“I thought this would do well but I didn’t think it would do that well,” Jeffers said of this framed motif sampler by Sarah Batt that sold for $4,063, the highest price in the sale. An American trade buyer acquired the English piece, which was dated 1821, worked in black petit point stitching on linen and featured medallions with flowers, birds, geometric patterns, verses and an anchor ($250/450).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring, Photos Courtesy Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers

COLUMBUS, OHIO – On the evening of May 7, Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers offered a 95-lot timed online-only auction featuring textiles and folk art from the collection of two Washington, DC sisters. With all but one lot finding new owners, the sale was more than 98 percent sold. Garth’s had given the sale a ten-day online preview, promoted it with targeted marketing and allowed in person previews. The sale attracted a handful of new bidders to Garth’s, and buyers were characterized by Jeff Jeffers as mostly American.

After the sale, Jeffers said, “We are very pleased with the results. I hoped the rarity and condition of the collection would be appreciated better in an online environment – as opposed to a general sale where it would compete for the attention of other lots. I wanted to isolate this collection, and give people an extended time to preview, that we could get more traction to benefit the prices realized, which it did.”

Describing the collectors, Jeffers went on to say that one of the two sisters is still alive and is pleased with the sale results. “They adored quintessential folk art and affairs of the heart, like sewing and textiles They were not afraid to acquire rare examples, even those where the condition might have been perfect because they recognized the beauty, color, pattern and rarity of the pieces.”

A trade buyer in the United States paid $4,063 for the top lot in the sale, a framed English motif sampler by Sarah Batt dated 1821. Executed on linen with black petit point stitching, the 15-inch-square piece featured medallions with flowers, birds, geometric patterns, verses and a fouled anchor. It had been estimated at $250/450. Though samplers were roughly a quarter of the lots offered, they featured more prominently among the top lots.

Garth’s is in the Municipal Light Plant, 589 West Nationwide Boulevard. For additional information, 740-362-4771 or www.garths.com.

A private collector bought this lot of two crewelwork pieces, American, Nineteenth Century, for $688. Measuring 82 inches by 42 inches, the panels each depicted flower trees, one of which featured a squirrel; the pieces had been made into curtains and had some tears and stitch losses ($200/400).