The eagle was donated to a local Pennsylvania museum.
Pennsylvania Hepplewhite tiger maple chest of drawers, $15,950.
Giltwood Eagle Soars to $77,000 at Pook & Pook
LUDWIGS CORNER, PENN. – Emblazoned on the recent front cover of Pook & Pook, Inc.’s sale catalogue, an ornately carved giltwood spread winged eagle grasping an orb was the top lot of the sale when it soared to $77,000. Selling well above pre-auction estimate due to its rich Philadelphia history, the eagle was originally placed over the interior entrance of The Bank of the United States in Philadelphia.
Purchased by Stephen Girard when Congress did not renew the bank’s previous charter, the owner of the newly named Girard Bank was known to have had a relationship with renowned carver Benjamin Rush. As such, it is thought that the eagle could be by Rush. The successful absentee bidder donated it to a local museum collection where others will still be able to enjoy the historical figure. The balance of the 753-lot sale featuring furniture, fine art, and accessories removed from collections including two Philadelphia area educational institutions, the estate of Mrs David A. Schulte of New York, the collection of Peter D. Quinn of New Castle, Del., and the collection of Paul and Margaret Weld of Connecticut, totaled just over $1,115,000 reaching the overall high estimate of the sale.
Folk art rdf_Descriptions offered in 95 lots from the Weld collection include parade axes, decoys, trade signs, theorems and a large collection of decorative wrought iron hardware. A watercolor on velvet theorem depicting a girl sitting under a tree with a large schoolhouse in the background sold for $3,930.
A painted wood and iron house-form birdcage reached $1,980. A recently discovered Lincoln type yellow leg shorebird, that sold for $1,100, went to a dealer who will reunite it with a rig of six matching decoys that sold for $16,500 during the December 2000 auction. A painted treen lidded canister retaining its original ochre and red vinegar stippled decoration sold with a small bucket for $880.
A Westminster, Mass. painted split ash covered oval bentwood box decorated with the name “Molle Everett” surrounded by creamy white blue pinwheels, half circles and a philflot, was dated “1771” on the side. The decoration and rich family provenance that accompanied the lot drove the price to $3,630.
A New England painted pine hanging spoon rack with incised pinwheel decoration and the old salmon surface sold to the same New York collectors for $7,700. Of the group of carved butterprints sold, a rare Pennsylvania butterprint in the pinwheel pattern brought $1,540.
Original surfaces continue to rule the auctions with a painted pine and poplar diminutive wall cupboard retaining its original red surface that sold for $8,250. A Chester County, Penn. Chippendale walnut tall chest of drawers, circa 1780, with bold ogee bracket feet and an old surface sold at the high estimate for $13,200.
A New England Queen Anne pine chest, circa 1740, with a slant lid over a base with a single drawer, pronounced scalloped skirt, and cutout ends, retained an old brown surface and sold for $5,060. The Delaware Valley child’s ladderback highchair, circa 1760 sold for $9,900 despite some loss to its later decorated surface.
A Pennsylvania Hepplewhite tiger maple tall chest of drawers expected to reach $10/12,000 sold for $15,950. A Delaware Valley Chippendale walnut chest-on-chest has ten highly figured drawers flanked by fluted quarter columns resting on bold spurred ogee feet made $16,500.
A New York Chippendale mahogany chest-on-chest, circa 1780, with blind fretwork frieze and short cabriole front legs terminating in ball and claw feet reached $8,800. A rare Shenandoah Valley, Va., William and Mary walnut blanket chest with a wax inlaid date of 1774 made $9,350.
A collection of Chinese export porcelains containing unusual forms produced exciting results. A pair of ewers in the Canton pattern with leaves at the neck made $4,290. A pair of Canton candlesticks for $3,850 and a square lidded canister for $3,410 sold to the same dealer on the floor.
A collector took home a Canton lidded cider jug with foo dog finial for $3,080. A case condiment set made $2,200. Serving dishes, pitchers, plates, syllabubs and more sold in lots ranging from $350 to $1,870.
This sale proved to be a treasure trove of pastoral landscapes. Three works depicting cows in various settings by William Hart made $2,970, $5,500, and $6,600. A Reuben Legrande Johnston oil on canvas landscape with sheep next to a river sold for $4,400.
Another pastoral scene by Olive Parker Black reached $4,800. A harbor scene by Hermann Herzog of two boats caught in stormy seas observed by figures on a pier sailed past its high estimate to $8,800.
An oil on canvas Susquehanna River landscape with people and animals along the bank by Edward Emerson Simmons reached $7,700. A Frederick Judd Waugh oil on paper board tropical landscape with pink sandy beach and blue water made $7,150. A diminutive oil on canvas titled “Brinton Mill on the Brandywine” by Edmund Darch Lewis sold for $7,150. An oil on canvas winter landscape signed lower right “Carl R. Krafft” beside artist’s thumbprint went to an out of state phone bidder for $4,950.
A 30 by 15-foot Kirman carpet with large central medallion with floral pattern on a blue field sold for $8,525. A 15 by 25-foot Indo-Kirman palace carpet with indigo field and overall floral decoration within wine borders sold for $9,900. A Sarouk carpet and two Heriz carpets reached $5,225, $3,080 and $2,420 respectively.
Impressed “J.W. Fiske Manufr, New York,” a lead figural garden fountain in the form of two children beneath an umbrella standing barefoot on a rocky plinth went to a collector by absentee bid for $10,450.
