COLUMBUS, OHIO – Leading Garth’s Auctions’ May 15 425-lot sale was a paint decorated trunk attributed to the Checkerboard artist that achieved the sale’s top price of $81,000. The piece related to another slightly smaller example Garth’s sold for $63,000 in November 2015. The trunk was attributed to Somerset County, Penn., and featured two facing birds, a decorative motif known on no other examples and which helped spark considerable presale interest in the chest. Bidders competed on the phone and online for the work but in the end, a private American collector, bidding on the phone, prevailed.

A more extensive sale recap will follow in a future issue. For information, www.garths.com or 740-362-4771.