Americana Week at Christie's

A week ago or so I posted on the American Week sale at Sotheby's, listing the sales and highlights from the catalog.  Chrisite's now has its press release up on its Americana Week offerings. The Christie's American Week sales offer over 450 lots which are expected to bring over $4 million. There is a fine offering of folk art, early American Silver, fine furniture, Chinese export, scrimshaw and other fine and decorative arts.

When appraising antiques  it is a rare occurrence to find the duplicate items or perhaps a companion piece to compare to  previous yet recent sale. There is an excellent example in the sale that should be of interest to most appraisers. Sales of the same item over the years can show the percentage of value growth, but you typically dont see two of the same examples of high quality items of furniture selling over a short period of time. Yes it does and has happened, but it is not a regular occurrence.  The Christie's sale has a walnut Philadelphia Compass seat stool with an estimate of $300,000.00 to $500,000.00 (see image). If you may recall, in the September 2008 sale at Sotheby's a Philadelphia walnut compass seat stool sold for $5.23 million, against an estimate of $200,00.00 to $500,000.00. The Christie's press release states "With its serpentine shape, shiplap construction, and trifid feet, the stool is possibly the mate of a similar example sold in September 2008". It will be interesting to see the hammer price of the upcoming stool. I am assuming (which I should not do) based upon the Christie's statement the stools are similar if not the same. I dont know of condition issues between the two. In any event, it will be interesting to see how the market reacts to this new offering and if it again reaches into the millions of dollars.

The schedule for Christie's American Week is:

Important Silver January 21 at 10am
Important American Folk Art, Furniture, and Decorative Arts January 22 at 10am & 2pm
Chinese Export January 25 at 2pm

From the Christie's press release for furniture.

additional highlights of 18th century furniture is a Chippendale Carved Mahogany Dressing Table with original brass hardware, an exceptional example of Salem cabinetmaking that dates from 1765-1785 (estimate: $100,000-150,000). Featuring a graceful cyma-shaped apron, carved
pinwheel designs, peaked knees, and ball-and-claw feet, the table is believed to be the mate of a high chest-of-drawers now in the collection of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. It was consigned by the estate of Mary Frances Bowles Couper, a prominent philanthropist and antiques collector, and a close friend of Miss Ima Hogg, who donated her collection of Americana and her home, Bayou Bend, to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Additional furniture highlights include a Queen Anne Carved Mahogany Balloon Seat Side Chair
from 18th century Philadelphia that was originally owned by Benjamin Franklin and later housed at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate (estimate: $20,000-30,000); a Chippendale Mahogany Dressing Table with carving attributed to Nicholas Bernard and Martin Jugiez, two of the most prominent craftsmen working at the height of the Philadelphia Rococo style (estimate: $40,000-60,000); and a Classical green-painted and stencil-decorated Cane-Seat Settee attributed to Baltimore’s John and Hugh Finlay or one of their contemporaries, circa 1820 (estimate: $20,000-40,000).