Eldred’s Exceptional Single-Owner Sale
July 15 I 9:30 a.m.
Preview July 14 from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.,
and by appointment.
1483 Route 6A, East Dennis, Mass.
find out more at www.eldreds.com

EAST DENNIS, MASS. — Property of a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson, the contents of the Brick House at Coolidge Point, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., will be sold at Eldred’s on Thursday, July 15. The single-owner sale is highlighted by a yachting scene attributed to James Edward Buttersworth, Nineteenth Century furniture and several lots of Thomas Jefferson armorial Chinese export porcelain. The auction will be conducted at the firm’s headquarters on Cape Cod, beginning at 9:30 am Eastern.
“It is a privilege to offer the contents of the Brick House at Coolidge Point,” said Joshua Eldred, president of Eldred’s. “Many of the items have been in the collection since the Nineteenth Century, and this auction represents the first time in more than a century they have seen the public market. Based on the amount of presale interest we’ve had, I think our buyers are just as excited as we are.”
The Brick House was a family residence on Coolidge Point, a promontory of land in Manchester-by-the-Sea purchased in 1871 by Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, a great-grandson of America’s founding father Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States. The property was also famously home to the Marble Palace, designed by Charles F. McKim of McKim, Mead & White, known for its massive Ionic columns that referenced Jefferson’s Monticello. The Marble Palace was demolished in 1958, and many of the furnishings were moved to the Brick House and are now presented in the auction.
Thomas Jefferson Coolidge was a successful businessman involved in textiles, banking, railroads, electricity and the United Fruit Company, and he served as a US ambassador to France. Coolidge acquired most of the 25 lots of Jefferson armorial porcelain presented in the sale.
The storied circa 1790 Chinese export “J” dinner service has long been associated with Thomas Jefferson. It is included in Margaret Brown Klapthor’s Official White House China (1984) and has been on display as Jefferson’s service at Monticello, the White House and other US State Department facilities. The lots range from single platters to large sets of plates and bowls, estimated from $200/300 to $6/9,000 for a covered soup tureen. All feature a gilt script “J” enclosed within a shield with a blue outline studded with 13 gilt stars and surmounted by a knight’s helm set on a garlanded arabesque.
The anticipated top seller in the sale is a scene of a yacht off Boston Light under stormy skies, attributed to James Edward Buttersworth (American/English, 1817-1894) ($20/30,000). Other painting highlights include “Soleil levant sur les bords de la Durance a Mirabeau, 1865” by Paul Guigou (French, 1834-1871) ($12/18,000), a portrait of the ship Adrian by Duncan McFarlane (American/English, 1834-1871), and a scene of cattle viewed through the trees by Edward Mitchell Bannister (American, 1828-1901), a New England tonalist and one of the first American Black painters to win an important national award, when he took first prize at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Bannister’s work has performed strongly in recent months and this work could outpace its $8/12,000 estimate.
More than 100 furniture lots are included, notably a Newport Queen Anne bonnet-top highboy ($15/20,000) and rare Boston Chippendale block front dressing table ($5/10,000). “It’s an interesting selection because you have everything from English, to Pilgrim-era, to Nineteenth Century and later, from superior examples to pieces that could see regular use in your home,” said Bill Bourne, head of Eldred’s Americana department. “Some of the pieces have been with the family since at least the time of the Marble Palace, if not before.”
Several late Nineteenth/early Twentieth Century rugs are included, including a room-size Bakhshaish and Laver-Kirman (both $3/5,000), and small scatter rugs and fragments ($250/500). The sale also includes almost 50 lots of silver, highlighted by a pair of George II sterling candlesticks, John Cafe, maker ($1,5/2,500), and a pair of Bigelow, Kennard & Co. / Kennard & Jenks sterling sauce boats, Boston, circa 1870 ($1,2/1,800).
The sale is rounded out by a variety of decorative arts and furnishings, including Steuben stemware, a selection of Chinese and Chinese export porcelains, a long narwhal tusk, bone china and much more.
The 326 lots in the auction are reflective of the variety of goods families acquire over generations, Eldred said. “Multiple generations of the family resided at the Brick House and little was sold, creating a time capsule that shows how styles and tastes evolved over the decades. This sale represents a rare and unique opportunity to purchase a piece of history from one of the country’s oldest families.”
The auction will have in-person, absentee and phone bidding available and online bidding through www.eldreds.com. A preview will be conducted Wednesday, July 14, from 10 am to 5 pm, and by appointment.
The Robert C. Eldred Co. is on Cape Cod’s historic Old King’s Highway. For information, 508-385-3116.

Property of a direct descendant of Founding Father ¬ Thomas Jefferson, the contents of the Brick House at Coolidge Point, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts
Live auction with in-person,
absentee, phone bidding and online bidding.
Complete catalog online at www.eldreds.com.
HEADQUARTERS
I 508-385-3116
MA Lic. #155
I Cape Cod
Laurence Tompkins Oriental Rugs including this Kuba
Attr. James Edward Buttersworth
Chinese Porcelains Newport Highboy Edward Mitchell Bannister Rare Block Front Dressing Table
Boston Harbor Print
Fire Buckets Assorted Glass
CONNECTICUT GALLERY
5 Roosevelt Ave., Mystic, Ct. I 860-912-8169