One of the most exciting sales of the summertime auction series conducted by Robert C. Eldred Company is the annual Americana, paintings and sporting art that is run in conjunction with other antique-related events taking place about the Cape Cod during late July and early August. A hotbed of activity, this sale always has a bevy of gems that rise to the surface, and that keeps the locals, the summer residents, collectors and the dealers coming back hungry for more.
This three-day auction, July 30⁁ugust 1, comprised more than 1,400 lots, and prices ran the gamut from less than $100 to one lot that hammered down at more than $1 million. The sale is conducted under a large green and white circus-style tent erected on the patio outside the auction house, which adds to the festive atmosphere.
The first session is devoted to sporting materials, with decoys and guns making up the first half of the day, while a large selection of silver by makers such as Tiffany and Gorham finished out the day. The selection of birds fell short of last year’s excitement-packed offering, yet it still featured numerous standouts.
The top decoy of the auction came as a redhead drake by Elmer Crowell was offered. Sporting an old working repaint and marked with Crowell’s oval stamp, the decoy hammered down at $9,600. A red-breasted merganser drake with a horsehair crest and bold original paint was thought to have been made on Martha’s Vineyard. It sold at the high estimate, bringing $8,050.
A half-life-size mantel carving of a ruffed grouse by Crowell was bid on by several in the crowd, with it selling to a bidder in the rear of the tent at $12,650.
A rare life-sized willet decoy thought to be from the southeastern region of Massachusetts and carved in the style of Joseph Lincoln attracted serious attention despite a bill repair. In good original paint, the lot hammered down at $4,887.
More than 150 lots of silver created quite a stir, with Internet and telephone bidders active throughout the session. Leading the group was a Gorham three-handled loving cup with chased floral scroll designs on the body and elaborate mask handles that sold for $10,350. A pair of Tiffany covered entrée dishes in the Wave Edge pattern were hammered down at $9,600, while a covered serving platter in the same pattern went for $8,625. A Gorham Nouveau-style centerpiece bowl from 1869 was bid to $6,325, and a seven-piece coffee and tea service by Wallace went out at $4,887.
Surprises have long surfaced at Eldred’s summer sales and this auction was no exception. The real surprise, however, had taken place several months earlier during an appraisal clinic hosted by the auction house when an undocumented Martin Johnson Heade painting was brought into the gallery. The auction itself merely represented the culmination of the process and the excitement that was evident on Bob Eldred’s face as the lot crossed the auction block was hard for even this seasoned auctioneer to suppress.
“It literally walked through the front door of the gallery,” said Eldred prior to the auction. “It was brought in by some local homeowners that hadn’t a clue as to what the painting was, who it was by or what it was worth. They brought it in during an appraisal clinic we run for charity,” stated Eldred. “They said they had a painting and wanted to get it appraised. My people directed them to the other side of the room from where I was, over to where John [Schofield] and Josh [Eldred] were doing appraisals.”
Eldred apparently caught a “sixth-sense whiff” of the painting as he watched from the other side of the room. “I saw them pull it out from the paper bag they were carrying it in and I knew right away what it was. They didn’t recognize it,” said Eldred poking fun at his son Josh and Schofield, Eldred’s right-hand-man, “But I did,” he said grinning. The auctioneer recalled hustling across the room to get a better look and soon the painting was out of the frame, where the signature, concealed by the frame, was discovered.
Values were revealed, deals were struck and within a couple days arrangements had been made to get the painting up to Theodore Stebbins, the recognized authority for Heade, to have it authenticated. In need of some minor restoration, Eldred had some “paint put back down” and then negotiated a consignment with the owners. “The family had moved down to the Cape from the North Shore and aside from a couple other things in the house, it was one of the only antiques they had,” he said.
Titled “Haying on the Marsh,” the 7½-by-141/8 -inch oil on panel had descended in the family of the original owner and was signed “M.J. Heade ’67” in the lower left corner. The painting was unusual in its depiction of workers hurrying to move the salt hay before the sunset, which was dramatically portrayed by the artist with a brilliant sky in reds, pinks and yellows.
The painting attracted attention from all of the major dealers, with galleries from Boston, Manhattan and throughout New England on the telephones; as the lot was about to cross the auction block, several in the audience strategically positioned themselves for the action.
Eldred briefly related the history of the Heade and then opened bidding at the low estimate of $300,000. An advancement to $325,000 came immediately from a bidder standing near the front on the side of the tent, $350,000 came from the rear of the tent and the two battled with a telephone bidder to the $600,000 mark, where the bidder in the front turned and walked away. He was replaced right away by a gentleman who came forward and stood in the same spot, who quickly advanced the lot to $650,000. A second phone bidder jumped in at $700,000, and a third phone got into the action at $750,000. The bidder standing on the front side of the tent waited patiently and then, seemingly to Eldred’s surprise, hit the lot at $850,000. The phone countered, only to have the gentleman in the gallery come right back and ultimately claim the Heade at $1.06 million.
“That is the most expensive thing I have ever sold,” proclaimed Eldred with a wry smile on his face, “and it is the first thing I have ever sold for more than a million dollars.”
Another painting that proved to be a surprise was a Frederick Butman oil on canvas depicting a mountainous landscape that was consigned to the auction gallery from quite a distance away. “We ended up getting three paintings shipped to us from Texas,” claimed Eldred, including the Butman. In excellent condition, the painting was described by everyone that looked at it as his best effort, a painting on scale with a Hudson River master.
Offered as the lot following the Heade, Eldred gave the crowd a moment to settle down and then opened bidding for the Butman. The artist’s previous record was in the $10,000 range and several in the gallery were shocked when Eldred asked for an opening bid of $8,000 and got it right away. The bids came fast and furious, with several people in the audience chasing the lot. Competition was so quick-paced that by the time the phone bidders were executing a $20,000 bid, the auctioneer already had $30,000 from the crowd and was still going forward. At $50,000, action slowed and moments later Eldred hammered the lot down at $69,000, selling to a buyer in the rear of the tent.
Two surprises from the paintings department was apparently not quite enough and the auctioneer chuckled as he pulled a third from up his sleeve. Eldred related that after a casual conversation took place at a wedding between his wife, MaryAnn, and a friend that she had not seen since high school, a lead was developed. The friend worked for a bank in Maine that was looking to dispose of some old books that were in the attic of the building.
Eldred made the trip north and amid the dusty books he discovered a complete portfolio of George Catlin’s North American Indians that had not seen the light of day in more than 50 years. Consisting of 29 hand colored lithographs, the portfolio had first been published in London as Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio. Hunting Scenes and Amusements of The Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America. The portfolio offered was thought to have been published after the initial 1844 release and is commonly referred to as the “deluxe” edition.
In overall excellent condition, the set opened for bidding at $20,000 with five telephone bidders ready. A bidder in the rear of the tent hit the lot, and a couple of the telephone bidders got into the action as well. The bidder in the gallery, with his cellphone pressed to his ear, continued to bid until claiming the lot at $40,250.
Two Ralph Cahoon paintings attracted attention from Cape collectors, with an oil on Masonite titled “Striper Fishing” leading the way, depicting a harbor scene with a fisherman hauling his catch of two mermaids and several stripers across the beach. Rigged ships were in the background, hot air balloons in the sky and on the water was a small sloop with another fisherman hauling in his catch. Bidding on this lot was also active, with it selling at $63,250.
A smaller oval Cahoon depicting a duck hunter with several mermaid helpers setting out his decoys was also offered. With a provenance of Wayne Pratt, the painting sold within estimates at $37,375.
An Abbott Fuller Graves oil titled “French Quarter, New Orleans,” listed a provenance of Vose Gallery and a private collection. Although its Continental flavor seemed to be an unusual subject matter for the artist, the dappled use of light and shadowed areas were reminiscent of his garden paintings. Estimated at $20/30,000, the painting sold at $17,250.
A folky painting depicting a scene of Niagara Falls with a horse and carriage in the foreground handily exceeded estimates. The view was of the American side with what was presumed to be Bridal Falls in the background and with what appeared to be a newlywed couple in the back of the carriage and a driver in a derby hat. It sold at $11,500.
Several samplers were offered, with an early example from the Plymouth School dated 1826 catching the eye of collectors. With watercolor enhancements, the well-executed sampler sold at $29,900, going to a telephone bidder. The same buyer purchased the following two lots, another Plymouth work from 1830 that brought $9,200, and a memorial sampler at $5,175.
A gem in the rough was also plucked from the sale as a rare Philadelphia tilt-top tea table was offered. The heavily carved Chippendale table somewhat resembled the examples that sold for several million dollars in New York City during Americana Week this past January, with the exception that the top of this table had been replaced. Eldred was quick to note that the table base was virtually identical to an example illustrated in American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum by Morris Heckscher.
Despite the replaced top, the table, circa 1770, brought $28,750.
Formal furniture included in the auction was warmly received, with a Massachusetts Chippendale reverse serpentine four-drawer chest selling at $16,100, while a stylish Connecticut Queen Anne bonnet-top highboy in cherry sold reasonably at $14,950.
A small selection of Inuit items were sold, with two rare pair of carved wooden snow goggles with narrow slits for eye-openings selling at $7,800, a rare Inuit carved wooden snuff box bringing $1,092, and a lot consisting of three very rare Inuit skin hats with red and black cloth decoration realizing $4,800.
Prices printed include the buyer’s premium charged. For information, 508-385-3116 or www.eldreds.com .
