Marine art was the major draw at Eldred’s two-day Americana and paintings sale April 3 and 4, which attracted a full house to the Cape Cod auction gallery.
A late Nineteenth Century view of a harbor with shipping activity signed “B. Calixto 1888” was the biggest surprise when it brought a record $80,500. The oil on canvas picture turned out to be the work of Brazilian artist Benedit Calixto de Jesus, and the harbor was probably in Santos, Brazil, near Sao Paolo, where the artist lived and worked for much of his life. It had been estimated at $350/450, but several sharp-eyed bidders got wind of the artist’s identity and it sold on the phone. From a Cape Cod collection, it is headed back to Brazil.
A view of fishing boats at a dock in Gloucester Harbor by Cape Ann artist Frederick John Mulhaupt sold for $29,900.
Antonio Jacobsen’s portrait of the sail and steam vessel Ethelred went for $19,550. A portrait of the four-masted vessel T.A. Lambert by William Pierce Stubbs sold on the phone for $12,650. Both paintings descended in the family of Wellfleet-born sea captain Lorenzo Dow Baker, who made his fortune importing bananas, and later, other fruit, from Jamaica; his company was the Boston Fruit Company, later the United Fruit Company.
The star of the furniture lots was a Newport mahogany tea table, circa 1760, attributed to John Goddard, which had a molded top and slipper feet and realized $63,250 from a phone bidder. A nearly identical example is illustrated in The Arts and Crafts of Newport, Rhode Island, 1640‱820, by the late Ralph E. Carpenter Jr. A Queen Anne cherry table with traces of old blue paint on all surfaces and made with a two-panel screen with early glass panels was an unusual form. It had splayed legs ending in button feet and sold for $4,025. Both tables came from a Rhode Island collection.
William and Mary pieces from the same Rhode Island collection commanded high interest, also. A pine spice cabinet on hardwood feet in red wash with a mortised and pegged door with a recessed mirror and spade form hinges sold on the phone for $8,050. An oak chest of drawers with pine secondary wood that the catalog noted “appears to be of American origin” sold for $6,900, and a pine chest of drawers in old red wash and on bun feet sold for $4,888.
The Rhode Island collection was a fine repository of desirable pieces and also provided an Eighteenth Century pine one-drawer cupboard in old red wash with a molded and paneled door that realized $5,850. It was also the source of a Salem Federal mahogany lift top sewing stand with a curly maple oval top attributed to Thomas Seymour that sold for $2,875.
An Eighteenth Century Queen Anne cherry tea table with a molded top and a scrolled apron and padded Dutch feet sold for $18,400. A Boston Queen Anne walnut and maple easy chair with blocked and turned stretchers sold for $7,763.
A mid-Eighteenth Century Queen Anne walnut slant lid desk on stand made along southeastern coastal Massachusetts brought $8,050, and a Rhode Island or southeastern Massachusetts Queen Anne highboy with fan carving sold for $4,600. A Queen Anne tiger maple highboy on padded Dutch feet sold for $3,738.
A late Eighteenth Century Hepplewhite mahogany sideboard with quarter fan and string inlay and bird’s-eye maple panels flanking the drawers and along the legs drew $9,200 on the phone. A southeastern coast Massachusetts Hepplewhite mahogany bowfront chest with diamond form ivory escutcheons had a fine form but had been refinished and sold for $4,313.
A pair of Hepplewhite mahogany knife boxes with star inlay drew $3,738, while a 73½-inch walnut linen press thought to have been made in about 1780 in Virginia brought $8,913.
A five-drawer New England Chippendale maple tall chest had replaced brasses and sold for $3,393. A six-drawer maple tall chest with six graduated drawers brought $2,990. A tiger maple candle box with a pierced heart and pinwheel design sold for $3,105.
A Ralph Cahoon surfing scene with five surfing mermaids coming down a big wave provoked a phone bidding competition and sold for $14,950. Another Cahoon lot was a pair of seabird portraits, one of a curlew and the other a godwit, each with a ship under sail and a lighthouse in the background that sold for $6,900. No mermaids or hot air balloons in sight.
A landscape with a mill and mountains in the distance was attributed to Thomas Cole and came from the Rhode Island collection. It realized $9,200.
More marine art included a marsh scene at sunrise with a boat under sail and hayricks by William R. Davis and dated “8/88” that sold for $3,450.
A group of watercolors by John Whorf included a scene of a duck hunter in a marsh that brought $4,600 and “Cutting Ice 14,” a scene of a horse-drawn sledge with ice blocks that brought $3,738. “Trawler 26,” a view of a fishing boat in rough seas sold for $2,530, and a double sided work with a portrait of a woman on one side and a beached boat on the other realized $2,415.
A winter landscape by Daniel Charles Grose was dated 1887 and went for $2,875. A river scene with houses by Pennsylvania artist Christopher High Shearer fetched $2,415.
An octagonal sailor’s valentine with the message “Home Sweet Home” sold for $4,095.
A collection of firearms included a Luger pistol commissioned by Abercrombie and Fitch and made in Switzerland, serial number 30001, which brought $3,738.
A five-piece Tiffany sterling tea set from between 1947 and 1956 brought $2,760, and a silver centerpiece with a glass bowl cut in the waffle and star pattern supported by four male figures realized $2,300. A partial Towle sterling flatware service in the “King Richard” pattern brought $1,404. The approximate weight was 97.6 troy ounces. A sterling vase by Graff, Washbourne and Dunn was engraved and decorated and elicited $1,380. A set of 12 Wallace sterling water goblets was $1,035.
A Nineteenth Century carved and painted carousel outer jumper horse went for $2,185.
A group of historic books, photographs and documents was topped by a bound album of about 64 photographic images of Jamaica that brought $4,600. The album was inscribed by Capt. Lorenzo Dow Baker to his wife and it descended in that family. Another album of Jamaica views by C.H. Graves, also descended in the Baker family, realized $3,220. An album of 42 photographs of Jamaican scenes, probably by Graves, was inscribed in the cover “Boston Fruit Company.” It realized $2,760. It, too, came from the Baker family.
All prices quoted reflect the buyer’s premium. For information, www.eldreds.com or 508-385-3116.
