Depicting Lucinda Ann Houck (aged 38 years) and Ross Houck (aged 44 years), these 1849 portraits by Sheldon Peck (1797-1868), oil on canvas, 29 by 23¾ inches, brought the sale’s highest price: $176,400 ($100/200,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
BRANFORD, CONN. — On January 14 and 15, New England Auctions presented a two-day Americana series featuring the notable collections of Nancy & Gary Stass and Sally & William Gemmill, alongside significant consignments, including important works from the collection of Joel Einhorn.
In a release following the sale, New England Auctions representatives stated that the collections reflected “deep commitment and connoisseurship, assembled over decades with studied passion for American folk art, maritime decorative arts and fine European works.”
The two-day sale saw bidding activity from across North America and around the globe, from Italy to Japan, France to Australia. In total, the auctions realized $1,444,150 with more than 99 percent of lots sold.
“It was a privilege to steward these distinguished Americana collections to market, each piece selected with the discerning eye and scholarly rigor that defines the finest private collecting. The remarkable worldwide engagement speaks to the exceptional quality, breadth and historical significance of the offerings,” shared cataloger Meghan Higgins. “New England Auctions extends deep gratitude to Nancy and the late Gary Stass, Sally and the late William Gemmill and to all the consignors and participants who made these sales unforgettable.”
Americana, Including The Collection Of Nancy & Gary Stass
Day one of the Americana series, with items from the Stass collection, comprised 215 lots of early American portraits, folk art, textiles, furniture and more.
The Stass collection was led by a pair of 1849 folk art portraits by Bunker Hill, Ill., artist Sheldon Peck. Depicting prominent Bunker Hill residents Lucinda Ann Houck and Ross Houck, the pair had an estimate of $100/200,000 and brought $176,400. The two sitters were each shown in front of red curtains and with trompe l’oeil painted frames. Notably, the portraits had been shown in several exhibitions, including one in 1982 at the Chicago Historical Society, and featured in publications, including “Prairie Folk, Illinois Discovers Its Folk Heritage” by Merle Glick and a September 1984 article published in The Magazine Antiques.
This watercolor and pencil portrait of a gentleman, done by Samuel Addison Shute (1803-1836) and Ruth Whittier Shute (1803-1882) on Whatman paper in New Hampshire or Massachusetts, circa 1830, 27 by 22½ inches framed, rose well beyond its estimates to achieve $107,100 ($10/15,000).
Portraits were a popular collecting category, earning the sale’s four highest prices. The second-highest price of the day was earned by a watercolor and pencil portrait of a gentleman in a fancy painted chair. Done in New Hampshire or Massachusetts around 1830 by husband-and-wife duo Samuel Addison Shute and Ruth Whittier Shute, the portrait rose well beyond its $15,000 high estimate to achieve $107,100.
The next two leading results were for Shenandoah Valley, Va., watercolors done by the Sheets family. New England Auctions detailed the paintings on their social media accounts, stating:
“These watercolors from Augusta County’s Sheets family are remarkable survivors of both time and conflict. One piece, depicting two women in a flower garden is inscribed, ‘Tuesday Feb 19th, 1828. Shrove. T.’ to mark Shrove Tuesday, the festive gathering day before Lent, revealing the Sheets family’s observance of traditional Christian calendar customs common to Germanic communities in the Shenandoah Valley. The Valley, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and where these pieces originated, was devastated during the Civil War. This occurred particularly during General Phillip Sheridan’s ‘Burning’ campaign of 1864 when homes were destroyed and families fled with only what they could carry. Beyond wartime fallout, watercolors from rural communities of this period are notably rare due to the fragility of paper and pigments, and many were lost to neglect when folk art held little perceived value for conservation. As such, these delicate artworks not only survived nearly 200 years of natural deterioration, but also the Civil War’s destruction and generations of family transitions, underscoring them as significant examples of early American folk art and material culture.”
More than doubling its $30,000 high estimate to earn $63,000 was this Sheets family, Augusta County, Va., watercolor of two women in a garden on Shrove Tuesday, dated “1828,” 11 by 8⅞ inches framed.
The image of two women on Shrove Tuesday was bid past its $30,000 high estimate to $63,000. The other, a circa 1830 portrait of a woman with red hair, brought $60,480 against a $12,000 high estimate. Both works were not from the Stass collection but had provenance to Jeffery Evans Auctions in Mount Crawford, Va.
Americana, Featuring The Collection Of Sally & Bill Gemmill
The sale’s second day presented “An exceptional collection of Americana from the estate of Sally and William Gemmill,” including early American nautical antiques and additions from the Einhorn collection, according to the catalog notes.
The top lot of the Gemmill collection was this circa 1900 American pair of bronze horned owls, 28¾ inches tall, which flew to $40,320 ($10/20,000).
The Gemmill collection was led by a circa 1900 pair of bronze horned owls. The pair once had glass eyes — just one remained in place and two were included with the lot — and electric wiring for illumination, though the functions were not in working order at auction time. Still, bidders took the 38¾-inch-tall owls to $40,320, more than doubling the pair’s high estimate.
As portraits were popular in the first session, interest continued on day two. The second-highest price from the Gemmill collection was awarded to a portrait of a lady in profile, reverse painted on glass by Benjamin Greenleaf. Done circa 1800, the work had some inpainting restoration by Linda Abrams and was bid well beyond its $3,000 high estimate to earn $35,280.
An intricate cutwork valentine detailed with hand-painted watercoloring and written love poems also charmed bidders. The framed mid Nineteenth Century valentine was in excellent original condition and featured symbols such as love birds, hearts, stars and couples facing each other in portrait. It found a new suitor for $35,280 — more than 14 times its high estimate.
Clocks from the Gemmill and Einhorn collections both brought significant interest, with three finishing with top ten prices for the day. The highest was for a Classical ormolu mantel clock topped with a bust of George Washington and featuring an American eagle plaque beneath the clock’s face. The phrase “Ne Quid Detrimenti Capiat Res Publica” was etched under the bust and “E Pluribus Unum” was on the eagle’s chest. Having a brass gilt case with a porcelain dial, it was made in France for the American market circa 1800 and brought $27,720. Achieving the same price was a Lemist and Tappan shelf clock with reverse painted decoration from the Einhorn collection. Made in Philadelphia circa 1915, the clock had a painted glass panel on its bottom section that showed an image of a young shepherd. Though no weights or pendulum were included, bidders pushed it well beyond its $2,500 high estimate.
With an image of a young shepherd reverse painted on glass and brass paw feet, this Lemist and Tappan shelf clock, Philadelphia, circa 1915, 37¼ inches tall by 12½ inches wide by 5¾ inches deep, was bought for $27,720 ($1,5/2,500).
The Einhorn collection also presented a Figure-8 wall clock that brought $16,380. Made by E. Howard & Company, Boston, in the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, the business card for Boston watch and clock maker John Howland was still affixed to the inside of the case door.
Other notable results were achieved by pictorial needlework pieces from the Gemmill collection: “The Landing of Columbus in America” brought $20,160 and a depiction of an interaction between Cardinal Giovanni Colonna (circa 1295-1348) and Italian poet and scholar Francis Petrarch (1304-1374) made $13,860. The circa 1800 Columbus embroidery was wrought in silk and detailed with watercolors by “Miss Abbey Low at Mrs. Rawson’s Academy,” as inscribed on the églomisé mat. The Cardinal Colonna scene was wrought in the early Nineteenth Century by “Nancy Lee at Mrs Saunders’ & Miss Beach’s Academy, Dorchester” (Boston). This embroidery included a stitched description of the scene beneath the image.
Higgins added, “Many pieces, such as the Samuel Addison Shute and Ruth Whittier Shute portrait of a gentleman from the Stass collection and the pair of bronzed owls from the Gemmill collection, garnered record-setting hammer prices; therefore, the auction house is especially pleased with the results.”
Up next, New England Auctions will have a sale of medical, scientific, rare books and historical on February 11, and Americana, European, Modern & Jewelry on February 12.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.newenglandauctions.com or 475-234-5120.
