Earning $69,300 to be one of the top lots in the sale was “Victoria, View from Songhee Point, 1891” by John Stobart (British, 1929-2023). Completed in 1993, the framed painting measured 17½ by 22¼ inches and was sold with notes about the work ($25/35,000).
Review By Carly Timpson; Photos Courtesy Eldred’s
EAST DENNIS, MASS. — Eldred’s “Winter Marine Sale,” conducted on February 27 and 28, was a testament to the auction house’s strength in the marine category. The sale’s first session featured paintings, ship models and instruments among other nautical artifacts. On the second day, Eldred’s presented maritime and decorative art from the estate of Peter Goldstein as well as scrimshaw and whaling artifacts. Closing with a nearly 80 percent sell-through rate, the auction of 399 lots realized $1,166,476 in total. Cheryl Stewart, spokesperson for Eldred’s, reported: “We had a decent-size crowd in the audience for both sessions and a good number of the top lots sold to bidders in the room.”
At the sale’s helm were two lots that both achieved $69,300. Estimated at only $25/35,000, John Stobart’s 1993 oil painting, “Victoria, View from Songhee Point, 1891,” was a study for his later, larger portrait of the green-hulled Thermopylae, a 212-foot clipper designed for the China Trade. This original 9¾-by-14¼-inch version includes several details left out of the final painting, including smaller sailboats in the foreground. Crossing the block for the same price was a cast iron ship’s helm wheel bracket in the form of a mermaid. Dated toward the end of the Nineteenth or early Twentieth Century, the figure’s arms are raised above its head, holding a shaft support bracket in the shape of a shell. Measured without the modern steel stand that accompanied the mermaid, the figure was 36½ inches tall and 46 inches wide at the base.
This 78½-inch-long carved wooden ship’s figurehead depicting a running dog, Nineteenth Century, made $20,160 ($25/35,000).
The mermaid bracket helm, as well as a lighthouse light and a dog figurehead, came from a private Connecticut collection. The light from that collection was made with bull’s-eye Fresnel lenses with refraction prisms inset in a contemporized metal frame. Displayed on a contemporary octagonal wooden pedestal, the light had an electric rotating mechanism and had been well-preserved. More than doubling its estimated $15/20,000, the light earned $47,250. The other notable item from the Connecticut collection, a carved wooden ship’s figurehead in the form of a running dog, brought $20,160. In well-preserved condition with normal flaking and wear, the carving of the dog’s wavy fur was exceptionally detailed. Bridging the dog’s legs, at the base of the figurehead was a carved foliate and berry design.
The top lot of the second day was a painting from the collection of Peter Goldstein. This lot, an untitled oil painting by Charles Henry Gifford, was cataloged as “A Luminist View Of Three Sailboats In A Quiet Coastal Inlet Below Looming Cliffs, Possibly Grand Manan, New Brunswick.” Stewart noted that this painting was a very fine example of Gifford’s work and Eldred’s was happy to see the market respond so favorably to it. It sold well above its $5/7,000 estimate to achieve $37,800.
“Portrait Of The American Ship Charles S. Pennell Coming Into Liverpool, Circa 1855” by Duncan McFarlane, oil on canvas, 29½ by 41½ inches as framed, exceeded estimates to earn $20,160 ($1,8/2,200).
Two other paintings from the Goldstein Collection realized prices greater than their estimates and generated significant interest as they were also considered exceptional examples of the artists’ work. Easily surpassing its high estimate of $2,200, a ship portrait of the Charles S. Pennell by Duncan McFarlane found a buyer at $20,160. Completed circa 1855, this portrait depicts the American ship arriving in Liverpool with a lighthouse on the rocky coastline in the background. The other painting, “Two New York Yacht Club Yachts Racing Off Castle Garden” by William Robert Davis was a gift from the artist to Peter Goldstein. Inscribed to the stretcher verso was the note “To Peter – Best Luck Sailing! Bill 7/86.” Further personalization included the yacht in the foreground bearing a signal flag with Goldstein’s initials in addition to the American and New York Yacht Club flags on both ships. With a high estimate of $6,000, this painting sailed off for $17,640.
A ship portrait by Arthur Wellington Fowles, from a private collection, traded hands for $16,380. The portrait’s exceedingly long title, which was inscribed on a plaque affixed to the frame, gave bidders plenty of information about the work: “The East Indiaman Blenheim 1350 Tons. Built & Owned By T.&W. Smith Of Newcastle 1848, Off Portsmouth Harbour With The SS Great Britain 3448 Tons; Messrs Gibbs, Bright & Co., Owners, Outward Bound On Her First Voyage To Australia.” Completed in 1857, the painting depicts the two named ships on choppy water with the harbor and other small vessels in the background.
This Ron Lake gold-accented folding knife had a 3-inch-long polished metal handle with mother-of-pearl inlays. It made $22,680 ($1,5/2,500).
Another lot from the Goldstein Collection that enticed bidders was a Ron Lake folding knife. The 3-inch polished metal handle had inlaid mother-of-pearl panels and gold accents that included a swinging bail and tab lock release. Estimated at just $1,5/2,500, the knife brought $22,680 and finished as the sixth-highest lot of the sale. Stewart shared, “The Twentieth Century knives from the Goldstein Collection were a bit of an unknown for us going into the auction. These types of knives don’t often come up for auction — they are mostly sold retail or at knife shows — so it’s not something we typically handle or easily find comparable auction results. We knew Peter Goldstein had a keen eye, and we quickly discovered how highly regarded he was as a collector among the custom knife community. We had a sense they would perform well, but we were pleasantly surprised by how well they did, almost all selling within or above estimate.” Another knife from this collection, an engraved folding dagger with a gold-framed mother-of-pearl handle and gold blade, custom-made by Heinrich “Henry” Frank for the 2001 Art Knife Invitational Show, was estimated at $3/5,000 and earned $13,860.
Scrimshaw works were another strong category represented in this sale. Leading the selection was a finely detailed whaling scene completed on a 7¼-inch whale’s tooth. The illustration on the front, and extending to the underside, of the tooth is two whaling ships and several small whaleboats surrounding a pod of whales. Two more ships are depicted on the reverse. Along the top of the tooth and around the tip were sawtooth ribband decorative borders. This intricately etched tooth from the mid-Nineteenth Century found a buyer at $31,500. From the Goldstein Collection came a few scrimshaw pieces with practical purposes in addition to being decorative works. Bringing $18,900 was a therianthropic scrimshaw whale ivory pie crimper. Depicting an open-mouthed serpent head on a woman’s body, the carved whale ivory pie crimper had polychrome details on its head as well as on the head of the smaller snake wrapped around the body. Also from the Goldstein Collection was a carved whale ivory cane. The cane’s handle was carved in the shape of a human fist clenching a spotted serpent that is wrapped around the arm. The upper quarter of the cane has alternating bands comprising shell and baleen rings and the rest of the cane is solid carved whale ivory ending with an original brass tip. The circa 1850 cane fetched $13,860.
A finely detailed scrimshaw whaling scene on a whale’s tooth, mid-Nineteenth Century, 7¼ inches long, earned $31,500 ($15/25,000).
A 96-inch-long dockyard scale model of a French first-rate ship of the line realized $15,120. Displayed on a walnut base, the circa 1780s 128-gun ship model was expertly crafted down to the finest details, including the thickness of rigging lines and its carved warrior figurehead. Each of the gunports was fitted with turned brass cannons and the model was complete with a plank-on-frame lifeboat.
A sailcloth-bound volume of whaling logbooks detailing five voyages under the command of Captain John Bunker (1784-1854). The earliest date in the set of logbooks was July 18, 1815, and the final was May 31, 1829. According to the auction catalog, the first record, titled “A Journal of A Voyage from Fairhaven towards the Coast of Patagonia On Board the ship Herald which commenced on Tuesday July 18th 1815,” was “one of the earliest whaling logs to appear on the market in at least 40 years, and only about 115 manuscripts earlier than 1815 exist in public collections.” The handwritten journals commanded $15,120.
Edward Sherriff Curtis’ (American, 1868-1952) 1908 photograph, “The Oath — Asparoke,” 13½ by 11¼ inches framed, elicited $21,420 ($8/12,000).
Two goldtone Native American photographs by Edward Sherriff Curtis entered the top ranks as well. Eliciting $21,420 was “The Oath — Asparoke.” In this 1908 photograph, three Crow men stand by a bison skull, gazing skyward while one gestures toward the sky with an arrow bearing skewered bison meat. Taken two years later, Curtis’ “Flathead Camp On The Jocko River” shows Native people among tipis at a Flathead camp in western Montana. This framed photograph made $13,860.
All prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Eldred’s next auction, The Spring Sale, will be conducted April 4-5. For information, www.eldreds.com or 508-385-3116.
