Three Hessian soldier
whiligigs sold to Stephen Score for $150,000. Kahn
Collection.
By Laura Beach
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Lot 257, a carved and painted mechanical pull
toy, possesses the quirky charm and guileless simplicity that
characterizes almost everything owned by Harvey and Isobel Kahn,
legendary New Jersey collectors who offered the first part of
their 52-year assemblage at the Center of New Hampshire on
Saturday, August 3. But even Ron Bourgeault, a master at
mustering high prices, was not able to coax a bid on the pull
toy, which passed at $32,000. "So much for reserves," muttered
the auctioneer, moving onto the next lot.
High reserves hurt the Kahn sale. Only 20 or so pieces carried
hefty estimates - Northeast's sign to potential buyers that the
object is reserved -- but they were big lots. Perhaps it is
universally true that reserves discourage bidding. Perhaps, in
the current economy, buyers are bargain-minded. Either way,
The Kahns are charter members of the American Folk Art Museum and
founding members, along with some other luminaries, of the
American Folk Art Society. They have collected with taste,
insight and discipline. Their dedication, and the encouragement
they have offered to kindred spirits, has helped make them
"insiders." The Kahn provenance is familiar from most of the
major volumes on folk sculpture produced in the past 30 years.
Additionally, the well-designed Northeast Auction catalog read
like a Who's Who of the American folk art world, the legacy
stretching from Elie Nadelman, Joe Kindig and C.W. Lyon, to
Robert Bishop, Herbert W. Hemphill, Jr, James Kronen, Bernard
Barenholtz, Paul Weld and even Tim Hill and America Hurrah.
This acclaim should have worked in the Kahns' favor. Instead,
when lot 163, an 11-inch-tall stoneware crock that transcends
traditional craft in its brilliant decoration (it is illustrated
with a dove pulling a two-story house on wheels), came up at
$150/250,000, it was passed. "It's a masterpiece, no question.
But if it had sold for that price it would have been a record. I
could see it bringing $100,000, if it had been estimated at
$65/75,000," said a noted folk art dealer in the room.
Other failures included lot 205, a painted tin and iron
weathervane in the form of a four-wheel hand-drawn hose and reel
fire carriage, passed at $40,000; lot 216, a J. Reiley & Co.,
Lansingburgh, N.Y., three-gallon stoneware crock with cobalt
decoration of a man on a large bird, passed at $32,500; lot 222,
a carved and painted whirligig of a "Gandy Walker," 191/2 inches
tall, passed at its estimated $50/80,000; lot 232, a whirligig of
a man in a bowler hat, passed at $45,000; and lot 254, a graceful
carved and painted fragment of a horse weathervane, bought in at
$38,000.
Several icons from the Kahn collection defied the bear market.
The assemblage's signature piece, lot 199, a 561/2-inch carving
of an Indian maiden, was knocked down to Massachusetts dealer
David Wheatcroft, underbid by Stephen Score, for $260,000
($200/300,000.) "It's going to a great, great private collector,"
said Wheatcroft, who loves the sculpture's "simplicity of form.
The piece is mysterious and beautiful." Probably a shop figure,
the carving is related to two Indian Trapper figures from the
Hemphill Collection (now at the National Museum of American Art).
David Wheatcroft won the star lot, a carved Indian maiden, for
$260,000. Kahn collection.
Score, a Boston dealer, appeared to be the only bidder in the
room on another prize, three Hessian soldier whirligigs that
stand more than two feet tall. Illustrated in everything from
Folk Sculpture USA to A Gallery of American
Whirligigs and Weathervanes, the familiar sculptures went to
Score for $150,000 ($150/250,000).
A New England two-sided painted and decorated oval trade sign
inscribed T. Fuller and dated 1824 and 1828 on alternate sides
sold to Tony Picadia, a dealer and collector from Pittsburgh, for
$37,500 ($35/50,000). "A good buy? It was a steal," said the
delighted purchaser.
Striking from a distance, a carved and painted mechanical seeder
ornamented with a black man in a yellow, black and white
checkered costume sold in the room for $30,000 ($30/40,000). The
large piece stands 35 inches tall.
Another visually arresting item was a fireboard with pretty,
cream-colored floral decoration against a black ground. Acquired
from the late Southbury, Conn., dealers Priscilla and Howard
Richmond, it fetched $40,400.
Another surprise was a carved and painted swan decoy whose soul
seemed to be in its worn paint and cracked surface. The
22-inch-long sculpture, which came from the James Kronen Gallery,
elicited a bid of $23,000 from a phone caller.
There were lots of buys in the $5,000 to $15,000 range, the sum
total of which added nicely to the bottom line. Examples include
a large and fanciful primitive painting of Horseshoe Lake with
sailboats, $10,000; a high back writing arm Windsor chair in
green and mustard paint, $10,000; and an anonymous portrait of a
young man in a cutaway coat, seated in a rod back Windsor,
$13,500.
The Kahns have lived with and loved their collection. If it was
an ordeal watching it sell, no one would have known it. The
couple, accompanied by their daughter and granddaughter, kept
their grace and good humor. Asked afterwards what he thought
about reserves, Harvey replied with a smile, "I don't think much
of them." He added, "I'm glad we didn't sell everything this
year." The Kahns are planning to take home the treasures that did
not sell. "We still love these pieces and we don't need the
money. We're happy to have them back."
Cherry Hepplewhite shield back chair attributed to Aaron Chapin
and purchased by dealer Marguerite Riordan for $60,000 plus
premium. Paul collection.
Total sales including buyer's premium reached $1.26 million.
Total for both days of sales was $7.4 million, a record for
Northeast Auctions.
Connecticut Treasures Garner $1.6 Million with the Collection
of Geoffrey Paul
Geoffrey Paul did it right. He bought with intelligence and
passion, sought advice from experts, and he specialized. For his
historic home in Essex, Conn., the Captain Henry Lay Champlin
house, he acquired richly meaningful art and objects. Ideally,
they were pieces associated with the Champlin family and its
community.
Buyers expressed their approval on Sunday, August 4, when
Northeast Auction sold the contents of the house for $1.6 million
with premium. Though Connecticut-based, the collection turned out
to have surprisingly broad appeal. Paul wisely kept reserves low,
not an easy task given that his was a young collection, assembled
mostly during the 1990s. The sale reached high estimate overall
and Paul recouped his investment. "I set the estimates, Geoff
reviewed them, then we hashed them over," said Bourgeault. "Geoff
gave me a lot of things that were reserved much lower than the
low estimate.
"Geoff was a very easy consignor," added the auctioneer. "The one
thing that he wanted was a great catalog. He was willing to pay
to have it done right. He brought customers from Nantucket for
the onsite preview and put them up in the Griswold Inn in Essex,
where we celebrated his birthday."
An investment professional based in California, Paul sold his
collection to make room for his brother and his family, who will
be moving into the Champlin house. The Paul brothers own and
manage the Griswold Inn. Geoff plans to keep and build on the
inn's collection of Connecticut art and artifacts.
"I'm happy with the results and pleased that a few of the objects
are going to individuals and institutions that I like and
admire," Paul said after the sale. He characterized prices for
the major casepiece furniture as "a little soft," but laughingly
noted that "chairs seem to be in vogue."
McCurdy family Chippendale chest-on-chest made by Richard
Fosdick went to the phones for $80,000. Paul collection.
He was referring most notably to a carved cherry wood side chair
attributed to Aaron Chapin. The Hartford, Conn., craftsman
embellished the formal Hepplewhite design of the shield back
chair with his own, fanciful motif -- a pierced heart in the
chair's splat. Bidding was vigorous on the piece, which sold to
Stonington, Conn., dealer Marguerite Riordan for $60,000 plus
premium.
Two lots later, Riordan acquired a Chapin armchair, also
Hepplewhite in style with a pierced splat, for $29,000 plus
premium. Underbidders included Kevin Tulimieri of Nathan Liverant
& Son, Colchester, Conn., dealers who worked closely with
Paul in building the collection.
Nathan Liverant & Son had better luck when it came to a
spectacular set of six bird's-eye and tiger maple chairs -- five
sides and one arm - with scrolled splats and stretchers, and
diamond-carved crests. The group, which Paul acquired because
rushed-seat chairs of this sort were described in Champlin's
inventory, left the room at $20,000.
Two rare Chippendale chest-on-chests fashioned by New London,
Conn., cabinetmaker Richard Fosdick in the 1790s sold within
estimate. The first, the Denison Family chest-on-chest, brought
$70,000 from a phone bidder. The second, a block front example
made for the McCurdy family of Old Lyme, left the room at
$80,000, also selling to a phone bidder. The McCurdys were
related to the Champlins by marriage.
Preauction talk centered on an important sideboard, a signed
example by B.C. Gillett of Hartford, dated 1805, that is related
to a card table and an easy chair in the collection of the
Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. The sideboard was knocked down to
the phone for $50,000.
Other case furniture included a New Hampshire bow front chest of
drawers with contrasting veneers, sold to Massachusetts dealer
Clark Peirce for $42,000; a cherry wood oxbow chest of drawers
signed by Amos Bradley of East Haven, dated 1788, sold to a phone
bidder for $50,000; and a drop panel chest that is thought to be
a Saco, Maine, example, $30,000. A Connecticut River blanket
chest purchased by Paul a year ago for $6,000 at Northeast
Auctions resold for $23,800.
One of the auctioneer's favorite items was an assembled pair of
inlaid cherry wood Pembroke tables of circa 1800. Acquired from
Nathan Liverant & Son, they sold in the room for $66,000,
more than double high estimate.
Built in 1818, the Champlin house originally contained a few
stylish Classical pieces. The auction opened with a strikingly
architectural Philadelphia secretaire a abattant made entirely of
figured maple, $67,500. Two phones battled for a pair of
Phyfe-style curule chairs, $30,000. Three more Phyfe-type chairs
with outset serpentine legs and brass paw feet went for $12,000,
also to the phone.
Again guided by the 1859 inventory, Paul purchased a John
Kearsing & Son, New York, circa 1810, piano forte, similar to
one that once stood in the house's front room. It elicited a bid
of $43,000. A French alabaster clock, like the one that the
Champlins purchased on one of their many trips to Paris, reached
$6,500. A cherry wood tall-case clock by Dudley Emerson of Lyme,
circa 1790, brought $35,000, selling to the phone.
Portraiture
Portraiture was another robust category. Isaac Sheffield's
compelling likenesses of the West family of Essex included the
boy Frances Hodges West, sold to the phone for $67,500; and
Captain and Mrs West, knocked down to Marguerite Riordan for
$50,000. Daughter Eliza West was bought-in at $37,500. A set of
four hauntingly realistic pastel portraits of the Noyes family of
Lyme went to the phone for $25,000.
The phone also won a silk and watercolor-on-silk embroidery
depicting Liberty for $42,500. Paul collection.
With the help of specialist Elle Shushan, Paul assembled a group
of portrait miniatures on ivory by the noted Connecticut
miniaturist Anson Dickinson. Portraits of Mrs and Mrs Reuben
Webster of Litchfield, Conn., fetched $8,500; Stephen Ustick
brought $3,500; Grandmother Mosier of Baltimore, $1,300; and
Captain Jonathan Hall, $3,200, the later selling to Shushan.
Needlework
Paul was a fan of Connecticut needlework, some of which he
acquired from specialists Stephen and Carol Huber of Old
Saybrook, Conn. A silk and watercolor-on-silk embroidery
depicting Liberty, worked by Susan J. Winsor at the Misses
Pattens' School in Hartford, circa 1805, sold to a phone bidder
for $42,500. The same buyer acquired Louisa Bellows' allegorical
depiction of Charity, also worked at the Misses Pattens' School,
for $40,000.
To Nathan Liverant & Son went a pair of schoolgirl
watercolors depicting Hope and Charity, $3,250. Marguerite
Riordan claimed a set of mezzotints depicting the four
continents, $13,000, along with a pair of watercolor on paper
miniature portraits of Captain and Mrs Huntington, circa 1790,
for $22,000. The charming works are attributed to Mary Way.
"I have derived immense pleasure in amassing the collection and,
as my nephew says, getting to know lots of 'dead people.' I hope
the stories of these items and the people who made and used them
delight their new owners as much as they have delighted me,"
wrote Paul.
We are certain that they will.
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