Review and Onsite Photos by W.A. Demers;
Additional Photos Courtesy of Stanton Auctions

HAMPDEN, MASS. — It was a bittersweet moment when auctioneer Peter Imler stepped up to the podium at 10 am on August 22 at Stanton Auctions. He will tell you that after 35 years, first with his father, Joseph “Bud” Stanton Imler, who co-founded the firm, and then over the next three and half decades, with many family members supporting the firm’s operations, he has seen some great items and collections find new homes. On this day, Stanton’s sale was largely centered around the collection of Stuart Magdefrau, the late Ellington, Conn., antiques dealer and collector who passed away this past April. The unreserved items on offer at Stanton’s from his private collection represented a first wave as Stuart’s family begins to “recycle” his antiques.

In a heartwarming family moment at the podium, Peter Imler is flanked by daughters Roxanne Rueling, left, and Sue Wood.

Said Imler from the podium, “We used to see collections like this 30 years ago, but we see those less and less today.” A lot of other changes have ensued. The auctioneer recalled that the total of Stanton’s first auction was “something like $2,800. We thought, gee, this is great.”

In honor of the firm’s anniversary, all those who presented their bidding number got to eat for free all day long, with coffee and donuts in the morning and hamburgers and hot dogs in the afternoon. Patrons, just under 100, filed in to browse through stacks of pantry and other boxes in original paint and patina, cobalt decorated stoneware, baskets from Nantucket to Shaker to Native American, classical and painted furniture in many different forms, tole, treen, early lighting, folk art, ephemera, game boards, children’s items and more during the morning preview on the day of the sale. They could not take their seats, however, until about ten minutes before the start of sale when Stanton staff removed between 25 and 35 estate Oriental rugs that had been draped over the chairs.

Peter Imler with some of the Shaker and pantry boxes offered in the sale. Many came from the collection of Robert and Peggy Magovern, Agawam, Mass, collectors who were downsizing their collection and present at the sale.

There was much period furniture in the auction, including more than 50 chairs in sets, pairs and singles and ranging from Windsors to shell carved Chippendale and Queen Anne side chairs from Newport and Boston. Highboys were on offer from Boston to the Connecticut shoreline, and forms included bonnet top, flat top and broken arch examples. Leading the sale, as expected, was a rare Queen Anne Hartford, Conn., cherry bookcase/secretary on desk on frame, circa 1735–55. It came complete with family history and supporting family land deed and sold for $21,850, within estimate.

Another case piece to do well was a rare Queen Anne period Cape Ann, Mass., tiger maple four-drawer bracket base chest, circa 1750. It was introduced as a “superior piece” from the podium and was bid to $5,750 by a floor bidder.

An absentee bid of $4,025 took a Chippendale period Hartford cherry four-drawer ball and claw foot chest, circa 1775. With stop fluted reeded quarter columns, the piece was attributed to George Belden, who worked in the Hartford/Windsor area from 1770 to 1838. A Belden “signature” was seen in its cross-braced supports on the underside.

Patron seating is utilized during preview at Stanton auctions to showcase the 25–35 Oriental rugs and some artwork being offered. Ten minutes or so before the start, staffers clear the way.

From either Boston or Salem, Mass., a rare Queen Anne carved black walnut lowboy, circa 1750–70, with original brasses, 29½-inch case width, finished at $4,313. And, attributed to the workshop of Nehemiah Adams, Salem, Mass., a 78-inch-long Sheraton sofa with carved mahogany cabriole legs, circa 1800, was $2,070.

Two of the shell carved chairs crossing the block were notable. Fetching $4,025 was a Queen Anne period Newport shell carved mahogany balloon seat side or dining chair, circa 1740–60, and a circa 1750 transitional Queen Anne/Chippendale shell carved mahogany Boston side chair with compass seat made $2,185. Two period upholstered wing chairs each made $1,785.

Then there was the amazingly large 12-foot-long maple and pine table with drawers that had once seen service in a Nineteenth Century New Jersey tannery. Featuring an original single-board top, it turned out to be a good buy for an online bidder who paid $1,150.

There were probably just under 100 floor bidders present for the sale, augmented by an Internet contingent of approximately 500 and up to ten phone bidders on some lots.

Fine art highlights included a Gertrude Abercrombie (1908–1977) 8-by-10-inch oil on panel “Doors,” dated 1957 and accompanied by an exhibition catalog titled Gertrude Abercrombie — A Retrospective Exhibition. It was the leading painting in the sale, eliciting $4,889 from an online bidder.

Among the ten weathervanes offered, top dog, literally, was a rare late Nineteenth Century setter dog copper full-bodied example attributed to Washburn & Co., New York City, that realized $4,025. There was also a Nineteenth Century cast iron life-size Dalmatian dog garden sculpture that brought the same amount as the setter vane.

Stuart Magdefrau loved choice American stoneware. He enjoyed setting up at many antiques shows across New England, including the stoneware collectors gatherings. There were a half-dozen pieces consigned by his family to this sale, and most notable were an E. & L.P. Norton, Bennington, Vt., 4-gallon stoneware butter churn with an intense blue cobalt floral decoration, 17 inches tall, $575 to an Internet bidder; and a Martin Crafts-Whately 2-gallon stoneware crock with cobalt floral decoration, circa 1850s and 11½ inches tall, fetching $460. Other crocks from his collection ranged from about $200 to $400 each, many featuring folky bird decoration, which he apparently loved.

Top lot in the sale was this rare Queen Anne Hartford, Conn., cherry bookcase-secretary on desk on frame, circa 1735–55. Accompanied by family history and supporting land deed, the 33½-by-34½-by-83-inch piece commanded $21,850, within estimate.

Paralleling the Magdefrau items was an unreserved private collection from Agawam, Mass., that exhibited original paint and countrified content. Robert and Peggy Magovern, the Agawam couple, were present at the sale and told Antiques and The Arts Weekly they were downsizing their trove of Shaker boxes, Nantucket baskets and assorted country smalls. Robert is president of Neighbor to Neighbor of America, the neighbor welcoming organization. The Shaker and country material included graduated stacks of boxes that were being offered as either a stack or singly. An $805 bid won a stack of five graduated Nineteenth Century round pantry boxes in red, green, Spanish brown and two in original patina. Sizes were 6¾, 7, 7½, 8 ¾ and 10 inches.

A rare oversized bail-handled Nineteenth Century New England pantry box of maple and pine painted a vibrant blue garnered $863.

The big red balloon affixed to the fully restored John Deere horse-drawn farm wagon, circa 1890–1910, signified that this was a special day at Stanton Auction, marking its 35th year.

And, returning to those Oriental carpets that had to be removed from seating before the start of the sale, two of the leading examples were an antique room-size Heriz, 8 feet 10 inches by 12 feet, and a semiantique Mashed, 9 feet 10 inches by 13 feet 2 inches, each of which realized $1,380.

Reflecting on the sale afterward, Peter Imler said that both he and the Magdefrau family were pleased with the results. In a phone interview, he said he had just returned from a five-hour house call at the Magdefrau home where he found “twice as many great items” as were featured in this sale in the outbuildings and basement, including great ceramics, mocha and more Bennington pottery. “This business is fun when you find the rare collection that was saved as special,” he said. “Frankly, 90 percent of what we examine never makes it to auction, but you still have to wade through it to get the good goods.”

Prices reported include the buyer’s premium.

Co-founders of Stanton Auctions, Joseph “Bud” Stanton Imler and Peter Stanton Imler, circa late 1980s. Said Peter Imler, “Yes, it really has been 35 years since our first auction in August 1980, and I know my Dad, who passed away this January, would be proud of this one.”

The next sale is set for September 26, and it promises to be one of the firm’s best ever, with Part II of the Magdefrau collection, an important Massachusetts landscape painting by George Fisher Daniels and the contents of a Sussex, N.J., library featuring more fine art, many rare books and early American antiques. For information, 413-566-3161 or www.stantonauctions.com.