November 23 2002 Auction Highlights

During its November 23, 2002 antique auction, Pook & Pook of Downingtown, Pennsylvania featured a collection of folk art from the Estate of Howard Rose of New York City. Rose, who died in 1987, was a novelist and collector of art. His talents and interests led him to the New York gallery scene where he worked with one of the pioneer folk art dealers, Edith Gregor Halpert. Rose also helped Kennedy Gallery set up and run a separate gallery exclusively for American folk art. Of the 48 lots from the Rose collection sold, a wonderful pastel portrait of a lady seated in a decorated Federal chair by Micah Williams fetched the highest price at $18,400. A miniature carving of a spread winged eagle by Wilhelm Schimmel reached $5,750. Other folk art drawings sold included a watercolor of the Oneida Seminary, New York for $1,725 and a watercolor theorem of watermelon for $9,200.

The premiere lot among the formal furniture offered was the New York Chippendale slab table, ca. 1770. From the Van Rensselaer family, the table was purchased in Albany, NY, and was subsequently advertised several times in The Magazine Antiques. Interestingly, the piece proved to be an excellent study piece for the furniture scholars in attendance. On first glance the elegant edge of the serpentine shaped top and conforming frame was arresting, but the carving on the skirt and the ball and claw feet was slightly off center. The table was driven to a selling price of $92,000 from a phone bidder. Another outstanding piece from New York was the Federal mahogany 2-part dining table offered. With an inlaid skirt, brass banding, and boldly carved pineapple pedestals resting on acanthus carved and line inlaid legs with brass animal paw casters, the table went to a private collector for $12,650.

A Pennsylvania Chippendale cherry tall case clock, ca. 1775, with a carved rooster finial flanked by carved rosettes above a dentil and blind fret frieze fell to a private collector on the phone at $21,850. A New Jersey Federal mahogany tall case clock, ca. 1790, with a case inlaid with trailing vine, oval and line motifs, surpassed estimate selling for $9,200. A Maryland Federal walnut cellerette on stand, ca. 1795, was a standout with a vase and oak leaves on a green ground inlaid on the lid and sold for $4,370. A rare Virginia Federal miniature cherry and mahogany chest of drawers was even more appealing and brought $9,775 from a collector in the room. A set of 6 Virginia Chippendale mahogany dining chairs, ca. 1790, from the family of an Admiral, made $4,600.

A number of pieces of New England furniture achieved some of the day’s top prices. A Salem Massachusetts Chippendale mahogany secretary bookcase, ca. 1790, with swan's neck pediment adorning the upper section and four graduated serpentine drawers, a shell drop and ogee feet in the lower section, was thought to be from the workshop of Allison and sold for $23,000. A Connecticut Queen Anne cherry lowboy, ca. 1750, with a rectangular molded top over a case with a long drawer above 3 short drawers, the center with carved fan, above a scalloped skirt resting on cabriole legs with carved returns and pad feet, more than tripled its estimate selling for $13,225. A North Shore, Massachusetts Federal mahogany sideboard, ca. 1815, possibly by McIntyre, brought $7,475.

The fine art in the sale was headlined by a landscape with a boy fishing by Edward Mitchell Bannister. Bannister was the best-known landscape painter associated with Rhode Island in the late 1800s, and was the first African-American artist to win national recognition. Interest in the painting was extraordinary with all phone lines taken early and additional people attending the auction for that single lot when it was discovered no additional phone lines were available. The painting finally sold to an out of state phone bidder for $23,000. An oil on canvas Western street scene by Walter Louderback was another top lot with all phone lines taken. The illustration fetched $14,375 from a dealer in the room. A small Russian oil on canvas winter landscape with a man in a
troika led by a team of horses surprised the room by selling to the phone for $6,900. A Henry James Soulen oil on board illustration titled, "The Hippopotamus Parade", appeared in the Saturday Evening Post 2/15/1919, depicting men working to right an overturned truck under starry skies, sold for $1,955. A pair of small Christopher Shearer watercolor landscapes went to a bidder on the floor for $2,875. An assortment of lithographs by Currier & Ives and Nathaniel Currier sold for $3,450, $3,680, $2,990, and $4,140.

Other individual standouts included a Rookwood vase with fish motif by E.T. Hurley for $6,300, a Regina music box for $4,600, and a painted carousel horse for $1,265. Over 40 colorful oriental rugs crossed the block including several Kazaks($8,625, $7,187, and $7,762), a palace-size Hamadan($15,525), and a room-size Serapi($26,450). An interesting assortment of trade signs in the forms of a pretzel($2,300), a pistol($1,610), and a telescope($2,875) were offered. A small polychromed barber pole sold for $1,495, while a miniature sheet iron weathervane in the form of a mermaid made $1,610. Multiple pieces of Leeds tableware with spread winged eagle decoration sold for outstanding prices in the $1,320 o $3,825 range.

For further information on Pook & Pook, Inc.’s 2003 sale schedule, please call (610) 269-0695 / (610) 269-4040, write PO Box 268, Downingtown, Pa. 19335, or visit the web site www.pookandpook.com.

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