The highest price of the sale was achieved by this Queen Anne cherrywood tray-top tea table, probably Connecticut, circa 1750-70, 26 inches high with a 27¾-by-19-inch top; it went out at $16,250 ($5/10,000).
Review by Carly Timpson
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. — “Nye & Company was both honored and thrilled to work with and handle the collection of Nancy and Bob Stein. It was a treat to work with New Jersey collectors that have such a deep passion for the objects that they collected and lived with for so long,” shared president Andrew Holter of his firm’s December 3 auction of the couple’s property. The Collection of Nancy and Robert Stein, a 136-lot auction, primarily featured Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings and early American furniture. Holter added, “The sale was 80 percent sold by lot and saw competitive bidding from as far afield as California to the UK and many places in between. Buyers were in large part private with some participation from the trade. It was especially nice to see some of the trade actively bidding on items that they originally sold to the Steins.”
The auction was led by a Queen Anne cherrywood tray-top tea table that rose past its $10,000 high estimate to achieve $16,250. This table, likely made in Connecticut circa 1750-70, had provenance to a 2010 auction at Christie’s, New York, and Saje Americana in Short Hills, N.J.
Early American tables were a well-appreciated category, as several of the auction’s top lots fit the description. A New Hampshire-made Federal candlestand with two drawers and an octagonal top more than doubled its high estimate to earn $6,875. Made of birchwood between 1790 and 1810, the underside had partially legible initials written in chalk; it was previously sold by Nathan Liverant and Son Antiques in Colchester, Conn.
This Federal birchwood two-drawer octagonal candlestand from New Hampshire, 1790-1810, 27½ inches tall with a 24⅜-by-16⅜-inch top, rested at $6,875 ($1,5/2,500).
A Chippendale carved mahogany drop-leaf dining table, possibly made by Benjamin Baker (1735-1822) of Newport, R.I., circa 1765-95, finished for $4,062. The table had provenance to the collection of Ralph Carpenter as well as Heller Washam Antiques, Portland, Maine. Earning $3,125 was a Federal inlaid mahogany card table that bore a label reading “House Furniture of the most approved fashion and best kind, made, sold, and exchanged by Archelaus Flint, Cabinetmaker in his shop in Main Street near the square in Charlestown,” for Massachusetts maker Archelaus Flint circa 1800-20. The card table also had provenance to Saje Americana Antiques.
Other standouts in the auction included a significant collection of portraits attributed to James Sharples, Sr, and his daughter Ellen Wallace Sharples — “a family of itinerant artists whose work forms an important chapter in late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century Anglo-American portraiture,” as identified in the pre-sale press release. “James Sharples, Sr (circa 1751-1811) was an English-born portraitist celebrated for his intimate pastel likenesses of political leaders, intellectuals and civic figures… Ellen Wallace Sharples (1769-1849) produced finely rendered portraits notable for their subtle tonality and quiet psychological depth. Both artists operated portrait galleries in Philadelphia and New York, contributing significantly to America’s early artistic identity. Works from this lineage are increasingly prized by collectors for their charm, historic resonance and scarcity.”
Attributed to James, Sr, or Ellen Sharples, these pastel portraits of William and Susannah Sheppard, 12 by 10 inches framed each, brought $15,000 ($4/6,000).
One pair of portraits attributed to these artists achieved the sale’s second-highest overall result: $15,000. Both unsigned, the pastel portraits depicted William and Susannah Sheppard; the backs of each read “William Sheppard of Styles Hill, died November 10, 1806?” and “Susannah Sheppard of Styles Hill, Frome, October 25, 1795, Aged 28, buried at Sheppard’s Barton, Frome.” The reverse of William’s image also bore a label: “drawn by Sharples.”
Following the Sheppards were another pair: Mr and Mrs Lynde Catlin ($11,250). These portraits, done in pastels on gray paper, had provenance that included the 1999 auction of the estate of Louise Crane at Christie’s in New York and Schwarz Gallery in Philadelphia. They were illustrated in Katharine McCook Knox’s The Sharples: Their Portraits of George Washington and His Contemporaries (New York: Da Capo Press, 1972).
A pair of unidentified circa 1795-1800 portraits of a lady and gentleman that had provenance to antiques dealer Christopher T. Rebollo (Mechanicsville, Penn.) brought $6,875; a profile portrait of New York merchant Stephen Miller, painted in New York on May 17, 1799, was bid to $3,437 ($1/2,000); and a circa 1800 portrait of a gentleman, identified in the catalog as “possibly of Mr Bell,” though the backboard was inscribed “James Jemmett, father of Francis Frederick Jemmett, father of Caroline Elizabeth Wilcocks,” finished at $2,375 ($1/2,000).
“Sailboats, St Ives” by Hayley Lever (Australian-American, 1876-1958), oil on canvas, 18½ by 22½ inches framed, went out at $5,000 ($5/10,000).
Other works of art included an oil on canvas seascape by Hayley Lever. “His maritime scenes from this period burst with color, light and vivacity — qualities evident in the example presented here”: the Australian-American Impressionist’s “Sailboats, St Ives,” which topped off at $5,000. New England landscapes were led by two oil on board works by Bernard Corey, both of which exceeded their $1,200 high estimates. Achieving $1,920 was “Grafton, Mass, 1988,” while “Gloucester, 1988” brought $1,664. Both works had provenance to the Pennsylvania Art Conservatory in Berwyn, Penn.
In closing, Holter shared, “Nye & Company hopes to build on the success of the Stein sale and in January will be offering another New Jersey collection: Property from the Collection of Peter and Leslie Warwick, Middletown, N.J., on January 21. Peter and Leslie were active collectors and scholars. They were involved with the Monmouth County Historical Association and the Folk Art Museum of New York City. The sale will offer a wide selection of treasured objects primarily in the Folk art category. We are also holding a various owner’s auction, American Spirit: Celebrating 250 Years of Independence, Freedom and American Craftsmanship on January 22.”
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.nyeandcompany.com or 973-984-6900.
