Amelia Jeffers – Annual Thanksgiving Weekend Great Estates Auction
November 24 – 25
Online & at The Garth’s Barn
2690 Stratford Road, Delaware, OH
Ameliajeffers.com

DELAWARE, OHIO — Amelia Jeffers said she was wrapping up year-end auction planning, cataloging and marketing at her eponymous auction firm when an unexpected turn of events in late October brought about a significant change affecting not only her fall auction schedule, but the course of her business moving forward.

Finalizing the cataloging and ads for a Thanksgiving Weekend auction that is scheduled for November 24 and 25 at the Garth’s Barn, Jeffers was on track to revive a “Black Friday” tradition that had lasted for more than 60 years and traditionally signaled one of the biggest and most important sales of the year. Jeffers’ return to the historical barn last year marked a pivotal moment for her personally and professionally: within the walls of the 20-plus-year-old building is where she had “grown up” in the auction business under the tutelage of Tom and Carolyn Porter as a co-owner of Garth’s Auctions from 1996 until her departure in 2017 and where her four children had literally grown up, as Jeffers lived on the property for a number of years when they were young.

The Thanksgiving Auction was coming together beautifully with choice objects from consignors throughout the United States, including an original Alexander Calder with Pace Galleries provenance, an important Vermont chest attributable to Ebenezer Wheeler, an early scherenschnitte found in Tryon, N.C., and a variety of other fine and folk art, furniture and decorative accessories.

“I am really proud of the way my business has grown incrementally over the past 18 months,” Jeffers said. “The Thanksgiving auction at the Garth’s Barn marks my second auction in that facility, and is an assemblage my team and I have worked hard to pull together. We had a schedule for 2024 that had teed up a single-owner collection under contract now and a number of others in various stages of confirmation. And then I got the call — for me, the call of a lifetime.”

The call Jeffers referenced came from a representative of her former company, who approached her with an opportunity to take on their existing clients. Over the coming days, she would learn that Garth’s would no longer be conducting auctions, leaving behind a large amount of consigned material in a massive Columbus warehouse, including the revered collection of the late Bruce Knight and his wife, Vivalyn. Conversations with her team, with Vivalyn and a little soul searching led Jeffers to accept the opportunity.

Jeffers has agreed to take over the warehouse and assume responsibility for contacting each consignor personally to explain the situation and offer options that include picking up their items or placing them in the care of Jeffers moving forward. She has rolled the first of the consignments into her Thanksgiving sale and has scheduled the 60-year collection of Bruce and Vivalyn Knight for January 5-6 — also at the Garth’s Barn.

“It is a wild but exciting time for us,” Jeffers said when describing the mood around the warehouse. “My team is hustling. We already had an additional single-owner online auction scheduled for December 8 — and it could be a sleeper. I was worried about getting it all done, but Vivalyn encouraged me when we agreed to sign together that it was going to be a lot of work in a short amount of time — but to not forget to have some fun. We are definitely having fun.”

The December online-only auction features a collection of country Americana assembled over more than 40 years, with painted furniture, early advertising, primitives, early toys, textiles and stoneware, with select additions bringing the catalog to more than 350 lots.

While both the Thanksgiving and December auctions are posted, Jeffers’ team is simultaneously completing the printed catalog for the Knights’ January auction. The printed catalog will be available for pre-order for $25, but free for those who make the trek to the preview and auction.

“There is nothing like the energy of a great in-person auction!” said Jeffers. Bruce and Vivalyn Knight are well-known, having established the monthly Springfield Antiques Show and Flea Market and the Heart of Ohio Antiques Center, both icons in the antiques industry.

The family’s lifelong collection will be one of the most significant sales conducted at the Garth’s Barn in many years, encompassing more than 800 lots of important Americana, folk art and decorative arts. “The Knight collection is a whole other story on its own,” Jeffers noted, promising more information to come.

Garth’s Barn is at 2690 Stratford Road. All auctions will be conducted on LiveActioneers.com and Invaluable.com, with absentee and phone bidding also available. For information, 740-815-7016 or www.ameliajeffers.com.

Featuring a specially curated session of scarce and important fine and folk art, antiques, and decorative arts with select items from collections throughout the country including:
Contents of the 40+ year antiques business of John Boulware Antiques, South Broadway, Denver, CO. (Highlights: an important 19th Century chest of drawers attributed to Ebenezer Wheeler (see Shelburne Museum for a nearly identical example); an important and well-documented anniversary scherenschnitte found in Tryon, North Carolina and dating to circa 1780 (ex Ruth and James O. Keene Collection); a Connecticut high chest; and a large assortment of folk art, redware, stoneware, textiles, and decorative arts.
Fine art and furnishings from a notable central Ohio couple, including an original Alexander Calder gouache (purchased from Pace Galleries; New York), signed and numbered lithographs from Calder, Picasso, and others (with provenance); a limited-edition Joan Miro tapestry weaving; period Eames chair and ottoman; other mid Century furnishings, and decorative arts from multiple generations.
Choice period and reproduction furniture and decorative arts from estates and collectors throughout Ohio, New York, and Colorado: including period tiger maple furniture, a Luman Watson tall case clock, an exuberantly paintdecorated corner cupboard; custom reproductions by David T. Smith; redware, stoneware, iron utensils, treenware, and
textiles including period examples as well as reproductions by Lester Breininger, David Strawser, David Ellinger; period Continental furnishings; 20th Century furnishings by Maitland Smith; mid-Century decorative arts including a Wright aluminum patio cart and Capriani floor lamp; a selection of period Tiffany student lamps and Tiffany sterling serviceware; paintings by Ammi Phillips, Prior-Hamblin school, Will Moses, Tella Kitchen, unidentified important and early oil on canvas of the Yosemite Valley; sterling silver; much, much more.
Fine jewelry including estate and designer items from Patek Philippe, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., diamonds, sapphires, etc.
Preview in The Garth’s Barn is available on Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the auction, or earlier by appointment.
American Theodore Roosevelt Box
Important 19th C oil of the Yosemite Valley, ex Don Jansen
Folk Art Painting by Forrest Moses
Folk Art Painting by Will Moses
Scherenschnitte
Calder Pair
Connecticut High Chest
Folk Art Painting by Tella Kitchen
Maine Paint Decorated Blanket Chest
Vermont Chest of Drawers by Ebenezer Wheeler Original Alexander Calder Gouache ex Pace Gallery
Phone: 740.815.7016 | Email: info@ameliajeffers.com
Office: 3037 Silver Drive, Columbus, OH | Garth’s Barn: 2690 Stratford Road, Delaware, OH
For more information, visit Ameliajeffers.com
Bidding available on LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable, and by phone or absentee for every auction.
20% Buyer’s Premium (25% Online)