Small Wonder is a Success at Auction
A small sugar bowl, bought at an estate sale for less than $50, is a sweet success at auction.
A small and important sugar bowl that was recently discovered after it was bought as part of a box lot at an estate sale for less than $50 commanded the highest price of the more than 2,200 lots of 18th and 19th century Americana, ceramics, glass, lighting, silver, and textiles offered at Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates four-day sale June 19-22.
Salt-glazed decorated stoneware sugar bowl by
Andrew Coffman, 5 1/2 in. h overall, $34,800.
The salt-glazed decorated stoneware sugar bowl, 5 1/2 inches tall, garnered $34,800. Estimated between $10,000-$20,000, the bowl descended in a family that acquired it from notable Virginia potter Andrew Coffman (1795-1853) and is one of just three signed examples known. It had been part of the box lot bought for just $46.
Chippendale walnut bottle case/cellaret, two-piece construction, hinged
lid, c. 1795, 43 1/2 in. h, 33 1/2 in. by 18 1/2 in. top, $23,370.
The bowl was sold on the fourth day when many of the auction’s highest prices were achieved. Other antiques bidders pushed to big results included a Chippendale walnut bottle case or cellaret that sold for $22,800; a Federal inlaid mahogany valuables box, c. 1795, that fetched $20,400; an 1856 folk art oil-on-canvas portrait by John James Trumbull that brought $15,600: a carved and painted folk art bird tree in the Pennsylvania-German style by Frank Finney and featuring 24 different birds that sold for $14,760; and a carved, inlaid walnut desk and bookcase, attributed to John Shearer,c. 1800, that sold for $14,400.
Left: Oil-on-canvas portrait of Mary C. Barnes by John James Trumbull Arnold, dated 1856, 36 in. by 24 1/4 in., $15,600.
Right: Carved and painted folk art bird tree by Frank Finney, featuring 24 different birds, 21st century, 23 in. h, $14,760.
Bidders were also enthusiastic about the Americana and folk art treasures offered from the Katherine “Kitty Sue” Pease collection that included a variety of carvings, fraktur-related drawings, carousel items, rare needlework, furniture, scrimshaw, canes and walking sticks, and much more.
American folk art carved and painted tobacco/cigar
store trade figure, 81 in. h, 24 in. w, $19,200.
The top lot of Pease’s collection was an American folk art carved and painted tobacco/cigar store trade figure from the late 19th century with an eagle headdress and wolf-skin robe that sold for $19,200. Another cigar store trade figure brought $6,875. These figures, popular symbols of the tobacco trade in the 19th and early 20th centuries, are valued by collectors for their striking visual appeal and the considerable skill of their carvers.
Pennsylvania Schwenkfelder folk art fraktur-style drawing,
watercolor on paper, c. 1845, 10 in. by 14 1/2 in., $18,000.
Other top-selling Pease items included an important Pennsylvania folk art fraktur-style watercolor-on-paper drawing featuring a row of townhouses under a garland of stylized flowers, strawberries, and a pair of distelfinks/lovebirds that fetched $18,000; an American or British carved nautical figurehead of a beautiful woman with stylized Classical attire that sold for $15,300; an American School portrait of a black cat from the late 19th or early 20th century that brought $12,300; and a couple of carved and painted carousel goats from the late 19th or early 20th century: one that sold for $4,200 and one for $3,750.
American folk art carved and painted carousel goat, attributed
to the shop of Gustav Dentzel, 59 in. h, 60 in. l, $4,200.
Carved carousel animals are some of the most whimsical and sought-after pieces of American folk art, and goats are desirable. Both are attributed to the Pennsylvania shop of Gustav Dentzel, considered America’s first carver of these starting in 1867. The appeal of carousel animals extends far beyond being fanciful art pieces; collectors are also drawn to them for the merry-go-round of nostalgia and memories they create.
Auction results for days one, two, three, and four can be viewed on the website.
Photos courtesy of Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
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