Highlights from Charlton Hall Galleries’ November 22′3 grand estates auction included a rare copper weathervane in the form of a ram, which was most likely made by Cushing & Sons, Waltham, Mass., and had a presale estimate of $3/5,000. It had been recently pulled out of a barn in South Carolina, where it has been since it was purchased in 1970 from atop a 200-year-old farmhouse in Framingham, Mass. There were ten phone lines feverishly competing for the weathervane, which sold to a private collector in New England for $50,600 †making it the top lot of the two-day sale.
Among the estates featured in this auction were the Atlanta estates of Frank G. Carter and Grace McCook Durst, the estates of J.M. Larkin and Lavada P. Watson of Camden, S.C., and the Pittman-Parker estate from Fayetteville, N.C. The auction featured 1,124 bidders from 24 countries vying for the 1,198 lots offered. Buyers from across the world bought 90 percent of the lots, with the sale realizing more than $1 million.
The sale of an excellent Ohio private collection of Chinese Export armorial porcelain was one of the highlights of the auction, attracting the interest of collectors from all over the world. The star in this collection was an Okeover armorial plate; it quickly soared to $14,950, selling to a private collector.
Also featured was a nice grouping of 100-plus American and European antique clocks, a first for Charlton Hall. A rare German Lenzkirch Boulle-style regulator clock attracted the interest of collectors and eventually brought $8,050. Two New England tall case clocks are heading home, each commanding $17,250. One was by Timothy Chandler, and the other by Gardiner Parker.
A selection of French clocks was highlighted by an unusually rare bronze doré mantel clock with a standing figure of Joan of Arc. This clock stirred some local interest among Southern collectors and museums as the dial was emblazoned Hayden & Gregg, a Charleston jeweler and silversmith whose firm was established in 1838. This nice example realized $8,050 and will remain in a private South Carolina collection.
The salesroom saw competitive bidding for other Americana items as well. Among the most popular was a Nineteenth Century metal advertising sign for the Rock Hill Buggy Company of Rock Hill, S.C., estimated at $1,2/1,500, which sold for $2,760 to the South Carolina State Museum.
A unique stoneware jug made by the Stork-Landrum Pottery in Columbia, S.C., sold for $1,610 and the McKissick Museum paid $1,400 for a signed Thomas Chandler stoneware jar purchased to enhance its already famous collection of Southern stoneware.
All prices reported include the buyer’s premium.
Charlton Hall recently broke ground on a new facility in nearby Cayce, ten minutes from its present downtown gallery at 912 Gervais Street. The new gallery will have much needed extra space, allowing clients to preview items the day of the sale. There will also be ample parking. Charlton Hall is scheduled to conduct its June sale at its new space.
For additional information, www.CharltonHallAuctions.com or 803-779-5678.
