“It’s an explosive combination,” said auctioneer Tim Gould in regard to a rare pair of paint decorated Maine arrow back armchairs that were sold at his Americana auction on November 1. Color, rarity and condition caused the chairs to leave the auction block with a bang.
Boldly decorated with red “Maine” grained paint and highlighted with yellow banding and floral decorations across the crest, the pair of chairs’ volatility was increased exponentially as they were among the “gems” that had been “salted away” over the past 40-plus years by Fred Bauer, a well-known Maine picker.
The sale offered more than 350 lots and bidding was spirited throughout the day. “We had a full house,” commented Gould after the auction, “and it was like the old days. I was struck by the positive attitude that most folks had; people were in a really good mood.”
The sale got off to a good start with an active preview. Collectors came out of the woodwork and they took their time inspecting the goods before compiling their lists. Some of the bidders busied themselves taking notes in their catalog that would later be referenced during the auction. Others were bustling about as they filled out their absentee bid sheets. And the telephones never stopped ringing as clients from afar attempted to register to phone bid. Gould stopped taking telephone bidders on Friday afternoon after reaching capacity.
The likes of Chris Huntington and Ross Levett stopped by the preview for a look-see. The latter attended the preview only, while Huntington was at the sale to “repatriate a few things.” Bauer, who now spends the majority of his time in New Mexico, started in business with Huntington and Levett as partners in 1969 at Ezra Peters Antiques in Mount Vernon. Well-known Maine pickers, the three became pioneering folk art/country dealers.
“Fred’s collection reflects his superb eye in searching for fine folk art, country furniture and accessories in original surfaces and especially American Indian material,” stated Gould in his presale advertisements. “He has scoured the Northeast for the past 40 years, uncovering wonderful ‘gems,’ many of the best of which he salted away and are now being offered in this fine sale.”
While “Fred’s favorite treasures” attracted a great deal of interest, the top lot of the auction came as a painting, picked from a New Hampshire Lakes Region home, was offered. The dirty and basically untouched canvas depicted a small two-masted sailing vessel under a cloud-laden sky that had just dropped anchor on the outskirts of a harbor. It was titled “Ships at Anchor” and was signed William Frederic de Haas. The painting attracted a great deal of attention and “everyone concurred that it was basically untouched, although it had a problem with its original stretcher at some point and had been laid down on artist’s board. It was a pure piece other than that,” said Gould.
The brother of Maurice de Haas, William was born in Holland where he studied art until emigrating to the United States in 1854. Primarily a marine painter, he showed at the National Academy several times between 1867 and 1877. Bidding on the lot was active, with eight telephones competing with several bidders in the gallery. One of the telephones finally claimed the lot at $39,600.
The prize of the Bauer collection proved to be the pair of Maine decorated arrow back armchairs. “Fred had gotten them out of a coastal Maine estate,” stated Gould. Fairly well known, as numerous people had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase them from Bauer’s private collection over the years, the chairs were coveted by many. Well researched and attributed to the school of furniture decorators that worked throughout central and southern Maine, Gould stated that several people in the crowd had varying opinions on exactly who made the chairs.
Things got serious when Gould asked that the chairs be brought to the block. Several phone lines were ready for competition, as were numerous interested parties in the auction hall. Bidding was brisk, with the chairs selling to “a major collector bidding by telephone” for $24,200. Gould stated after the auction that the buyer was convinced that the chairs had been made and painted in the Kennebec River Valley region.
A large cow weathervane by Cushing that retained in a nice gilt surface was another of the lots to do well, hammering down at $21,450. An “Eighteenth Century” rooster weathervane in a worn gilded surface from the Bauer collection, restoration was noted on one wing, sold at $7,975.
Folky items did especially well, with a small painted and carved document box setting the pace. “If it was good, it did well,” commented Gould in regard to the better quality items. The small box, recently picked from an Augusta home, was decorated with a series of three carved pinwheels across the top and the front, the center one with a star inside of it. A row of hearts and diamonds with matching smaller pinwheels in the corners bordered the box on all visible sides. A nice dark paint covered the exterior, highlighted by the bright yellow and red motif. Telephone bidders once again put in a strong effort to claim the lot, with it selling at $11,000.
“They came from an old-time New York collector,” said the auctioneer of the large lot of velvet fruits and vegetables. While it took decades for the 26 pieces of brightly colored velvet fruit to be acquired, they left the auction block in a very short period of time. “The ear of corn was the star of the show,” said Gould, although excellent examples of carrots, a bunch of grapes, melons, strawberries, apples and pears were also among the collection. Bidding on the lot was quick paced, with it hammering down to an absentee bidder, described by Gould as a major Americana collector, at $9,350. “I was holding a bid that was considerably higher,” commented Gould after the auction, “they were very excited to have gotten at that price.”
Another of the folky items to attract attention was a large tole coffeepot with excellent painted decoration. One of three good tole pieces in the sale, the coffeepot sold for $7,150. A nice tole teapot with good decoration realized $6,050, and a tole document box with good paint and Connecticut history sold very reasonably at $330.
Furniture included a round top chair table with a stretcher base that retained the original red paint everywhere except on the scrubbed top. With all pegged construction, the table was another of the Bauer lots that had been off the market and unavailable for decades. Picked from a Pittsfield, Maine, home many years ago, the chair table sold at $7,700.
Canadian furniture included a nice country armoire in bold reddish-brown grain paint that sold at $4,015. A nice Hepplewhite-style chest of drawers with a carved backsplash was thought to have been made in Nova Scotia. Retaining the original bright red paint, the chest went out reasonably at $2,035.
A hanging wall shelf with shaped sides in strong tiger maple did well at $3,5,75, and an early blue painted demilune table brought $4,675.
A large carved and painted eagle by Boston Artistic Carving Company with a wingspan of 6 feet had been discovered attached to the front of a garage in Berwick. Bidding on the lot was active, with it selling at $5,500. A pair of early watercolor portraits by the “puffy sleeve” artist went out at $3,850, a Southern carving depicting a band by George Allan Britton brought $2,475, and an unattributed merganser drake decoy sold for $4,950.
Other local items included a large pair of hooked mittens of Maine origin in a deep red color with banded cuffs and a floral decoration. One of several pairs in the sale, this pair took off with bidders pushing it to a $1,100 selling price. An early homemade pruning saw had a carved wooden hand serving as a handle, half of a broken scissor handle as a thumbhold, both of which were mounted to a sawtooth blade. The folky lot had great appeal and sold for $1,540.
Huntington, along with his wife Charlotte, was active at the auction and he successfully bid several items that were either being reacquired from the Bauer collection, or items that he had known of for years. One of the items was a Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, carved and painted school girl’s desk box with carved hoof feet that the picker/dealer/auctioneer repatriated for $3,325. Huntington also bought Nova Scotia-made sculptures, including a carved peacock by Wesley Hubley, circa 1890, for $385 and a carved pine statue of Babe Ruth by Phyllis Cosman for $220.
Three bird carvings by Bernier the Lumberman of Biddeford, Maine, all circa 1900, were the subject of spirited bidding. A bird with fruit in its mouth went out at $3,300, a bird at a birdbath $2,090, and a spread winged eagle sold for $660.
Bauer was a longtime Native American collector, who, judging by his collection, had a fancy for crooked knives as well as other regional items, such as Micmac quill and beaded decorated boxes.
Leading the Native American items was a pair of boldly painted red and blue Chippewa/Ottawa Indian snowshoes with a graphic trillium decoration that sold for $3,850. A pair of paint of Northern Cree beaver-tail snowshoes, with open work design and highlighted with painted red decoration, also saw substantial interest with the lot selling at $3,850.
A scratch-carved burl canoe cup, thought to be Penobscot, with dogs, hunters on snowshoes, birds and turtle decorations was hammered down at $3,300, while a Huron oval covered scratch-carved decorated birch bark box dated 1837 realized $2,200.
A crooked knife decorated with carved diamonds and hearts went out quite reasonably at $1,540; a Micmac quill decorated oval box brought $1,320; and a smaller oval box, profusely decorated, went out at $770.
Prices include the ten percent buyer’s premium. For information, 207-362-6045 or www.gouldauctions.com .
