Maine Antique Digest April 2015

Maine Antique Digest, April 2015 13-B

- AUCTION -

Gilded sheet iron horse weathervane, signed

William F. Tuckerman, Boston, Massachu-

setts, circa 1860, the maker’s mark stamped

on the head, 23" high x 30" long, $34,375 (est.

$7500/10,000) to a phone bidder.

The Captain John Graham Revolutionary War powder

horn with a map engraved by Harmon Stebens, New York,

1779, 17" long, sold for $62,500 (est. $40,000/60,000) to

a phone bidder. It is engraved with a map of the Hudson

and Mohawk Rivers showing the location of various towns

and forts, plus a figure of a mermaid and a lion and vari-

ous views of buildings and towns. Inscribed on the horn are

“1779 / John / Graham / Captn,” “Unighted We Stand ·

Devided We fall,” and “Honours of Warr”; inscribed on

the plug is “Harmon Stebens.” John Graham (1756-

1832) was a founding member of the Society of the

Cincinnati.

The horn is in excellent overall condition—

Sotheby’s said it has “a rich golden hue”—

and it has one of the first depictions of the

13-star American flag. There is a market

for the best in any category. When this

horn sold at Christie’s in January 2003,

it brought $13,145.

Carolina Parrot

(Plate XXVI)

by R. Havell

after

John

James Audu-

bon,

1828,

hand-colored

e n g r a v i n g ,

etching,

and

aquatint

wove

paper

with a J. Whatman Turkey Mill 1833 watermark, sheet

size 38" x 25 3/8", $46,875 (est. $50,000/70,000).

Rare William and Mary

turned and joined maple easy

chair, Boston, $12,500 (est.

$10,000/20,000) to a phone

bidder. Although this easy

chair had lost a portion of

its legs, it is a rare survivor;

only ten with square

cabriole legs exist.

Robert

Trent

discussed it at

length in his

article

“Bos-

ton

Baroque

Easy

Chairs,

1705-1740” in

American Fur-

n i t u r e 2012

Heriz carpet, north-

west Persia, circa 1900,

approximately

23'2"

x 14'4", $22,500 (est.

$15,000/20,000). Of the

19 carpets offered, this

was the most expensive of

the 13 that sold; the least

expensive was a 14'10" x

10'5" Heriz that brought

$5000.

This very rare figured mahogany mar-

ble-top slab table with a drawer, prob-

ably made in Virginia, circa 1780, sold

for $62,500 (est. $50,000/80,000) on

one bid against its reserve. Although it

appears to retain its original King of

Prussia, Pennsylvania, marble top, its

construction differs from Philadelphia

marble-top tables, as does the incor-

poration of a drawer. King of Prussia

marble was shipped throughout the

Colonies.

This American silver pyriform teapot by Jacob

Gerritse Lansing (I), Albany, New York,

circa 1730, with a chased mid-

band, faceted spout, high domed

cover with baluster finial, the base

engraved with initials “I / GLS” and

either side of the handle marked

“IGL” in a rectangle, 7 3/8" high, was

fresh to the market. It had descended

in successive generations of the Lansing

family and was offered together with a

copy of the exhibition catalog

Albany Silver

1652-1825

(1964) and accompanying papers. A collector

on the phone won it at $46,875 (est. $30,000/50,000).

Pieced and appliquéd cotton bedcover, pos-

sibly Baltimore, circa 1850, with an Elliott

and Grace Snyder provenance, $10,000 (est.

$8000/12,000) to a phone bidder.

Molded and gilded copper

horse weathervane, A.L.

Jewell & Co., Waltham, Mas-

sachusetts, circa 1860, 30"

x 27", with a Sy and Susan Rap-

paport provenance, $40,625 (est.

$35,000/40,000).

Mahogany side chair, Philadelphia,

circa 1770, 37¼" high, the slip seat

marked IIII, the chair marked V,

$22,500 (est. $15,000/25,000) to an

on-line bidder, underbid by Penn-

sylvania advisor Alan Miller in the

room. The splat design was inspired

by Ince and Mayhew’s

The Univer-

sal System of Household Furniture

(1762). It is similar to a chair in the

Mabel Brady Garvan Collection at

Yale. At least five variants of this

design are known. The carving sets

this chair apart.

Queen Anne figured walnut dress-

ing table with an old surface and

original cast brass hardware, Phil-

adelphia, circa 1760, 29" x 34"

x 21", $13,750 (est. $5000/8000)

to Quakertown, Pennsylvania,

advisor Alan Miller in the room,

underbid on line.

American silver-plated cocktail shaker in

the form of a lighthouse with windows,

International Silver Company, marked on

base, numbered 343, and stamped “Pat-

ented Jan. 11 1927,” 13 5/8" high, $25,000

(est. $10,000/15,000). At Christie’s the day

before, a 13½" high Meriden Silver Plate

Company lighthouse-form cocktail shaker

sold for $3750. In March 2012 Christie’s

sold a 20½" version for $11,875.

Hollow-carved surf scoter decoy (right),

probably Scituate, Massachusetts, early

20th century, and hollow-carved eider

decoy (left) by the same hand, each

15" long, each decorated with black

and white abstract patterns, $10,000

each to the same phone bidder. They are

similar to examples in the published col-

lection of Susan and Jerry Lauren of New

York City.

The Abigail Wiswell Jones William and Mary turned walnut gate-

leg dining table, Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1720, appears to retain

an old, and probably original, finish. The top had been decreased in

size; the table is 18¼" high x 18" wide (closed) and 54" wide (open)

x 47" deep. It sold without reserve for $3750 (est. $20,000/30,000)

to the same phone bidder who bought the William and Mary easy

chair, underbid on line. At Sotheby’s in October 2000, it sold for

$115,000 (est. $100,000/150,000) to dealer Leigh Keno.

According to the catalog, “This table was likely present at the

Sewall house—then home of Madame Jones—in the early hours

of April 19, 1775, when Paul Revere, John Hancock, John Adams,

and John Lowell gathered after the prior evening’s historical ‘Mid-

night Ride.’ It was in this setting that they regrouped, and prepared

for the events which inevitably lead to the Battle of Concord and

the ‘shot heard ‘round the world.’” It was a bargain for a piece of

history.