BOLTON, Mass. – July 14, 2005 – www.skinnerinc.com – Skinner, one of the nation’s leading auction houses, will host its annual August Auction in Bolton on August 14 th at 10 a.m. This sale of more than 600 lots of country Americana will include an abundance of painted country furniture and a Connecticut collection acquired over a period of several decades, as well as selected marine material, quilts, trade signs, pottery, and more. Over all, selections are well suited to the country collector, but there are also offerings that will appeal to those with more formal tastes. It promises to be an event well worth attending on a summer Sunday afternoon.

Furniture

Highlighting painted furniture is a (possibly) Rhode Island early 19 th century diminutive paint-decorated pine chest over drawer, with old blue-gray surface and a white sheaf of wheat painted design (lot 128, $8/12,000). The chest was a gift in 1948 from Helen Metcalf Danforth to Max William Sullivan. Each served as president of the Rhode Island School of Design. Their respective tenures in that office overlapped around the time of the gift, which was made upon Ms. Danforth’s retirement. RISD was accredited for the first time under Mr. Sullivan’s presidency. The chest, in very good condition, has been actively used for blanket storage, but shows few signs of repair, with the exception of replaced leather drawer handles.

A wonderful array of 18 th century painted chairs will be presented, including an early bannister-back side chair with a heart-shaped piercing in the crest (lot 31, $8/1,200). This chair, along with a number of other offerings in the sale, was originally located in a Little Compton, Rhode Island house occupied by John Alden when he moved from Plymouth , Mass. in 1680; from the same house is a Rhode Island paint-decorated chest over drawer (lot 139, $1,5/2,500). Country furniture highlights also include a northern New England fancy painted games table from 1815-1825, descended through the family (lot 46, $1,5/2,500); a tiger maple and maple Chippendale tall chest of drawers (lot 77, $4/6,000); a New England Queen Anne cherry and maple tea table (lot 268, $1,5/2,500), that was part of the Fuessenich Collection amassed in the early 20 th century; and two New England grain-painted six-board chests (lots 132 and 126, $8/1,200 each).

For those with more formal inclinations, the auction offers a Federal mahogany and mahogany veneer sideboard with Massachusetts characteristics (lot 168, $6/8,000). The sale also offers Southern furniture, including a rare Federal inlaid tiger maple sugar box, with a single scratch-beaded drawer and original brasses (lot 167, $4/6,000); and from Kentucky is a Federal cherry tall chest (lot 166, $1,6/1,800).

Quilts, Trade Signs, and Weather Vanes

The sale offers a particularly interesting group of quilts, deaccessioned from a museum collection. Examples include an appliquéd cotton Patterson/Regester family Quaker album quilt, made by a member of the Patterson/Regester family of Delaware/Chester County, Pennsylvania, c. 1850 (lot 49, $15/25,000); a Pennsylvania German or New Jersey pieced and appliquéd cotton Mariner's Compass quilt, c. 1845 (lot 50, $8/12,000); and a Pennsylvania pieced and embroidered wool and cotton "Orange Peel" quilt, c. 1880 (lot 51, $8/12,000). This last quilt was published in American Quilt Collections, Antique Quilt Masterpieces, by Shelly Zegert, Nihon Vogue, Tokyo , 1997.

A large and decorative collection of trade signs will draw attention as well, with offerings spanning the 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Buyers will be tempted by the great variety, which features a 19 th century molded zinc steer head sign (lot 238, $1,5/2,500), a late 19 th century painted sheet metal Union shield electric sign (lot 221, $4/6,000), and an early 20 th century reverse-painted glass “FLAGG’S Cough Killer” sign (lot 231, $4/600), among others.

The auction also provides an intriguing selection of weather vanes, including a late 19 th century molded sheet iron running horse (lot 393, $1,5/2,500). Accompanying this weather vane is a handwritten copy of a newspaper article from the New York Herald Tribune dated Jan. 6, 1932 , relating an incident when the weather vane was stolen by Yale students during a “riotous outbreak” at fraternity initiations. The weather vane had belonged to Frederick S. Hine, and was stolen from his stable. It was later returned to him, as seen in a subsequent photo clipped from a Yale newspaper, stating Mr. Hines’ “faith in youth has been restored.”

Portraiture

Portraiture includes two paintings of Phoebe Frances Ricker (1846-1859) descended in the family of the consignor. The first is a mid-19 th century American School/New England portrait of the girl as a very young child (lot 89, $6/8,000). The second, attributed to Samuel Miller (Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1807-1853), depicts the girl in her youth, seated on a classical stool in front of a landscape scene (lot 90, $5/7,000). Phoebe's father was J. C. Ricker (1819-1888), a founder of the Amoskeag Fire Department No. 1 on July 6, 1859 , in Manchester , New Hampshire . He was married to Phoebe Susan Parson (1819-1909) in 1842, and they built a house and barn at 66 Prospect St. , Manchester , New Hampshire , in 1862. Phoebe Ricker, an only child, died at the age of thirteen years and ten months; her headstone still stands in Valley Cemetery , Manchester , New Hampshire .

Additional Highlights

Pottery and stoneware will offer buyers some choice selections. A nice little rarity is lot 197, a group of four cobalt decorated conjoined stoneware jugs, by Absalom Stedman and Frederick Seymour of New Haven, Connecticut, c. 1825 ($1,5/2,500). Also of great interest is an extensive offering of redware, led by a slip-decorated “Norwalk Pottery” redware plate, attributed to the Smith Pottery, Norwalk, Connecticut, 1854, a circular plate in fine shape, with a coggled rim, and a yellow slip trail inscription reading “Norwalk feb’y the 13 1854” (lot 354, $4/6,000). The plate was illustrated on the cover and on p. 18 in Norwalk Potteries, by Andrew L. and Kate Barber Winton, Phoenix Publishing, Canaan , New Hampshire , 1981.

A diverse selection of marine material is also certain to draw an audience, with half-hull models, as well as a good group of seascapes and ship portraiture from a private collection. Highlights include Pilot Boat, an engaging work by Lemuel D. Eldred (Massachusetts, 1848-1921) (lot 114, $8/1,200), and a lot of two paintings by Clement Drew (Massachusetts, 1806-1889): Pilot Boat at Boston Light and Steam Ship’n’ (N.Y.C.(?)), both signed and dated “by C. Drew 1877” on the reverse (lot 112, $1,5/2,500).

Rounding out the sale is a very good collection of cast iron architectural supports, in a variety of colors including red, black, green, yellow, and silver. Forms include five-, six-, and eight-point stars, diamonds, cart wheels, and foliate examples, among others. Highlights from a Connecticut collection include a carved and painted pine spoon rack with nice old surface, which will be offered with thirteen pewter spoons (lot 14, $6/800), and a nice cherry pipebox.

Catalogue and Preview Information

Previews for the auction will be 12 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 10 through Saturday, August 13; and 8 to 9:30 a.m. Sunday, August 14. Illustrated catalog #2282 is available by mail for $32 ($39 for foreign requests) from the subscription department at 978-779-6241 x240. It is also available at the gallery for $29. Prices realized will be available at www.skinnerinc.com during and after the sale. For more information, call 978-779-6241, or visit www.skinnerinc.com.

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