The bidding opened at $250,000, and ended at $803,200 (including premium), for a Chippendale carved and figured mahogany tall-case clock with musical works, the dial inscribed “Paul Rimbault, London” and the carving attributed to Nicholas Bernard and Martin Jugiez, Philadelphia, circa 1775.
A single-owner sale, The Collection of Alice and Murray Braunfeld, was the attraction at Sotheby’s on Saturday, January 17, when 292 lots were offered with a 252/40 sold/unsold record. The top lot was a Chippendale carved cherry wood blocked and reverse-serpentine front chest of drawers, Connecticut River Valley, Mass., circa 1800, that sold for $377,600, including premium. The chest appears to retain its original surface and measures 321/2 inches high, 431/2 inches wide and 223/4 inches deep. The presale estimate was $80/100,000.
Thirty-three lots of American folk art from the Collection of Raymond and Susan Egan led off the Americana Week sales at Sotheby’s on Friday, January 16, and 30 lots were sold for a total of $1,157,240. The top lot was a charming portrait of Virginia Ada Wright by M.W. Hopkins, 1789-1844, an oil on canvas painted circa 1830. It is in a period frame measuring 42 by 26 inches. This child in a red dress, holding a basket of roses, was last seen when it was sold at Oliver’s Americana Auctions, November 18, 1990. It was bought last week by a private collector for $232,000, including premium.
.The third highest lot in the sale of American folk art at Sotheby’s was a rare carved and painted pine American eagle by Wilhelm Schimmel, Cumberland Valley, Penn., circa 1880. It has a wingspan of 141/2 inches and measures 93/4 inches tall. The eagle, one of three Schimmel carvings in the sale, brought $108,000, including premium, from Marietta, Penn., dealer Harry Hartman. It was underbid by Pat Bell of Olde Hope Antiques, New Hope, Penn. Mr Hartman also bought the squirrel and the parrot. The presale estimate was $20/30,000.
A full report of these sales will appear in a future issue of Antiques and The Arts Weekly.
