American textiles led the way at Crocker Farm’s latest antiques auction on September 15. The three-session auction, which included the Maryland Sale, an inaugural textiles session and an Americana session, was met with interest from collectors, dealers and institutions from across the United States. Crocker Farm Auction owner Anthony Zipp noted, “We received a tremendous response from consignors for our first-ever American textiles session, and were very pleased with the result. Given the widespread interest, we will probably be holding another textiles sale in the spring.”
Roughly 100 textile items, including Nineteenth Century appliquéd cotton quilts, samplers, coverlets and rugs, were offered.
The top lot of the sale was a mid-Nineteenth Century Baltimore album quilt with large, appliquéd floral, bird and blossoming urn motifs. Originally found in Baltimore County in the 1950s, the fresh-to-the-market quilt sold to the phone for $28,750 against a $10/20,000 estimate. A second album quilt in the sale was believed to be from Pennsylvania. Decorated with bird, floral and grapes designs, the quilt was signed and dated “Hannah Wortendyke 1862” and sold to the phone for $4,025, despite a few condition issues.
The second highest-selling lot was a Baltimore broderie perse and cotton appliquéd quilt with profuse bird and floral designs. Displayed near the entrance to Crocker Farm’s 1841 stone barn gallery, the quilt was eye-catching in size and decorative quality. Estimated at $5/7,000, the quilt had been discovered 25 years ago in a trunk on Baltimore’s St Paul Street, and went to a second phone bidder at $8,050. A similar, less elaborate example with damage was found in the same trunk and sold for $1,380 against an $800․1,200 estimate.
A recently discovered Baltimore crazy quilt with depiction of a newsboy holding a copy of The Sun newspaper sold well above its $800‱,200 estimate to a Baltimore institution for $2,300.
A number of lots exceeded their estimates by leaps and bounds. An indigo and white quilt with exuberant trapunto quilting and rare cutwork grapes border shocked the crowd, crossing the block at an astounding $5,980, more than seven times its $600/800 estimate. Zipp stated, “The trapunto on this quilt was fabulous, and we had never seen this style of grapes border before. The condition was great, except for a good deal of staining. Evidently, it was not an issue for the bidders.”
An early appliquéd sewing pocket dramatically exceeded expectations, bringing $3,205 against a $200/300 estimate, as did an Eastern Shore of Maryland needlework pocketbook, which sold for $2,300 against an estimate of $400/600.
Samplers also sold well, with a fine architectural example attributed to Baltimore selling just over low estimate for $4,600 and a signed Baltimore example bringing $2,300. A rare Georgetown, D.C., sampler also crossed the block at $1,380, despite significant staining. Zipp concluded, “We received a lot of positive comments about the quality of the textiles session, and the way the objects were presented in our gallery as well as in our catalog. We hope to make it a mainstay of our company.”
All prices reported include the buyer’s premium.
For additional information, www.crockerfarm.com or 410-472-2016.
