That’s one top dog! Rising to $23,750 and the highest price of the day was this hitching post with seated dog, American, circa 1860 ($4/8,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
BRANFORD, CONN. — “Fred has kickstarted the Americana and folk art market again — it felt like a door was beginning to close but it’s now wide open. I’m feeling incredibly grateful to all the wonderful collectors and dealers and friends who supported the sale, and even people I’ve never met. One of the most important things that was consistent throughout the entire sale experience was the professionalism of Fred, his wife, Kathryn, and the entire team at New England Auctions. It was seamless from the time they came to my house — which they did twice — to the day they opened the preview. The catalog was beautifully designed and the reception was a delightful gesture on their part; the staff really took pains to hang and place things to their best effect. I was overwhelmed seeing it in the gallery.”
Such was the rave review antiques show promoter Frank Gaglio gave Fred Giampietro and the rest of the team at New England Auctions following the successful sale of his collection on June 6. All but one of the 404 lots that crossed the podium that day found new homes and the auction achieved a total of $518,000.
“I always try to understand what a collector’s vision was and, because we’ve known each other for so long, I really wanted to make that happen and honor that,” Giampietro said. “I worked very closely with Frank, hearing how and why he bought what he did, and really enjoyed that. The sum of the parts was greater than the whole.”
Gaglio’s collection was a mélange of forms and media, but color and form were clearly criteria he followed when collecting. Earning the “best in show” moniker at $23,750 was an American hitching post described as “rare” with a seated hound at its top. Dating to circa 1860 and measuring 37½ inches in height overall, it was cataloged as in “excellent original condition.” For those who may have been outbid on the hitching post, the collection offered other canine-form objects to chase, including a second dog hitching post that retained an old black-painted surface and finished at $4,000. A pair of cast iron dogs, also American and dated only a little later to 1875, had old paint and fetched $16,250, more than doubling their presale high expectations. Continuing the dog theme, a strong result was achieved for a folk art painting of two horses and a dog; bidders chased the 1868 composition to $5,250.
The collection offered a small but choice selection of fraternal antiques, which reached an apex of $12,500 with this circa 1865 Odd Fellows heart-in-hand shield-form plaque that was also the sale’s first lot. A Southern collector had the prevailing bid ($2/4,000).
The first lot of the day was an Odd Fellows heart-in-hand painted plaque with a red and gilt shield back. It was cataloged as circa 1865 and brought $12,500 from a Southern collector. Other fraternal artifacts in the sale included a Tramp art Odd Fellows wall cabinet ($3,000), a heart-in-hand shelf ($688), an Odd Fellows snake staff ($563), a few Odd Fellows painted wall panels that sold for prices ranging from $1,125 to $4,750 and a collection of fraternal hats — 17 in all — that achieved $563.
Weathervanes were also a sizeable sub-category and collectors pursued a variety of forms, from horses and eagles to fish, cars and even a moose that a savvy bidder bagged for $1,000. Flying to $10,000 was a 36-inch-tall molded and sheet copper rooster weathervane dated as circa 1875 that retained a historic yellow painted surface the catalog noted was about 100 years old.
Burl collectors were limited in their options but an Iroquois oval carved burl bowl with open handles that was cataloged as from the Northeastern United States, Eighteenth Century, was described as a very good example and achieved $11,250.
This Nineteenth Century cast plaster bust of George Washington retained original paint. A private collector paid $6,875 for it ($800-$1,200).
A wide variety of media presented the human form in all its glory. A carved reclining lady, initialed and dated “G.K. 1919” on its base and measuring nearly 12 inches retained its original paint and sold for $9,375. An imposing 62-inch-tall cast zinc figure holding a cornucopia that had weathered paint topped off at $8,125, a few increments ahead of the $6,875 a private collector paid for a Nineteenth Century cast plaster bust of George Washington that measured 30 inches in height. Three nearly life-sized figures of baseball players by Mike Evans were brought home for $2,750, while bidders spun a Highlander whirligig to $1,250.
Textiles in the sale were limited to just six lots, but the one that topped the category — a late Nineteenth Century hand-pieced and quilted folk art pictorial example — earned a strong $8,125 and sold to a private collector. Matching it in color if not in size or price was a circa 1890 Pennsylvania child-sized star quilt that had been professionally mounted that traded hands for $1,625.
Painted — and unpainted — furniture was also a comparatively small category, led at $7,500 by an American circa 1825 corner cupboard in apple-green paint the catalog described as original. Following were an Eighteenth Century Hudson Valley settle bench ($6,250), a circa 1760 New England Queen Anne maple and pine blanket chest on frame ($4,000) and a vibrantly painted blanket chest with cat’s-eye grain painting, from Pennsylvania, circa 1840 ($1,500).
New England Auctions is conducting its Summer Americana Extravaganza on July 18; an automobilia and advertising sale will take place September 12; and, on October 10, the house will sell the Collection of Thomas F. and Tess L. Schutte.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For more information, 475-234-5120 or www.newenglandauctions.com.
