“That old rag. If I saw it in the garbage, I wouldn’t bother to take it out,” said textile specialist Stephen Huber in regard to an Eighteenth Century Boston schoolgirl sampler during preview at Thomaston Place Auction’s summer sale. “Well, maybe I would,” conceded Huber with the sparkle in his eye that he is so well known for, accompanied by a chuckle and his wry smile. Little more than an hour later, Huber executed a winning bid of more than $450,000 for the piece, establishing a record price paid at auction for an American sampler.
The schoolgirl sampler was but one of more than 1,000 lots offered during the annual two-day Americana, art and estates auction that took place August 22 and 23. A standing-room-only crowd was on hand for Saturday’s sale, with consistently strong bidding recorded throughout the session; Sunday’s crowd was slightly smaller, but bidding remained competitive.
As with all of the auctions of late, the great stuff did very well, the good stuff did okay and some of the lesser material fell through cracks the size of the Grand Canyon. Auctioneer Kaja Veilleux was pleased with the sale, much of which consisted of estate-fresh merchandise and items consigned either during, or as a result of, the gallery’s free appraisal days.
The sale kicked off with a gameboard in an old red and grey paint that sold for slightly more than half of the presale estimates, bringing $517. A couple of lots later, another gameboard was offered and with it exceeding estimates, selling at $1,265.
Two blacksmith trade signs did well, with a large, solid bronze horseshoe selling above the estimates at $1,265, while a painted cast iron horse head with dangling horseshoes soared past the $1,5/1,800 estimates to bring $6,612.
The first of the lots to take off, bid briskly in Veilleux’s quick-paced, no-nonsense fashion, was a rare painted Maine stand in yellow with a grain decorated top that had attracted the attention of several in the crowd. From a local estate, the stand was bid by several in the room against two determined telephone bidders. Estimated at $1,5/1,800, the vibrantly painted stand hammered down to a more determined buyer in the room at $17,825.
It was not long before another zinger would cross the block, a rare Eighteenth Century silk Boston schoolgirl sampler by Betsey Bentley, 1781. Auctioneer Veilleux related prior to selling the lot, it had been brought into the gallery during a free appraisal day and had been casually transported in a brown paper bag. When Veilleux placed a hefty $40/60,000 estimate on the lot, the consignors came back with a detailed family history that they had discovered. Further research on Veilleux’s part revealed that Betsey was the daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Bentley, and, as history tells, Joshua Bentley rowed Paul Revere across the river for his midnight ride.
The presence of numerous Americana dealers, textile and sampler specialists Stephen and Carol Huber and at least one institutional curator told a tale well before Veilleux prepared to sell the lot. Nobody was talking, though, which added to the tension of the morning.
By the time the lot was ready to cross the block, a full bank of telephone bidders waited anxiously, the Hubers were seated on the aisle in the rear of the gallery, and Pam Parmal, the curator of textiles and fashion arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was seated near the front of the gallery.
Veilleux asked for an opening bid of $10,000, got it immediately and the lot was off to the races. Phone bidders stumbled on top of one another with a flurry of cards waving around in the air, with as many as three of them trying to get in on the action at the same time. The Hubers sat motionless in their seats, with Steve holding his bid card in plain view of the auctioneer as the bid shot past the $20,000 mark, the $30,000 mark, the $50,000 mark and the $100,000 mark. Competition narrowed to two people, Parmal, bidding with clearly visible and confident nods of her head, and the Hubers’ stealth bid card extending out into the aisle.
The action seemed to pick up in pace as the lot neared, and cleared, the $200,000 mark, and again as it approached the $300,000 mark. At $330,000, Huber pulled his card from the auctioneer’s sight for a moment, and then flashed it back into the aisle with a dramatic bid. Parmal just nodded again. Huber flashed his card at $360,000, only to be countered again. Parmal hit the lot at $400,000 and then conceded when Huber shot right back at $405,000, with the final record setting bid totaling $465,750, including premium.
The consignors, a middle-aged couple seated near the front of the gallery, sat still for a few moments, until the woman could take it no longer and confided in a woman in the row in front of her that they had consigned the sampler. It took a few moments longer, but smiles crept across their faces as they headed for the rear door of the gallery.
Veilleux broke the tension in the room after the lot hammered down by requesting, “Anyone that might have a similar piece, package it up in a brown paper bag and bring it to the gallery. I’ll be happy to sell it for you.”
The sampler, according to the Hubers, is one of three known from a North End Boston school. “It is just a phenomenally graphic Boston sampler,” was all Steve Huber could muster in a conversation after the auction. “There are three known from this school,” he said, one that is depicted in a book on samplers from the 1920s that nobody knows of the current whereabouts, one that they sold to a private client a few years back and now this one.
The Hubers indicated that they had gone to the auction representing a client but had exceeded its maximum bid when they purchased the lot. It has since been placed with a private collector.
Parmal commented that the museum was disappointed at not being able to acquire the piece for their collection. “It was quite charming and characteristic of the samplers made in the Boston area at the time of the Revolution,” she said, adding that the museum is currently working on an exhibition of Boston samplers. “It would have been a nice addition to the collection,” she stated.
Parmal indicated that the sampler may be seen publicly again if details can be worked out to have the sampler loaned for the MFA, Boston, exhibition.
The following lot to be offered at the auction, a sampler on linen from 1834, made its way to the block amidst vigorous conversation among the crowd. Veilleux asked for quiet and proceeded to sell it for $2,300, once again going the Hubers’ way †a bargain price, according to the dealers, who were pleased to see it offered directly after a major lot, a time when the crowd’s attention is oftentimes focused elsewhere.
Furniture in the session included a secretary desk in strongly figured tiger maple that hammered down to an absentee bidder for $16,100. Achieving the same price was a pair of Sheraton painted window benches with urn-form posts, a floral painted crest and caned seats.
Items from a Fryeburg, Maine, estate included several pieces that had descended in the family of Governor Head. A highboy in an old refinish and with replaced brasses went out at $8,625. A lowboy from the same estate was a bargain at $1,035.
Another highboy, a Queen Anne flattop in walnut, hammered down at $6,325, a rare mahogany Sheraton work table with cookie corners and reeded legs shot past estimates as it sold for $6,900, and a hall bench with ornately carved and painted back and sides depicting a naval battle realized $6,900.
Continental furniture included a French three-drawer chest with serpentine front that made $5,175, and a Louis XVI parlor suite consisting of seven pieces brought $6,325.
Folk art items did well, with a pair of architectural friezes with carved eagles tripling the presale estimates. It was another of the lots to have appeared during the gallery’s free appraisal days. The consignor told Veilleux that the panels had been discovered in a wall during the renovation of a New York City building. Estimated at $3/5,000, bidding on the lot was brisk as the pair of friezes opened on the floor at $3,500 and sold moments later for $19,250.
A carved wooden sperm whale measuring 35 inches in length and executed by Charles Voorhees attracted attention from the crowd as it handily surpassed estimates bringing $6,555. Also sold was a large carved wooden eagle that realized $5,462.
The top lot from the wide and varied selections of paintings was an oil on canvas by Jack Lorimer Gray that was offered. The nautical scene titled “Out by The Bull” depicted two men in a dory amidst heavy seas. The lot sold between estimates at $43,125.
A pastel by French artist Paul Elie Gernez depicted a group of women in turn-of-the-century bathing suits near a beach with a sailboat and a steamship in the distance. The attractive piece sold for $17,200. An Italian view of a monk leading a donkey across a courtyard with St Peter’s Basilica in the background, by Ettore Roesler Franz, also did well, selling at $13,225.
An Imperial Russian icon in a Faberge frame caught the eye of several in the crowd. Estimated at $4/6,000, Veilleux opened the bidding low and ended shortly thereafter with a final bid of $25,300.
Another of the surprises of the day was a Chinese censer from the Ming period in the form of a foo dog. The gallery had casually estimated the lot, made of bronze with champleve decoration, at $1/1,500, yet after a strong bout of bidding, the rare piece hammered down at $21,850. A Greco-Roman period marble bust of an aristocratic woman was another of the early lots to do well, with it selling for $12,650.
Other items included a monumental Russian silver tea server on stand with baroque decoration and a swing handle with an ivory insert. Found in a local estate, the piece was dated 1827 and had a variety of other hallmarks. Bidding on this lot was also spirited, with it easily surpassing estimates to sell at $12,650. A host of estate-fresh carpets were sold with yet another sleeper among the rugs. A small 4-by-7-foot silk carpet, estimated at $2,5/3,500, surprised everyone when bidding took off, with the lot selling for $31,050.
Jewelry highlighted the second day of the auction, with a large square-cut sapphire ring flanked by diamonds in a platinum setting selling for $42,550. A platinum bracelet with aquamarines and diamonds went out at $20,700, while a Deco-style diamond bracelet brought $11,500.
A small collection of harps made for sweet music at the auction, with a Lyon and Healy concert example selling at $14,950. Another Lyon and Healy harp with an ebonized frame sold for $10,350, and a Wurlitzer Starke model 576 hammered down at $4,600.
Prices include the 15 percent buyer’s premium charged. For information, 207-354-8141 or www.thomastonauction.com .
