American Furniture & Decorative Arts

American Furniture & Decorative Arts online 3500T | November 13–23, 2020 | www.skinnerinc.com

American Furniture & Decorative Arts online This November’s auction is a celebration of American creativity, ingenuity, thoughtfulness, and artistic expression—Lady Liberty herself reaches out for your participation! Property from family collections, from estates accumulated across multiple generations, and from varied private collectors, make up the core of the auction.

A collection from the 18th century Nathaniel Holcomb House in Granby, Connecticut, was put together with a keen eye for the kinds of objects that would have been used in the house by early owners.

The Shaker Collection of Brenda and Charles R. “Chuck” Muller of Canal Winchester, Ohio, is peppered with interesting Shaker furniture and ephemera. Mr. Muller was an author, scholar, and pastor who, besides collecting 19th century Shaker crafts, also availed himself of Shaker-style decorative arts made by the incredibly talented people with whom he closely worked.

Property from an old family with history in Rhode Island and South Carolina includes a rare William Claggett burl veneer tall case clock, and a portrait from 18th century Charleston, South Carolina, painter Jeremiah Theus.

As usual, within the 500 or so lots available for bidding at skinnerinc.com, there are opportunities to own a wide variety of American antiques: boldly designed examples of 18th and 19th century American Folk Art, colorfully decorated pottery made for the American market, American and English silver, and well-crafted furniture made by colonial and early 19th century cabinetmakers from New England, New York, and Pennsylvania.

November 13–23, 2020 please contact the department for condition reports & preview information, visit our website to register & bid Stephen Fletcher

front cover:

Chris Barber

American School, Late 19th/Early 20th Century, Portrait of a Barn Complex

Christopher Fox americana@skinnerinc.com 508.970.3200

MA LIC. 2304

this page: Gilt and Molded Sheet Copper Goddess of Liberty Weathervane, attributed to William G. Henis, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, c. 1860 back cover: Red Cross “Honor Roll” Fund-raising Quilt, McCool Junction, Nebraska, c.

1917

William Claggett William Claggett was Newport, Rhode Island’s, earliest clockmaker. His career, which coincided with Newport’s emergence as a Colonial center of trade, produced sixtyeight known examples. This rare and extraordinary tall case clock, with its complex engraved dial and movement housed in an elaborate walnut veneered case, was made to order for a wealthy client. In addition to standard features often seen on dials of the period, this has a moon face showing its phases, the lunar months, and local high tides in Newport Harbor.

Andrew Clemens Patriotic Presentation Sand Art Bottle, McGregor, Iowa, c. 1885-90

Andrew Clemens From a young age, Andrew Clemens was enamored of Iowa’s famed “Pictured Rocks” and the dozens of colors of sand found there. Other “sand artists” do exist, who arrange multicolored sand in bottles and jars to make images and patterns, but from his first bottles as a teenager in the early 1870s, it was clear that Andrew’s work would surpass all others.

By the mid-1870s, Clemens was getting attention in local papers, and starting to hone his process, business, and style. He was selling personalized bottles on commission to locals, and others to passing tourists. In 1877, when the school he attended in Council Bluffs suffered a fire, he returned to McGregor to begin making sand art full time.

Rare Walnut Burl Veneer and Inlaid Tall Case Clock, William Claggett, Newport, Rhode Island, c. 1735

Over the next decade and a half, it is likely that Clemens made thousands of bottles, which he could make in a few hours or a few days, depending on their complexity. A surviving price list from 1892 shows that he was selling his bottles for 50 cents to $4.50. His tools were simple—thin sticks of hickory in various sizes, one fashioned with a small scoop that held about a quarter-teaspoon of sand, and others with fine points that were used to manipulate individual grains of sand into place. Once the designs were done and the bottles were filled, he would hammer a cork into the mouth of the bottle to hold the sand tight.

The bottle offered here, which has descended in the family of the original owner, was made for Dr. Prosper Harvey Ellsworth, probably in the late 1880s, and commissioned from Andrew by “two friends” of Dr. Ellsworth.

Jeremiah Theus (South Carolina, 17161774), Portrait of Ann Ball Waring of Charleston, South Carolina Silver Teapot and Covered Sugar, Baldwin Gardiner, New York, mid-19th century George II Sterling Silver Salver, John Tuite, London, 1737 Fine Federal Mahogany and Mahogany Veneer Worktable, attributed to Thomas Seymour, Boston, c. 1812-15 Two of a Set of Six Chippendale Mahogany Carved Side Chairs, Massachusetts, c. 1760-80 Mahogany Tray-top Tea Table with Drawer, Bermuda, c. 1730-50

Paul Revere Jr. Silver Tablespoon, Boston, Massachusetts, c. 1789 Neoclassical Sterling Silver Teapot, George Smith and Thomas Hayter, London, 1801 Chippendale Carved Mahogany Blockfront Chest of Drawers, probably Boston, Massachusetts, c. 1760-80

Fine Chippendale Carved Tiger Maple Slant-lid Desk, Chester County, Pennsylvania, late 18th century Pair of Blown and Molded Amethyst Glass Vases, Boston & Sandwich Glass Company, Sandwich, Massachusetts, c. 1840-60 Polychrome Decorated Papier-mâchÊ Oval Tray Depicting the Greyhound Eos, mid-19th century

Yellow-painted Optometrist’s Trade Sign, early 20th century Attributed to William Matthew Prior (Massachusetts/Maine, 1806-1873), Portrait of a Woman in Blue Dress 18th Century Needlework Pocketbooks, dated From a Selection of Carved and Painted Birds, signed “L. Sprague,” mid-20th century Wallpaper-covered Box, 19th century

Full descriptions and images online at www.skinnerinc.com/ auctions/3500T

Not much is known about the life of the anonymous artist who produced the painting at right, as well as two other works in this sale.

It appears that he worked in the Lake Champlain area of Vermont, New York, and Quebec, around the turn of the 20th century—at least one extant painting attributed to him is dated 1914. His works often feature farmhouses, barns, and stables, with impressive detail—door hardware, architectural ornament, and landscaping. Robert Bishop, author of 1979’s Folk Painters of America, held the artist in such high esteem that he illustrated an example of his work on the dust jacket of that pioneering book. In the years since, several paintings have surfaced and found their ways into prominent private and public collections.

As with some of the most appealing early American folk art, these works exhibit an overwhelmingly modern aesthetic—the naivete belies the painter’s skilled attention to color and composition.

Selections from a Collection of 19th Century Spatterware

Paint-decorated Pine Box, New England, mid-19th century

American School, Late 19th/Early 20th Century, Portrait of a Victorian Farmhouse and Barns

Large Paint-decorated Chalkware Cat, 19th century

Tin Lantern with Punched Decoration, probably Ipswich, Massachusetts, attributed to Arthur Wesley Dow, c. 1925, with detail

Property from the Nathaniel Holcomb House, Granby, Connecticut

Early Wooden Lanterns and Hourglass, early 19th century Rare Clockwork Roasting Jack, early 19th century Wrought Iron Broilers, early 19th century Red-washed Pine Ball-foot Chest of Four Drawers, probably New England, early 18th century.

Turned Heart-and-crown Great Chair, possibly Milford, Connecticut, mid-18th century

Blown Cottontwist Stem Wineglasses and Tin Push-up “Hogscraper” Candlesticks, 19th century Painted Sheet Iron Builder’s Trade Sign, America, 19th century Pair of Engraved Wrought Iron Hinges, possibly Pennsylvania, early 19th century

Eric Sloane (American, 1905/101985), Vermont Spring, oil on panel, 25 1/4 x 37 1/2 in.

Joseph Tomanek (American, 1889-1974), Dunes along Lake Michigan, oil on board, 21 3/4 x 34 3/4 in.

Chippendale Mahogany Reverse Serpentine Slant-lid Desk, Massachusetts, c. 1760-80

Large Carved and Painted Figure of an Osprey, Frank Finney (Virginia, b. 1947)

Miniature Needlework Sampler, dated “1797”

Set of Cobalt-ringed Blown Glass Jars, 19th century

Calligraphic Exercise “Answers,” early 19th century

The Shaker Collection of Brenda and Charles R. Muller, Canal Winchester, Ohio

Collection of Embossed and Labeled Shaker Bottles, 19th and 20th century

Shaker Slide-lid Spice Box, probably Enfield, Connecticut, 19th century

Small Shaker Red-painted Drop-leaf Table, Enfield, Connecticut, c. 1840 Miniature Shaker Building Models, 20th century Shaker Red-painted Sewing Table, probably Enfield, New Hampshire, c. 1845 Shaker Red-painted Case of Twenty-three Drawers, attributed to the workshop of George Wilson (d. 1910), Enfield, Connecticut, c. 1835 Shaker Tilter Chair, Enfield, New Hampshire, c. 1840

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