206 / 213
34-E Maine Antique Digest, March 2017
-
AUCTION -
34-E
Carved mahogany slant-front desk, probably Salem,
Massachusetts, circa 1770, incised “JC” on the proper left letter
drawer, appears to retain its original cast brass hardware, 44¾"
x 42¾" x 23¾", with a John Walton provenance, sold on the
phone for $47,500 (est. $20,000/30,000), with competition in the
salesroom and on another phone.
This Joshua Eyre carved and figured
mahogany games table with carving
attributed to Richard Butts, Philadelphia,
circa 1770, 28¾" x 31½" x 15½", sold for
$300,000 (est. $300,000/500,000) to Alan Miller, who was bidding
for the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee. At Skinner on
June 16, 1990, it sold for $66,000. Its mate is now in a private
Philadelphia collection and was sold at Sotheby Parke Bernet
in May 1974 for $90,000. The surviving en suite camelback sofa
is owned by Independence National Historical Park and is at
the Deshler-Morris House in Germantown, otherwise known
as the Germantown White House because George Washington
spent part of 1793 there during the yellow fever epidemic in
Philadelphia, and in the summer of 1794, he moved there again
to retreat from the heat of the city.
Mahogany high chest of drawers with
a bonnet top, carving attributed to
John Pollard, Philadelphia, circa 1770,
99¾" x 46" x 23", sold for $372,500
(est. $400,000/600,000) to a St. Louis
collector in the salesroom. At Christie’s
in January 1997, it sold for $811,000 (est.
$300,000/500,000). It has a Mabel Brady
Garvan and Israel Sack provenance.
Carved figured mahogany easy chair,
Philadelphia, circa 1770, 47" high, bears
accession number 36.501.2, sold for
$81,250 (est. $50,000/100,000) to Alan
Miller. At Sotheby’s on January 19,
2001, it sold for $203,750. Both front legs
have been repaired behind the knees,
and the back legs have been
ended out 2½", and one talon
has been replaced, but it is well
upholstered and has good
carving and form.
Rare Chippendale
carved mahogany side
chair, Philadelphia,
circa 1770, chair
numbered “V,” slip seat
numbered “I,”
label on
back seat rail inscribed,
“This is the chair made
about 1768 by James
Gillingham to go to
Caroline Limerich,”
38½" high, sold for
$37,500 to an absentee bidder.
At Sotheby’s in June 1996, it
sold for $29,900.
This pair of carved Philadelphia side chairs, the carving attributed to
Martin Jugiez, circa 1765, sold for $324,500 (est. $200,000/300,000) to Luke
Beckerdite, underbid in the salesroom by Bradley C. Brooks, curator of Bayou
Bend. This pair of chairs turned up at Stoudts Black Angus Antiques Mall,
Adamstown, Pennsylvania, where they did not sell. Then in January 1977 they
were consigned to Sotheby Parke Bernet where they were bought by David
Stockwell for $27,000. At that time they were missing the moldings on the seat
rails, and one had a patch to the gadrooning. They ended up with Bernard
and S. Dean Levy, from whom they were bought by J. William Middendorf,
who sold one back to Levy and consigned the other to Christie’s for a January
1991 sale. In 1991 at Christie’s, one of the pair (with the seat moldings and the
patch to the gadrooning restored), sold for $71,500. This set of chairs is based
on plate XIIII of Thomas Chippendale’s
The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s
Director
(London, 1754). Another pair from the set is at Winterthur, and
another pair sold at Christie’s sale of the collection of May and Howard Joynt
of Alexandria, Virginia, in January 1990 in two lots. They made $418,000 and
$330,000, and the buyer was dealer Leigh Keno of New York City, who was
bidding for a client.
This carved and plum-pudding mahogany
chest-on-chest with a bonnet top, 89" x 43½"
x 23", attributed to the workshop of George
Claypoole and carving attributed to Nicholas
Bernard, Philadelphia, circa 1755, retains its
original finials and cartouche and appears to
retain its original pierced hardware. It sold
for $100,000 (est. $100,000/150,000) to Linda
Kaufman in the salesroom, underbid by Philip
Bradley. A similar chest-on-chest with fancier
rosettes and a provenance including Richard
Stockton sold at Sotheby’s in January 2012
for $230,500 (est. $80,000/120,000). That
chest is inscribed “G. Claypoole 175_,” which
identifies it as from the Claypoole
shop. A similar one is at Winter-
thur. The carving on all three
chests is attributed
to Nicholas Bernard.
Eight matching George III silver candlesticks by
Ebenezer Coker, London, four from 1763 and four
from 1764, with stepped square bases with gadrooned
rims, marked on the bases, sconces, and six nozzles,
some with engraved and stamped numbers, the 1763
examples engraved with a discreet crest on the stems,
10½" high, 162 oz., 15 dwt., sold for $37,500 (est.
$20,000/30,000) to John Ward on the phone, underbid
by Luke Beckerdite in the salesroom. A lot of good
candlesticks were offered at auction in January.