Highlights of Sotheby's January Americana Sale

Sotheby’s 2009 auction season in New York will begin with the two-day sale of Important Americana. The exhibition opens January 17th, while the sale starts on January 23rd and continues through the 24th. I apologize for the length of this post, but there is a lot of information and property coming to market.

What I find interesting from an appraisers point of view is how wide and varied some of the pre sale estimate ranges are. Some are rather typical, such as 70,000/100,000 or 250,000/300,000 while other estimate ranges are rather large such as 80,000/160,000, 200,000/1,000,000 and 30,000/100,000. Although I have yet to see the full catalog, most of the wide ranging estimates are coming from the single owner Landon sale.

I believe this just goes to reinforce the uncertainty in the decorative arts market right now. The large auction houses have been talking about cutting estimates, but are they only cutting the low estimate and increasing the range between the low and high pre sale estimates. This can also impact how the sales results will be reported.

Last year, the Sotheby's American sales totaled $13.9 million against pre sale estimates of $10.8/22 million. Given all of the economic distress, it will be interesting to compare 2008 to 2009.

Chrisite' will also be holdings it Americana sale on January 23rd,with an important American silver sale and followed by American Decorative arts. Chrisite's London will also have an important decorative arts sale on January 22, including furniture and clocks. More as it comes available, and of course, results for both the Sotheby's and Christie's sales will be posted here on the AW Blog.

From a Sotheby's press release:

On January 23 and 24 Sotheby’s will begin the sale season with Important Americana, which includes furniture, folk art, silver, ceramics, and decorative arts, and will be led by The Important Captain Edward Allen Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Bombé Chest-on-Chest and A Rare and Important Molded Copper Fireman “Old Jake” Weathervane. The two-day sale will begin on Friday January 23 with a 2pm session offering silver, Chinese export porcelain and prints, and conclude on Saturday January 24 with a 2pm session of furniture, folk art and carpets. The Property of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III will be offered at 10am on Saturday January 24. Works from the sale will be on exhibition at Sotheby’s New York galleries alongside The Property of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III beginning January 17.

Friday January 23, 2pm
Leading off the Important Americana sale will be a Friday afternoon session of Chinese Export porcelain, prints, and silver. The Silver and Furniture Collection of the First Parish Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, will feature six lots of silver beakers highlighted by two pairs of beakers – The Deacon John Jacobs Silver Beakers by Jacob Hurd, Boston, 1728 (each pair est. $70/100,000*, separate release available). The earliest American colonial silver is highly valued by both scholars and collectors, yet exemplary pieces have rarely appeared at auction. Those pieces that do survive are typically preserved in the churches to which they were given. Also featured among the silver offerings will be an Important American Silver, Copper and Jewel-Set “Aztec” Bowl, Tiffany & Co., New York, Designed by Paulding Farnham (est. $250/300,000). Farnham, one of Tiffany & Co.’s most important designers, created six bowls inspired by Southwestern woven baskets.The present example, from 1905, is the last of this series, and probably the largest. A Bermuda Silver Tankard, Thomas Savage Sr., Boston and Bermuda, circa 1710 will also be included (est. $30/50,000). Bermuda silver is extremely rare, and does not frequently appear on the auction market.


The sixty-six lot section of Chinese Export porcelain will be led by A Chinese Export goose tureen and cover, circa 1770, with brilliantly painted plumage incorporating a band of peacock feathers (est. 100/150,000); an extensive Chinese Export blue 'Fitzhugh' pattern armorial dinner service of 239 pieces, circa 1800 (est. $30/50,000); and a previously unrecorded English armorial part service, each painted in the center with the arms of Tillard impaling West quarterly, which will be offered as three lots (estimates $5/7,000 and $6/8,000).


Saturday January 24, 10am

On the morning of January 24, 2009, Sotheby’s will offer a single-owner sale of The Property of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III comprising furniture, paintings and decorative arts collected by Dr. and Mrs. Landon over several decades, beginning in the 1960s. Dr. and Mrs. Landon are celebrated Americana collectors who were twice included in Art & Antiques list of top collectors. Their collection has been profiled by numerous publications and was the subject of a 2005 exhibition at Dr. Landon’s alma mater, the University of Virginia Art Museum, entitled A Jeffersonian Ideal: Selections from the Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III Collection of American Fine and Decorative Arts. Highlights from the collection include: a Very Rare Federal Ornately Inlaid and Carved Cherrywood, Mahogany, and Maple Serpentine-Front Sideboard, Attributed to Nathan Lombard, Sutton, Massachusetts, circa 1795 (est.$80/160,000); The Francis P.Garvan Important Rococo Carved and Figured Walnut Scroll-Top High Chest of Drawers, the carving attributed to Nicholas Bernard, Philadelphia, circa 1755-1760 which was exhibited in the landmark 1929 Girl Scouts Loan Exhibition (est. $200,000/$1 million); and a Fine and Rare William and Mary Ebonized and Burl Walnut-Veneered Dressing Table, Massachusetts, circa 1715 (est. $30/100,000). (separate release available)

Saturday January 24, 2pm
Among the highlights of the furniture offerings, The Important Captain Edward Allen chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Bombé Chest-on-Chest, Probably Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1780, is estimated at $800,000/1.2 million. Bombé case furniture represents the most expensive type of furniture available in eastern Massachusetts during the 18th century and was extremely labor-intensive to produce, the lower bulge of the chest requiring larger mahogany planks. The piece retains a chalk inscription to the rear, “Edward Allen” – the name of a wealthy Salem merchant who is believed to have been the original owner. The chest descended in Allen’s family until the early 20th century, when it was gifted amongst other furnishings of a home on the North Shore of Massachusetts to the family of the present owner. It has never before been published, and until recently was entirely unknown to the American furniture community, having remained on the North Shore since it was made. Of the approximately sixty pieces of American bombé furniture known today, only seven chest-on-chests survive, with most remaining in public collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia. (separate release available)

An Important Chippendale Carved Cherrywood Tall Case Clock, with works by Christian Eby, Manheim, Pennsylvania, circa 1800 (est. $150/300,000) will also be featured in the Saturday afternoon session of Important Americana. The clock is one of the most elaborate tall-case clocks from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and has survived in a remarkable state of preservation; it retains its original finials, rosettes, tympanum carving, ogee feet and an old surface.

Also included from The Silver and Furniture Collection of the First Parish Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, will be An Important William and Mary Carved and Figured Maple Armchair, Ipswich or Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1720 (est. $50/100,000). Gifted to the First Parish Church, this important armchair relates directly to the largest group of caned seating furniture made in America, which is typically referred to as the “I” group because the majority of surviving examples have a punched “I” on the back stile of the chair. Property from the Estate of John William Boor, MD will feature select timepieces and Pennsylvania furniture led by a Very Fine and Rare Carved Walnut Chest-on-Chest, Signed by George Claypoole, Jr., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1755 est.$80/120,000), with its original hardware as well as a Queen Anne Figured Walnut Tall-Case Clock with works by Benjamin Morris, New Britain, Pennsylvania, circa 1760 (est. $25/75,000) and a Queen Anne Walnut Tall-Case Clock with works by John Wood, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1760 (est. $50/100,000).

Property from the Estate of Peter Terian will comprise American Classical furniture highlighted by an Important Neoclassical Ormolu-Mounted and Figured Mahogany Marble-Topped Pier Table, labeled and stamped by Charles-Honoré Lannuier, New York, circa 1818 (est. 80/120,000). The table, made during the second half of Lannuier’s career in the American Empire style, represents one of the maker’s signature forms, and features two cheval glass bilingual labels and four stamps. Also featured will be a Pair of Federal Carved and Figured Mahogany Barrel-Back Armchairs, attributed to Duncan Phyfe, New York, circa 1815 (est. $40/80,000).