Earning the sale’s top spot at $12,600 was this Federal inlaid mahogany gentleman’s secretary, attributed the Nehemiah Adams, Salem, Mass., late Eighteenth Century, which saw competition between two private collectors ($15/25,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring; Photos Courtesy Doyle
BOSTON — For the second auction in its Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, Doyle Boston presented more than 200 lots of largely American works of art and antiques in its September 29 auction, with nearly 80 percent finding new homes. Additionally, the sale made $235,000, nearly the same amount achieved by Doyle’s first Boston auction.
Chris Barber, vice president and specialist in American furniture and decorative arts, was happy with the results, “The preview was well attended by collectors and members of the trade alike, and we had some attendees to the live auction, which was great! Items sold to a broad mix of buyers in New England, elsewhere in the Northeast, throughout the country and internationally as well. Kathryn Craig, director of Boston Operations, and I were pleased to welcome our Boston neighbors, long-time friends and 70 new-to-Doyle buyers to Boston Collects, our second sale here in the Back Bay. We are happy to be here in Boston making new friends every day, and as we continue to grow our presence here in New England, we are committed to always having our door open.”
Impressive in scale, the top lot was a Federal inlaid mahogany gentleman’s secretary that sold to a private collector, underbid by another private collector, for $12,600. Attributed to Nehemiah Adams of Salem, Mass., and dated to the late Eighteenth Century, the piece had provenance to Marsden J. Perry and William Randolph Hearst, the Parke-Bernet Galleries’ 1938 auction of Hearst’s collection, and two Prince Georges County, Md., collections before most recently being auctioned at Sotheby’s in 2008.
Made in Massachusetts in the third quarter of the Eighteenth Century, this Chippendale mahogany serpentine chest of drawers exceeded expectations and saw interest from both trade and private buyers before it finished at $6,300 ($1,5/2,500).
Other highlights of American furniture include a Chippendale mahogany serpentine chest of drawers from Massachusetts that saw interest from both private collectors and the trade. and sold for $6,300. It was followed at $5,670 by a Chippendale carved cherry chest on chest from Eastern Connecticut, circa 1770, that descended in the family of J.C. Percival, a Revolutionary War surgeon who lived in Haddam, Conn.
In the silver category, a Gorham five-piece sterling silver tea and coffee service, which sold to a private collector, had the top price at $6,930. It bested a Paul Revere Jr silver tablespoon from the late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century that made $5,355.
A circa 1979 landscape by American modernist Paul Resika (b 1928) saw fierce presale interest and found a new home with a private collector for $7,560, several times its estimate. It had provenance to the Graham Gallery in New York City, a fundraising auction for the Provincetown Art Association and the Washington DC collection of Diana Tead Michaelis.
The modernist aesthetic was at play with three rosewood cabinets, all designed by George Nelson for Herman Miller, which Barber said were some of the most sought-after lots of the week. A “thin edge” chest of drawers that realized $6,930 had been acquired in the 1950s from Herman Miller; the other pieces made $5,670 and $3,780.
Chris Barber saw good competition in nautical and maritime antiques and pledged the category would be “an important component of Boston sales going forward.” This late Nineteenth Century English woolwork picture, 15 by 28 ½ inches, found a new home for $5,040 ($800/1,200).
Rounding out top lots and riding a wave of interest in marine and nautical antiques was a late Nineteenth Century English woolwork “woolie” picture of ships at anchor in Boca Tigris, which sailed to $5,040.
Barber noted that he, Craig and the rest of the Doyle team were accepting consignments for its February 2024 auction, the date of which is forthcoming.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as represented by the auction house. For information, www.doyle.com or 617-999-8254.
