Eldred’s – The Fall Sale
November 17 & 18
1483 Route 6A, East Dennis, Mass.
www.eldreds.com
508-385-3116

EAST DENNIS, MASS. — Eldred’s continues the celebration of its 75th year of business with its annual fall sale, featuring a variety of American, Continental and English paintings and decorative art, antique furniture, sporting art, Chinese export, marine art, Oriental rugs and more. The two-day auction of nearly 700 lots will take place at the firm’s headquarters on Cape Cod, on Thursday and Friday, November 17 and 18, both sessions beginning at 9:30 am Eastern.

The wide range of highlights include a rare set of six Eighteenth Century Pennsylvania Chippendale side chairs; two paintings by Vietnamese/French artist Vu Cao Dam; a rare complete set of 25 A. Elmer Crowell miniature songbirds; an original set of “Sesame Street” book illustrations from the estate of the illustrator; a Swiss-made 18K gold Tiffany travel clock and a Thomas Sully portrait.

Founded in 1947, Eldred’s remains under the ownership of the Eldred family in the same location, an antique sea captain’s house on Cape Cod’s historic Route 6A.

“More than 12,000 lots have crossed the block this anniversary year, representing thousands of consignors, bidders and buyers, dozens of auction days and several new auction records,” said Joshua Eldred, president of the firm and grandson of the founder, Robert C. Eldred Sr. “The fall sale includes property from many sources, including a New England institution, a distinguished collection of American furniture, estates in Kentucky and New Jersey, and important Provincetown, Martha’s Vineyard and other New England collections. We’re excited to bring them to market.”

Just over 250 paintings are on offer, with “Figures with a Horse,” an oil on canvas by Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000), a Vietnamese-born artist who worked in France, carrying the highest estimate ($70/90,000). The artist’s work shows the influence of Chagall, Dubuffet and traditional Vietnamese folklore. A second Vu Cao Dam painting, “Mother and Child” ($35/50,000), as well as an oil on canvas depicting a mother and child by Le Pho (1907-2001), who also worked in Vietnam and France, will cross the block.

Other notable paintings include Thomas Sully’s (1783-1872) portrait of Jared Mansfield, professor of mathematics at West Point, which descended through the Mansfield family ($30/50,000); “Fifth Avenue, New York City” by Guy Carleton Wiggins (1883-1962) ($20/30,000); a seascape with crashing waves by William Trost Richards (1833-1905) ($30/50,000) and “A Young Woman Walking her Dog,” an oil on canvas by Pierre-Auguste Cot (French, 1837-1883) ($8/12,000). Works by such varied artists as Hunt Slonem, John Steuart Curry, Benjamin Champney and Roy Thompsen are also included.

“It’s a real pleasure to have such a diverse group of artworks represented in the sale,” Eldred said. “While we have always been known to feature high-quality Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century work, we have made a concerted effort over the last decade to round out the sales with exemplary Twentieth Century and contemporary pieces. This sale might be the most balanced one we have had to date, and I am looking forward to seeing the results.”

As is typical for the firm, the sale will feature a large array of works by Provincetown and Cape Cod artists, including early examples by Lillian Burk Meeser, Pauline Lennards Palmer and Charles Webster Hawthorne, as well as “Ice Fishing” by Ralph Eugene Cahoon Jr (1910-1982) ($30/50,000), kinetic sculptures by Arthur Bauman (1931-2019), and several pieces by Martha Farnham Cahoon (1905-1999), Arthur Vidal Diehl (1870-1929), John Whorf (1903-1959), Elizabeth Mumford (1950-2020) and William R. Davis (b 1952).

Focal points of other collecting areas include a Samuel S. Robb carved and painted cigar store Indian princess, circa 1890, said to have been used on the set of Western movies filmed in the 1960s ($10/15,000); the set of Crowell (1862-1952) miniature songbirds, circa 1925, purchased from Crowell and owned by the same family ever since, still retaining the original sales receipt ($20/30,000); and a Chinese School reverse painting on glass “Apotheosis, Sacred to the Memory of George Washington,” circa 1802, after the popular print by John James Barralet and Simon Chandron of Philadelphia, which depicts Washington rising from his tomb surrounded by figures representing Genius, Immortality, Faith, Hope and Charity.

Just over 100 furniture lots are in the sale. The anticipated top seller is the set of Pennsylvania Chippendale side chairs, in walnut, with a rococo tattered shell carving at the center of the Cupid’s-bow crest rail. They descended in the Nicolls family from Governor Joseph Hiester of Pennsylvania ($12/18,000). Other highlights include a Federal card table attributed to Duncan Phyfe ($7/9,000); a rare pair of Philadelphia Hepplewhite card tables, circa 1790 ($5/10,000); and a Massachusetts Chippendale block-front slant-lid desk with a block and shell interior ($4/6,000). Several antique reproductions by Eldred Wheeler and other notable makers are also included.

A sale preview will be conducted Wednesday, November 16, from 10 am to 4:30 pm, and also by appointment. For information, www.eldreds.com or 508-385-3116.

Preview November 16 and by appointment Catalog available online or by mail
Chinese School, circa 1802
Tiffany 18kt gold clock I Admiral Dewey’s lamp
Samuel Robb cigar store Indian princess
Vu Cao Dam
Rare complete set of 25 Crowell miniature songbirds
Circa 1902 Kazak prayer rug
Set of six Philadelphia Chippendale chairs
William Trost Richards