Bidders were well rewarded at a good old-fashioned country sale December 1 put together with admirable smalls and furniture that auctioneer Leo P. Legare gathered from New England estates and collections.
A finely proportioned Chippendale cherry six-drawer tall chest retaining the original hardware and on an untouched base fetched $1,725. It came from a West Newbury collection. A custom Chippendale blockfront chest was $690, and a set of six Hepplewhite-style mahogany dining chairs with acanthus carving and upholstered seats went for $575. Then again, a Federal Hepplewhite carved side chair was $115, and a Mount Lebanon Shaker foot stool brought $115.
Children’s furniture included a Chippendale child’s armchair with scrolled arms that sold for $75, while an oak child’s barber’s chair that swiveled fetched $173. A pair of twin beds was carved in the manner of Samuel McIntire and brought $230.
Deeply carved and on a figural base, a Chinese rosewood marble tilt top table from an Exeter, N.H., house went to $2,588. A record of provenance was made available to the buyer. Legare said after the sale that he had handled many similar examples over the years, but this was by far the nicest.
A mahogany bookcase on ball and claw feet with two glazed doors sold for $345, and a Victorian walnut marble top table was $288. A nice L&JG Stickley Morris chair went for $2,013.
Interesting Civil War material across the block included a group of documents and artifacts relating to Lieutenant Solomon H. Fountain of Wishawauka, Ind., who died in battle in 1865. The documents included his 1863 commission as a first lieutenant, a handwritten letter from Captain John Pierce to Fountain’s son informing him of his father’s death and a letter describing the circumstances of his death by Lieutenant Colonel Jasper Packard, who later represented Indiana in the House of Representatives.
The lot also included photographs, a sword engraved “E Pluribus Unum” and a revolver marked “E. Whitney” made at the Whitney armory and sold on the phone for $2,760. The lot descended in Fountain’s family to a New Hampshire consignor. A Civil War badge of the Ninth Corps etched with a cannon and an anchor sold for $374, and a letter signed by Booker T. Washington on Tuskegee University letterhead realized $230.
Four tray lots of lead soldiers brought $345, and a lot of about 500 postcards and a trade card album with loose trade cards was $372.
Coin silver from estates and collections in Salem and Belmont, Mass., and New Hampshire was resilient: a coin silver coffee pot by Boston maker J.B. Jones sold for $805, while an 1810 English coin silver teapot with a fluted body brought $690. An early English teapot with a dolphin spout fetched $690, and an early English coin silver salver realized $633. A pair of early English repousse coin silver candle holders was the subject of interest and sold for $633.
A large coin silver sugar bowl by George Greenleaf of Newburyport, Mass., sold for $575, and a coin silver sugar signed Evans, circa 1790, was $345, while a lot of coin silver flatware was $288. A cased pair of gold washed and hallmarked coin silver serving pieces brought $503, and two mid-Nineteenth Century coin silver goblets brought $489.
A cased set of sterling flatware comprising 102 pieces sold for $2,530, and a cased sterling silver purse in shell form was $316.
Cast iron toys from a Salem, Mass., collection included an Overland horse-drawn circus musicians’ wagon that brought $575 and an Overland horse-drawn circus calliope wagon that was $403, while a Greyhound bus in original blue paint by Arcade Mfg Co., went for a robust $345. A cast iron fire pumper was a good buy at $75. A Steelcraft Peerless Boycraft pedal car made between 1928 and 1931 had some repainting and brought $403.
An owl-form mechanical bank drew $431, and a tin windup Weeden’s Plantation Darky Savings Bank, made in New Bedford, Mass., was in rough condition and sold for $575. Two magic lanterns and a box of slides sold for $345, and a folky half-hull model of an inboard motor boat elicited $288.
Art glass from a Salem, Mass., collection included a Daum Nancy art glass vase that sold to a phone bidder for $4,485, making it the top lot of the auction, and a small Loetz silver overlay vase garnered $403. A Grueby matte green tile decorated with an amethyst tulip brought $603.
A single New Hampshire collection of salts was broken into lots that attracted strong attention. One box lot of Sandwich colored glass miniatures was $460, while a tray lot of 12 Sandwich glass salts, along with two pattern glass salts, fetched $316. A lot of ten ceramic salts by Moorcroft, Quimper and others was $144 from the same phone buyer. A lot of 12 salts that included Mount Washington and Sandwich examples sold for $230, while two early blown examples †an amber footed salt and a ribbed black amethyst salt †brought $288.
A nicely formed blown amber glass milk bowl that may have been made in the Suncook, N.H., area was $173. A box lot of glass whimsies, including an amber blown scent bottle, seals, pens, an etched ruby panel and other pieces, sold for $288.
Fraternal medals were of interest, and tray lot drew $633.
Carnival glass found buyers as a Northwood two-part punch bowl in a purple Grape and Cable pattern sold for $403; the 12 companion punch cups were $138. A signed carnival glass water pitcher and five tumblers in the Acorn Burr pattern made $403 to the same buyer.
Twelve pattern glass tumblers sold for $489, and a lot of pattern glass egg cups was $374, while a table lot of cobalt glass fetched $230, as did a large button collection.
An oil on tin painting of a classical scene in a gilt frame sold for $345.
There is always a buyer for the quirky, as demonstrated by the sale of a lot comprising four six-packs of Donald Duck soda bottles, five cardboard packs, two wooden cases, a tray and a large poster letter for $259. The Commercial Beverage Company of Salem, Mass., made Donald Duck soda under a licensing agreement with Walt Disney. Another Salem piece was a bench with turned spindles and cast iron hardware from a Salem trolley stop that brought $201.
A humidor in the form of an African American man in a top hat fetched $374, while an Empire example was $144.
A cradle made by an English sailor imprisoned aboard ship in Salem (Mass.) harbor during the War of 1812 containing a doll with a bisque head and blond hair sold for $546. According to the consignor, the two had always been together.
A single Nantucket basket sold for $604, while an entire group of good picnic and other baskets was $28.
All prices reported include the 15 percent buyer’s premium. For information, www.legare-auctions.com or 603-595-9625.
