The first lot of the second day of the sale was an early cigar store Native American trade figure by an unknown carver. It was said to have been found in Pennsylvania and sold for $8,680.
Review and Onsite Photos by Rick Russack; Additional Photos Courtesy John McInnis
AMESBURY, MASS. — Dan Meader, gallery director at John McInnis Auctioneers, said that the single-owner sale of the personal collection of John and Bev Titus on December 1-2 was a “real challenge” to organize. “I knew I had to consolidate the collection into a reasonable number of lots for a two-day sale, but there was so much stuff. We wound up with about 1,200 lots, so many items were sold in groups — especially the books, Christmas ornaments and some other things that lent themselves to combining.”
John Titus is now approaching 90, and the couple decided to downsize, moving to a condominium in nearby Exeter, N.H. They had collected together for decades, mostly with the same goals but with a few differing interests. He had been an airline pilot and collected aviation and travel-related items and posters. He attended Dartmouth College, and the collection included some Dartmouth memorabilia. Bev was a school teacher and was drawn to children’s and holiday items, dolls, doll’s clothes and dollhouse furnishings, along with toys and games with the eye-catching colors used in the Victorian era. Both were careful about the condition of the items they chose. Their interests also included decoys, numerous paintings, which were hung in their home, as well as folk art, samplers, quilts and porcelains. The sale was unreserved and grossed more than $260,000.
The first day sold holiday items, children’s books, games puzzles and toys, other books and included some rarities. The day’s highest price was earned by a lot with first editions of two Lewis Carroll books — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. Both were printed in London and together they sold for $4,650. This amount was exceeded by only one item on the second day of the sale. A first edition of L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz realized $2,480. There were dozens of lots of colorful children’s books, early valentines, trade cards, candy containers in the form of rabbits and other children’s items.
First editions of children’s books included this second state, first edition of The Wizard of Oz with illustrations by W.W. Denslow. Published by the Geo. M Hill Co, Chicago and New York in 1900, it was not in the best condition and sold for $2,480.
There were three rare and delicate copies of Metamorphosis; or a Transformation of Pictures, with Poetical Explanations, for the Amusement of Young Persons. One, extremely rare, was hand drawn and colored, while the two printed ones were published in 1814 and 1818. Both included their original slipcases. The hand-drawn one probably dates to that period as well. These were meant as educational toys for children, as most publications for children at that time were of a religious orientation. They were also known as harlequinades or turn-up books, with moveable flaps that when lifted would change the scene. The scenes and the accompanying text were meant to show children what fate might be in their future if they sinned but also usually included a phrase to reassure a child that these stories were fables. The hand-drawn and colored example earned $4,030; one of the printed ones, dated 1814, earned $589, and the other, dated 1818, earned $558.
The sale began with the Tituses’ collection of Halloween items and the various items proved popular.
Bidding was most active on a circa 1900 tin parade lantern with its original painted finish and a paper face insert. It realized $3,720. Several of the bidders in the room were there for the Halloween items and were successful on many. A papier mache candy bucket with a painted paper face insert sold for $620. There were a number of these vintage candy buckets, with prices generally ranging from $155 to $620. A small Japanese bisque figure with an oversized pumpkin head earned $93, while a pair of wax candles in the form of witches found a new home for $25. Christmas items were led by a set of 30 lithographed Christmas blocks, still in their original wooden box with sliding cover, which brought $1,736, and a 24-inch-tall painted German papier-mâché Santa figure, which sold for $1,364. The collection included Christmas books for children, ornaments and games.
A large collection of Halloween items started the sale. Most popular with bidders, selling for $3,720, was this tin parade lantern with a paper insert.
Toys in the collection included a Hecla white mohair teddy bear, 15 inches tall, which reached $2,790, and a German toy theater with characters and scenery for “Little Red Riding Hood,” complete with a booklet, including the script for the play, which went out for $992. One of the two “Myriopticons” or key-wound panoramas, with Civil War scenes, sold for $744. There were several Noah’s Arks with animals, many dolls, lots with multiple pieces of doll clothes and lots with multiple pieces of dollhouse furniture. A German papier-mâché doll with wooden arms and legs and in her original clothes earned $279. Another, with a painted composition head, straight wooden arms and legs and original clothing, sold for $310.
The second day of the sale included folk art, furniture, travel posters, numerous paintings, burl, samplers and more. Leading the day, and the sale, was a 58-inch-tall carved and painted cigar store Native American trade figure of a chief, which retained much of its original paint and had weathered to a pleasing patina. With its weathered headdress, holding bundles of cigars, it earned $8,680, although it had been expected to sell for a higher price. Another of the folk art offerings brought far more than expected, so perhaps one could say that things tend to average out. This was an intricately painted, calligraphic depiction of a spread-winged eagle holding in its beak a long banner reading “For The Sake of Union,” which would probably date it to the Civil War years. An eye-catching piece, it realized $4,030.
As mentioned, there were numerous paintings in the collection. Prior to the sale, John McInnis said there was a substantial amount of interest in a landscape by W.E. Webber (1841-1914) and it sold substantially over the estimate, which was $800. This one realized $4,030 and another by the same artist later in the sale brought $1,612.
A landscape by W.E. Webber was the highest priced of the many paintings in the sale. It brought $4,030.
There was a selection of mostly Nineteenth Century samplers. All but one sold for less than $500. That one included two houses and the stitching read “Artemis W. Dodge born in Derry, N.H. Sarah C. Dodge Aged 12.” It finished at $744. There were two with the name Titus but it was unclear whether or not there was an association with the family of the consignors. One read “Martha Titus, Her Sampler, Aged 9 Years, This Is Done, To Let You See, The Care My, Parents Took, Of Me The Lord, Bless Me.” It was not dated and sold for $434. Beulah Dana was born February 11, 1785, in Newton, Mass. Her sampler was done in 1796 when she was 11 years old and it brought $434.
The grouping of items relating to American Airlines, where John Titus worked as a pilot, included some interesting lots. A 1960s poster depicting the Astrojet, a Boeing 707 introduced for transcontinental service in the early 1960s, sold for $434. A large scrapbook of newspaper clippings and original photographs relating to the first Boston to London flight in 1945 sold for the same price. An album of American Airlines photos along with more than 200 negatives from the 1930s sold for $1,240.
After the sale, John McInnis commented, “The sale grossed more than $260,000, and Titus family was quite happy with that. They enjoyed collecting together and were glad that their things would be going to new homes and appreciated by others.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For more information, www.mcinnisauctions.com or 978-388-0400.
