Achieving $30,000, the sale’s highest price, was this circa 1807 Virginia Federal cherry chest of drawers signed by William Walker. Attributed to Mecklenburg County, Va., it measured 38 by 41¾ inches.
Review by Carly Timpson
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — Leland Little Auctions brought 466 lots from the Fredericksburg, Va., estate of Dr Larry Southworth to the block on December 4. Southworth, a life-long Virginian, “had a passion for life, for music, for guitars, for good wine…but his love was antiques,” according to Leland Little, the firm’s president. With 100 percent of lots sold, the sale brought $500,000, and Robyn Czar, the firm’s vice president and content director, shared that the “buyers were primarily Southern regional collectors that appreciate and are excited about Southern regional decorative arts.” Little added, “It was confirming to see a singular and focused collection that was appreciated in today’s market. We had high bidder registration rates across multiple platforms with robust bidding throughout the sale.”
According to the company’s pre-sale write-up, “Southworth had a keen collector’s eye, and curated a classical Eighteenth Century Virginia home full of rare and beautifully crafted objects, regardless of category.” However, in this auction, furniture was paramount. Leading the day was an 1807 Virginia Federal cherry chest of drawers. With bird’s eye maple veneer and yellow pine secondary wood, the chest was signed by William Walker and attributed to Mecklenburg County, Va. The underside of its bottom drawer had an ink inscription that read, “Polly Robertson Walker her bureau made by me William Walker, September the 3rd, 1807, when this you see remember me W. Walker, price 7L 10sh, W. Walker.” Included in the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) object database, the chest was bid to $30,000, the sale’s highest price.
This walnut Virginia Federal chest of drawers, attributed to Mecklenburg County, Va., circa 1790, 42 by 44 inches, went out at $19,200.
Of similar form and also attributed to Mecklenburg County, another Virginia Federal chest, this one walnut with yellow pine secondary wood and made circa 1790, achieved the second-highest price of the day — $19,200. Referenced in MESDA’s Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts in 1983 (Volume 9, Number 2), the chest was described as “unusual” and “a form that appears to be indigenous to the Roanoke River Basin…distinguished by having a central cabinet or prospect flanked by deep drawers.”
Standing just 7 inches high on ogee bracket feet, a miniature Chippendale chest of drawers made an impression big enough to bring $12,600. The small, three-drawer chest had a mahogany and white pine case with light and dark wood inlay. The piece had provenance to Sotheby’s John B. and Marjorie S. Schorsch Sale in May 1981 and the rear of the case retained an old paper label with script that read “M. Wiggin.”
Tables also found success in the auction, with a mid Eighteenth Century walnut Queen Anne handkerchief table achieving $11,700. The table had a triangular corner form drop leaf and was acquired by Southworth from Sumpter Priddy III, Inc., in Alexandria, Va. A Virginia Chippendale serving table, also walnut, crossed the block for $10,200. The 59½-inch-long table was attributed to Richmond, possibly the Henry Mann shop, and was purchased by Southworth from Mr Navis, Richmond, Va.
From the mid Eighteenth Century, this Queen Anne handkerchief table, walnut with yellow pine secondary, 26¾ by 40 inches, was bid to $11,700.
While furniture was dominant, folk art also had its moment with a birth and baptism fraktur for John Petter, attributed to the Wild Turkey Artist, bringing $13,800. Cataloged as “important,” the watercolor and ink fraktur, which was dated October 17, 1800, was done in yellow ochre, light vermilion and gray blue with decorative elements including tulips, wild turkeys, hearts and Maltese crosses. The faux grain frame housing the fraktur bore a label from Jeffrey Tillou Antiques, Litchfield, Conn., and the piece had additional provenance to Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Mount Crawford, Va.
A sampler worked by in wool and silk on loose linen made $8,700. In the center — below the alphabet and numerals and above imagery of a bid in a tree — it was stitched with the maker’s name, location and date: “Elizabeth Seymour / worked this at Freder- / icksburg in the year of / our Lord 1819.” The sampler measured 19¼ by 16-7/8 inches as framed and is listed in the MESDA object database.
Quality key baskets are always popular at auction, and of five offered in this sale, the leading example from Southworth’s collection brought $11,700. Attributed to S. S. Cottrell & Co., the mid Eighteenth Century Virginia tooled leather or sharkskin basket was of oblong form and had an arched leather handle. Foliate scrolling was stitched along the body’s exterior and the interior was reddish in color. It had provenance to Bill Beck Antiques (Fredericksburg, Va.) and the Ingleside Plantation (Charlotte County, Va.).
After the auction, Little shared, “It was a privilege to offer a collection such as Dr Southworth’s. His collection was his life’s passion. A collection such as his is rare and bidders were excited to buy quality Southern regional decorative arts — objects that will significantly accelerate their own collections.”
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For additional information, www.lelandlittle.com or 919-644-1243.
