NEW YORK CITY — As expected, the star of Sotheby’s Important Americana auction on January 23 was an important Symon and Rebeckah Horne Pilgrim Century valuables cabinet, attributed to the Symonds shops of Salem, Mass., and dated 1677. The red oak, walnut, red cedar and ebonized cabinet doubled its high estimate to attain $1,636,000, including the buyer’s premium. Retaining its original wrought iron key and carved date and initials, “7 H 7 / S R,” the cabinet measured 17¼ inches tall by 17 inches wide by 9½ inches deep. It was sold with a collection of documents and two bags of spices, one cloves and the other cinnamon. A complete report on the auction house’s Visions of America sales in New York during Antiques Week will appear in an upcoming edition.
