Eldred’s – THE FALL SALE AND THE COLLECTION OF BOB & NANCY SKINNER
Nov. 15-17
508-385-3116 I info@eldreds.com
ELDREDS.COM

EAST DENNIS, MASS. — Items from the personal collection of Bob and Nancy Skinner, who founded Skinner auction house in Bolton, Mass., in the 1960s, will be auctioned as part of Eldred’s fall sale, November 15-17, at the firm’s headquarters on Cape Cod.

The auction includes nearly 800 lots of paintings, decorative arts, furniture, sporting art and Oriental rugs, with the third and final day of the sale devoted entirely to the Skinner collection, comprising mostly American folk art, country furniture and miniatures.

Bob Eldred and Bob Skinner, as well as Dick Bourne and Dick Withington, were the leading New England auctioneers in the post-World War II era. While they were often competitors, the “Big Four” shared a deep mutual respect and a friendship borne out of their love for the auction business, often playing chatty rounds of golf together or co-chairing charity auctions, said Joshua Eldred, president of Eldred’s and the third generation of his family to helm the firm. Of the four, Eldred’s remains the only house to be fully based in New England still under the same family of ownership.

“We are incredibly proud to be handling this collection on behalf of the Skinner family,” Eldred said. “Because of our personal and professional relationship, selling these items is such an honor, but beyond that, it’s a truly fantastic group of Americana, as you would expect Bob and Nancy to have.”

The anticipated top lot is a stoneware molasses jug from Athens, Ohio, circa 1860s, with impressed and cobalt decoration of “Gor J. Thompson,” a man in the doorway of a house, two mythical creatures and floral blossom, all believed to reference Confederate operative Jacob Thompson of Mississippi, who was rumored to help plot the assassination of President Lincoln. The jug, carrying an estimate of $3/5,000, was illustrated on the June 1926 cover of The Magazine Antiques.

Other highlights include a bird’s-eye maple veneer and pine box with painted floral decoration and notations providing provenance to New Ipswich, N.H. ($3/5,000), a miniature Hingham firkin stamped “CH,” probably for Cotton Hersey ($2,5/3,500) and a country Sheraton dressing table, probably Maine, with multicolored painted decoration ($1,5/2,500). The collection also includes an array of American School folk art paintings, A.J. King miniature bird carvings and children’s furniture.

“It’s been wonderful to reminisce about the ‘good old days’ with Bob and Nancy’s three daughters while we’ve been putting together the sale,” said Bill Bourne, head of the Americana department and vice president of Eldred’s, as well as the son of one of the other “Big Four” auctioneers, Dick Bourne. “We shared stories of growing up in a family auction business, the huge crowds that used to show up for auctions, funny things that happened during a sale…”

Bourne mentioned the early interest in the fall sale, particularly the Skinner collection, is very encouraging and has a bit of that old-time excitement to it. “People are calling, sharing stories of Bob and Nancy, making plans to come to the auction. It’s been great,” he said.

In addition to the Skinner collection, the fall sale will also feature a 41-lot Connecticut collection, which includes a diverse array of Nineteenth Century and contemporary art, antique Oriental rugs and an Eighteenth Century English child’s wardrobe in the shape of a manor house. The wardrobe, standing more than 5 feet tall, is boldly signed and dated “Edmund Joy 1709”; the only other known wardrobe of this type, also by Joy but dated 1712, is in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London ($70/100,000).

Other notable lots from the Connecticut collection, which opens Session I of the sale on Wednesday, November 15, include Childe Hassam’s (1859-1935) “Afterglow, Gloucester Harbor (aka Ten Pound Island Light),” dated 1890 ($50/70,000); John Frederick Kennett’s (1818-1872) “River Marsh, Newport ($50/70,000); Tjalf Sparnaay’s (b 1954) contemporary still life “The Lemon” ($8/10,000); and a circa 1890-1910 room-size Serapi rug, ($20/30,000).

Other paintings in Session I include “Gloucester Harbor” by Edward Henry Potthast (1857-1927) ($60/80,000); “Corbett House” by Jamie Wyeth (b 1946) ($35/45,000); “Scituate Beach, Moonlight” by Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904) ($100/150,000); and “Tree Scene Over Orange” by Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) ($18/22,000).

The sale will take place at the firm’s headquarters on historic Route 6A, with all sessions starting at 9:30 am Eastern. In-person, online, absentee and phone bidding is available. Previews are Tuesday, November 14, from 10 am to 4:30 pm, or by appointment. For more information, 508-385-3116 or www.eldreds.com.

Important Stoneware Jug I Collection of Bob & Nancy Skinner

AJ. King Miniature Geese
E.H. Potthast “Gloucester Harbor”
Miniature Portrait attr. Mrs. Moses B. Russell Hingham Firkin attr. Cotton Hersey
MJ. Heade “Scituate Beach, Moonlight”
B. Lazzell “The Mirror”
Civil War-Era Stoneware Jug, June 1926 Magazine Antiques cover illustration
W.L’Engle “Stonington Mill”
Antique Room-Sixe Serapi
Important 1709 Child’s Wardrobe
J.A.M. Whistler
Willard Clock with Washington Portrait
J.F. Kensett “River Marsh, Newport”