| Press Contact: | Catherine Riedell | Stephen Fletcher, Director |
| Director of Marketing | American Furniture & Decorative Arts | |
| Skinner, Inc | Skinner, Inc | |
|
978-779-6341, x231 |
978-779-6241 x228 |
SKINNER TO HOST SHAKER PANEL DISCUSSION OCTOBER 30TH
To be held in conjunction with Skinner's auction of Shaker Material October 31st
BOSTON, Mass. - October 8, 2003 – www.skinnerinc.com - Skinner will hold its annual fall auction of American Furniture & Decorative Arts on Saturday, November 1st, 2003, and this year, will also host a very special Shaker Auction on Friday evening, October 31st at 7:00 p.m. Both auctions will be held in the newly renovated Boston gallery, located at 63 Park Plaza, and both feature fine examples of early American art and antiques. On Thursday, October 30th, in anticipation of the Shaker sale, Skinner will host a collectors' panel: "Collecting Shaker: Perspectives and Preferences" to be moderated by Gerard Wertkin, distinguished Shaker scholar, author of The Four Seasons of Shaker Life: An Intimate Portrait of the Community at Sabbathday Lake, and Director of the American Folk Art Museum.
Renowned Shaker experts on the panel will include Richard Klank, professor of painting and art theory at the University of Maryland for more than 40 years, and well known for guiding and representing Bill and Camille Cosby in their early years of collecting Shaker objects. Much of his lifetime personal collection is being previewed and auctioned the next day. Also on the panel is Fran Kramer, a collector and journalist who has published several articles on auctions featuring Shaker material, and author of Simply Shaker / Groveland and the New York Communities; and Dr. Tom Pavlovic of Illinois, a significant and discerning collector of many years, widely recognized for his knowledge of Shaker artifacts.
Seating is limited and by reservation only for this event, which will begin at 7:00 p.m. All those interested in attending should R.S.V.P. to 617-350-5400 by October 22nd.
The Shaker Auction
Skinner has amassed 300 lots of Shaker artifacts, including more than 250 pieces from three major collections, for the auction on Friday evening. This is the most distinguished Shaker auction that Skinner has presented since 1996, with collections acquired in the 1960s and 1970s and desirable forms, surfaces, and provenances. Highlights of this auction include: classic, painted, and paneled cupboards and stands, a small red counter and a small red dry sink, sets of early chairs, a pair of meetinghouse trestle-based benches, poplarware, baskets, two revolving stools (one with a spider base), two red-painted sewing desks, painted boxes, and rare lighting devices, as well as a small selection of rare textiles.
Two of the three featured collections were acquired over a period of at least 40 years, both by professors; one is historically focused, and the other is artistically oriented and admires purity of design.
The first of these two collections is that of June and Gus Nelson, which is extremely well documented. Gus Nelson was mentored by three important pioneering Shaker collectors: Faith Andrews, William Lassiter, and Dr. Charles Upton. Nelson himself is a longtime educator and historian at Berkshire College in western Massachusetts, and for many years was director of the Shaker Seminars, highly regarded and known for disseminating Shaker scholarship.
The highlight of the Nelson collection is the chrome yellow pine and butternut cupboard and case of drawers, which originated in the Enfield, Connecticut community during the second quarter of the 19th century. Purchased from Hazel Hayes over 30 years ago, this rare piece with its tapered drawer sides was highlighted in the Whitney Museum of Art's 1986 Shaker exhibit Shaker Design, and its accompanying catalogue. Also from the collection is a multiple drawer chest with eight over six drawers, which came originally from the Upton collection and was published in an article in The Magazine Antiques in 1969.
The second collection is that of Skinner panel member Richard Klank. Approximately half of the Klank Collection has been published in books, including The Essential Book of Shaker by David Larkin and Shaker Style by John S. Bowman. The signed "John Winkley Canterbury" Shaker wall clock in his collection has been published in New Hampshire Clocks and Clockmakers, by Charles S. Parsons, as well as in The Bulletin of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. Other highlights in the Klank Collection include a pair of blue paneled cupboards from the Mount Lebanon community, published in two books; the aforementioned pair of trestle-based pedestal meetinghouse benches; a set of five early Canterbury cane-seated side chairs; and a red-washed cobbler's lighting device similar to the one in Religion in Wood, published in the 1960s by the most influential Shaker collectors, Edward Deming Andrews and his wife Faith.
Preview and Catalogue Information
Auction previews will be held Tuesday, October 28th and Wednesday, October 29th,
12:00 to 5:00 p.m.; Thursday, October 30th, 12:00 to 7:00 p.m.; and Friday October
31st 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. To order the fully illustrated Shaker auction catalogue
#2240 by telephone, please call Skinner's Subscription Department at 978-779-6241
x240. For specific questions concerning objects in the Shaker sale, please call
Specialist Martha Hamilton at 978-779-6241 x290. For more information on the
auction and the special Shaker Collectors' Panel, visit Skinner's website at
www.skinnerinc.com. Skinner's site also allows users to view all lots in the
auction, leave bids, and order catalogues online. Prices realized will be available
at www.skinnerinc.com during and after
the sale.
Note to Editors: Photos available upon request. Contact Catherine Riedel at 978-779-6241 x 231.
About Skinner:With galleries in Boston and Bolton, Mass., Skinner is a full-service auctioneer and appraiser of antiques and fine art. Regularly seen on the PBS series, Antiques Roadshow, Skinner is one of the nation’s leading auction houses. Skinner conducts auctions year-round and has received world-record prices for many pieces sold at auction. Departments include American Furniture & Decorative Arts, Paintings & Prints, English & Continental Furniture & Decorations, Fine Ceramics, Jewelry, Couture, 20th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts, Fine Musical Instruments, Asian Art, Fine Judaica, Toys, Dolls & Collectibles, Science & Technology, Oriental Rugs & Carpets, American Indian & Ethnographica, and Discovery. For more information on upcoming auctions, visit Skinner’s web site www.skinnerinc.com.