During preview owner Derin Bray showed off a miniature Shaker box once belonging to Sister Elvira Hulett that attained $43,750 ($3/5,000).
Review by Andrea Valluzzo
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — With collectors amassed in the area for New Hampshire Antiques Week, Derin Bray, owner and auctioneer of Bray & Co, timed his Americana and Shaker auction to gather as many eyeballs as possible. The August 15 sale was conducted a full week after the shows had run their course, but the preview purposely scheduled (and heavily advertised) during Antiques Week was well-attended.
“I was thrilled. There was a lot of turnout at the preview, and we had somewhere between 40 and 50 in-person bidders, which is a small triumph in itself in this time of online auctions,” Bray said. “It was pretty spirited bidding from start to end.”
Shaker material continues to resonate with collectors and audiences today partly for the interesting nature of how the Shakers lived but mostly the pieces’ aesthetic qualities and the craftsmanship. “There is a fascination and an interest in the Shaker belief system and how that is reflected in the beautifully-made things that come from these communities and then there is just the design component,” Bray said. “Some of these things are so well made and fit into a contemporary setting as well as anything. I know a lot of the buyers weren’t particularly interested in the Shakers — they’re interested in how beautiful the objects were.”
The auction of just 205 lots saw a fairly even split among the two collecting genres. Of the auction’s top ten lots, exactly five were Shaker while the other half comprised Americana material. Overall, the sale outperformed its estimates and brought in $580,000. “There were strong prices, so I feel very good about it, and I know the consignors are happy,” he commented. Last year was the company’s debut Shaker auction; both were curated by Bray, John Keith Russell and Thomas Queen.
This Shaker Office Kitchen carrier in chrome yellow, Canterbury, N.H., circa 1840, took $27,500 ($4/6,000). It was marked “OK” in two places, signaling its use in the Office Kitchen.
The dates are not yet set for next year’s edition, but Bray assures one will be in the works. “Some people have already reached out with some pretty important consignments so I know it’s going to be an exciting event,” he said.
The biggest price of the day, ironically, went to one of the tiniest items in the auction — a circa 1840 miniature Shaker box that had belonged to Sister Elvira Hulett (Hancock, Mass., 1805-1895) and measured 3½ by 4½ by 6¾ inches. Estimated conservatively at $3/5,000, the box attained $43,750. Made of strongly figured tiger maple and retaining its original red stain, it had been owned by the Eldress who is best known for knitting rugs with braided borders while she was in the Hancock community — today these bring six-figure sums from collectors. Of the diminutive box, Bray said, “It’s just a perfect object and a little gem. There is a group of these tiger maple boxes with Shaker histories and this is probably the finest of the group.”
The Americana category was led by a rare and whimsical owl-on-broom gilt copper weathervane, made by J.W. Fiske, circa 1890, that flew over its $6/8,000 estimate to bring $20,000. Measuring 22 inches tall (owl) by 42 inches long (broom), this vane is similar in design to one pictured in a Fiske 1893 catalog. “It’s a very rare form and it is beautiful with a great surface — it’s the real McCoy,” Bray explained. “We had, I think, eight bidders set up on that and then obviously a lot of people online. That was the piece out of the entire sale that had the most interest and bidding activity coming from everywhere: dealers, collectors… I know the new owner is tickled and couldn’t be happier.”
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. Bray & Co’s next auction will be this fall; dates to be announced. For information, www.brayco.com or 603-427-8281.
