January 2005 Hotlines

A Queen Anne japanned chest made in Boston c.1735 auctioned at Skinner’s for $1.87 million-a world record price for a piece of American japanned furniture. The two-part maple and pine chest, 83 inches tall, was painted and signed by Robert Davis, a well-known Boston japanner. The unrestored chest was in a “remarkable state of preservation,” according to the catalog. Its only serious problem was that the legs had at one time been cut down two inches so the piece could fit in a home with low ceilings. Presale estimate for the chest was $300,000 to $500,000.

Are you Polish? Elms College in Massachusetts is looking for items made in Poland or made and used by Poles in America before 1950. Polish military uniforms, sports team memorabilia, church-related objects, ads for Polish American products and businesses, immigration tickets, diaries and photos, folk art, and Polish language magazines are wanted for a new museum. Contact the Polish Center, 291 Springfield St., Chicopee, MA 01013, or call 413-265-2451.

A light green Carnival Glass plate with a floral design was offered for sale on eBay without the pattern name. The opening bid was $2. Then the emails started pouring in. The seller, an experienced eBay dealer, learned that the 9 3/8-inch plate was an aqua opal Poppy Show plate-very rare. Twenty-nine bids brought the winning price to $27,878. A second Poppy Show plate with a slight defect in the base sold for $24,099.

Always open old trunks. A hand-colored engraving by Paul Revere of the 1770 Boston Massacre was discovered in a trunk belonging to a Massachusetts woman’s estate. Grogan and Company of Dedham, Massachusetts, estimated the Revere engraving at $2,000-$4,000. The startling winning bid was $195,500.

A weather vane shaped like a centaur shooting a bow and arrow was sold at Fairfield Auction in Newtown, Connecticut, for an unexpected $253,000. The buyer was a dealer who plans to resell the weather vane.

Check to see if there is a sale of unclaimed property in your state. The State of New Jersey had a sealed-bid auction at the big Atlantique City antiques show in the fall. Bags filled with coins, jewelry, watches, and other small items were offered for sale. The items had been removed from bank safe deposit boxes that had been unclaimed (and rent unpaid) for more than five years. It is a little like a treasure hunt-and some good buys are possible.

A broken and poorly glued stoneware jug with an incised blue, red, and yellow design of a heart and bird auctioned for $27,600 at Nadeau’s Americana sale in Windsor, Conn., in October. The sleeper, estimated at $200-$300, had been found in a home near Windsor, a few miles north of Hartford. It attracted both phone and gallery bidders. Ed Nadeau, the auctioneer, told us that the one-handled, flask-shaped jug dated from the 18th century and was probably made in Boston. Its age and style of decoration made it an exceptionally rare example of early American stoneware. The fact that it had long ago broken in half horizontally did not stop bidding from going well beyond the $1,000 Nadeau said he had expected.

An c.1800 yellow pine hanging cupboard painted and decorated by Johannes Spitler, a well-known Virginia folk artist, sold for $962,500 at Green Valley Auctions, Mt. Crawford, Virginia. The red, white, and blue painted cupboard with a leaping stag decoration on the door descended directly from a relative of Spitler (1774-1837). It had hung undisturbed in a closet for more than 150 years.

A 1940s Superman Candy & Surprise box by Leader Novelty Candy Company sold online for $2,716.