This set of six Queen Anne walnut compass-seat side chairs, made in Boston circa 1745 and boosted by extensive provenance and publication history, achieved the sale’s highest price of $64,000, from a dealer ($50/100,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
NEW YORK CITY — Americana has long been a dominant category sold at Freeman’s and Hindman, well before the firm’s merger in early January 2024, but the firm has not previously conducted any auctions in the catebory in New York City. That changed when the Philadelphia- and Chicago-based firm brought to its Upper East Side saleroom nearly 30 lots and the best Americana from the collection of Bessie and E. Ross Millhiser. The timing — previewing January 18-25 with the sale on January 27 — was planned to coincide with Americana Week, when collectors, dealers, curators and scholars convened in Manhattan for auctions, symposia, meetings, receptions and The Winter Show. In short, the timing was perfect.
Of the 28 lots on offer, all but two sold and Ben Fisher, the firm’s managing director of furniture and decorative arts, was fielding post-sale offers. With a press-time total of about $275,000, Fisher was feeling good about the results. “Obviously, it was a small sale but a strong one. The collection got great attention from private collectors, the trade and institutions. Other than the receptions we hosted for Historic Deerfield and the Decorative Arts Trust, we probably had between 75 and 100 people come to the gallery. I’ve attended every Americana Week over the course of the last 10 years but to be able to not only participate but bring a Freeman’s | Hindman auction to Americana Week was gratifying.”
The Millhisers had worked closely with important dealers in the 1930s and 40s and trade buyers responded boldly, winning most of the top lots, including a set of six Queen Anne walnut compass seat side chairs that had been made in Boston and originally belonged to the Eddy family of Warren, R.I. The set, which was extensively published, had been handled, not once but twice, by Israel Sack and earned $64,000, the highest price of the day.
“That’s going back to the south,” Ben Fisher said of this Federal carved tall chest that was made in 1797 in Guilford County, N.C., by Robert Matthews. It stood to $35,200 ($4/6,000).
Other seating furniture in the collection included a single Queen Anne carved walnut compass-seat side chair once owned by legendary collector Mrs J. Amory Haskell ($19,200), an eight-leg Philadelphia Chippendale camelback sofa handled by Joe Kindig, Jr, and published in Albert Sack’s 1950 Fine Points of Furniture: Early American ($12,800) and, also from the Eddy Family, a Queen Anne walnut and maple easy chair possibly made by Job Townsend (1699-1765) that had a lengthy publication history ($8,960).
Southern furniture was also represented in the Millhiser collection by a Federal carved butternut or walnut tall chest with peaked pediment that a crayon inscription identified as having been made by Robert Mathews of Guilford County, N.C.; a chalk date of 1797 further confirmed its manufacture. It traded hands at $35,200, from a Southern buyer. Another Southern piece — a Queen Anne walnut bottle case on stand — caught the attention of both private collectors and dealers, with the latter prevailing at $32,000.
One of the most popular lots in the sale was an Eighteenth Century carved and painted pine pipe box, attributed to Pennsylvania and made with cut-out hearts and a fylfot central motif. Another trade buyer drove it to $21,760, many multiples of its estimate.
The rest of the Millhiser collection will be sold in the fall. Freeman’s | Hindman’s next New York City sale will take place on March 21, during Asia Week.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 212-243-3000 or www.hindmanauctions.com.
