With a great deal of fanfare and interest, this 35-star flag folk art table came to the block with an estimate of $15/30,000. It sold at $18,000 to a Pennsylvania collector bidding in the gallery.
Review by Anne Kugielsky, Photos Courtesy Wood Auction
DOUGLASS, KAN. – On September 7, Woody Auctions held a much publicized auction of antiques, jewelry and furniture with a folk art table from the James R. and Barbara A. Miller collection that promised to be the top lot. The 35-star flag table came to the block with an estimate of $15/30,000. It sold at $18,000 to a Pennsylvania collector bidding in the gallery, who therefore did not pay any buyer’s premium. The hammer price at Woody’s is the price paid, unless purchased online or via absentee bid.
The circa 1860s solid wood table was nearly identical, owner and auctioneer Jason Woody pointed out, to an unsigned 13-star flag table that sold at Sotheby’s New York. The table at Woody’s had a top that showed a carved, inlaid and painted flag with 35 stars, symbolizing West Virginia’s statehood on June 20, 1863. It featured one, three-compartment drawer the full 35-inch-width of the table. On the face of the drawer, two carved dueling pistols and a pyramid of ammunition were attached. Inside the drawer, the signature “Made & Designed by F. Wedin, Roxbury,” was presumed to be by a piano maker from Massachusetts who was engaged in furniture making during that time period.
“The workmanship of this piece was stunning,” Woody said. “It really is a fine historical piece and I sincerely hope it finds its way back to West Virginia.”
While the table was the center of attention prior to the sale, Woody said that overall, all the lots did well. With about 50 bidders in the gallery at 130 East 3rd Street, and nearly 900 online and absentee bidders, lots sold above and within estimates across the board.
One example was a circa 1902 Loetz Austria art glass vase in the Formosa pattern that had a unique butterscotch shading to aqua color. With an estimate of $300/600, bidders competed for the 4¼-by-7-inch iridescent vase until it sold online at $3,600.
Other art glass included a set of 11 Steuben #6338 green cut to clear water goblets that realized $960; a hanging hall lamp with a 9-inch-diameter globe, chipped ice shade with sunset fall colors featuring trees and birds decor, signed Handel #G885 was snatched by an inhouse bidder at $1,100; a tankard set, marked Nippon, blown mold stag with figural stag horn handle, included six pieces and sold at $960.
This circa 1902 Loetz Austria art glass vase in the Formosa pattern had a unique butterscotch shading to aqua color. With an estimate of $300/600, bidders competed for the 4¼-by-7-inch iridescent vase until it sold online at $3,600.
From Tiffany, an art glass vase, #2419E, standing 9¾ inches high in gold iridescent, sold at $600 and an art glass complete candle lamp, 12¼ inches, signed “LCT,” with a gold iridescent shade and original Tiffany glass candle insert that has been electrified, brought $650.
Silver lots in the top tier included a pair of silver five-arm candelabra, 27½ inches high, with a hallmark that indicates they are from the Austria-Hungary empire (1866-1937). The pair boasted 800-1,000 silver purity mark and sold at $1,610. A Middletown #1 silverplate figural bowl realized $960 and a Victorian figural silverplate napkin ring, Simpson Hall & Miller, “in surprisingly good condition,” Woody said, sold in the gallery for $800.
Beyond the folk art table, Woody said, “The price we get for furniture these days is better than it was a few years ago, but nothing like it used to be, and that’s what I compare it to. But the furniture in this sale brought prices many others said were surprisingly good.”
For example, a mahogany clover-shaped music disc cabinet with a single door that opens to reveal three sections capable of holding 240, 10-inch flat discs, had claw feet and was in excellent condition. Estimated at $800-$1,600, it sold above at $1,800. An oak double bowfront corner cabinet, 66 by 45 by 21 inches with a beveled center glass, sold within estimate at $1,254. A nice walnut Merklen Bros carved spiral plant stand, center-column dual twist, four corner twist columns, four brass and wooden ball feet, exceeded estimate when it sold at $1,380. So too did a burl walnut lady’s writing desk, with a round beveled mirror, various drawers and compartments, a fold-out desk with felt writing surface, stick and ball highlights, beating its $400/800 estimate selling at $1,140. Another burl walnut piece, a Victorian Eastlake pier mirror, sold just above high estimate at $1,020. A Globe Wernicke four-stack lawyer bookcase, three-quarter size, 54 by 26 by 12 inches with original labels and glass, with crown and base was judged good and sold at $935.
A Quick Meal Model 407-16 salesman’s sample cook stove went to $1,200 – an exact detail to the original cook stove, only 26 by 15 by 17 inches – but it attracted ten bidders.
Woody Auction’s next sale of American and brilliant cut glass will be September 21. For information, 316-747-2694 or www.woodyauction.com.
