Orry (for Orra) Anne Alexander was 11 when she completed this sampler in 1835. Her father operated a hotel outside Asheville, N.C. The sampler, which sold for $21,850, was the top lot in the sale.

In a sale heavy with ornate Oriental carpets and elegant English and Tiffany silver, two humble Southern samplers topped all at Brunk Auctions’ sale on July 11.

The textile leader was a 17-line sampler by Buncombe County, N.C., resident Orry A. Alexander. She was 11 years old when she completed the 17-by-17½-inch sampler in 1835. Her artwork opened strong at $3,000 and sold to a phone bidder for $21,850. The presale estimate on the Alexander sampler was $3/6,000. The Alexanders were well known to Brunk staff members. In 1997, principal auctioneer Robert Brunk edited a collection of original essays on Western North Carolina decorative arts. The book, May We All Remember Well , included a history of the Alexander family and described a sampler completed by Orry’s sister, Harriett.

At $18,400, a 16-by-17-inch New Market, Va., silk on linen sampler far exceeded its $1/2,000 estimate and was the second highest sale of the day. Stitched at the bottom was the name and date of the student artist: “Virginia Miles Age 12 years New Market March 8th 1844.” Miles stitched six lines of letters, numbers and verse and a yellow house, trees and picket fence.

The yellow house at the bottom of Virginia Miles’ 1844 sampler is a bit faded, but it is characteristic of Shenandoah Valley samplers from 1825 to 1845. It went far beyond its modest $1/2 ,000 estimate, brining $18,400.

Yellow house samplers are discussed in Kimberly Smith Ivey’s book In The Neatest Manner: The Making of the Virginia Sampler Tradition . Popular from 1824 to 1845 in the New Market area, the yellow house may have been the home of a prominent printer or a design suggested by a teacher.

A large collection †102 pieces †of Tiffany Persian sterling flatware earned top dollar among the 135 silver lots in the sale. The elegant place settings include a number of pierced serving utensils. With various monograms, the set opened at $2,000 and escalated to $6,900.

Although Oriental carpets with no to low pile do well at Brunk Auctions †a 10-foot-7-inch-by-15-foot-7-inch worn Heriz sold for $4,830 †bidders chose a modern carpet in excellent condition for the highest priced Oriental. Measuring 7 feet 11 inches square, a silk Tabriz in ivory with blue, olive and burgundy highlights brought $6,900.

At $12,650, this one-piece walnut and yellow pine cellaret with open interior was the top furniture lot.

Southern furniture was well represented. Included in the collection were a walnut and poplar Chippendale corner cupboard from either North Carolina or Tennessee, which sold for $2,185, and a walnut serving table, probably North Carolina, at $4,830. Brunk allocated a half-page in the color catalog to a Nineteenth Century North Carolina walnut cellaret. It warranted the attention. In excellent condition with its original locks, hinges, inlaid escutcheons and possibly the knobs on its single drawer, the bottle case sold for $12,650.

All prices reported include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.

For more information, www.brunkauctions.com or 828-254-6846.