Achieving the highest price was this 1824 silk on linen sampler wrought by 18-year-old Louisa H. Rogers of Asheville; it was housed in a painted period frame measuring 26½ by 25¾ inches and was bid to $49,200 ($15/25,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
ASHEVEILLE, N.C. — Brunk Auctions presented 186 lots from the storied collection of the late Dr Carole Wahler (1937-2023), of Knoxville, Tenn., on January 29. Wahler, a curator, collector and scholar, filled her personal collection with pottery, early Southern furniture, folk art, textiles and Native American baskets. In total, the auction realized $564,785 and had a 98 percent sell-through rate by lot.
A rare, signed needlework sampler from 1824 became the highest-priced lot in the sale when it sold to an institution over the phone for $49,200, nearly doubling its high estimate. The sampler was signed “Wrought by / Louisa H. Rogers / Asheville 1824” and included two verses — one being from Lord Byron’s “I Would I Were A Careless Child” (1807) — in addition to several variations of alphabet lines, images of trees and a house and a border of vines with berries. The silk on linen sampler was housed in a not-quite square dark painted period frame. The lot also included photos of Rogers’ daughters and their home; Wahler’s original bill of sale from antique dealer James Allen of Atlanta, which noted he purchased the lot from Julia Rawlings, the great-granddaughter of Louisa Rogers; and a large folder of handwritten and printed consignor notes about the family history, conservation records and other related correspondence.
One of the standout sections of the auction was Wahler’s substantial collection of 10 wooden folk art sculptures by Georgia-based Black barber Ulysses Davis (American, 1913-1990). Leading the group was Davis’s “Three-Headed Representational Totem.” Made in 1975, this sculpture, like many of his pieces, was stained with shoe polish to give the wood a deep color. It was signed and dated to its underside and sold for $29,520 over the phone to an institution — nearly two and a half times its high estimate. An online trade buyer claimed “Beast that Daniel Saw.” This sculpture depicted a crowned lizard- or gator-like figure perched atop a rectangular base and it was pictured in The Treasure of Ulysses Davis: Sculpture from a Savannah Barbershop by Susan Mitchell Crawley (2008). Perhaps a relative of that form, “Alligator-Like Beast,” with its applied bead eyes, sold online to a private collector for $19,680. Another creature, selling to the trade for $20,480, was “Fantastical Lion.” Standing on a hollow platform, the lion’s mane was crowned with spikes and featured addition cat heads.
Leading the selection of 10 works by the artist, this “Three-Headed Representational Totem” by Ulysses Davis, 1975, carved and stained wood, 19¼ inches high by 6-7/8 inches in diameter, sold to an institution for $29,520 ($8/12,000).
Similar to fantastical beasts, multi-headed figures were a common motif in Davis’s work. His four-faced “Lost Tribes” sculpture had applied beads for the eyes and to adorn its golden crown. Featured in Crawley’s book, it went home with a private collector for $24,600. Going for the same price to a private collector and also depicted in Crawley’s publication was “Two Heads are Better than One, Even if One is a Goat.” This signed, lacquered example had applied beads and a pearl to top it off. Finishing the selection of sculptures to achieve five-figure prices, a trade buyer won “Multi-Faced Crowned Male Statue” for $11,520 ($8/12,000). The underside of this figure was signed, dated “1976” and inscribed with Davis’s address. Standing 21¼ inches high, the multi-faced sculpture was detailed with applied beads and pearls.
While not a sculpture, there was another Davis piece to cross the block: the green screen door to his Savannah, Ga., barbershop — the site where he created and displayed many of his works. Painted all over the outside with carved red roses, the screen door was scored by a trade buyer for $11,520. A photograph of the door, as it was used at the barbershop, can be seen in the January 9, 2009, issue of Antiques and The Arts Weekly, in which “The Treasure of Ulysses Davis” by Stephen May was the cover story, and additional images, as well as pages from the Crawley text, are in the auction catalog.
Wahler’s collection of Southern furniture was also strong, with a William and Mary lift-top walnut chest achieving $29,520 — almost five times its high estimate. The circa 1700-20 chest, which was a rare paneled example, was made in Virginia’s Tidewater region and was documented by the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in 1983. Wahler purchased the piece from Laura Jane Hall Antiques in 1981 and a trade buyer, bidding on the phone, was its winner at auction.
Attributed to Scott County, Va., a rare form Federal step-back pie safe china press made nearly seven times its high estimate, selling online to a private collector for $20,910. Each of the five tins of the Nineteenth Century pie safe was finely punched to depict flowers and urns.
From Scott County, Va., this Nineteenth Century Federal step-back pie safe china press went to a private collector for $20,910 ($2/3,000).
Though its exact history is unknown, a Southern folk art “bible table” was won by a private collector over the phone for $11,685. Made circa 1840-80 in eastern Tennessee or northern Georgia, the single-drawer walnut table was profusely paint-decorated, including snakes, a fish, a lizard and the initials “T B.” The catalog included contextual information about the symbols used on the table, stating, “In traditional African cultures, lizards and fish are rich with symbolism and meaning, sometimes alluding to spiritual or mystical references, fertility, rebirth or the spirit world. The geometric motif on the center of the drawer recalls ‘Adinkra’ symbols of the Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast.” The table had provenance to Pat Walton and Monty Young (1992), with consignor notes suggesting connection to the Thomas Bragg family. Additionally, the table was illustrated in Art & Furniture of East Tennessee by Namuni H. Young (1997).
Wahler is probably best known for her extensive collection of Southern pottery, the majority of which was auctioned by Crocker Farm on February 1 in conjunction with this sale. However, Brunk did offer several pieces, the greatest being one of two known examples signed by D. E. Maynor of Greene County, Tenn. The salt-glazed cylindrical-form jar was inscribed “D. E. Maynor, Potter town” and appears to be an example referenced in research presented in Samuel D. Smith and Stephen T. Rodgers’ Tennessee Potteries, Pots and Potters, 1790s – 1950, Volume 2 (2011). Estimated at just $300/600, bidders saw the value of this piece and took it well beyond; an institution ultimately won at $13,530.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.brunkauctions.com or 828-254-6846.
