Burroughs Estate Leads Skinner Americana Auction
Bolton, MA - Skinner’s fall auction of American furniture and decorative arts on October 28 and 29 yielded record-breaking results, grossing $3.8 million and leaving only 4.5% of the lots unsold. The Estate of Malcolm S. Burroughs provided much of the excitement on Saturday and early Sunday, grossing well over $2 million, and the property that followed continued the pace.
Burroughs was an avid collector of Currier & Ives prints, Liverpool Creamware, historical blue Staffordshire, marine paintings and related objects, and rare New England clocks. The sale opened on Saturday with approximately 100 lots of Currier & Ives prints, topped by "The Road-Winter" that sold for an impressive $52,900. Others included "American Forest Scene. Maple Sugaring" and "American Winter Scenes. Morning" that sold for $19,550 each, "Brook Trout Fishing/An Anxious Moment" that sold for $14,950, and "Wild Duck Shooting, A Good Day’s Sport" that sold for $13,800.
Highlights from the selection of Liverpool Creamware that followed included a jug with a polychrome enamel of a Boston Fusilier on one side and a transfer printed "United We Stand, Divided We Fall" on the other that fetched $17,250. Another jug, transfer printed with the ship "Massachusetts" on one side and a map of Newburyport Harbor with "Success to the Commerce of Newburyport" on the other realized $14,950. Burroughs’ Historic Blue Staffordshire also generated interest. A transfer decorated partial tea service comprising approximately thirty-three pieces ("Mount Vernon the Seat of the Late Gen l Washington") opened at $1,500, but soon reached $8,625. A plate with a portrait medallion of "President Washington" depicting "Columbia College," with an inset "View of the Aqueduct Bridge at Rochester," and a platter depicting "Battle of Bunker Hill," also sold for $8,625 each.
Burroughs collected rare New England clocks with the same acute eye and savoir-faire characteristic of his other endeavors. For more than half a century, he actively collected, acquiring approximately 50 extraordinary examples. The second session of the Skinner auction opened on Sunday with a selection of clocks from the Burroughs estate. A Federal mahogany inlaid eglomisé banjo timepiece by Elnathan Taber in fine condition, and with a lower tablet depicting a naval battle reading "Hornet and Peacock," sold for $65,200. Additional highlights included a Federal mahogany veneer tall case clock, by Elnathan Taber that sold for $48,875, a Federal mahogany inlaid tall case clock by Simon Willard that brought $37,375, and a Federal mahogany inlaid shelf clock by Aaron Willard that went for $32,200. A mahogany and mahogany veneer dwarf tall clock signed J. Wilder Hingham" sold for $28,750, a Federal mahogany inlaid shelf clock by Gardner Parker of Westborough, Massachusetts for $26,450, and a pine and eglomisé time and strike dwarf tall clock by Noah Ranlet of Gilmanton, New Hampshire for $18,400.
Marine art from the Burroughs collection also met with enthusiastic interest. Samuel Walters’ The American Clipper Ship "Lucy S. Wills" led the selection, selling high at $85,000. A second ship portrait by Walters, The American Packet Ship "Independence" of the Swallow Tail Line, sold well, bringing $79,500. Portrait of the Inbound Brig "Commerce" of London/Broadside and Stern Views off Dover by Miles Walters, father of the more famous Samuel Walters, sold for $11,500. It was the only known example of his work bearing his trade label. Other marine art Ship "Neptune’s Car" in Hong Kong Harbor that sold for $21,850. The American Barque "Scotland" Seen off Dover, signed and dated by I. Tudgay, sold for $34,500. Related materials included two 19th century Chinese School ship portraits: The Ship "Annie H. Smith"/1503 Tons/Port of Hong Kong/Capt. J.F. Bartlett that sold for $42,550, and The American Clipper included several ships’ logs. A journal logbook for the ship "Indian Chief," that embarked on a whale cruise July 1st 1844, more than doubled expectations, selling for $17,250.
Additional highlights from the Burroughs collection included a paint decorated leather fire bucket, probably from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that brought $54,625, and a carved and polychrome painted pine American eagle with banner attributed to John Hales Bellamy sold for $24,150. A broadside "Hon. W.F. Cody Buffalo Bill Chief of Scouts Guide for the U.S. Army…," a chromolithograph on paper made for an appearance on Saturday, November 27th at City Hall, Haverhill, Massachusetts, sold for $11,500. Furniture included a Boston Chippendale mahogany block front chest of drawers that sold for $85,000, and a Massachusetts Queen Anne maple carved high chest that fetched $31,050, and an assembled set of eight painted Queen Anne carved and turned chairs that brought $21,850.
Sunday afternoon then offered selected American furniture and decorative arts from various estates and collections. The lead item, a New Hampshire wavy birch paneled and carved desk and bookcase originally found in the New Hampton, New Hampshire area, brought $107,000. It was in a remarkable state of preservation, with original red stained finish, and the date 1816 noted on the backboard. A New Hampshire red washed carved birch tall chest sold for $48,875. Both of these pieces were made by the same New Hampshire cabinetmaker, who probably worked in the Gilmanton, or Sanbornton, New Hampshire area, and both had early 19th century dates on their backboards. Furniture also included a lavishly inlaid New Hampshire Federal glazed mahogany and flame birch veneer eglomisé desk and bookcase that also sold for $48,875; and a Philadelphia Chippendale mahogany chest of drawers descended in the family of Ebenezer Hazard, United States Postmaster General from 1782-89, that sold for $36,800.
The auction offered an enviable assemblage of antique objects from the collection of descendants of Charles D. Cook, some descended in the family through generations, some acquired over the years. Among other areas of interest, Cook had an uncommon eye for early New England pottery. Remarking on the redware, department director Stephen Fletcher noted, "The glazes were exceptional, and it’s so rare to find hollowware in this condition." The bidding reflected the extraordinary quality of the collection. A fine redware jar with matching cover, dated 1829 and descended in the family of Cook, realized an impressive $63,000. Other late 18th/early 19th century redware offerings included a pitcher (probably Massachusetts or New Hampshire) that sold for $46,000, and a jar and cover (Massachusetts or Rhode Island) that brought $25,300.
Additional highlights included a Chippendale mahogany inlaid tall case clock by Simon Willard that sold for $57,500, a late 18th century engraved powder horn that reached $34,500, and a dark olive green painted pine miniature Queen Anne mirror that fetched $20,700. An American Presidential black and white transfer decorated pottery pitcher, c. 1840, garnered $33,350, an embroidered woven wool coverlet (probably made in Franklin County, Massachusetts) realized $25,300, and a Pennsylvania red painted tin sugar bowl with cover and tray went for $13,800.
Skinner’s next auction of American furniture and decorative arts will be on February 24 and February 25. The Saturday auction will feature the folk art collection of Brenda and Ken Fritz, the folk art collection of Milton Simpson (author of Windmill Weights), and property from various estates and collections. The auction on Sunday will offer the folk art collection of Peter Brams. For more information, contact Stephen Fletcher or Martha Hamilton at 978.779.6241, or fax 978.779.5144.