Charleston Table Sells for Record $266,500 at Skinner
Bolton, MA – It was a Charleston mahogany and kingwood inlaid breakfast table that took high honors at Skinner’s June 6 auction of American furniture and decorative arts. Consigned at an appraisal day, the 1790 Pembroke table originated in the family and house of Miles Brewton (1731-1775) of Charleston, South Carolina, and was a tour-de-force of inlays which embellished the top, leaves, drawers and legs. Bidding opened above the low estimate at $21,000, and drew competition from the desk, telephones and floor alike before ultimately selling to a telephone bidder for a record-breaking $266,500.
Americana at Skinner continues to thrive, as this sale easily surpassed the record breaking auction in February, and grossed an impressive $2,039,980. Additional highlights in the June 6 sale included three pairs of Chippendale mahogany carved side chairs that garnered $80,000, $51,750, and $47,150, with proceeds to benefit the Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina. Proceeds were also dedicated to the museum from the sale of a New York Neoclassical mahogany three-part pedestal dining table that sold for an impressive $68,500, and from the same collection was a large English girandole mirror with Prince of Wales feathers and twisted double candlearms which sold for $26,450. Another mirror, a Neoclassical giltwood pier glass, sold for $21,850. Perhaps one of the most dramatic moments occurred late in the auction, when a Boston area Queen Anne mahogany card table commanded $92,700 after fierce competition between several telephone bidders and the floor.
Additional highlights included a nineteenth century Anglo/American School painting of Hilo Bay, Hawaii. Two bidders from the floor persistently competed far beyond the $2,000/4,000 estimate, stopping only when one conceded to the other at $68,500. Leading the selection of folk art was a rare painted and carved white pine small storage box with distinctive carving and original polychrome paint that more than doubled expectations selling for $26,450. A colorful collection of mochaware pitchers and mugs in a variety of patterns and colors fared extremely well. The great majority sold far above expectations, including a pitcher with cat’s eye pattern and impressed leaf decoration that fetched $3,795, a large mug with earthworm pattern in vertical configuration that realized $2,760, and a pepper pot with cat’s eye pattern that reached $1,093. An old Cape Cod collection of miniature carved and painted birds by Elmer Crowell of Harwichport, Massachusetts included a miniature red breasted merganser drake that sold for $978 and a miniature common pintail drake that went for $920.
The auction also featured various early American clocks and timepieces. Highlights included a Federal mahogany cross-banded inlaid banjo timepiece by Simon Willard in Roxbury that opened above the low end of the estimate at $7,000 and sold far above expectations at $17,250. A Federal mahogany inlaid tall case clock by William Cummens of Roxbury realized $10,235, a cherry tall case clock by Aaron Willard of Boston $8,050, and a rare Gothic double steeple mantle clock with an 8-day "wagon spring" driven movement by Birge and Fuller $3,105. Two Federal pillar and scroll clocks sold for $2,185 and $4,255 respectively.
Skinner’s next auction of American furniture and decorative arts will be held in Bolton on Sunday, August 15. For further information, telephone the Americana department at 978/779-6241, or fax 978/779-5144.