Rachel Richards’ sampler, wrought in 1792 while a student at the Ann Marsh School, led the sale with a strong price of $107,950. It was bought by a private collector through a trade agent ($15/25,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
PHILADELPHIA — It’s nice when good people inspire good things. Freeman’s | Hindman’s resounding success with the collection of William and Laura Buck — “beloved Philadelphians,” in the words of Lynda Cain, vice president and head of the American furniture, folk and decorative arts department — gives those in the field a feel-good moment.
“They were just incredibly kind and decent people; every antiques dealer who came in was unanimous in saying how well they were regarded.” She noted the 175-lot sale, which took place on November 19, achieved a total of about $1,004,000 with lots of post-auction sales.
Though the Buck’s collection was comparatively small, contributing just 64 lots of the 272 on offer, it was nearly 100 percent sold by lot and yielded some of the sale’s highest prices, including a rare needlework wrought at Philadelphia’s Ann Marsh School in 1792 by Rachel Richards that sold for $107,950 and set the high bar for the sale. Betty Ring’s essential Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850 (1993) was referenced for additional information on the Ann Marsh School and a circa 1900 printed paper label on the frame was inscribed “From / Earles Galleries / and / Looking Glass Warerooms No. 816 Chestnut Street / Philadelphia.” Cain noted the piece was won by a trade buyer bidding on behalf of a client.
The Bucks originally acquired this Nineteenth Century sailor-made woolwork picture, titled “The Farewell,” from Bryn Mawr, Penn., dealer, Diana Bittel. It brought the highest of five “woolies” in the sale: $12,700 ($1/2,000).
The Bucks’ traditional cedar-shake Nantucket home, “Bucktucket,” was described in the catalog as an “impressive backdrop for the couple’s collection of Nantucket art,” which included maritime painting, scrimshaw, sailor’s valentines, wool-work pictures, ceramics and folk art. Two oil on Masonite works by Ralph Cahoon (1910-1982) were among these and sold for nearly similar amounts: “Kite Flying at Brant Point” made $34,925 while “Artist at Work” closed at $31,750. Painting in a similar vein if a generation later, Elizabeth Mumford’s (1950-2020) “Happy Summer Days of Childhood, We Remember in Our Dreams” more than tripled expectations and traded for $10,795.
Views of Nantucket by contemporary marine artist Michael Keane (1948-2015) were popular with bidders both on- and off-island, with “Polpis Afternoon” sailing to $13,970. “Nantucket Indians” and “The Island Regatta” both earned $8,255.
Sailor-made woolwork pictures, counting five in the Bucks’ collection, sold for prices ranging from $1,207 for a sailing ship surrounded by a panoply of international flags to $12,700 for a rare Nineteenth Century example that depicted a woman waving farewell to a ship as it heads out to sea.
Mainland Americana from the Bucks’ collection also appealed to bidders. “Hoosick Hills,” painted by Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860-1961) in 1950 had been published in two monographs on the artist and brought $31,750, within estimate. A Federal mahogany tall case clock with a Paul Revere engraved paper label on the case inscribed “Aaron Willard Boston” that had been advertised by C.L. Prickett in The Magazine ANTIQUES in May 1981 timed out at $8,890.
“Grandma” Moses’ folky landscapes harken back to a simpler time and have an enduring appeal to bidders. “Hoosick Hills” from the Bucks’ collection, tempera on Masonite, 21 by 27 inches framed, achieved $31,750 ($30/50,000).
Lots by other sellers also did well. Freeman’s | Hindman has had considerable success in recent years with the intricate sand bottles of deaf Iowan folk artist, Andrew Clemens (1857-1894). Two were included in the sale and each depicted wingspread-eagles and an American flag. They achieved the second- and third-highest prices of all: $50,800 and $44,450, respectively. The one that brought the higher price was dated “1877,” retained its original paper label and measured 5½ inches high; the other was a little bigger at 6¾ inches high but was made in 1889. They were both purchased by the same local collector, who has been a long-time sand bottle collector but Ben Fisher, Freeman’s | Hindman’s managing director of furniture and decorative arts, was pleased to say the house “had a few new bidders who are interested in getting into this market.”
American furniture from various owners followed the market, with both highs and lows throughout. Standing tallest, both figuratively and literally at $44,450, was a circa 1745 Chippendale walnut chest-on-chest with carving attributed to the Wilkinson-Harding group of Philadelphia carvers. The catalog traced its early history and referenced Luke Beckerdite’s “Brian Wilkinson, Samuel Harding and Philadelphia Carving in the Early Georgian Style” article in the 2020 volume of American Furniture. Cain said it sold to a Philadelphia collector who “only buys the most special things with historic surfaces.”
This Chippendale walnut chest-on-chest was made in Philadelphia and is staying in Philadelphia. It exhibited an unusual pierced tympanum and exceeded expectations, bringing $44,450 ($20/30,000).
A trade buyer paid $19,050 and beat out private collectors competing for a Federal mahogany and figured maple lyre base sewing table with history to Baltimore. Also exceeding its high estimate was a Chippendale carved walnut dressing table from Philadelphia or Bucks County, Penn., that dated to circa 1745-1755 and had a lengthy provenance that included some prior trade owners and auctions.
Three dozen lots with history to the family of Washington A. Roebling (1837-1926), the civil engineer who is best known for building the Brooklyn Bridge, were another small but choice grouping that bidders responded to with gusto. Achieving the highest price of the group was a Tiffany & Co., sterling silver water pitcher in the Persian taste that inspired intense competition and topped off at $20,320, finding a new home with an institution in New York State. It was followed at $16,510 by a presentation sterling silver syrup pitcher with floral repoussé decoration made by Gorham in the 1890s. Also made by Gorham was a 78-piece sterling silver gilt dinner service in the Violet pattern that had been supplemented by successive Roebling family descendants and included pieces made in both the late Nineteenth Century and ones made in the 1960s.
One of the smallest categories in the sale — Chinese export works of art — nevertheless had a particularly choice lot in a circa 1755 blue and white porcelain punchbowl with silver make-do repair that was engraved with the MacGregor coat of arms and the inscription “Restoration Bowl Given By Lady Oliphant of Gask / 1755.” Cain noted it was “a very popular piece,” which helped it achieve $5,715.
A descendant of Daniel Pabst, who made this oak framed mirror — one of just two known signed works by Pabst — in Philadelphia in 1884, prevailed over competition and is bringing it back to the family, for $17,780 ($2/3,000).
Finally, an oak framed mirror, signed and dated by Daniel Pabst (German American, 1826-1910) that was made in Philadelphia in 1884 brought $17,780; it had been consigned by a New York gentleman and sold to a Pabst family descendent.
Interest in Founding Father material was not as universally strong as it has been in previous years and is a trend worth watching. Exceeding its $3/5,000 estimate and earning $6,350 was a 16-inch-tall bronze bust of George Washington made circa 1910 by Arturo Bianchini (Italian, d 1908) and cast by Gorham.
Henry Kirke Brown’s (1814-1886) 9-7/8-inch diameter bronze portrait medallion of Thomas Jefferson, dated “1850” and published by Thayer Tolles and Thomas B. Smith in The American West in Bronze, 1850-1925 (Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York, 2013) brought $12,700 against an estimate of $20/30,000, while a comparable medallion of George Washington, also by Brown, did not find a buyer at the sale. An American School Nineteenth Century portrait of George Washington after Gilbert Stuart also fell short of expectations, trading hands at $5,080. Finally, Théodore Wüst’s (1853-1915) portrait miniature of Abraham Lincoln painted in 1860 that had been offered at $800-$1,200 closed at $508.
Freeman’s | Hindman’s will sell the Millhiser single-owner Americana collection on January 27 in the firm’s New York City salesroom (32 East 67th Street) with a various owners’ sale in Philadelphia in April.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 215-563-9275, 312-280-1212 or www.hindmanauctions.com.
