In the late Seventeenth Century, John Coney was the go-to silversmith in all of Boston. He was the best, and his engravings were second to none at the time. While he was not the earliest silversmith in the United States — that title taken by Jeremiah Drummer — he was lockstep in stride with him, as his apprentice and brother-in-law. As time went on, Coney moved into his own shop and had his own apprentices, one being Apollos Rivoire, father of the better-known Paul Revere. He also taught the Gray brothers, Samuel and John, as well as John Burt, all highly regarded and now prominently exhibited. It has been posited that only around 200 pieces of silver from Coney still exist, with one of them, a two-handled cup, approaching the block at Doyle. It joins other top lots from around the United States in this week’s picks.
DOYLE
October 4
American Silver Two-Handled Cup
John Coney, Boston, circa 1687. Tapering cylindrical form with molded foot and two later scroll handles, the body engraved “Ex dono Wm Browne senr Esque”; 5-1/8 inches high, approximately 11 ounces.
Estimate: $10/15,000
SHOWTIME AUCTIONS
September 29–October 1
Lot 831
Antique Native American Woven Olla Basket Jar
Apache pictorial Olla jar, circa 1915. Triple stepped diagonal bands, framing panels of horses, cruciforms and humanoids. Willow and martynia on willow rod foundation; 18½ inches tall.
Estimate: $25/35,000
SCHWENKE AUCTIONEERS
September 27
Lot 689
General Anthony Wayne Carved Mahogany Side Chair
Philadelphia, Eighteenth Century, possibly William Wayne (working 1760–86), the shaped and scrolled crest centering a carved shell over fluted stiles flanking a pierce carved baluster splat. The needlepoint upholstered slip seat within a shell carved front rail, raised on foliate carved cabriole front legs ending in ball and claw feet; 40½ inches high.
Estimate: $12/15,000
WILLIAM H. BUNCH AUCTIONS
September 26
Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910) Etching
“Mending the Tears,” signed in pencil lower left margin, anchor remarque lower left margin; 17-3/8 by 22¼ inches.
Estimate: $4/6,000
CONCIERGE
October 3
Lot 121
Le Pho (Vietnamese, 1907–2001)
“Still life,” oil on silk on board, signed, circa 1950s; 36 by 24 inches.
Estimate: $15/25,000
FAIRFIELD AUCTION
Online, September 22–27
Buffalo Bill Poster
41 by 28 inches, with die-cut border, published by Currier, Buffalo, N.Y., 1902
Estimate: $2/3,000
STRAWSER AUCTIONS
September 27–30
Lot 2338
R.S. Prussia Red Mark Tankard
Ruffle decor mold with iris on cobalt ground with gold; 13 inches high.
Estimate: $800–$1,200
SWANN
September 28
Lot 27
New Hampshire Broadside Proclamation On The Cessation Of Hostilities
Letterpress broadside, 16¼ by 13 inches, with manuscript signatures of Meshech Weare (president of the Committee of Safety) and a secretary. The official New Hampshire printing of the act of Congress that ended the war. The title reads in full: “By the United States of America in Congress assembled, a Proclamation Declaring the Cessation of Arms, as well by Sea and by Land, agreed upon between the United States of America and His Britannic Majesty; and enjoining the Observance thereof.”
Estimate: $20/30,000
LESLIE HINDMAN AUCTIONEERS
September 27
Lot 6
John Stobart (British, b 1929)
“St Louis River Front in 1876,” 1979, oil on canvas, signed “Stobart” and dated; 26 by 36 inches.
Estimate: $20/40,000
