Carefully gathered antiques and accessories provided bidders with much choice at Hap Moore’s May 31 sale in this seaside town. The sale attracted a strong crowd that remained energetic to the very end.
An Eighteenth Century Continental pair of elaborately carved and inlaid three-drawer commodes with brass ormolu mounts attracted international interest and soared to $21,840. The pair came from a York Harbor home and went to the Massachusetts trade. Three floor bidders and many more phone bidders pursued a 104-piece Royal Crown Derby dinner service in the Imari pattern, and they drove it to $5,376. It came from the same York Harbor house, as did a rooster weathervane that realized $2,688 from a phone bidder.
A Nineteenth Century pair of whalebone peg racks from a Westport, Mass., house sold on the phone for $2,688.
The diary of Sergeant N.A. Savignac of the Royal Canadian Army in which he recorded his observations during the 1885 Northwest Rebellion of the uprising of Amerindians in the Northwest Canadian provinces was accompanied by an inscribed campaign medal. The lot sold on the phone for $13,550. A collection of 15 letters from Austin Wallace of the 22nd Massachusetts Regiment between September 23, 1861, and August 11, 1862, describing several battles of the Civil War sold for $1,120.
A boxed edition of Johnson’s New Illustrated Family Atlas of the World published in 1866 came from a Newington, N.H., home and sold for $1,344.
An 1848 edition of the map of the counties of New Hampshire by Philip Carrigain sold for $2,576, and an edition of the 1857 map of Rockingham County, N.H., by surveyor J. Chace fetched $448.
A fine 90-inch walnut tall case clock, which descended in the Harley family of Harleysville, Penn., and whose compass rose dial was signed by the Northampton, Penn., maker Henry Godshalk, drew $8,400 from a phone bidder. A Scottish tall clock made $1,904.
Furniture offerings included a Queen Anne chip carved mirror from a New Hampshire house that was $1,008, and a Nineteenth Century two-door cupboard top in old blue-green had spoon slots and sold for $784.
A miniature blanket chest from an area home was choice and fetched $952, and an interesting nine-drawer spice chest fetched $728. A set of six southern New Hampshire ladder back chairs in old red paint brought a total price of $672.
An Eighteenth Century blanket chest in red brown paint came from a New Hampshire home and drew $504, while a Boston sewing stand retaining fragments of the original bag went for $336.
An Eighteenth Century banister back corner chair on a sausage turned base was of interest to a number of collectors and dealers. It sold for $532, while a second corner chair with a woven seat made $392.
An 1896 Russian enamel dish and cigarette holder went for $852.
A French six-tune music box (No. 36978) by Jerome Thibouville-Lamy sold for $532, and an Eighteenth Century Italian cello head carved with the likeness of Medusa drew $672.
A studded collar that belonged to Major, the German shepherd who belonged to Frank Jones, the Nineteenth Century Portsmouth, N.H., brewer, mayor and congressman, sold for $336. A brass tag attached to the collar was engraved “Major.” The dog came to an untimely end after it killed a neighbor’s sheep and the neighbor shot him. The neighbor hung the dog’s collar from his barn and it was retrieved only after the deaths of the contenders.
A river landscape with fishermen and cows by the itinerant artist DeWitt Clinton Boutelle sold for $4,480, while an oil on canvas view of fishing boats in moonlight attributed to James Gale Tyler brought $1,120. A small oil on panel scene of checker players in candlelight realized $784.
A portrait of Colonel Samuel Hollingsworth made after the Revolutionary War sold for $476. Hollingsworth was described as a Baltimore merchant.
Three French travel posters were of interest. One advertising automobile service fetched $560 from one phone bidder, while another phone bidder took a poster advertising Le Rhin for $504 and another promulgating the value of “pneumatiques” for $420.
A local collection of early lighting that came from dealers Charles and Laurie Clark of Newcastle, N.H., had strong appeal and was divided up among several consistent bidders.
Two tin whale oil lanterns went to a single phone bidder for $476 each. One was decorated with punched-out stars and diamonds and the other with stars and floral elements. Two Sandwich glass oil lamps, one with a white base, the other with a blue one, sold for $336. A wrought iron rush light was $269. An imposing Continental hanging lamp realized $672.
One area collection of baskets, mostly Penobscot examples, was consigned, followed by yet another several weeks later. The two appealed greatly to collectors and dealers, who bid avidly. Works of interest included a large group of sewing accessories, such as small baskets, pin cushions, scissors and thimbles, that sold for $280. Three turnip-shaped baskets realized $174. Others included a lot of three round colored baskets that was $196, another group of three that was $151 and a covered potato stamped example that sold for $142. A swing-handled basket sold for $168, while another swing-handled example that was probably not a Penobscot piece was $142.
A Rookwood pitcher decorated in pastel colors with dainty flowers realized $532, and a Royal Worcester shell form vase sold for $308.
A selection of cast iron toys attracted high interest. A Keystone chemical pump engine was $336 and a Structo US Army troop carrier was $224. A 10-inch cast iron fire pumper sold for $420, as did a Chein Hercules concrete truck. A lot of German windup toys was also $420. A green pedal car for which the consignor paid $50 at a Portland yard sale garnered $336. A cast iron piggy bank that was painted white sold for $420, and a smaller example elicited $142.
Other toys included a Kestner doll that realized $142 and a lot of doll clothing that was $51.
A small firkin in old paint realized $420 and a mangle in horse form sold for $235.
A stoneware jug exuberantly decorated with flowers and stamped “W.H. Farrar / Geddes, N.Y.,” brought $1,596 on the phone.
A spatterware sugar bowl decorated with peafowl fetched $347, and a yellowware thunder jug sold for an impressive $207. A large white ironstone dinner service was broken into two lots and brought a total of $504 from a single buyer, and two Leeds pepper pots fetched $459.
A Native American concho belt went for $308, while a lot of planes sold for $253, and a box of beading planes fetched $112.
A selection of decoys included a Hurley Conklin black duck sleeper hen that sold for $336 and a bag of nine working decoys found in a Providence, R.I., house that fetched $196.
All prices quoted reflect the 12 percent buyer’s premium. For information, 207-363-6373 or www.hapmoore.com .
