The sale’s leader was this sponge and grain paint-decorated blanket box with original paint and turned wood knobs. Bidders lifted it to $3,444.
Review by Greg Smith, Photos Courtesy Hyde Park Country Auctions
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Americana, primitives, garden fare and early glass were on tap at Hyde Park Country Auctions on June 6.
The most interest came in for a sponge grain-painted blanket box of small size, measuring 24½ by 34½ by 18¾ inches. It sold for $3,444. The form had two side-by-side drawers with original carved wood pulls, rat-tail hinges and the original lock, hasp and escutcheon. The firm noted a letter taped to the interior of a drawer sent to an address in Ohio – seemingly mailed from Europe – but said the style was more representative of New England.
Early glass found competitive bidding for items with low estimates. Selling for $3,068 was an urn-form dark olive to amber salt cellar with flared rim. The firm dated it to the mid-Nineteenth Century and said it had no damage. It sold on 18 bids. A pattern-molded salt cellar in clear emerald green would sell for $1,045. It featured a diamond pattern, double bowl and reeded pedestal leading to a distinct seven-pedal floral base. At $2,706 was a clear Griswold’s Patent fruit jar with a long neck and sheared mouth, originally formed that way so as to create a tight seal. A cobalt blue top hat whimsy would take $1,230. With a shaped rim and fluted body, the piece measured only 3 inches high and dated to the mid-Nineteenth Century.
Buyers of country painted furniture were out in force. A floor-standing open shelf unit in an original blue paint with cutout sides would take $1,888. It was 60¾ inches high and featured five graduated shelves. Scraped down to its original green paint was a primitive wall cupboard with a single door over one drawer. It measured only 24¼ inches high and sold for $1,968. Not far behind at $1,845 was a Nineteenth Century cupboard the firm said was from Norwalk, Conn. The two-door stepback cupboard featured one paneled door over one paneled door with matching paneled sides and a cutout base. It featured an off white over original blue paint.
Leading all lots of American glass was this urn-form salt cellar in dark olive to amber color. It measured only 2 inches high and brought $3,063.
Two lots of stoneware would produce fine results, including $1,968 paid for an 11-inch jar with incised and cobalt-decorated loops extending downward from the shoulder. The firm noted the jar’s similarity to works by New York City potter Clarkson Crolius. The firm sold two works stamped by Crolius in the sale, both from the James Becker collection. A Crolius jug with a cobalt blue circle sold for $738, while a double handled crock brought $739. Selling for $1,107 was an ovoid jar decorated with an incised and cobalt-decorated fish to both sides. The fish jar was illustrated in Justin Thomas’ recent book, South Amesbury’s Red Earthenware & Stoneware: The 1791-1820 William Pecker Pottery. If not from the Pecker Pottery, the author believes the fish stamp was used in that area of Massachusetts.
Carvings were led by a wooden sign with acanthus border, 29½ inches high, that sold for $1,538. It was painted in an original blue/green and emblazoned with the name “Wigger Wiersma,” which the firm said was Dutch. At $861 was a carved walnut spread wing eagle wall plaque, the eagle clutching an American shield in its talons.
All prices include buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For more information, www.hpcountryauctions.com or 845-471-5660.
