Desirable American furniture from a Connecticut estate brought leading dealers to the quiet little historic Massachusetts town of Medway †settled in the 1600s and incorporated in 1713. The attraction was the 25th anniversary sale at Coyle’s Auction Gallery that featured old family ties and fine fresh Americana from the New Haven estate of longtime collectors.
Area collectors and far-flung dealers made their way to the VFW Post on June 16, and their efforts were rewarded with fresh gems, such as the oak and pine one-drawer blanket chest with applied panels and the carved initials “M M.” After a competition between three phone bidders and dealer Paul DeCoste in the gallery, it sold on the phone for $8,512. A New England William and Mary blanket chest on ball feet opened at $3,500 and sold to a Cape Cod dealer in the gallery for $6,496.
The Coyle family has a loyal following of people (trade and retail) whom auctioneers Nancy Coyle Wyman and Michael Coyle have known since they were children. The siblings grew up working in the gallery founded in 1984 by their father, James Coyle, with the assistance of his wife Elizabeth, who remains active in the business.
Wyman reported that their father used to say of her brother Michael that he was born in a box lot. Their Bellingham gallery and its contents were destroyed by a three-alarm fire two years ago, but the Coyle family marched forward. Seven weeks later, they drew a packed house to their annual summer auction.
This summer’s annual event provided some excellent buying opportunities. A carved oak court cupboard was originally thought to have been a bench-made Mannerist-style piece, but bidder interest suggested otherwise. It was largely first period, and it went to a dealer in the gallery for $8,120. The same dealer also went home with a Connecticut Queen Anne cherry dressing table for which he paid $4,032. A large and exceptional mahogany gate-leg table also went to the trade for $5,488.
Two highboys were the subjects of great interest: a country Queen Anne example with fan carving and in a red stain was $3,808; an Eighteenth Century Connecticut Queen Anne cherry example sold to an absentee bidder for $3,584.
Four related Eighteenth Century banister back chairs with carved crests were sold separately and brought a total of $3,968 from three separate bidders. A Queen Anne mahogany side chair fetched $639 from the same buyer who took a pair of tiger maple ladder back chairs for $448. A lot of six Baltimore painted chairs realized $504, while a maple tester bed elicited $336.
A Chippendale birch chest with four graduated drawers and a bracket base sold for $700, and an Eighteenth Century English carved bible box on frame drew $840. An American step back cupboard that was filled with pewter for the preview sold for $1,288, while a maple tester bed went for $336. A Horner-style table with feet carved as tiger faces brought $420.
A dainty English lady’s rosewood writing desk with a brass gallery sold for $784, and an English rosewood four-drawer chest with ivory escutcheons brought $576. An ice cream set with four caned chairs with medallions on their backs and a matching table, all in blue green paint and gilt, sold for $840. An early Eighteenth Century red enamel chinoiserie cabinet went for $420.
Four Eighteenth Century historic documents, each of which was signed by a different Connecticut signer of the Declaration of Independence, brought $896. The signers were Roger Sherman in 1770, Samuel Huntington in 1788, Oliver Wolcott in 1758 and William Williams.
Early paintings were desirable as a folk portrait of a dark-haired girl in a blue dress seated on a red sofa opened at $800 and sold for $4,368 †to the phone. A pair of portraits attracted four phone bidders and sold for $2,016, and the portrait of a solemn and wigged colonial minister with a document sold for $1,680. Another portrait, this one of a blonde-haired child in an off-white dress holding lily of the valley and roses, signed “J. Watson 1879,” realized $952.
A poster advertising the merits of the products of the Narragansett Brewing Company brought $274 from Vinny of Vinny’s Antiques Center in Seekonk, Mass., who said he knew the poster was a reproduction but bought it because it brought fond memories, as it did for this reporter.
One area dealer took many of the silver lots across the block, including the silver highlight: a sterling flatware service by Bailey, Banks and Biddle for $1,120. The same buyer bought a 12-inch Tiffany tazza for $560 and two Tiffany silver covered boxes for $390 each, along with a Dominick and Haff repousse mirror for $560. The same buyer paid $308 for an English silver lot that included a server and a pair of tongs, among other items, $51 for a single English sterling serving spoon, $308 for a sterling demitasse set with porcelain cups and $390 for a Shiebler silver inkstand.
Other silver included two Hawkes candelabra, which brought $392; a large Hawkes decanter was also $392; a Kirk silver repousse bowl was $336, and a silver box went for $417.
Smalls represented another area of strength. A candle box carved with pinwheels realized $840, and a salt box with one drawer was $222.
A selection of pewter included a set of plates that brought $392, and a pewter tray lot that included an inkwell and candlesticks brought $417. A lot of two pewter tankards was $352, and a group of five pewter mugs was $56, as was another group of four. The mugs went to the trade. A set of early urn top andirons stamped “I C,” along with a set of fireplace tools, attracted $308.
A French Victorian mechanical singing bird in a brass cage attracted $390, and a period pair of urn top brass andirons was $417. A pair of Victorian torchieres was $448, and a Quezal vase was $476. A lot of fine Baccarat glasses and stems realized $448.
A Bradley and Hubbard table lamp drew $504. An onyx pedestal with bronze mounts sold for $504, and the marble lamp it supported drew $336.
All prices quoted reflect a 12 percent buyer’s premium. For information, www.coylesauction.com or 508-883-1659.
