls retained the original deep blue finish and realized $8,483. The chest came from a Fifth Avenue, New York City, collection that was the source of many fine objects in the sale.

A miniature Windsor green painted firkin was signed "CH" and came from a Connecticut collection. It sold on the phone for a record $8,892. The catalog notes suggested that "CH" may refer to Caleb Hersey, who was a toymaker in South Hingham, Mass., in the mid- to late Nineteenth Century.

An 18-inch Nineteenth Century barrel in pine and ash on white oak, retaining the original yellow paint, with nine wrapped bands fastened with hand wrought iron fasteners fetched $1,638. It came from a New York state collection.

A Nineteenth Century model of a whaling dory in the original red and white paint and fitted with oars, kegs and a flag, and mounted atop a carved whale came from a collection south of Boston. It realized $4,680.

A New Mexican carving of Adam and Eve, the apple tree and the serpent, signed "Jose Mondragon, Chimayo, N.M., Nov. 15, 1971" sold on the Internet for $936, while a Mondragon nativity scene from 1977 was $585, and a carved group comprising Mary, Joseph and the Christ child surrounded by animals from 1982 fetched $527.

A carved wooden diorama from the 1920s, "Hillbilly Wedding," with a preacher, the Ozark police, the bearded and barefoot, a reluctant looking groom, a vulture and liquor jugs realized $702.

A collection of whimsical roosters and chickens appealed to bidders who bought eagerly. The cock of the walk was the cast iron rooster target with a large central bull's-eye and a pop-up string mounted star that came from a New York City collection. Bidding opened at $3,800 and it strutted to $5,499. Other fair weather fowl included a lot of two cast iron rooster for windmill weights, each of which was signed "Hummer E-184," that two phone bidders drove to $1,024.

A large cast iron rooster that catalog notes suggested might have been ballast for a well had been painted vividly in green, red, yellow and black over white. It drew $995.

A group of five white felt chicken heads with red felt combs and faces and a larger white felt rooster head with a red felt comb had glass eyes and attracted some attention. No one seemed sure what they were until the consignor identified them as egg cozies. The group brought $381. Another group of roosters and hens included a standing cloth rooster and two identified as hens, one with painted wings and the other with a cut cloth body, sold for $351. One of the birds had a Steiff button.

A late Nineteenth Century games table made in New York with a carved oak seated lion as the base and painted chess and checker boards sold for $2,457. Games were also for sale. A game of chance wheel made from a Nineteenth Century wagon wheel painted colorfully realized $1,755 and a carnival ball toss game with the figure of Punch measured 35 by 18 inches and was $585. Two Popeye tin games, "Popeye Bubble Target" and "Popeye Menu," mounted in a Plexiglas frame brought a solid $995.

A New England child's blanket chest in light green paint came from a collection southeast of Boston. It realized $3,627, while a Nineteenth Century blanket chest in sky blue, marked on the interior "No 9 chest," drew $1,933.

From the same New York City collection and of particular interest was a tin cigarette box that was painted in Grenfell style with an image of an Eskimo in a kayak hunting seals. Labeled "Labrador," the small box fetched $1,287.

A cased set of 45 child's wooden blocks on which the 48-star American flag had been painted on one side came from the New York City collection and brought $761 from an absentee bidder.

The same collection, a good portion of which was acquired from American Hurrah, included a number of patriotic objects, such as the tin toy "Yankee Sand Mill" in red, white and blue paint with the figure of Uncle Sam adding sand. It realized $585. A 6-foot carved wood figure of Uncle Sam was a good buy at $264 for a couple who bought steadily.

A lot of 13 antique fish decoys sold for $761, while two carved 14-inch fish floats with the original line brought $381. One was tagged "R.J. Murray, Fowler, N.Y.," and the other "Robert Evans, 338 N. Main St., Gouverneur, N.Y."

A Nineteenth Century gilded copper running horse weathervane was found in Marshfield, Mass., with shot marks and a bent neck. It sold for $1,404. A Twentieth Century painted whirligig weathervane that measured 58 inches in length and featured the figures of Snuffy Smith and Barney Google attracted $410.

Rosario Bernier, a trimmer at a Taunton, Mass., shoe factory and a recognized musician in the 1930s, was a prodigiously talented wood carver. A collection of his folky carved and painted figures consigned by an area couple included an 18½-inch carved pine owl on a stump that brought $1,170, a 27½-inch figure of Abraham Lincoln in a top hat and tail coat that elicited $878 and a tiger head with whiskers of fishing line that was $585. An imposing 6-foot-4-inch figure of a Native American brave (measured without his 8-inch feather) sold for $234. Bernier's output extended to cowboys, snakes, decoys and birds of every variety.

A miniature (3 inches) redware jug with a mottled yellow and stripe glaze fetched $1,638.

A Nineteenth Century two-fingered pine and oak pantry box in dark blue paint realized $468. A 34-inch maple adjustable candlestand on three pegged legs had an acorn finial and a revolving drip tray and sold for $351.

A Twentieth Century nest of eight graduated swing handled baskets made in prison by Arthur Martin sold for $761, and a small (3 inches) hoop handled basket with green paint sold to an absentee bidder for $702.

Needlework and other textiles commanded interest: A selection of textiles all framed in Plexiglas boxes went to a single bidder, who was forced to remove them from the frames in order to transport them. An Amish diamond in the square quilt in compelling hues of green, dusty magenta, red and gray from the New York City collection was $2,340; another Amish example with black rectangles and soft browns, greens and purples brought $1,521; and a 1930s Amish child's quilt in a bear claw pattern drew $585

An Irish sampler worked by Catherine Kelly in 1814 at Mrs Parsons' school in Athlone, with figures, vines, flowers, the alphabet and Christian symbols, sold for $1,287. Another sampler by Ann Warrington in 1819 was worked with a house surrounded by trees, an angel, flowers, a basket of flowers, birds, butterflies and a geometric and floral border; it was $995. A Berlin work depiction of two pairs of twins brought $878.

An exceptional Nineteenth Century jacquard coverlet in blue with white stars, red tulips and a border of geometric trees sold on the phone for $999.

A 31-inch wooden store sign advertising "We sell Wood's Acme and Dutchess Coffees" fetched $1,346. A Nineteenth Century sign advertising "Boot and Shoe Making" went for $848, while another advertising Great Dane pups for sale was $527.

Pumpkin Head candy containers were a surprise. An area collection included a lot comprising two small paper examples, one in the form of a smiling suitcase and the other a smiling drum, that went for $761; a German example with a painted face and a horn realized $614; and two in the form of snowmen went out at $410.

All prices quoted include the 17 percent buyer's premium. For information, 781-834-7774 or www.willishenry.com .