An important Shaker cupboard made $262,500 to become the sale’s top lot ($100/150,000). In original yellow paint, the early to mid Nineteenth Century cupboard was probably from Mount Lebanon, N.Y., and measured 84 inches tall by 46-7/8 inches long.
Review by Carly Timpson
BRANFORD, CONN. — New England Auctions’ July 18 Summer Americana Extravaganza lured bidders in with 496 lots of decorative arts, textiles, Native American artifacts, artwork and a selection of more than 100 New England Shaker objects. In total, the sale realized $1,121,000 and boasted a 99 percent sell-through rate. Fred Giampietro, owner of New England Auctions remarked, “It was a great sale, we were very pleased. It exceeded our high estimate — a good 20 to 25 percent above our high estimate actually and we try to be accurate with our estimates.” What drove the sale to such great performance? According to Giampietro it can be chalked up to the careful details in cataloging, including “accurate condition and restoration history and exceptional photography. We take a lot of pictures of specific pieces that collectors want to see to make their decisions. One lot had more than 80 high-resolution, larger than life photos with all the components that some wouldn’t know to look for.”
Encompassing the finest qualities of Shaker goods and Americana, the sale’s pinnacle lot was a Shaker cupboard over seven drawers. Cataloged as “important,” this cupboard in old chrome yellow paint was likely made in the early to mid Nineteenth Century. Giampietro said that it was “found around Mount Lebanon (N.Y.) in 1981. There’s a couple of Shaker villages near there, but we believe Mount Lebanon is the right call.” The consignor had purchased the piece from Mary Page in 1981. It was in “exceptional original condition” and described as “a perfect example” of Shaker craftsmanship. Exceeding its $150,000 high estimate, the cupboard finally settled at $262,500 before heading out to a collector in the Midwest. “I’ve been doing this for 50 years, but I think, for me, this cupboard was one of the top lots I’ve ever handled. The value of Americana in general is driven by surface integrity and condition. It had a beautiful dry old surface, it was clearly the original paint. It had been cared for its whole life: hadn’t been waxed or refinished. It was a time capsule — as if it was put away, cared for and treated as an object of integrity — and collectors will pay for that.”
Bringing $32,500 was this Nineteenth Century chrome yellow Shaker sewing carrier, which was fitted with spools and other supplies, 7¼ inches high by 8¾ inches long by 6¾ inches wide ($5/8,000).
Leading a selection of smaller Shaker objects was an oval sewing carrier measuring 8¾ inches at its longest point. In similar chrome yellow paint as the cupboard, this Nineteenth Century sewing carrier had a fixed handle. The interior base of the carrier was divided into four compartments that would be closed off by a layer fitted for spool storage. Appropriately, the sewing carrier was filled and sold with assorted supplies including buttons, pin cushions, thimbles, scissors and various spools of thread. Slightly larger was another Nineteenth Century sewing carrier, this one in red paint. Lined in silk and affixed with ribbons for attaching accessories, the carrier contained spools of thread, pin cushions, buttons and pins. Measuring 15 inches long at its widest point, the oval basket was in excellent original condition. The chrome yellow sewing carrier made $32,500, while the red one brought $30,000.
Three oval Shaker boxes, ranging from 15 inches long to just over 9 inches long, found favor with bidders. The smallest one, measuring 9-3/8 inches at its widest point, brought the highest price — $13,125. With an old label reading “Pumpkin Seed” affixed to its lid, the box was appropriately decorated with original deep pumpkin paint and was in excellent condition. This label, according to Giampietro, was a driving factor in the box’s success: “It adds that human touch, the connection that a real person really did use it for that specific purpose, and it really adds to the aesthetic of the object. And then, of course, the pumpkin paint — they really tried to get it as close to what it was being used for!”
A label for “Pumpkin Seed” was pasted across the lid of this Shaker box with pumpkin paint, 9-3/8 by 7 inches wide and 3½ inches high; it was bid to $13,125 ($1,5/2,500).
Making $10,625 was another box in old pumpkin paint, though this one was brighter in color and measured 10½ inches at its widest. Dated to the mid Nineteenth Century, it had some minor losses and hairline cracks, still it far exceeded its $1,200 high estimate. The third-highest earning Shaker box, a chrome yellow example, was the largest in both width and depth. The auction catalog described this Nineteenth Century box as being “excellent with minor imperfections” and it went out at $9,375.
At the helm of the fine art category was Antonio Jacobsen’s oil portrait of the clipper ship Dreadnought. With the titular ship in the foreground, other tall ships and a steamboat are also seen sailing the dark waters in the background. This portrait is believed to have been completed in 1878 and was guaranteed to be the work of Jacobsen despite a false signature that was removed by a conservator in 2019. With the conservator’s report, the ship sailed to a new owner for $30,000.
Another notable painting was an unsigned portrait of James Caleb Jackson (1811–1895), who was an abolitionist, hydropathic practitioner and editor of Utica, New York-based The Liberty Press. In front of a green curtain with a small view of the riverfront city in the background, Jackson is positioned holding a July 1843 copy of his paper with the masthead including text that read, “Liberty and Slavery are Perfect Antagonism—one or the other must Perish.” Paired with the portrait was a copy of a daguerreotype that shows Jackson in frame with Frederick Douglass, both attending an 1850 Fugitive Slave Law Convention meeting. The lot of abolitionist history, which came from the collection of Richard and Norma Bury (Syracuse, N.Y.), went out at $13,750, well beyond its $5,000 high estimate.
Dated “1844” and initialed “M.H.E.,” this yarn sewn rug with flowers, trees and other decorative elements brought $11,875 ($2,5/5,000).
An 1844 yarn-sewn pictorial rug from the Boston estate of folk art dealer Stephen Score, crossed the block at $11,875. Having a yellow border with a vine of red and pink flowers throughout, the rug featured a large central image of a flowering plant flanked by two different trees. Other details included a bird on the left and a pie on the right. In red letters, the rug was initialed “M.H.F.” in a yellow box at the lower left and it was dated “1844” in a blue box to the bottom right. According to Giampietro, “It was a great rug; its condition was exceptional. It’s one of those pieces that I’d say, ‘is worth more than its worth.’ It had great color, intentionality, great composition aligned with American folk art with no Victorian overtones despite the date.”
Native American artifacts were led by an Iroquois False Face mask. The carved wooden mask was colored with dark red and black pigment and had tin eye surrounds. At the top of the mask was a remnant scrap of hide that was once, likely, the mask’s long hair. Britannica reports on the cultural significance of these masks worn by Iroquois False Face Society members, writing, “These professional healers performed violent pantomimes to exorcise the dreaded gahadogoka gogosa (demons who plagued the Iroquois). They wore grimacing, twisted masks, often with long wigs of horsehair. Metallic inserts often were used around the eyes to catch the light of the campfire and the moon and to prevent surprise attacks from invisible evil forces.” This mask’s dramatically carved cheeks and pursed lips help to categorize it as a “blowing mask” — one that would be worn during rituals where hot ashes were blown on to a patient seeking treatment. Estimated at just $1/2,000, the mask was bid to $8,750. Speaking on the success of this mask, Giampietro said, “It is a separate collecting field but it runs parallel to Americana in terms of what people are looking for and what categorizes a great item. For this mask, the surface was great — dry, original paint, unadulterated. It was clearly used for dances and rituals, not just a decorative piece. It had all the right elements to drive it to success: there was no repaint or repairs. It looked like it was probably used, collected in the early Twentieth Century, then kept until now.”
“We really try hard to curate our sales so there’s a good flow, a synergy between the lots. I think when you have a piece, like some of those Shaker pieces we had, it sets a high bar as far as the quality and originality. There weren’t holes in this sale in terms of condition and integrity. We hope to have another Shaker sale next year and hope to repeat the success,” remarked Giampietro.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. New England Auctions’ Summer Discovery Auction will be on August 15. For information, www.newenglandauctions.com or 475-234-5120.
