Applique quilt, made by Mary Evert Tharp Bradley in DeKalb County, Ind., 1877-78, 79 by 76 inches, earned $2,040 ($400/800).

WHIPPLE, OHIO — While the much-anticipated textile collection of Dr Virginia Gunn realized strong prices, it was a collection of five paintings by Ohio Regionalist artist Clyde Singer that led the way, collectively realizing $32,760, blowing past an aggregate pre-sale estimate of $5,5/10,600. After a brief spell studying at the Art Students League in New York, Singer (1908-1999) returned to his native Ohio where he spent the remainder of his life gaining numerous accolades. “Since a major exhibition at the Canton Museum of Art in 2008, his work has received more attention by both museums and collectors,” commented auctioneer and Meander co-owner Andrew Richmond.

The September 28 auction also included a small but punchy collection of Blenko Glass. Founded in 1893, Blenko has been making colorful glass in Milton, W.Va., and today, collectors of Midcentury design aggressively seek the biggest and splashiest pieces, such as the so-called Chess Piece floor decanter, measuring 36 inches high, that sold to an internet bidder for $2,337. Another floor decanter brought $1,476, and a trio of “blob” vases sold for $1,260.

It was the textile collection of Dr Virginia Gunn that kept the phone ringing leading up to sale day and filled the gallery on September 28. Gunn, a retired professor of history at the University of Akron and nationally renowned expert on American textiles, amassed an enormous collection of quilts and coverlets, as well as Nineteenth Century photographs illustrating clothing from that era.

“This was just the first of many auctions to disperse Dr Gunn’s collection,” said Meander co-owner Hollie Davis. “We wanted to start the dispersal process with a bang, and we certainly did.”

Among the top textile lots were a mid Nineteenth Century Indiana floral applique quilt, selling for $2,040 against an estimate of $400/800, while an 1862 coverlet made in Logan, Ohio, surpassed its $100/200 estimate, landing at $1,320. An elaborately embroidered bodice and jacket, made in the 1850s, sold for $799.50 (estimate $100/200) and a group of three half plate daguerreotypes realized $5,535 (estimate $100/200).

Blenko floor decanter by Wayne Husted, Milton, W.Va., mid Twentieth Century, 36¼ inches tall, $2,337 ($200/400).

The auction also included a diversity of antiques and art from other sellers, including an Elizabeth II sterling silver tea and coffee service that sold for $5,900 against an estimate of $3/5,000, and a painted trade sign for “Buchanan the Tailor,” which landed at $900 (estimate $500-$1,000).
Part two of the Gunn collection will be sold in early 2025.

“Overall, we were thrilled,” commented Richmond. “We had incredible interest and a great crowd in both our physical and virtual salerooms.”

Meander’s next auction will be November 23 and include folk art from the collection of the late Jim Dawson of Kentucky, Americana from the collection of a northeast Ohio collector/dealer, a 1958 Ford Thunderbird from a local estate and more paintings by Clyde Singer from the same Ohio estate.

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.meanderauctions.com, info@meanderauctions.com or 740-760-0012.