Pook & Pook Inc celebrated 25 years of auctions by inviting attendees to a special reception on January 15 as it conducted a two-day auction of period furniture, fine art and decorative accessories. A few hundred attendees enjoyed an open bar, “tons” of food and the firm’s hospitality, according to James Pook, a vice president. “We wanted to catch people’s attention and make it fun,” he said.” Everybody was having a good time.”
Pook & Pook sweetened the deal even more by offering promotions on accommodations and free tickets to local museums for those who attended this sale.
The sale itself was a broad-based exhibition of American history, featuring items from historical societies, museums, Pennsylvania estates and about 120 items from the estate of the late doyenne of antique porcelain Elinor Gordon. More than 1,000 lots were offered, and with a 96.2 percent sell-through rate, the auction totaled $2.7 million.
Friday night began with the collection of furniture, Oriental rugs and paintings from Gordon’s Villanova, Penn., home. From a York, Penn., estate, the top lot of the sale was a Philadelphia Chippendale mahogany tea table, circa 1770, featuring a rectangular tray top over a frame with applied carving supported by curved cabriole legs terminating in ball and claw feet. It opened fairly high, at about $35,000, and was primarily chased by a pair of bidders in the room who took it to $76,050. Won by a collector and underbid by a dealer, the 27½-by-30½-by-20-inch table might have brought more, said James Pook, had it not been for some wear to the applied carving. “It was a rare piece,” he said, “only a handful, maybe ten, exist.”
From the same York estate †and won by the same collector who took the Philadelphia tea table †came a School of Thomas Spencer (British, 1700‱763) oil on canvas painting of a horse and rider surrounded by hunting dogs, circa 1740s. “A great piece, an early piece and a magic look,” said Pook. Having all the attributes of a well-done riding scene, as well as having been off the market, the 25-by-29¾-inch work leapt over its $10,000 high estimate, underbid by another New England collector and going to the collector in the room for $46,800.
Elinor Gordon’s estate contributed the next heavy hitter at the sale. Paintings by John Joseph Enneking (American, 1841‱916) are always avidly sought-after. So it was no surprise when an oil on canvas autumnal townscape by the artist, signed lower right and dated ’94, lit up the phone lines in the saleroom. The 18-by-25-inch painting, which had been exhibited at Vose Galleries in 1975, took $37,440 from a phone bidder.
A fair “face” and Queen Anne styling made a York County, Penn., walnut tall case clock, circa 1765, find favor among competing collectors and dealers in the room. The clock came out of the same York estate as the Philadelphia tea table and Spencer School painting. It featured an arched bonnet enclosing an eight-day works with brass face, signed Peter Schutz Uhrmacher at York. Standing at 91½ inches tall, it went to a dealer in the room for $32,760.
Two lots offered brought $32,420. The first was a historical blue Staffordshire Arms of Pennsylvania platter, Nineteenth Century. Measuring 16 inches by 21 inches, it had been consigned by a local museum. Pook thought the price for the platter, which had been estimated $4/7,000, might be an auction record. The other item also had a modest estimate of $4/6,000. It was a New York free blown green aqua glass pitcher, circa 1840, with type II and III lily pad decoration, standing 73/8 inches high. The action was all on the phones among dealers and collectors, according to Pook, who explained why a nearly identical pitcher, also estimated at $4/6,000, brought just $9,360. “A very tiny crack in the handle,” he said.
A Philadelphia William and Mary oak tall case clock, circa 1705, realized $35,100. Inside the flat top bonnet were an early eight-day works, signed Abel Cottey, Philadelphia. The clock was the only known example by Cottey, who died in 1711, and came from the collection of Mrs Joseph Carson. The initials “BC” probably stand for Cottey’s apprentice Benjamin Chandlee. Pook said this is the earliest known date on an American clock. The only other surviving example of Cottey’s work is a clock face in the collection of Philip Bradley.
There were some other gems in the sale, such as an important Theodore Roosevelt-signed typed letter with all the bells and whistles that collectors of historical documents crave. Emanating from Headquarters 2nd Birgade (sic) Cavalry Division in camp near Santiago de Cuba and dated August 5 1898, the letter is especially interesting as Roosevelt complains about the “slander” of reports that Rough Riders were killed by friendly fire. The letter went to the phone at $25,740.
Garnering $23,4000 was an Eighteenth Century English quillwork looking glass with a central rectangular plate surrounded by four elaborate panels with potted flowers and baskets framed by japanned mullions.
Another notable clock in the sale was a Seth Thomas office calendar clock, circa 1885, that rose meteorically from its $2/4,000 presale estimate to bring $22,230.
Similarly hitting the stratosphere far above its $800․1,200 estimate was a Philadelphia silver water pitcher, circa 1820. Bearing the touch of Harvey Lewis with eagle handle and foliate decorated banding, the 8-inch-high pitcher of 28.8 troy ounces soared to $17,500.
Rounding out the sale’s top highlights were a vibrant Baltimore album or bachelor’s quilt, dated 1873 and with 16 floral panels within a swag border, 104 by 101 inches, that sold for $16,380; a Pennsylvania carved and painted cat from the late Nineteenth Century loaded with charm and guarding a basket pincushion, 4½ inches high, that fetched $14,040; and a Nineteenth Century mocha pitcher with cat’s-eye and blue navy line decoration standing 6¾ inches high that brought $11,700.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium, For information, 610-269-4040 or www.pookandpook.com .
