Walnut Dutch cupboard, $26,400.
Maentel portrait, $14,850.
Furniture, Folk Art and Toys Gross $670,000 at York Town
YORK, PENN. – York Town Auction’s most recent event brought more than 540 registered bidders despite rain, snow and ice. The sale grossed over $670,000.
A 1783 discharge signed by George Washington sold to a phone bidder for $7,425. A set of eight Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed animals attributed to Agnes Brush raced to five times its top estimate, selling for $2,750.
The Friday session started at noon and ran until 7 pm. The heart of the toy and holiday session was Howard Myers’ collection of Christmas and holiday rdf_Descriptions. This was the second of three sessions of his 33-year collection. York Town sold the first session on e-Bay in November 2000.
A Popeye marble game sold for $770, an Elastolin farmyard raced to $1,760 and a family of six life-size chicken candy containers sold to an absentee bidder for $4,675.
Patriotic Dresden rdf_Descriptions were extremely popular, most selling above the top estimates. One small Dresden flag banner sold for $467.50. The lithographed paper Easter eggs came in all sizes and motifs. Most of these lots sold above high estimate, and one lot for five times the top estimate at $550.
While there were only two lots of Halloween material, both were popular. A four-piece lot with mache pumpkins and a die-cut black cat, estimated at $100/200, sold for $357.50. The second Halloween lot was a small character candle lantern with paper eyes and mouth, only 3¼ -inches high. It had a high estimate of $300 and sold for $1,540.
There were approximately 150 figural glass ornaments, most of which sold within estimate. The highest price in this category was an elephant, 3¼ -inches high, with minor paint loss, that sold for $357.50.
Toys ranged from Britains to Barbies, Lionel trains and blocks to marble games and battery operated, with many things in between. Highlights included a J. Chein ferris wheel, mint-in box, $522,50; a Marx Merrymakers band for $605; a Steiff pull-toy elephant, $990; and a cast iron Humpty Dumpty mechanical bank for $880.
A Lionel train set, with locomotive 380E 0-4-0 brought $1,375; a Lionel train tunnel, tin, #120-L, sold for $385; and a 2360 locomotive, brown, PRR 4-7-4 with no pantographs, sold for $440.
A Hubley Colt 45 cap gun with holster and belt brought $247.50; an early hand painted walking toy with a black man, eight inches high, stamped with an illegible patent date, sold for $242 with an estimate of $50/100. Sets of blocks ranged from $100 to $330, and an original bag with approximately 95 Akro-Agate marbles – called “Treasure Bag” – sold for $275.
On Saturday, a Wheel of Chance, estimated at $600/800, sold for $2,200. A York County album quilt sold for $7,920; a rare occupational shaving mug with a photographer sold for $1,320; a Lehnware covered bucket brought $3,410; and a Dauphin County sampler sold for $9,625.
A Maentel portrait of a man followed by a little girl holding a puppy sold within estimate at $14,850. The top lots from a group of 18 Lewis Miller drawings, were $3,430 for a couple fishing and $1,870 for a signed and dated religious drawing.
An Oriental garden carpet sold for $8,525; a semi-antique room-size Sarouk brought $4,950; and a worn antique Kerman sold for $1,540.
A hooked runner with six red birds sold for $1,320. An intricate small watercolor drawing with a basket of flowers and four small horses across the bottom, estimated at $800/1,200, sold to an absentee bidder for $4,180. Two Fraktur and two small watercolors sold within estimates.
An early walnut architectural Dutch cupboard with simple line inlay, sold for $26,400 to a floor bidder. A tiger maple tall-case clock signed by Joseph Taylor of York, Penn., was in old surface and sold to a phone bidder for $27,500. A rare New Hampshire brass dial clock signed Jere (miah) Fellows, with a cherry case, sold to a phone bidder for $11,000.
The top lot in painted furniture was a boldly grained corner cupboard attributed to John Rupp of Hanover, Penn. It sold for $20,350 to an absentee bidder. Another Rupp-style cupboard with an arched door and damaged paint sold for $4,125. A small paint-decorated blanket chest with initials and the date 1850 on the back, sold to an absentee bidder for $1,870.
The Saturday session featured guns and decoys. Two signed Madison Mitchell Canada geese, both from the 1950s, sold for $605 and $632.50. A Model 1795 Springfield flintlock musket sold for $2,200. A small collection of inkwells was included in the Saturday session. They ranged in price from $110 to $660. The top lot was a Vienna bronze bird on nest with the inkwell concealed inside the nest.
Jewelry, silver and ceramics included a three-carat diamond ladies ring that sold for $11,220, and a pair of diamond earrings, .90 karats that sold for $1,540. The earliest piece of American silver was a coin ladle by Lenhart of York, Penn., which sold to an absentee bidder for $1,650. An 18-inch tall Rose Medallion vase sold for $990, three Canton platters sold for $797.50 and a Canton shrimp bowl for $385, all within estimates.
Late in the sale, a carved German bracket clock with a three train movement sold for $3,575, and a Tiffany Grapevine pattern salad set sold for $715.
All prices reflect a ten percent buyer’s premium.
