Paul McInnis put together a varied auction of country material with something for every interest on December 7. The compact sale †fewer than 200 lots †was short and sweet.
The highlight and object of every eye was a rare full-bodied, squirrel-form molded copper weathervane attributed to L.W. Cushing and Sons of Waltham, Mass., that ruled the day in form and result. With no reserve, the vane opened at $10,000 and was pursued by several phone bidders until one prevailed at $55,575. The perching squirrel, which had topped a central Maine barn, was gnawing an acorn. The vane had been painted at one time and was wearing, revealing the bright gilt.
A dining table on ball and claw feet with five leaves, a small sideboard, six chairs and a china cabinet was an excellent value when the lot brought $2,340. A Chippendale maple chest on chest with five drawers over four and a drop panel carved with a shell went to a North Shore Massachusetts dealer for $2,340. An empire mahogany dining table with two leaves sat on a four-column base and realized $1,053, while a Chippendale birch tall chest with six graduated drawers brought $936. A Regency-style mahogany server with bookmatched veneer brought $293.
A Hepplewhite mahogany Pembroke table from a mid-Atlantic estate and with a cross-stretcher base realized $1,113, while a Chippendale walnut slant front desk from the same estate with a possible connection to John Dickinson of Delaware, a signer of the Constitution, failed to sell.
Two mahogany card tables crossed the block. One with bird’s-eye maple inlay sold for $585, and the other, with bird’s-eye maple veneer, was $468 to the same buyer. An English mahogany single board tilt top breakfast table was a reasonable $524.
A table with two leaves and a set of six Windsor chairs by Austin Alden of Gardner, Maine, sold for $585, as did a pine stepback cupboard. A blanket chest with a single drawer in dark red paint elicited $468, while a good-looking pine corner cupboard with a single glazed door over two small doors fetched $410. A pretty screen with decoupage bird prints was $322.
Two New Hampshire curly maple miniatures, a slant lid desk on bandy legs with a deeply carved skirt and a shell and a chest on chest with five drawers over three and a carved shell, sold for $234. The bottom of the top drawer of the chest was inscribed, “Made for George Michael, Merrimac, N.H&1968 by Eaton Clapp, Concord, N.H.”
Fetching $2,925 from the trade was a Newburyport cherry tall clock with fan inlay by David Wood.
A small oil on canvas Rockport scene by Charles Gruppe brought $1,053, while Ohio artist Paul John Bettinger’s sporting painting of two handsome boxy-headed spaniels on point was well painted and a good value when it went for $761. A folky Hudson River view by Thomas Chambers, circa 1860, realized $702.
German photographer Lotte Jacobi’s photograph of Robert Frost sold for $761. Jacobi left Germany for the United States in 1935 and settled in New Hampshire in 1955, where she lived and worked for 35 years.
A pre-Colombian gold Muisca figure attracted $1,989, and a pre-Colombian gold nose ring elicited $585. A bottle of gold dust, with attendant sand, from the Yuba River realized $176.
Bringing $2,399, a good cloisonné vase on a two-tone blue ground featured a decoration of flowers and exotic birds, and a lot of two cloisonné jars with some damage fetched $117. A pair of red lustre lamps sold for $468.
A late circa Nineteenth Century Imari temple jar was large, had a heat check on the lid and realized $751.
Two large tables of Spode Pink Tower pottery, some with “old stamp” marks and others with newer marks, more than 250 pieces in all, crossed the block in small lots. The aggregate total was $3,042.
A lot of two wagon seats sold for $351, and a vintage Flexible Flyer sled went for $146. A nearly full deck of Hard-a-Port plug tobacco playing cards sold for $234.
Realizing $4,680 from an absentee bid was a 16-inch Nineteenth Century Joslin’s celestial globe on a cast iron stand. A smaller (12 inches) Joslin’s tabletop terrestrial globe on a turned wood stand brought $2,457.
A French boulle-work tantalus inlaid with burl and brass included four etched crystal decanters and 16 etched glasses and realized $1,287. A 55-inch Queen Anne walnut two-part mirror sold for $351.
A redware bank in the form of a bank building with two chimneys that served as coin slots sold for $1,223. The bank, which was probably made in Pennsylvania, came from a collection in nearby Rye, N.H. A 24-inch Native American carved and painted totem that came from a Stratham, N.H., house garnered $468.
The highlight of a selection of bronzes was the 24-inch “Nymph Diana” by Eugene-Antoine Aizelin and cast at the F. Barbedienne Foundry that sold for $1,053. An English silver tea service with gilt wash sold for $819, and a lot of pewter measures drew $293.
All prices reported include the 17 percent buyer’s premium. For information, 603-964-1301 or www.paulmcinnis.com .
