Antiques dealer and auctioneer Josh Steenburgh at the podium. The child’s slant from desk shown in front of him, in old red paint, had a replaced base and went out for $115.
Onsite Review & Photos by Rick Russack
PIKE, N.H. — Since Josh Steenburgh and his father, Archie, started holding auctions decades ago, they have had about 1,300 of them. And the auctions are run the way they used to be: live, under a tent in a grassy field, no internet or phone biding and no printed order of sale or catalog; absentee bids are accepted. Runners bring up each item as it’s being sold and then hand the item to the high bidder or put it outside the tent for later packing. All of this means that buyers have to be at the sale or have previewed it.
It was sunny on June 2, and a crowd of about 200 were present when the auction began. The setting, at the western edge of the White Mountains is about as rural as you can get. Buyers were conservative in their bidding and there were bargains to be had.
The sale of more than 300 items included a good collection of early bottles from a Connecticut collection, an assemblage of Vermont redware, stoneware and an assortment of items from local New Hampshire estates. There were 24 boxes of books on the White Mountains which belonged to Andrea Philbrook, of Gorham, N.H., whose late husband Doug had amassed one of the finest collections of books, photographs, postcards, maps and ephemera relating to the region. Most of the boxes were bought by a book dealer in the audience.
This fish mount was signed “Nash”; done in Maine around 1900, it utilized a patented process for preserving fish taxidermy trophies.
One of the items that bidders liked was a fish plaque signed “Nash.” John Walter Nash was a late Nineteenth Century taxidermist working in Norway, Maine, who developed a technique for mounting the skin of a fish to a board, then varnishing it. He patented his process, calling it “Trout Mezzo.” He had four assistants working with him and eight agents in different parts of Maine; he won several medals at international expositions. This fish plaque sold for $805. Regular covered painted firkins were selling for about $200, but a very special one realized $460 from a buyer from Vermont, who commented, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like this one before.” It was a large, swing handled example, painted black and heavily carved on the top and around the sides with geometric designs. It’s likely to turn up at another show later this summer.
Oil paintings included local scenery and subject matter that probably appealed to local homeowners. One of two paintings of cows, this one from a Sunapee, N.H.,-area home finished at $345. A mountain scene signed “Childs,” brought $460. A painting of a group of cats at play was the first item sold and found a new home with an absentee bidder, who paid $748 for it.
The hunt board of southern yellow pine had drawers on each end and brought $431. The group of dark green, early English apothecary jars retained their original tin covers and corks and the seven realized $575.
Bottles and flasks, mostly from the Connecticut collection, did well. A group of seven early English apothecary jars with painted labels achieved $575, while a large amber hand-blown demijohn topped off at $316. Rising to $403 was a green “torpedo flask” or fire-retardant holder, and a sheaf-of-wheat flask from the Westford Glass Company, founded in 1857 in Westford, Conn., realized $258. Among other examples were a green double eagle flask ($288) and an amber Binninger’s bitters bottle ($219).
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. It will be a busy summer for Josh Steenburgh and his team, as several more auctions are in the pipeline. For information, 603-303-3072 or www.steenburgh.com.
