NEWS
100 Years: The Kindig Legacy
On February 8th and 9th, 2024, Pook & Pook is honored to present the 100 Years: The Kindig Legacy. For a century, the Kindig family of York, Pennsylvania has dealt in the finest antiques available. Joseph Kindig, Jr. opened his first shop in 1925, coinciding with the antique craze that swept America in the 1920s. Kindig’s shop flourished, and put him on the forefront of the expansion of scholarship and collecting. His clients included the foremost collectors of American decorative arts of their time: Henry Francis du Pont, Ima Hogg, Wallace Nutting, and Frances P. Garvan. Kindig shared a close working relationship with du Pont, and the historic Winterthur Collection reflects his expertise. Over his career, he guided Colonial Williamsburg, Winterthur, Bayou Bend, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many others in the acquisition of masterpieces. In 1947 Joe Kindig III joined his father’s business, and they worked together for twenty years. Joe Kindig III was an intellectual drawn to subjects ranging from architectural history to a continuation of his father’s study of the Kentucky long rifle. He became an authority, researching and uncovering masterpieces. Joe III also curated exhibits for Historical Society of York County, and the furnishing of Wright’s Ferry Mansion, which Kindig termed “the best representation of a Queen Anne house in Pennsylvania.” Joe Kindig III worked closely with Dr. Donald Shelley, whose Pioneer Collection was auctioned for a record $9.8 million by Pook & Pook in 2007. In 1994, Joe III was joined by his own daughter, Jennifer, and the family business flourished into the 21st century. The Kindig Collection reflects the family’s interests and expertise. The furniture is mostly early American, and the decorative arts contain a large percentage of English and some Continental items.
The heart of the Collection’s furniture is regional, with an emphasis on Philadelphia. The earliest furniture includes two pairs of Cromwellian chairs. Pennsylvania William and Mary pieces include several Southeastern Pennsylvania William and Mary walnut wainscot armchairs, a Pennsylvania William and Mary walnut desk and bookcase, and other Pennsylvania William and Mary items including a burl mahogany slant lid desk, stools, chairs, and a tall case clock. Queen Anne highlights include a rare Chester County Queen Anne walnut Octorara chest with removable feet, ca. 1765, and a beautiful Pennsylvania Queen Anne tiger maple dressing table, amongst additional Pennsylvania Queen Anne dressing tables, compass seat chairs, and a tall case clock.
Important Philadelphia Chippendale furniture includes a mahogany three-part desk and bookcase, with carving attributed to Martin Jugiez. A rare pair of Philadelphia Chippendale mahogany gaming tables, also with carving by Jugiez are one of a very few surviving pairs of these tables. A rare Philadelphia Chippendale mahogany piecrust tea table is possibly by Nicholas Bernard. Other fine Philadelphia Chippendale items include a carved high chest, a cherry chest on chest, a dressing table attributed to the “cornucopia carver”, a pair of dining chairs, tall case clock, and two desk and bookcases. Leaving the city limits, Pennsylvania items not to miss include a rare Chester County walnut Octorara tall chest, and a Queen Anne tiger maple dressing table.
Other Chippendale furniture includes a New York mahogany easy chair, and a mahogany games table, possibly from the workshop of Gilbert Ash of New York. A Baltimore Chippendale mahogany high chest was formerly exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art on long-term loan. An international highlight is an excellent Irish Chippendale mahogany sofa, ca. 1765.
Notable Federal furniture furniture includes a Salem, Massachusetts inlaid breakfront bookcase, ca. 1800, a Massachusetts mahogany sofa, ca. 1790 and attributed to Samuel McIntire, and a rare Baltimore slab table with King of Prussia marble top.
There is a large art collection with many English landscapes, portraits, equestrian, and hunting scenes. An oil on panel full-length portrait of a young noble girl from the early Stuart period, dated 1619, bears lace so vivid and textural it appears embroidered onto the painting’s surface. A massive Queen Anne burl veneer looking glass, and smaller Queen Anne mirrors, Chippendale looking glasses, and a Constitution mirror, are all perfect for reflecting the candle light provided by a fine collection of early brass candlesticks. The highlight of the early brass group is a magnificent Northwest European Three Kings candlestick, 15th c., one of the tallest and best examples of this form, with Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Miodrag R. Blagojevich provenance. English 16th c. Tudor candlesticks, German, Nuremberg, and Northwest European examples complete the group. A large assortment of andirons range from late 17th c. English to 18th c. Philadelphia Chippendale.
Textiles include a large Flemish verdure tapestry, fit for a castle. Complete sets of 18th c. crewelwork curtains, and many finely embroidered spreads dazzle the eye. An extraordinary Continental feltwork spread exhibits a coat of arms and a multitude of figured panels, dated 1749. There are ten English 17th c. stumpwork, beadwork, and needlework framed textiles, including Charles II examples, which depict kings and queens, lords and ladies, and an abundance of flora and fauna. 18th c. English needlework include a silk and metallic portrait of King George, and a pair of George III scenes of the conquest of Mysore which portray the plight of Tippoo Saib hostages. 18th and 19th c. needlework portrays everything from kings and biblical scenes to stately homes.
Silver by early American silversmiths such as Tobias Stoutenburgh, New York, 1721, and Johannis Nys, Philadelphia, ca. 1695, includes a very rare sucket fork by John Brevoort, New York, ca. 1742.
The assortment of delftware includes English Bristol and Lambeth and Dutch examples. A Bristol posset pot and cover stands out amongst the many chargers. An array of Southeastern Pennsylvania sgraffito decorated earthenware includes large dishes and a rare openwork tobacco box and cover attributed to the workshop of David Haring.
Early Pennsylvania German folk art includes valentines, fraktur, and fraktur bookplates, by artists Andreas Kessler, Martin Brechall, the Garden Border Artist, Johann Peter Gilbert, Stephan Meyer, Christian Mertel, Christian Allsdorf, Jacob Oberholtzer, Daniel Otto, and Johann Adam Eyer.
A library of canonical architectural design books contains many first editions, including the first translation of Andrea Palladio published in English, works by Colen Campbell, James Gibbs, Inigo Jones, Isaac Ware, Matthias Darly, William Pain, and the rare The Works in Architecture, London, of Robert and James Adam, Esquires. Furniture design classics include The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker Director by Thomas Chippendale, and The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing-Book by Thomas Sheraton. Ornamental design classics range from Placido Columbiani and Gaetano Brunetti to Matthias Lock and Robert Manwaring. Military subjects include a 1553 Vegetius De Re Militari Libri Quatour, and the 1626 Il Torneo by Bonaventura Pistofilo with engravings of weapons and drills. The Kindig Ephrata books were the subject of an exhibition at Ephrata Cloister in 2012 and feature a very rare 1763 imprint Metallen amongst the mostly religious texts, which include a provenanced Martys Mirror, 1748, and the beautifully illuminated manuscript hymnals for which Ephrata is famous.
Please join us on February 8th and 9th for what is certain to be a major auction event, honoring the Kindig Legacy and its century of scholarship, stewardship, and masterpieces. For more information, please call Pook & Pook at (610)269-4040, or visit our website at www.pookandpook.com.
January 18th & 19th, 2024 Americana & International Auction at Pook & Pook
January 18th & 19th, 2024 Americana & International Auction at Pook & Pook
On January 18th and 19th, 2024, Pook & Pook will hold an Americana & International auction featuring several fine collections. With many rare and exceptional items, there will be much to choose from for trophy hunters. There are thirty-four lots of early American glass from New York and New Jersey containing important and rare examples with provenance. From a New Jersey Collection comes a lily pad sugar bowl on pedestal, ca. 1840 Redfield Glass Works, Clinton County, New York-attributed, of which only a few are known to exist. The same can be said for a mid-19th c. Lancaster Glass Works, New York-attributed lily pad salt cellar, one of the rarest salt cellars known, and an exceedingly rare ca. 1840 New York Lily pad glass compote, possibly Redford Glass Works. From another New Jersey Collection comes an exceptionally rare New York State olive yellow lily pad sugar bowl and cover, ca. 1840, possibly Redwood or Lockport Glassworks. It is described in its accompanying 1946 McKearin receipt as “one of the rarest sugar bowls known.”
From a Pennsylvania collector comes a parade of carved carousel animals from the G.A. Dentzel Company, Philadelphia, ca. 1900-1905, with a rare giraffe leading the way, followed by a running stag, a horse, and an exceptional goat, all with excellent painted surfaces.
The Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Bruno Widmer of Zurich, Switzerland consists of over twenty Amish quilts assembled over the course of decades from communities in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio.
An Ohio Collection features a wide variety of Americana including gameboards, painted furniture, and folk art.
From one of two St. Louis collections are four excellent 15th/16th century brass candlesticks and an extremely fine Pennsylvania paper cutout, one of the most ambitious cutouts extant. Also from this collection is and what may well be the top lot in furniture, a rare Pennsylvania painted poplar open pewter cupboard, ca. 1760, with scalloped sides.
A very rare Lancaster County Chippendale walnut schrank, late 18th c., features a possibly unique double broken arch pediment and an interesting history with Carnegie Museum provenance. Another fine schrank offered is a Chester County tiger maple example, ca. 1780. A Pennsylvania Queen Anne walnut high chest, ca. 1765, was, according to family history, once owned by Pennsylvania Governor and Civil War General John Hartranft (1830-1889). Another historic Pennsylvania lot is the Jacob Hoestedler family, of Lancaster County, painted pine corner cupboard, ca. 1830. Probably made in Harleysville, Lower Salford Township, Montgomery County, it retains an original bold red and salmon grained surface. A vibrantly painted Berks County tall case clock, ca. 1810, hails from the Machmer Collection. A variety of Philadelphia, New England, and Georgian chairs are represented. A New York Chippendale mahogany easy chair, ca. 1770, is of special note. Among the exceptional offerings from New England is a rare Massachusetts Pilgrim century joined oak chest, ca. 1665-1690, probably Newbury, with provenance. Other New England furniture includes a Queen Anne tiger maple high chest, ca. 1765, a Boston Chippendale mahogany slant front desk, a Rhode Island corner chair, and a Massachusetts Queen Anne mahogany easy chair, both ca. 1765.
Another item with intriguing history is a rare Confederate States of America Civil War brass cannon patent model, complete with original Confederate States patent papers no. 84, dated 21st day of March, 1862. Most patent models and records were burned as the Confederates abandoned Richmond in 1865.
Artworks featured are a pair of portraits by Jacob Eichholtz (1776-1842) portraying Charles and Frances Blair Pierce of Germantown, Philadelphia. A Massachusetts oil on canvas folk portrait, attributed to Joseph Goodhue Chandler, depicts a lively scene with three children from the Slater family of Webster and their pets. Two other works from Massachusetts are colorful scenes by Elizabeth Mumford. A winter street scene by Hobson Pittman and a Walter Emerson Baum oil on canvas “Grey Day Winter” capture the current weather, while another Baum landscape depicts a fine temperate day. A fine portrait by Sir John Hoppner (1758-1810) is possibly of Henry Wilson. The highlight of the art collection will be a small John Constable oil on panel of a timber and thatch mill above a race, with provenance from the Lady Lever Gallery.
Last but not least, the highlights that sparkle the most brightly are a spectacular La Belle Epoque Ceylon sapphire and diamond necklace and earrings.
For more information about the upcoming auction, visit www.pookandpook.com. For questions about specific items, please email conditions@pookandpook.com. To consign to an upcoming auction at Pook & Pook, please send photographs to info@pookandpook.com or call (610) 269-4040 to speak with an appraiser.
by: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Remedy for a Loose Cannon
The American Civil War is considered the first modern war, witnessing rapid advancement in military technique and technology. Lacking the North’s depth of military resources, it was crucial for the Confederacy to innovate. At inception in 1861 the Confederacy established its own patent office to facilitate and reward innovation. Rufus Rhodes, a New Orleans attorney who had worked with the U.S. Patent Office, was appointed Commissioner. Rhodes would be the only serving Commissioner.
Research by H. Jackson Knight in Confederate Invention: The Story of the Confederate States Patent Office & It’s Inventors, LSU Press, 2011, reveals that during the first year of operation the Patent Office received 304 applications and issued 57 grants. Over its four-year existence, the Office awarded 274 patents, one-third of which were related to firearms and weaponry. Amongst the patents Rufus Rhodes granted were ones for iron-clad armored boats, submarines, torpedoes, and repeating guns.
Patent 84 was issued to Chas. E. Stuart, I.C. Owings, and Jos. H.C. Taylor of Alexandria, Virginia for “Improvements in Instruments for sighting cannon”, along with a receipt for $40, on the 21st day of March, 1862.
Attainment of a patent did not appear to result in payment, as The Journal of the House of Representatives reveals two years later, on May 5, 1864, “Mr Funsten presented the petition of Charles E. Stuart and other patentees for compensation for an invention now in use in the Ordinance Department of the Confederate States; which, on motion, was referred to a special committee of three, to be appointed by the Chair.”
The issue was placed on the Calendar, delayed, and then finally taken up the following year on March 14, 1865. The innovators seemed to be on the cusp of payment. Then, on April 9, 1865, came the surrender of General Lee. As they withdrew from Richmond, the Confederates burned government buildings and records, including the Patent Office. Everything within the Office was lost.
It is exceptionally rare to have an original patent model certificate. It is the only Confederate States patent model paperwork known to exist. It will be sold together with a late 19th c. detailed model of a brass cannon and caisson which exhibits several L.W. Broadwell patents, overall length 28”. Please join us at Pook & Pook on January 18th and 19th to view this piece of history, along with the many other wonderful antiques in the sale.
by: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
lot 221
A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh
I have had the opportunity to sell things more than once on a regular basis. Sometimes I get things back to be sold in a short amount of time, while some others take a much longer, winding route to come back around. There are many different reasons that I sell the same object. The buyer sometimes has remorse. Sometimes the buyer’s significant other has remorse that their partner ever bought it. I have first hand knowledge of the latter example! One time in the case of a large Belsnickel Santa I bought, my granddaughter hated it and it had to go! There are also those that come back because they didn’t fit in that empty spot, it was the wrong color, or they even bid on the wrong lot. There have also been the perfect gifts, that well, didn’t turn out to be so perfect after all.
I am always amazed in looking at collections the total recall that the collector has. They can tell you exactly what sale, when, where and even the other lots that they didn’t win. Along with those items that they really wanted but could only underbid, it comes with a shake of the head and a muttering of the name of who bought it away from them. These recollections seem to last a life time. The number of times the collector gets that second chance of something that they really wanted is a fairly small percentage. Typically, it doesn’t get away the second time around, no matter what the cost!
I recently had one of those déjà vu moments. While it wasn’t something I wanted or even bid on, it was something that I liked and just stuck out to me. A recent phone call from a long-time buyer in northern New Jersey, whom I have never met, followed by some photographs, sent me on a trip to see a handful of items that they wanted to thin out. As I walked through the house, I selected a half dozen pieces of art, some clocks, a really nice carousel horse and figure, as well a fortune telling bird cage. As we went through the house and into a bedroom there was a very familiar painting. Not a painting with astronomical value, just a painting that stuck out to me. This painting was familiar. As I searched my memory, I started to quiz the client of where the painting came from. He bought it at auction, and it was from a sale in York, Pennsylvania. The light bulb went off. I remember this painting. Before he could speak another word, I filled in the blanks for him. This painting was sold at the Springettsbury Fire Hall on East Market Street in York, Pennsylvania by Gilbert and Gilbert Auctions. His eyes lit up, that yes that is exactly where he bought the painting. Neither of us could remember the year but narrowed it down between 1990 and 1995. So, lot #383, The Newbold Hough Trotter portrait of the lion has come back to visit my life some thirty years later.
By: Jamie Shearer
The Levine Redware Collection
Pook & Pook is pleased to offer in the October 5th and 6th Americana sale a private collection holding some of the most beautiful examples of American redware. Ellen and Richard Levine, of New York, were discerning collectors, finding rare, quality pieces.
Lot 4
Many of the New England pieces are washed in glazes that bring to mind the effects of dappled sunlight on the pebble bed of a clear stream. The colors are of the earth: lead reds, iron ochres, ambers, and oranges, copper greens, and manganese and iron dark purple browns. The greens range from teal to olive, from apple to jade, to a translucent glaze so pale it resembles celadon. Single fields of glaze contain a multitude of colors, mottled, dappled, and dripped together. The variations are the result of the metal oxides in the clay and glazes, drips from other pots, variations in firing temperature, and even the flow of oxygen through the kiln. On some examples, potters fingerpainted or brushed a second glaze of another color, producing blotches and spatters that bloom across the surface, each with an aureole of underlying color. The beauty imparted by each potter is astonishing. The ovoid shapes are perfect in their simplicity. These were utilitarian objects, their production limited to local resources and minerals, with no objective other than to be used for prosaic tasks. Yet each has a graceful, hand-formed curvature, a beauty of proportion, and a depth of glaze that raises them into the realm of art. When viewed together, the group is harmonious, with gently curving lines, graceful proportions, and subtle colors.
Lot 1
Two visually arresting chargers include a rare Pennsylvania or Maryland example with a cream and brown slip decoration of two crossed vines of striped leaves with berries, on a background buzzing with striped ovals. The second is a Pennsylvania charger with yellow and green slip geometric decoration resembling crossed boughs. The transparent green glaze overlaps the yellow, the shadow on the field producing a pronounced three-dimensional effect.
In addition to works by Pennsylvania potters John Bell and Jacob Medinger, a scarce New York redware bottle has a known maker. Attributed to the early Mormon leader Heber Kimball, an amber bottle has blurred concentric bands of green and brown, and a glassy lead glaze. In the 1820’s Kimball worked as a potter in Mendon, purchasing the works from his brother. Soon after creating this bottle, ca. 1830, Kimball was baptized and headed west, eventually becoming one of the first pioneers to settle in Salt Lake City. Another of his bottles is exhibited there in the Museum of Church History.
Lot 5
By Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Press Release: Americana & International Auction, October 2023
Featuring consignments from five noted collectors and several institutions, the October 5th and 6th Americana and International sale at Pook & Pook offers a wide assortment of mochaware, redware, fraktur, and Pennsylvania, Southern, and New England furniture, clocks, and decorative arts, alongside Chinese export porcelain, and international and American works of art.
The first day of the sale begins with a fine selection of redware from The Collection of Ellen & Richard Levine of New York. Among the highlights are two 19th c. chargers. One, a rare Pennsylvania or Maryland example, has an unusual and vibrant cream and brown slip decoration involving two crossed vines and a dazzling array of leaf medallions; the other is Pennsylvania, with striking yellow and green slip decoration that appears almost three-dimensional. A scarce New York redware bottle, ca. 1830, is attributed to the Mormon leader Heber Kimball of Mendon. The collection holds many New England examples in a range of beautiful colors.
The Collection of David and Barbara Mest features Pennsylvania decorative arts and painted furniture. Top lots include a wrought iron straining ladle and flesh fork, dated 1836 and 1835 respectively, with brass and copper inlaid handles; a collection of miniature redware; and a New York or New Jersey stoneware jar with double-sided incised cobalt bird decoration. Another standout is a Pennsylvania painted pine two-part cupboard, early 19th c., with an old red surface and scalloped pie shelf.
The focus of a Mid-Atlantic Educational Institution’s collection is mochaware, including earthworm, cat’s eye, fan, banded, marbleized, and seaweed patterns, appearing on everything from small chamber pots to pepper pots, plates, pitchers, and mugs large and small. Windsor chairs of interest include a Southern long leaf pine and walnut writing armchair, and a rare signed Philadelphia lowback Windsor settee, ca. 1790, branded I. Miller.
The Collection of MaryAnn McIlnay, of York, Pennsylvania, features a fine Baltimore, Maryland Federal mahogany ladies’ cylinder front secretary desk, ca. 1810, with intricate veneer. A Christian Strenge ink and watercolor scherensnitte liebesbrief valentine is designed to capture hearts. A painted pine dower chest, ca. 1790, Berks or Lebanon County, has a vibrant potted tulip panel design. A Northampton County, Pennsylvania Chippendale inlaid walnut tall case clock has a brass dial inscribed John Miller, and extensive tulip and foliate inlay.
Two giltwood girandole mirrors with eagle crests hail from a Pennsylvania educational institution. Among the most colorful items is a herd of caparisoned carousel horses, and a collection of 19th c. turned and painted barber poles. Rare and special items include: a Francis Portzline ink and watercolor fraktur birth certificate, specially made for her own daughter; a Pennsylvania walnut spice cabinet, ca. 1770, with a tombstone panel door and a ten-drawer interior; a Philadelphia Sheraton mahogany pier table, attributed to the workshop of Haines and Henry Connelly; a rare pair of J.W. Fiske cast zinc “Spitz” recumbent dogs; and two Civil War era painted regimental drums. From a Lancaster, Pennsylvania collection are two gemlike Stiegel Glass Works cologne bottles, one in amethyst with diamond daisy pattern, and one pink amethyst in the twelve diamond pattern.
Session I ends with The Collection of Dr. Garrett I. & Bonnie Long, of Romney, West Virginia. Two clocks of note are a Massachusetts Federal mahogany shelf clock, ca. 1810, dial signed Aaron Willard, Washington St., Boston, and a Massachusetts pine dwarf clock, early 19th c., with dial signed Reuben Tower, Hingham. A Southern Federal mahogany Pembroke table, probably Charleston, has bellflower inlays. Diminutive furniture includes a rare miniature Pennsylvania painted drysink, 19th c., and a stepback cupboard, both with original surface decoration, a miniature painted settee, and a New England Chippendale birch child’s slant front desk. An imposing English silver epergne, 1761-1762, bears the touch of Daniel Smith and Robert Sharp. A collection of Chinese export porcelain includes choice Famille Vert, Famille Rose, Rose Medallion, and Canton pieces.
Session II begins with art. A collection from a Delaware Estate includes a John Constable brush and gray wash of fishing boats, a Thomas Gainsborough chalk drawing of a man and horse, a Mary Cassat sketch of a mother and child, two lovely interior mother and child scenes by Jozef Israëls, a harvest landscape in pastels by Léon-Augustin L’hermitte, a School of Peter Paul Rubens chalk drawing of a kneeling woman, and a fine oil on panel portrait of a man, attributed to Hans Bols.
Other marquee artworks include two iconic images of national parks by Gunnar Widforss, a pair of fruit and flower still lifes by Severin Roesen, a riverscape by Edmund Darch Lewis, and a number of Hudson River School works. Other artists include Benjamin West, Robert Street, and Jacob Eichholtz. Nineteenth century animal paintings include two Victorian cats caught admiring themselves in a mirror, an Edward Clarkson portrait of a trotter, two Ben Austrian chick paintings, and a portrait of a terrier by John Emms. Sculptures include works by Andre Harvey, Harry Bertoia, and Frank Finney. The sale features over twenty fraktur and theorem works by David Ellinger.
Session II highlights also include a Pennsylvania Federal mahogany tall case clock, early 19th c., profusely inlaid with a large American eagle on its door. Featured weathervanes are a fancy cast zinc rooster with pleated copper tail, a painted sheet iron Angel Gabriel, a full-bodied copper cow, and a full-bodied copper jockey and running horse. A Carlisle, Pennsylvania silk on linen needlework sampler is wreathed in flowers, and an applique friendship quilt is decorated with a weeping willow and stuffed dove border. Equally ornate, a walnut and tiger maple marquetry inlaid dresser box, 19th c., bears the State Seal of Pennsylvania.
The second session winds down with a collection of property from the Fenimore Art Museum sold to benefit their acquisitions fund. Included in this group is a Pontiac Authorized Service double-sided enameled full feather logo advertising sign, a large oil on canvas Hudson river scene, several portraits, two well executed battle scenes, and Wincester “double W” lithograph ammunition cartridge poster. The sale finishes up with European and Asian material to include silver, furniture, brass, porcelain, clocks, and decorative accessories.
Please join us for this fabulous sale, the week of October 5th and 6th, in-person or online. For more information go to www.pookandpook.com or call (610) 269-4040.
By: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Beached in Brighton
More than two hundred works by John Constable (1776 – 1837) are related to time he spent in Brighton between the years 1824 and 1828, half of which are small, vivid sketches such as lot #435. In this ink wash, three fishing boats rest on a beach. The nearest is recognizable as a Brighton Hog-boat with its leeboard hanging off the side, the center boat with a lug sail. A cluster of buildings and a fenced walkway lined with figures form the horizon. Visible on the walkway is a man sporting a top hat. Although the boats are resting, the curved lines of their hulls, of the bluff, and the cumulus clouds, together with the sparkling light suggest an exuberant scene.
John Constable came to Brighton for his wife, Maria, who contracted tuberculosis in 1819. In an effort to restore Maria’s health with fresh sea air and sunshine, Constable moved his family to a cottage on the outskirts of Brighton in the spring of 1824. He continued his work in London, but spent as much time in Brighton as possible, making frequent trips back and forth and settling in for lengthier stays. Although Constable found bustling Brighton to be busier than he liked, it was peaceful in comparison to London’s crowds and pollution. He hoped to use the quiet to complete some commissions. Due to the residence of King George IV, the fishing towns of Brighton and Hove were rapidly gentrifying into a fashionable seaside resort, with architect John Nash finishing the king’s famed Pavilion in 1823.
In keeping with his preference for scenes of humble farmland, Constable was drawn to Brighton’s beaches and fishermen. In all seasons, Constable walked the shoreline with his paintbox and sketchbook, finding inspiration all around him. He sketched the sea and the sky, and views inland of the beach and the bluffs, and Brighton’s famous Hog-boats. One of Constable’s great landscape painting insights was the importance he placed on plein-air sketching. His first impressions imbued his later finished works with vitality. Two hundred years later, the immediacy of his sketches connects us to the day.
Tragically, Maria died in the winter of 1828, leaving behind her husband and seven children, and bringing to a close Constable’s period in Brighton.
The artwork’s provenance includes a receipt from Sotheby’s London dated January 20th, 1965. This sale was The Collection of English Drawings formed by the late Sir Bruce Ingram. Sir Bruce Ingram (1877 – 1963) was a prominent publisher and philanthropist. As a connoisseur, he established one of the great English collections of paintings and drawings, with a concentration on marine art. In addition to being editor of the Illustrated London News, Ingram served as Hon. Keeper of Drawings for the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and Hon. Advisor on pictures and drawings for the Greenwich Maritime Museum. Works from his collection are today in museums such as the British Museum, the National Gallery, and the Greenwich Museum. The winning bid in 1965 for lot 434 was £140. Please join us October 5th and 6th and see what this artwork is worth today.
By: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Painter of the National Parks
Two very exciting paintings grace the October 5th and 6th Americana & International auction at Pook & Pook. Collectors will have the opportunity to acquire works by a recently rediscovered artist of international renown, who played an important role in promoting National Park landscapes to the American public.
Gunnar Widforss (Sweden, United States, 1879-1934) roamed the world looking for beautiful landscapes. Born in Sweden, he earned a living in the first decades of the 20th century plein air painting in spa towns and scenic spots around the Mediterranean, where he was in proximity to both beauty and a customer base. He achieved success, having two paintings accepted in the Paris Salon. In 1921 he began a journey to Japan, which ended when he ran out of money in California. While there, Widforss fell back on his work formula of scenery and tourists, painting Catalina Island and popular places along the coast. His life changed in March of that year when he journeyed to Yosemite National Park. The landscape and light, the solid rock and the miles of atmosphere, captured his imagination. His painting of the park was encouraged by his friend Stephen Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service. Mather recognized the historical contribution of artists in preserving public lands, establishing the parks as a source of national pride and identity. Mather encouraged Widforss to focus on the parks, and Widforss found his calling, quickly gaining a reputation as the painter of our national parks. The Park Service, the Santa Fe Railroad, and hotels all commissioned paintings for posters and promotions. In 1924 the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. showed 72 Widforss watercolors, with Gallery Director W.H. Holmes calling the paintings “the finest things of their kind that have come out of the West. (Widforss) is possibly the greatest watercolorist in America today.” Exploring the parks, Widforss spent an increasing amount of time at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, which inspired the paintings for which he became best known.
For Gunnar Widforss, the year 1929 was a watershed. He turned fifty. Gump’s in San Francisco held his most successful show. He became an American citizen. Then, he witnessed the onset of the Great Depression. The numbers of park tourists and customers dwindled and dried up. The New Deal WPA for artists would not begin until 1933. Widforss wrote to his mother, “I will get a tent, a cot, something to cook on and a couple of cans of beans or such. A little coffee too, maybe I can arrange to live a little cheaper that way.” Previously accustomed to trading paintings for room and board, Widforss retreated to his tent and continued his daily painting.
As the world teetered on the brink of economic collapse, many American artists reacted by experimenting with idealized visions of the future and abstraction. Gunnar Widforss stuck fast to the realism of his western park landscapes. The vastness of the parks transcends comprehension, inspiring feelings of awe and spirituality. As such, the parks are places of the Gods. Every day, the plein air painter sat at his easel surrounded by vistas eternal and sublime. While the Depression raged on, in the parks Widforss breathed a rarefied air, exalted by a brilliant sun. Gunnar Widforss sat on canyon rims, in remote, inaccessible valleys, and at the foot of towering redwoods, and with a steady hand, crystallized those heroic landscapes into realistic, intimate visions that speak to the soul.
Widforss’s career painting the National Parks came to a tragic early end in 1934 when he suffered a heart attack near his home on the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. He is memorialized as one of only three artists for whom Grand Canyon landmarks are named. One of the most famous painters of his time, until recently, he had faded into obscurity. Collectors are now rediscovering him, largely informed by the work of Alan Petersen, Curator of Fine Art at the Museum of Northern Arizona and author of the Gunnar Widforss Catalogue Raisonne and an upcoming biography. The authority on Widforss, most of the information in this article has been drawn from Petersen’s original research.
According to Petersen, Gunnar Widforss would stay with his friend Theophil Fritzen when he was in San Francisco. Fritzen managed the Kings River Parks Company, which ran concessions in Sequoia and other National Parks in the early 1920’s. The two watercolors featured were both owned by Fritzen and passed down within his family. Still in their original frames, they have been in storage since the 1990s. Emerging into the light for the first time in years, their colors are rich and vibrant. The view of the geology and light of Zion National Park is in a warm palette, which shifts to cool for the towering great trees of Redwood National Park. In both paintings, the delicacy of color and dramatic composition capture the emotional impact of scenes of such immensity and beauty. Sharply defined rocks and tree trunks stand before limitless horizons and forest depths. The scene of Zion is dated 1923, the year Widforss was first commissioned by Park Director Stephen Mather to paint the park. Humboldt County Redwoods was painted circa 1925, when Petersen documents the artist “working at Schilling’s Inn between Scotia and Garberville” during June and July. These paintings are examples of the best of Widforss’s work.
by: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Sources:
Alan Petersen, Gunnar Widforss: The Artist and the Myths, chapter 38, publication to be announced.
Alan Petersen, Letters from Gunnar, Sojourns, summer 2013, p. 31-41.
Alan Petersen, Gunnar Widforss, Painter of America’s National Parks, Plein air Magazine, spring 2011, p. 62-66.
National Park Service, Landscape Art and the Founding of the National Park Service.
National Gallery of Art, Uncovering America: Art and the Great Depression.
A Tablescape for the Ages
From the end of the War of 1812 until around 1860, the Staffordshire potters of Britain produced millions of pieces of transferware for the American market. Using brilliant white pearlware and ironstone printed underglaze with deep cobalt blue, Staffordshire potters imitated the brilliance of Chinese porcelain on widely affordable domestic tableware. Appealing directly to the American market, wares were decorated with patriotic scenes and historical landmarks which were set in either romantic garden landscapes or unspoiled scenery, and the early achievements of the Industrial Revolution, such as steamships and railroads. So popular was the style, it is still produced today- although reproductions lack the variety of artwork and the original intense cobalt, which has been replaced with synthetic blues. The original pieces still typify the standard of beauty for a blue and white table.
By: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Photo caption – Left to right: Lot 3238 a collection of blue Staffordshire, including bowls, teacup and saucer, teapot, and covered vegetable dish), Lot 3054 sterling silver pitcher, Lot 3012 pair of Gorham weighted sterling silver candelabra, Lot 3214 English pewter mug marked by William Walker, Lot 3239 Historical blue Staffordshire plates, including Table Rock, Niagara, Lot 3240 Historical blue Staffordshire Franklin Tomb cup and saucer and Landing of Lafayette waste bowl.
The Auction Buzz!
Lot 7576 is a spectacular 18k yellow gold and diamond bee brooch by famed jeweler Herbert Rosenthal (American, trademark active 1962 – 1987). In the mid-1960’s, Rosenthal created his first iconic bejeweled bees. His design became famous, inspiring a generation of imitators. Incredibly lifelike, these bees are encrusted with diamonds and detailed with ruby eyes, and are captured working industriously on a slice of golden honeycomb. The brooch has a pendant loop and pin closure, the underside stamped HR within an oblong diamond.
The bee jewelry of Herbert Rosenthal captured the imagination of the fashion world, but was far from a new idea. Human dependency on bees has resulted in a long history of use and adaptation of their image. Although the Victorian love of insect jewelry was widespread, actual credit for interest in bee jewelry in the modern age belongs earlier, in the age of Napoleon. In 1804, Napoleon was looking for a symbol for the French Empire other than the fleur-de-lys. Based on ancient French artifacts in the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale, he chose the bee. Why was the bee a particularly French symbol? The answer delves even further back into history, into the Dark Ages.
A king of the Merovingian dynasty, Childeric (437 -481 C.E.) also stood on the cusp of a new era. He was the father of Clovis, who would be the first to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one rule. Childeric’s tomb was discovered near Tournai in 1653. It was a sensational find. The tomb was full of precious objects, notably three hundred golden bees with garnet wings. The treasure of Childeric was eventually deposited in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, where Napoleon was able to see it. Tragically, in 1831 the treasure was stolen and melted down. Only a few pieces, including two bees, were recovered from a hiding spot in the Seine.
Join Pook & Pook on June 21st to bid on this exquisite figural brooch.
By Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Don’t Throw Away Your Shot!
My job always affords me the opportunity to make new and interesting discoveries. My pick this week is just that. It isn’t the best size, nor is it the best color. It was a mass-produced item in the early 19th century, so it’s not by any means super rare. It is unique and the information within its pages is a look into medicine and treatment in the late 1820’s. More importantly it is about life’s ups and downs in small town America. Lot #7670 in the upcoming June 21, 2023, online only sale here at Pook & Pook Auction in Downingtown, Pennsylvania is my pick. It’s a copy of the “A Medical Common Place Book with an Alphabetical Index…”, copyrighted in 1828. One of the first “Ipad’s” ever offered to the public. Instead of typing your notes, you get to hand write them into the book with nuggets of information that you would need to refer to later. A quote from the preface of the book – It was remarked of the celebrated Boorhave, that a physician never remembers more than three years of his practice: a Memorandum Book, therefore, as an auxiliary to the memory cannot fail to prove highly useful in bringing to his recollection any important cases, or diseases, which he may have met with in the course of his reading, or at the bedside of the sick, and the remedies which have been found most useful. A handwritten note at the bottom of the page is inscribed “This book bought off Dr. Hosack Prof. in the Med. College N.Y., when I was attending a course of Med. Lectures in 1828” and initialed LCG. We will get back to Dr. Hosack referenced in the elegantly written note, but first, who was LCG? We need to flip to page 122 where we encounter many pages of writing titled “A Brief Autobiography”.
It is there, that LCG becomes Dr. Lysander Church Grover who was born in Deerfield, Massachusetts, January 22, 1802 of poor but honest and respectable parents… His account of early family life struggles includes his father losing a leg in a mill accident at the age of 26, travels in various New York counties as well as trips to Massachusetts. An account of obtaining his teacher’s certificate in the village of Geneva. Finding the profession “irksome” he eventually made known his intentions to be a doctor to Dr. James Carter of Geneva who made it possible “to make a doctor of me”. In the winter of 1827-28 he attended five months in the City of New York attending lectures, the eye and ear infirmary, the hospital, dissections and returned with six cents capitol to start business in Lyon’s, Wayne County, New York. His account talks about life as a doctor, a merchant, a justice and farmer of 27 acres, eventually upgrading to 97 acres in the town of Alexander, Genesee County. Eventually he owned a general variety store in 1847. His trials and tribulations continue to be documented, including a son who was bitten by gold fever heading out by ship to San Francisco, until the last entry in August of 1872. Dr. Grover passed away at the age of 86 on August 4, 1888.
The other doctor mentioned was Dr. Hosack who happened to be David Hosack (1769-1835) who was a physician, botanist and educator, and who most notably was the attending physician to Alexander Hamilton after his fateful duel with Aaron Burr in July 1804. His noted art collection included contemporary American landscape paintings, such as John Trumbull’s Niagara Falls from Two Miles Below Chippewa (which is at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library) as well as being a patron of Thomas Cole.
So like Paul Harvey famously said “and now you know the rest of the story”.
By: Jamie Shearer
A Fancy Fat Caterpillar
This fancy, fat caterpillar is a gem. The brooch is a design of Robert Wander (American 1943 – 2019), who was famed for his work with colored gemstones. The caterpillar is carved from a solid piece of citrine, highlighted with 18k gold, and his antennae bezel set with .01 carats of diamonds. His many legs are set on a brooch base with pin closure, stamped WINC 18K.
Perched on your lapel or shoulder, perhaps with a flower brooch or other gemstone species, this endearing, life-size caterpillar combines a sense of humor with links to the past. Since ancient times, gemstone carvings have been the playthings of Emperors, Pharaohs, and Tsars. Join the bidding on June 21st and add him to your own royal collection.
Lot 7681
By: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Silver Spout Cup
This rare Boston silver spout cup by John Dixwell is typical of the American Colonial period. With a narrow, sharply curving spout and handle set at a right angle, the cups were designed for a caregiver to easily feed an infant or a bedridden invalid. John Dixwell (1680-1725) was a Boston gold and silversmith who was an outstanding maker of early church silver for benefactors across Massachusetts. Dixwell was also a founder of the New North Church in 1714, to which he gave silver tankards, cups, a beaker, and a baptismal basin. Although he died a recognized Boston citizen, Dixwell spent the first nine years of his life living under an alias, due to the precarious life of his father.
John Dixwell (1607-1689) was a member of Parliament during Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate and one of 59 British judges who sentenced King Charles I to death in 1649. Upon the Restoration of Charles II a list of regicides targeted for execution was issued and Dixwell fled the country to Hanau. Royal agents scoured the continent, capturing regicides in Hanau, and Dixwell had to flee again. He arranged with compatriots Whalley and Goffe to sail for New England, sheltering at the Hadley, Massachusetts home of Reverend Russell in 1665. To avoid detection, Dixwell traveled under aliases and arrived in Hadley using the name James Davids. Whalley and Goffe had arrived in the colony as heroes and had not changed their names, a decision they may have come to regret. Boston magistrates received a royal order for their arrest, and colonists had to shelter them as they were pursued far and wide for the next two decades. Whalley and Goffe spent a summer dwelling in a cave, while “James Davids” settled down and started a family. Always in peril, Whalley and Goffe had to return to the cave yet again. In 1688, James II, the last Catholic monarch of England, was deposed, and the remaining regicides could finally live freely.
Lot 415 Boston, Massachusetts silver spout cup, ca. 1715, bearing the touch of John Dixwell.
By Cynthia Beech Lawrence
The Sycamore Tree at the Moses Rice Farm
Captain Moses Rice (1694-1755) was a soldier on the Massachusetts frontier at Rutland garrison. In 1742 he purchased 2,200 acres from the City of Boston and became the first colonial settler in the area. According to family tradition, it was under this tree, the Rice Buttonwood, where Moses slept when he first arrived on his land. He built a farmstead along the main east-west travel route, the Mohawk Trail and named it Charlemont. During King George’s War (1744-1748) Charlemont was one of a line of farms used as forts and garrisons. From his outpost, Rice extended hospitality to fur traders, scouting parties, and soldiers. Burned to the ground in a 1744 attack, Rice rebuilt the farm during a lull in hostilities and returned with his family in 1749. As military action between the French and English escalated again in 1754, Charlemont was fortified and garrisoned by local citizens, and Moses petitioned for permanent troops. While plowing his fields in 1755, Rice was attacked by a Native American raiding party, taken to the woods, and tomahawked and scalped. He died shortly upon being found. His young son Asa was carried off to Canada and held for six years, after which he was ransomed and returned in 1761. In 1871 the great-great grandson of Moses Rice erected a monument at his gravesite on the hill behind the home. The tree was still standing on the farm when photographed by Henry Brooks in 1890, Rice’s Buttonwood, with a girth measuring a massive 16 feet.
The 19th c. farm depicted in the folk art painting shows a land long-settled, with a verdant landscape of rolling hills dotted with grazing cows and horses. The rich farmhouse, barn, and outbuildings are neat in their coats of white paint and stacked firewood. Under the ancient tree Rice’s Buttonwood , travelers on the Mohawk Trail water their horse, while another elegant carriage passes by. The scene evokes an aspect of American culture that appears often in 19th c. art, the taming of the frontier. Order has been imposed. The 1871 memorial has not yet been erected, and although there is no trace of past bloodshed or the savage wilderness, the land is shown to bloom with European civilization.
Lot 212 The Sycamore Tree at the Moses Rice Farm, Charlemont
By: Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Philotesia Owen
Philotesia Owen was born in Coulsdon, England, and in 1716 married Quaker merchant Robert Strettell (1693-1762). She is depicted in her portrait dressed in the typical attire of a young Quaker woman, unadorned, in modest brown silks, her shawl providing a touch of blue. Philotesia’s honeymoon was over in 1720, when Robert lost a great deal of money in the collapse of the South Sea Bubble. In 1736 they followed the lead of many fellow Quakers and emigrated to the religious freedom of Philadelphia. Arriving with a cargo of goods, Strettell opened a shop in Water Street facing Fishbourne’s Wharf, where he advertised for sale India velvet, muslin, flowered damask, blue and white China plates, Japanese tea kettles, Scotch snuff and “fine London tobacco.” Educated and prosperous, the Strettells bought a country house in Germantown to summer in. In later years Robert’s will also mentioned “proprietary rights in West Jersey” and a collection of Greek, Latin, and French authors. By the early 1740’s Strettell was a member of the Philadelphia City Council, the Governor’s Council, and served as Mayor of Philadelphia from 1751-1752. Robert’s public service career would have strained the patience and pacifism of Philotesia nearly as much as the collapse of the South Sea Company. Throughout the early 18th century, Philadelphia politics were so troublesome and the burdens of office so heavy that the mayors, appointed by the Council for one-year terms, had a history of absconding or refusing to serve. For nearly fifty years after Penn’s 1701 Charter granted government powers, mayors did not even receive compensation. Many selected candidates preferred to pay a fine rather than forgo a year of their lives. (Just four years before Strettell’s term, an annual salary of $100 was approved.) Strettell’s term coincided with a period of intense activity, largely due to the efforts of polymath Benjamin Franklin, who was completing work on the Post Office, the Hospital, and the College of Philadelphia all in 1752. Strettell was appointed one of the original 24 trustees of the College. Another Franklin endeavor, volunteer defense groups were being debated as the city discussed how to defend itself prior to the 1754 French and Indian War. Work on the Pennsylvania State House (begun in 1732) was completed in 1753. If there is a conversion ratio of Philadelphia mayor years to regular human years, it must be something like 4:1. Having prospered and performed their public service, the Strettells were both buried at Friend’s Ground in Philadelphia.
By Cynthia Beech Lawrence
Lot 133 Pastel portrait of Philotesia Owen (1697-1782)
Press Release – May 2023 Americana & International Auction
Pook & Pook is pleased to announce details of our Americana & International sale, May 4th & 5th, 2023. The antiques and artworks assembled for this sale are significant for their representation of hallowed makers, illustrious owners, and famous sales of the past. Many have been off the market for decades, some half a century or more. This sale affords the opportunity to purchase antiques from noted collectors Israel Sack, Titus Geesey, Ada Musselman, the Machmer family, the Garvan family, William K. duPont, H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., Margaret Berwind Schiffer, and famous collections such as The Pioneer Collection of Dr. Donald and Mrs. Shelley, of Drs. Donald and Patricia Herr, Howard & Jean Lipman, Edgar & Bernice Garbisch, the Fenimore Art Museum, and the Packwood House Museum. Seven of the thirteen colonies are represented by early craftsmen such as Nathan Star, William Will, Samuel McIntire, John Seymour, Henry Adam, John Dixwell, Lebbeus Dod, Thomas Affleck, Joseph Barry, and John Pollard. Historic owners include the Penn family, a 1732 Pennsylvania monastic settlement The Ephrata Cloister, the 1752 Mayor of Philadelphia Robert Strettell, Revolutionary War privateer Captain John Southward, The Empress of China Captain John Green, and a heroic Civil War U.S. Cavalry Colonel.
Day One launches with an exceptional Marklin clockwork New York paddle wheel river boat, early 20thc. Part of a New Jersey Educational Institution’s collection for half a century, this colorful and elaborate vessel is in excellent condition. Another highlight from the same institution is an important English Staffordshire slipware decorated doll cradle, dated 1698 and initialed MC.
Susan Fetterolf and Jeff Gorrin began their collection thirty years ago, developing a focus on the Oley Valley in Berks County, Pennsylvania. They acquired a number of rare and known provenanced works. One of the best-known is an outstanding Lancaster County, Pennsylvania pine drysink, late 18th c., found in the Ephrata Cloister and illustrated in Wendy Cooper and Lisa Minardi Paint, Pattern, and People. Another noted item is a Berks County pine hanging corner cupboard, ca. 1790, exhibited at Winterthur in Colorful Folk: Pennyslvania Germans and the Art of Everyday Life. A Pennsylvania German painted poplar schrank is exceptional for being one of the very few robust examples of early 18th furniture of German design. Six Pennsylvania bent arrowback side chairs attributed to the shop of Joseph Jones of Chester County, ca. 1820, are one of the finest sets we have ever seen. Other highlights include an important early 19th c. Pennsylvania painted two-part corner cupboard with original vibrant surface; an excellent New Jersey gumwood and walnut kas, ca. 1790 by Matthew Egerton Junior; an 18th c. Lancaster County Conestoga wagon box with elaborate tulip-form wrought iron hardware; a Franklin Eshelman oil on canvas of The Snyder Farm in Oley Valley, ca. 1895; a painted pine tavern table, mid-18th c. originally found in a Kintnersville chapel; and an early 19th c. Oley Valley pine blanket chest, with original abstract grain decorated surface and an arresting painted eye motif.
A rare Samuel Plank wall box, a last-minute addition to the sale from a private collection, is set to cross the block on day one.
Noted highlights from A Prominent Delaware Collector feature Chester County, Pennsylvania William and Mary banister back chairs, ca. 1720, including both a rare pair of side chairs and a rare armchair. A Chester County William and Mary walnut desk on frame, ca. 1755 is probably by James Milhaus of New Garden Township and descended in the family to at least 1854. Also noted is a superb Philadelphia Queen Anne walnut tall chest in two parts, ca. 1770, and a set of four Pennsylvania Queen Anne walnut dining chairs, ca. 1740. Philotesia Owen (1697-1782) gazes serenely from her pastel portrait. Wife of Robert Strettell, the Mayor of Philadelphia from 1751-1752, she was a prominent Quaker and appears unadorned, in modest brown silks with a touch of blue.
A selection of over forty quilts from the Packwood House Museum of Lewisburg represents one of the finest collections of antique Pennsylvania quilts. Founded in 1972 by a bequest from Edith Fetherston, the museum closed its doors in 2022.
Twenty-six artworks from the Fenimore Art Museum, sold to benefit the Acquisitions Fund, include fine art with storied provenance from the Howard and Jean Lipman collection, the Edgar and Bernice Garbisch collection, the Mr. & Mrs. William J. Gunn collection, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Boston Athenaeum. Works include Hudson River landscapes, an American oil on canvas folk art new England harbor scene, 19th c., a 19th c. Massachusetts folk art landscape of the Sycamore Tree at the Moses Rice Farm, Charlemont, a carved and painted cigar store Indian tobacconist figure, and a fine large painted pine fireboard, ca. 1800, depicting two armies before a city.
Closing Day One is Part III of the famous Pewter Collection of Drs. Donald Maurice and Patricia Thompson Herr. A decades-long labor of love, the collection includes some of the finest examples of American pewter. Within the twenty-six lots, the Will family is well-represented, with a rare New York quart tankard, ca. 1760 attributed to John Will, another teapot possibly by John Will, and a New York flagon, ca. 1770 attributed to Henry Will. Both a rare Philadelphia porringer and a footed teapot, ca. 1770 bear the touch marks of William Will, the most gifted of American pewterers.
Day Two takes flight with an exceptional Frank Finney folk art bird tree. Rising from a sprouting-leaf base, the tree branches bristle with the energy of eleven fluttering birds. Featured collections include Mr. and Mrs. Whitman Ball, Dr. and Mrs. Irving Williams of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Dr. Larry McCallister, the Garvan Family, and the Estate of Max G. Bleiler. The marquee item is an important Philadelphia Chippendale mahogany tall case clock, ca. 1770 with carving attributed to John Pollard, and descended in the family of Captain John Green (1736-1796) of Philadelphia, famous for captaining the first American ship to trade directly with China. Another important lot is a Philadelphia Chippendale mahogany dining chair, attributed to the shop of Thomas Affleck, purportedly made for the Penn family and gifted into the Cresson family. Amongst antiques with famed makers and illustrious owners is a new discovery, a U.S. Cavalry silk swallowtail guidon American flag, ca.1860s, descended in the family of Colonel Walter Simonds Franklin of York, Pennsylvania, veteran of the Richmond and Shenandoah Valley campaigns, as well as the capture of Petersburg. The flag has never been out of the family. Other highlights include a scarce pair of knife blade andirons by famous gun and sword maker Nathan Starr of Middletown, Connecticut, a Philadelphia Chippendale mahogany tea table with carving attributed to Martin Jugiez, a rare pair of Pennsylvania Federal walnut semi-tall chests, a Boston silver spout cup bearing the touch of John Dixwell, and capering carousel horses and a goat by Gustav Dentzel. Artwork highlights include a Joseph Smith oil on canvas of the sloop yacht Eleanor, a large Ben Austrian canvas of a white hen with her fourteen chicks, and landscape Darby Creek in Winter by Elizabeth Washington.
Dr. Larry McCallister began collecting in the 1970s. While focused on Federal and Classical furniture, he acquired rare and notable pieces from all periods. A very rare Manheim, Pennsylvania Chippendale cherrywood tall case clock, ca. 1800, with works by Christian Eby (active 1793-1803) is one of the finest Rococo style tall case clocks ever made in Lancaster County, and retains original carved decoration and ogee feet. A rare Massachusetts William and Mary ebonized maple and figured walnut dressing table, ca. 1725, is another noted piece, exhibited at the University of Virginia in A Jeffersonian Ideal. Other notable lots include a large Chinese export porcelain mandarin palette hunting scene punch bowl, late 18th c., a fine Boston, Massachusetts William and Mary burl walnut and maple high chest of drawers, ca. 1725, a set of eight New York Federal mahogany dining chairs attributed to Slover & Taylor, an elaborate New York Classical mahogany two-part desk bookcase, ca. 1835, and work tables attributed to Duncan Phyfe, Joseph Barry, and Haines & Connelly.
From the illustrious Garvan family of collectors and scholars comes an incredible collection of rare peace medals, including a James K. Polk example, a James Monroe example, and a George III example. In addition to over a dozen medals is a rare slip-decorated redware bowl attributed to Henry Adam of Hagerstown, Maryland, early 19th c. A rare Lebbeus Dod engraved brass protractor and parallel rule, Mendham, New Jersey, late 18th c. retains its original wood case. Other measuring devices are two cased sets of hydrostatic bubbles, Scotland, late 18th c. A fine group of miniatures includes a watercolor portrait on ivory of Revolutionary War Captain George Southward, 18th c., who commanded the privateer Beggar’s Prize and was captured and held in Mill Prison, Plymouth, England.
As usual, the sale will conclude with an assortment of carpets, to include a Serapi, ca. 1900, from the Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Irving Williams.
For more information about this and other auctions coming up at Pook & Pook, please visit www.pookandpook.com.
by: Cynthia Beech Lawrence