I know. Last week’s Picks column — the one featuring Abraham Lincoln’s son’s flask — was about alcohol, too. It’s a cold time of year. But this one is from the other side of the fence. This one is about temperance. James and Mercedes Hutchinson produced more than a thousand hooked rugs imbued with their quirky sense of humor in the first half of the Twentieth Century. While they covered all ranges of subjects, no punches were pulled when it came to home life and marriage. A hooked rug about the disparity of drinking choices between a husband and wife approaches the block at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, joining other top lots from around the world in this week’s picks.
THOMASTON PLACE AUCTION GALLERIES
Sale Date: March 1–3, 2019
Lot 2035
1930s Temperance Themed Hooked Rug
By James and Mercedes Hutchinson, large folk art hooked rug on stretcher for hanging, having bust portraits of a man and woman and inscription: “He drinks whiskey, I drink tea, Now is that fair to he or me? Most any job tis me who do it. The day will come when he will rue it.”
Estimate: $2/3,000
WESCHLER’S
Sale Date: March 1, 2019
Lot 238
Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880–1980)
Woman picking grapes, table lamp. Signed on side of base, foundry mark Gorham Co. Bronze three-light table lamp with acorn pulls and cap with lamp base modeled as two nudes with greenish-brown patina, 34¼ inches high.
Estimate: $10/15,000
SKINNER
Sale Date: March 2, 2019
Lot 116
Sheldon Peck (1797–1868)
Portrait of John Newcomb Knapp (1826–1893) of Victory, N.Y. Unsigned, the subject identified in typed notes on the reverse. Oil on canvas laid down on panel, 23½ by 19½ inches.
Estimate: $10/15,000
JAY ANDERSON
Sale Date: March 2, 2019
Lot 237
Circa 1850s Heavily Carved Fantasy Rocking Chair
Lion carved rocking chair with woman’s face on crest, 42 inches high.
Estimate: $1,5/2,500
KING GALLERIES
Sale Date: March 2, 2019
Lot 335
Roy Rogers Post Office
This post office was featured in Rogers’ museum, movies and TV shows.
Estimate: $5/7,000
SOULIS AUCTIONS
Sale Date: March 2, 2019
Lot 93
Northwest Coast Indian Painted Wood Dance Rattle
Attributed Haida, the hollow, two-piece carved wood rattle on handle, one side with the face of a raven or hawk, the opposite side with typical face depiction, blue and black pigment, rawhide ties, second quarter of the Twentieth Century, 11 by 5 inches.
Estimate: $300-500
AUCTION GALLERY OF THE PALM BEACHES
Sale Date: March 2, 2019
Lot 255
Pair of Japanese Lacquered Earthenware Figural Vases
Twentieth Century, each in the form of a grimacing kneeling Oni in ceremonial attire supporting a dragon decorated baluster vase. Height 18½ inches.
Estimate: $3/4,000
THE PEDESTAL
Sale Date: March 4, 2019
Lot 323
William and Mary Chest
Inlaid with sycamore concentric circles, the rectangular molded top above two short and two long graduated drawers, with book matched oyster veneers to the sides, above replaced molding and bun feet, 31 inches high.
Estimate: $5,6/8,000
ANDREW JONES
Sale Date: March 3, 2019
Lot 350
Art Nouveau Paint-Decorated Floor Screen
Six panels, circa 1900, 79½ by 148½ inches.
Estimate: $3/5,000
