This well-executed, scrimshawed panbone was the highest priced item in the sale, bringing $31,500.
Review & Onsite Photos By Rick Russack; Catalog Photos Courtesy Doyle
BOSTON — Doyle planned the first sale at its new Boston gallery — conducted on June 8 — to showcase a variety of items, many of which had at least one thing in common: Boston. These items were either made in Boston, used in Boston or had Boston collections in their provenance. Doyle’s roots in Boston are deep: the company was founded in Boston in 1962 by Bill Doyle, who died in 1993. The company’s new street level gallery is in the heart of Boston’s upscale shopping district, surrounded by numerous large office buildings and condominiums; it’s turning out to be bringing in many first-time auction shoppers. The sale was also planned to reflect the variety of merchandise that Doyle handles: early American to Midcentury Modern furniture and decorative arts, fine art, silver, jewelry, nautical items and folk art, to name some of the categories. The small curated sale was 89 percent sold by lot and achieved a total of $256,426, exceeding the sale’s combined high estimate of $249,800.
The gallery, for a first in Boston, taking advantage of the location, includes “buy-it-now” items, priced and displayed for the retail shopper. Prior to this first sale, one showcase contained designer handbags and another displayed silver picture frames, all priced for immediate sale. A focal point of the gallery is the large front window, with rotating displays utilized to entice passers-by to pause and take a closer look. The gallery setup for this preview was also designed to take advantage of the windows, displaying colorful items that could be easily seen by pedestrians.
The gallery is under the direction of Kathryn Craig, New England regional advisor, and Chris Barber, vice president and director of Doyle’s American furniture & decorative arts department. Craig has been with Doyle since 2006. Barber, who joined the company last year, handled the podium duties for this sale. He’s well known to collectors and dealers throughout New England, having spent 18 years with another Massachusetts-based auction company and, prior to that, worked at Christie’s in New York City.
Doyle’s vice president and director of American furniture & decorative arts department, Chris Barber, who is holding the scrimshawed panbone that was the highest selling lot in Doyle’s inaugural Boston auction.
Barber is pleased with his decision to join Doyle. “One of the things I like is that Doyle is open to suggestions about differing ways to do things and I’ve a lot of freedom to see what works. I also like the teamwork between our various offices. The sales in Boston are live, as well as on three internet platforms, live-streamed, and we expect to do two or three a year here. I’ll be working primarily out of this office although also spending time in New York City, coordinating Americana sales.” He confirmed that interest in the sale was comprised of bidders “from many states and four continents, which was an encouraging sign as we move forward and expand our presence here in Boston.”
The decision to emphasize items with strong connections to Massachusetts and Boston was successful: the top price of the day was earned by a scrimshawed whale panbone, the second-highest price of the day was achieved by an Impressionist painting of Boston’s swan boats by a self-taught Boston artist. Bidders also liked Salem, Mass., furniture and Paul Revere Jr silver. Other highlights included Twentieth Century ceramics, jewelry and other fine art.
The star of the sale, exceeding its estimate and selling for $31,500, was a finely executed 18-inch-long panbone with a whaling scene which included a three-masted whale ship flying a British flag, longboats, each with crew members, a large whale, whaling implements, a rocky island, all surrounded by a geometric border. It bore the maker’s initials, but neither those initials, nor the name of the ship, have been identified. Doyle’s online catalog included more than a dozen photographs.
This miniature bone roll-top desk was sold along with a bone hourglass, just slightly taller than the desk. The lot brought $3,780.
Another lot with two sailor-made objects also exceeded the estimate. One item was a miniature hourglass, 8 inches tall with turned supports; the other item was an unusual miniature roll-top desk with a drawer and a fitted interior. The two-piece lot sold for $3,780. A carved bone and painted game box with a set of dominoes, a complete set of miniature playing cards, cribbage pegs and dice brought $1,512. Probably made by a French prisoner-of-war, the sides were decorated with portraits and hearts. Other nautical items that sold well included a Nineteenth Century mahogany-cased eight-day brass chronometer made by Richard Widenham in London, which realized $3,780.
A Boston painting led the fine art selection. Arthur Clifton Goodwin’s (American, 1864-1929) Impressionist depiction titled “Swan Boats, Boston Public Garden” brought $30,240. The scene is one of the most iconic images of Boston (and the boats, still in use, are within walking distance of Doyle’s gallery). It was consigned to Doyle’s Florida office in January, and it was immediately decided that it would be included in the first Boston sale; since it arrived in town it had hung in the gallery. Goodwin was a banker who did not start painting until he was 30 years old. He was self-taught and painted scenes of Boston until about 1920, when he moved to New York. One of his paintings is included the collection of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Other paintings popular with bidders included another Massachusetts painting, an example by John Joseph Enneking (American, 1841-1916), depicting an abandoned mill in a winter landscape. It was signed and dated “90” and titled on the reverse, “The Deserted Mill,” along with the numeral “47.” Selling for $5,040, the catalog speculates that the painting may have been sold at a 1903 auction at Boston’s Beacon Art Galleries. That sale was conducted to raise funds for a trip abroad for the artist and included a painting, lot number 47, identified as “The Deserted Mill.” When it sold in 1903, it brought $23.
When first sold at auction in 1903 John Joseph Enneking’s “The Deserted Mill in the Berkshires, 1890” brought $23; at Doyle’s sale, it realized $5,040.
Buyers were attracted to more than just American paintings. “The Alchemist,” a work cataloged as by a “follower of David Teniers” realized $4,095. Teniers was a Flemish painter and the original is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Pommes et verre de vin” a colorful scene of fruit on a tabletop, by French artist François Gall (1912-1987) brought $3,780, and a small pair by the same artist, one of Montmartre in winter, earned $2,520.
A selection of more than 30 lots of silver was led by a Boston-made monogramed tablespoon by Paul Revere Jr, cataloged as 1790-95, which brought $11,340, well over the estimate. Other American silver included a cann and porringer, both made by Jacob Hurd (1703-1758). A French sterling silver flatware service for 12, with additional pieces, by Charles Barrier, Paris, made early in the Twentieth Century, sold for $5,040. Bringing the same price, which was more than 10 times above its estimate, was a set of 12 Ercuis silverplated dinner knives mounted on faceted lapis lazuli handles.
In keeping with the general theme of the auction, furniture made in Massachusetts was a highlight of the sale and included a Chippendale walnut and maple bonnet-top high chest of drawers attributed to Salem, Mass. Dating to about 1760, it had a scrolled apron and both upper and lower sections had carved shells and achieved $8,820. A Boston Federal period sideboard that was attributed to Thomas Seymour, circa 1810, had three drawers over the sliding tambour panel, two doors and an interesting pendant lock for the doors. A label for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was on the back, suggesting it had been in the museum’s collection at one time; it realized $7,560. Rounding out the top three furniture highlights was a Classical carved mahogany serving table from Salem, circa 1820, which relates to similar tables in the City Art Museum of Saint Louis and the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the US State Department.
During the preview, the tambour Federal period sideboard served to display some of the lettuce-ware ceramics and silver.
Keeping “something for everyone” in mind, the sale included several pieces of Midcentury Modern furniture and accessories. Needing a large home, or at least a large room, was a teak wall storage unit, designed by Poul Cadovius (Danish, 1911-2011). Cadovius had designed the unit for Cado, a company he founded in Denmark in 1945 and which was known for wall units. This one had more than 70 shelves, over 60 brackets, bookshelves, 11 ladders, and more; it sold for $2,835.
Sold together, two colorful Verner Panton for Unika Vaev Rya shag wool rugs, dating to 1965, one about 7½ feet square, reached $819. Midcentury ceramics included several lots of “lettuce ware,” designed by Dodie Thayer, who was a self-taught potter working in Palm Beach, Fla. During the 1960s, her distinctive, colorful tableware designs were widely publicized and owned by socialites, including the Duchess of Windsor, Jacqueline Kennedy and Barbara and Frank Sinatra. A large lettuce ware covered tureen with a stand, 17 inches in diameter, topped off at $11,340. A smaller tureen, 11½ inches in diameter earned $5,040, while a 24-piece partial dinner service went out at $4,410.
After the sale Chris Barber said, “It was a good day for us. We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. It was successful across all categories with Boston and Massachusetts related items leading their categories. The panbone plaque went to a local collector who picked it up and said he was delighted with it. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I’d say we had lofty expectations for the sale and we met them. The entire team is pleased with the final results and for the items sold, we exceeded the combined high estimate. Our next sale here will probably be in the fall.”
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
For additional information, 617-999-8254 or www.doyle.com/locations/boston-new-england.
