Dear Clients and Friends,
The team here at Brunk Auctions is very excited to share these highlights from our important September auction. It is an exceptional offering, with great works of art and objects across numerous categories and periods. We are particularly pleased to have a remarkable range of important patriotic and Revolutionary War era documents and objects in the auction. Leading the group is an extraordinary discovery, the only known privately held copy of the archetype of United States Constitution. These thin sheets of paper form the cornerstone of our modern democracy, as it is this copy that provided the link between the drafted constitution and the will of the people who ratified it. This copy, signed by Charles Thompson, was recently discovered hidden away in an old filing cabinet. Other exciting discoveries sourced from museums, estates, and private collections abound in this auction, and include remarkable furniture, ceramics, silver, maps, maritime art, and many other categories. New items are still being added to the auction as we go to print with this highlights catalog. Visit our website to explore the many offerings, and to see an updated version of this catalog that will include lot numbers. A future auctions schedule and highlights from upcoming auctions are also included here. We are still holding live auctions here in Asheville, please come and see us in person and discover more!
Sincerely yours,
Andrew and Lauren Brunk
September 26, 2024 British & Continental
September 27 & 28, 2024 American & Southern
Asheville, North Carolina
auctions starts at 10:00 am EDT preview by appointment see our website for full catalog brunkauctions.com
A Historic Edenton Family Collection
Lot 1501 - Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union Between the Colonies...
A splendid group of Early American documents relevant to the founding of our young nation will be offered in our September auction. These include the landmark discovery of a printed archetype Constitution, used for ratification by the States, prominently pictured on the cover. Also present are: an important example of the Articles of Confederation, an inscribed copy of the Journal of the Convention of North Carolina, printed correspondence from Presidents Washington and Jefferson, scarce uncut Colonial currency, and other rarities. Originating from a single family, many of these were unearthed for the first time in generations, having been recovered from a dusty old cabinet in Edenton, North Carolina.
The auction includes the most impressive array of patriotic, Revolutionary War related, George Washington associated, and other objects and documents relating to the Founding Fathers that we have ever offered. Two 18th century chairs with histories of ownership by Washington are included; rare prints, maps and documents connected to American Independence, including Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and others; paintings and sculpture after Leutze and Houdon; Naval warfare and John Paul Jones related; cannons and other armaments; and other rarities are featured.
1122 - Very Fine and Rare
Lot 1133 - Extremely Rare 1774 Engraving, Liberty Triumphant or the Downfall of Oppression
- Rare
Lot 1177 - Oath of Allegiance Broadside, New Hampshire
Lot 1139 - Rare 18th Century Revolutionary War Era Almanac Album, Charles Town Burnt Down
Maps
Our September American & Southern auction offers important rarities including a landmark example of North Carolina cartography that seldom comes to auction– the Exceptionally Rare Price-Strother Survey of North Carolina Map, c. 1808. Other important maps include a dramatic depiction of the Siege of Boston, including the Battle of Bunker Hill, through the eyes of an American volunteer; a visually striking mid-18th century map by John Mitchell, …of the British and French Dominions in North America; and additional Southern, New England, and folding maps.
Southern
The auction includes important Charleston Renaissance fine art by Alfred Hutty, Alice Smith, Elizabeth Verner, and other notable artists; a highly important Kentucky silver horse racing trophy, and other Southern silver; early furniture including a North Carolina tavern table and a Wilmington lady’s desk; a rare Charleston Federal Pembroke table; Georgia and North Carolina documents and maps.
Maritime
Our nation is intrinsically linked to its seafaring past, and a historic Americana auction would be incomplete without a strong maritime offering. Images of tall ships, naval warfare, and whaling vessels by Thomas and James Buttersworth, Joseph Heard, Gordon Grant, and others are offered alongside images of sea captains; furniture and decorative arts tied to our nautical past include a collection of handheld sundials and compasses.
Decorative Arts
Sourced from several private collections, including the Godfrey collection and an important private New England collection, a large group of fine quality decorative arts will be included in the auction. Featuring an extensive collection of rare English, Dutch, and German ceramics, the auction includes 17th and 18th century examples across categories, with rare English slip decorated earthenwares, Dutch and English Delft rarities, and early Westerwald and Bellarmine examples. Rare brass boxes and candlesticks, finely
horn cups, early iron, and other objects will be featured.
Godfrey Collection
An exceptional group of furniture from the storied Godfrey collection will be offered in the auction. Important 18th century examples from Philadelphia, Boston, and Connecticut will be included. Among the many highlights are four 18th century easy chairs, including an example by the Garvan carver of Philadelphia, one of only three known. An impressive dressing table with carving by Martin Jugiez will also be included, as well as a number of exceptional side chairs and high chests, including an important Boston example with ball and claw feet. A Philadelphia piecrust tea table rounds out this very impressive group.
Folk Art
A wide range of fine art and objects include weathervanes, hooked rugs and other textiles, trade signs and figures, painted furniture, figureheads and other carvings, rare decorated stoneware, stone figures and markers, sailor made objects, and other forms.
American Fine Art
American Painting rarities range from an important landscape by Albert Blakelock to two works by Andrew Wyeth–Wild Cherry and the doublesided Undercover. From the Collection of Barbara Novak come works by William Morris Hunt, Thomas Hiram Hotchkiss, and William Stanley Haseltine; Impressionist works from other collectors include a Theodore Butler, an Ernest Lawson, and a panoramic New Hampshire triptych by William Kaula. Western art includes an important watercolor by George De Forest Brush, modernist landscapes by Howard Cook, and studies by Frederic Remington. Other names to look for include Gifford, Potthast, Eilshemius, A. Parton, S.L. Waldo, John Henry Hill, and Julian Onderdonk, among many others.
Native American and Ethnographic
A stunning Blackfoot War Shirt headlines the September Native American selections. Also seen here are a Nuu-ChahNulth whaling hat, painted raven whistle, Haida box, and Kiowa moccasins. Also included are pictorial weavings, a Santo Domingo painted shield, and much more. Of ethnographic interest is a Dan Mask, collected by Dr. George Harley in the first half of the 20th century.
British & Continental Auction | September 26, 2024
Fine works of art headline the Fall season starting in September and featuring Allan Ramsay, George Lambert, historical mezzotints, Rubens Santoro, a rare portrait bust by Joseph Charles de Blezer, Art Nouveau period decorative arts; a group of fine tortoiseshell and ivory inlaid tea caddies; British needleworks; a Dimitri Omersa leather turtle form footstool; Baccarat and Lalique glassware; a monumental Victorian English silver presentation vase; and more.
The Tatti Family Collection October 9, 2024
The Tatti Family has been at the center of the art world for three generations, casting, conserving, creating, and collecting. Over 150 lots include works by Isamu Noguchi, Harry Bertoia, Joseph Stella, Anton Basky, Frederick MacMonnies, Richard Hayley Lever, and many others.
Whitley Collection, Featuring Chinese Export, Furniture, and Fine Art | October 16, 2024
Over 400 pieces of Chinese Export porcelain featuring 50 armorials, a rare export figure of a Jewish Lady with Christie’s provenance, blue and white examples including Ming & Qing dynasties, plus period furniture from North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New England, over 40 tea caddies, fine art, and Tiffany silver.
Modern Art, Design + Craft
October 10, 2024
Fitting collections for incoming trends including hand-made craft and design including furniture, glass, decorative arts, and fine art for the Organic Modern to Postmodern environment. Includes works of art by Juane Quick-To-See Smith, Frederick Hammersley, Alice Baber, Alexander Calder, glass artists Rick Beck, Jon Kuhn, P. Singletary, Dan Dailey, Dale Chihuly, Tim Tate, Penland School associates, photography, modern jewelry, rare Harry Partch Percussion Instruments, and a large collection of fine and rare art and photography books.
Asian Art | October 17, 2024
Chinese art from two collections acquired in China in the early 1900s and private collections including Qing dynasty enamel porcelains, bronze and porcelain water droppers, a fine selection of snuff bottles, along with a group of jade figures, bronze Buddhas, furniture, and jewelry.
from a
November 2024 Auctions
Wine & Spirits | November 12
British & Continental | November 13
American & Southern | November 14
Jewelry & Luxury Goods | November 20
Emporium | November 21
Group of items belonging to the John A. Burrison Folklife Collection from the exhibit Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South on view at a Georgia Institution from 1996 to 2024 including a large collection of Southern stoneware, textiles, basketry, instruments, handmade tools, and various other folk art works will be offered in the November 14, 2024 auction
