A host of collections, including the Jacquelin Patterson collection of lighting, an assortment of material from California collector Doctor Anthony J. Francis, items from a Virginia antiquarian, consignments from estates from Massachusetts to Illinois, and select items deaccessioned from numerous institutions all came together to make for an interesting auction at Skinner. Timed to coincide with the Ellis Memorial Antiques Show that is conducted just two blocks from the gallery, Skinner’s annual Fall American Furniture and Decorative Arts auction, November 3 and 4, was action-packed.
Excitement built steadily in the weeks leading up to the auction, with the stellar assortment of merchandise attracting collectors and dealers from around the country. As the sale drew closer, Skinner Americana experts Stephen Fletcher and Martha Hamilton appeared to be quite optimistic. Preview was active, with numerous major players and a large collector contingent poring over the vast assortment.
Several lots attracted serious attention during preview, with the keenest interest being split evenly between an early portrait and a rare car weathervane. Each of the lots had strong local history and provenance.
The auction got off to a brisk start on Saturday evening with the Patterson lighting collection. Consisting almost exclusively of pewter and glass examples, the well-received collection totaled 112 lots. Winning bids routinely exceeded estimates, with the first lot of pewter lamps, estimated at $200/250, bringing $646.
The top lot of the lighting came as a rare pair of whale oil lamps on candlestick bases by Roswell Gleason, Dorchester, Mass., soared past the $600/800 estimates to bring $5,288. A pair of lamps by Taunton Britannia went out at $3,173, and two chamber lamps by Gleason sold at $1,410.
Sandwich Glass Company lamps from the Patterson collection also did well, with a small peacock green-blown molded glass loop pattern lamp on a pressed hexagonal base doubling estimates at $3,173. A peacock blue three-printie-block Sandwich oil lamp was hotly competed for, with it selling at $2,938; a small, blue loop pattern lamp brought $2,585, and a small blue three-printie lamp realized $2,703.
Approximately 40 Currier & Ives large folio lithographs were offered, with “Winter in the Country. A Cold Morning” selling above estimates at $7,050, as did the popular nocturne image “The Lightning Express Trains. Leaving the Junction.” The pastoral image “The Home of the Deer: Morning in the Adirondacks” was bid to $5,288, while “Trotting Cracks on the Snow” was hammered down at $5,875.
A small collection of redware and stoneware was another highlight of the Saturday evening session, with a covered ovoid redware jar in a vibrant green glazed, attributed to Bristol County, Mass., selling at $11,750. A redware pitcher in a similar glaze also did well, selling at $5,288, a small collection of five slip decorated plates brought $5,875, and a Bennington stoneware jug decorated with a bird in a tree realized $7,050.
Also of note was another piece of pottery, a Bennington lion in a flint enamel glaze, that doubled estimates, bringing $12,925.
Things took on a much more serious note as the Sunday session got underway. A small polychrome wooden paint decorated wall box decorated with thistles and a small central portrait on the upper panel was the first lot to be offered, and it had captured the eye of numerous bidders. Estimated at $3/5,000, the lot caused a bidding war to erupt among several in the gallery as it crossed the block. Moving briskly, the colorfully decorated wall box, probably of Pennsylvania origin, sold at $29,375. A similar price was achieved a short while later for an Andrew Clemens sand “picture bottle” with a colorful eagle with an American flag on one side and an amazingly detailed depiction of the paddle-wheeler Gray Eagle on the verso.
The top lot of the auction came as a rare weathervane in the form of an early automobile was offered. With a strong local history, the weathervane had been deaccessioned from a local museum whose collecting area and historical mission are far removed from the folk art arena.
Originally mounted atop the Manor Crescent Building on Bedford Street in Lexington, Mass., which served as a grocery store and gas station, the weathervane had been saved when the building was purchased and razed by Mobil in the 1960s, stated Fletcher. The auctioneer related that as the building came down, an astute citizen grabbed the weathervane and presented it to the museum, described as an eastern Massachusetts cultural institution
Estimated at $30/50,000, the touring car-form vane with a driver was highly detailed with brake and shift levers, a gas pedal and a long bulb-activated air horn. A plaque on the front of the vane was marked “W.A. Snow Iron Works, Inc.” and it listed a Portland Street address in Boston.
With great patina and traces of the original gilt showing through the overall verdigris surface, the rare vane measured just under 3 feet in length and more than 18 inches tall. As the lot crossed the block, it became the subject of active bidding from the gallery and a host of telephone bidders, with the lot selling at $941,000 to telephone bidders Jerry and Susan Lauren.
While the price paid is not an auction record for a weathervane †the Laurens also own that title with their purchase of an Indian weathervane at Sotheby’s in October 2006 for $5.84 million †it is believed to be a record price paid at auction for the form.
A rare American School portrait of a young lad with his dog, oil on panel, also attracted a great deal of attention. The painting, with great local history, depicted Edward Dorr (1808‱880) seated in a brightly decorated yellow chair positioned on an Oriental carpet with trees laden with oranges forming a backdrop.
Dorr’s son (1854‱937) purchased a home in Dorchester, Mass., in 1904, where the painting was recently discovered by Fletcher and his Americana crew. In untouched condition, layers of grime acquired over the decades left the painting with a dark appearance concealing its true beauty. Underestimating its importance as folk art, it carried a presale estimate of $30/50,000.
Bidding on the lot easily surpassed the estimates, with it ultimately selling to Woodbury, Conn., dealer David Schorsch, bidding by telephone, for $886,000.
Another painting to attract the interest of bidders was a “Portrait of the Volunteer ,” circa 1887, by James Buttersworth. Provenance listed the painting as descending in the family of a prominent member of the New York Yacht Club, who was described as a “racing enthusiast from the Nineteenth Century.” The Volunteer was built in 1877 for General Charles Paine of Boston and was named after the division of black volunteers he commanded during the Civil War.
The handsome painting depicted the ship under full sail with the American flag flying boldly in a strong wind. One unusual and visually appealing feature of the painting was that the jib was depicted partially unfurled as it was being raised. Estimated at $75/125,000, this painting also handily exceeded estimates, selling at $160,000.
Other paintings of note included three Thomas Chambers works, with a “View of New York Bay from Brooklyn Heights” selling above estimates at $44,063. A “View of Forest Pond, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass.” was also attributed to Chambers. “It was the first ‘garden cemetery in the nation,'” and Fletcher and Hamilton declared that although changes have taken place on the grounds, the scene was still recognizable. Estimated at $6/8,000, local lore contributed to the serious bidding, with the price escalating to $21,150. Another Chambers-attributed painting, this one depicting a Virginia scene, sold for $18,800.
A portrait of “Mr Bates” attributed to Ammi Phillips was another of the artworks to catch the eye of collectors, with it selling at $23,500. An unsigned folky pastel of a boy with a cat, also discovered in the Dorr House, had some water damage and was estimated at $1/1,500. Bidding came fast and furiously, with the lot hammering down at $14,100. Another portrait of a boy with a toy tin horn, an oil on panel, circa 1815, sold at $16,450.
A John Paul Jones school girl watercolor memorial commanded a second inspection from viewers, as it was so finely detailed that it closely resembled a needlework. With Jones portrayed on the monument, Lady Liberty stood nearby holding a staff with a liberty cap atop and the first Navy Jack flag with serpent and “Don’t Tread on Me” on the flag. Naval ships were depicted in full sail on the waterway in the background and the Jones monument had fittingly been placed under a wonderfully executed flowering tree. Retaining the original eglomise matte and gilt frame, the memorial was bid to $32,900.
A silk needlework picture of Mount Vernon by Mary Stuart of the Folwell School in Philadelphia, circa 1790, sold at $15,275.
Several highlights came from the selection of furniture offered, with a Chippendale mahogany carved blockfront secretary-desk from either Boston or Charlestown, circa 1770, finding a buyer at $116,000. With a broken arch pediment top and flame finial, scalloped paneled doors and a shell carved interior, the case piece was attractive, to say the least.
A wonderful Chippendale mahogany reverse serpentine four-drawer chest thought to be of Connecticut origin was an attractive lot. In a great old dry surface, the chest sat on a bold ogee bracket base, had reeded pilaster columns and a set of early, but replacement, brasses. Minor restoration kept the estimate in check at $2/4,000, yet those numbers were thrown to the wind as the lot crossed the block, finishing at $52,875.
A nice, formal Chippendale blockfront four-drawer chest, Boston, circa 1770, was a good buy at $24,675, as was a highly polished Boston reverse serpentine Chippendale chest with large ball and claw feet at $16,450.
Two dressing tables were offered, with a Delaware River Valley Queen Anne example with trifid feet and shell carved knees, possibly Philadelphia, circa 1750, selling at $19,975, while an early Connecticut River Valley table in an old painted surface with slender legs ending in pad feet and a boldly carved central drawer with fan realized $17,625.
One of the more interesting pieces of furniture in the auction was a rare William and Mary gate leg table that Fletcher had discovered in the basement of a local home. The auctioneer related that the lady of the house had purchased the table decades earlier and started to clean the surface. After some discussion with her husband, it was decided that the table was “unattractive” and thus it made its way down the basement stairs where it remained for decades. “It’s just a wonderful pure table with great turnings,” commented Fletcher. The auctioneer further commented that he was pleased that the basement did not have water problems, thus allowing the table to retain its original height. Estimated at $6/8,000, the table sold for an attractive bid of $16,450.
Numerous clocks were offered in the sale, with a David Wood, Newburyport, Mass., Chippendale shelf clock selling above estimates. The circa 1790 clock with a silvered brass dial was a charming example, with stylized ogee feet and brass bails on the case. It sold for $70,500.
Some items outside the normal Skinner Americana offering included a large Haviland Limoges platter from the Hayes administration White House china service. The platter, decorated with a bearded tom turkey walking across a snowy field, had dramatic rolled-edge corners with the gilt decoration showing from the underside. One of several pieces of White House china in the auction, the platter sold at $15,275.
A couple of Outsider items also attracted interest, with an Elija Pierce carved panel depicting a man encircled by a serpent while a crowd watched from afar selling at twice the estimates for $11,750. The following lot, a carved and painted “Eva” Possum Trot doll by Calvin and Ruby Black, Yermo, Calif., attracted even more interest, with it selling at three times the presale estimate at $18,800.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, 978-779-6241, or www.skinnerinc.com .
