The sale got off to a start that would please most any auctioneer and consignor when an Agra carpet, circa 1880, overall floral pattern on a lime green field, 15 feet 5 inches by 11 feet 10 inches, sold for $46,800, well above the $15,000 high presale estimate. And the sale did not end so badly either, with a three-liter bottle of La Vieille Ferme Cotes du Ventoux, 1978, selling for just over double the high estimate at $205.
“We were pleased with the sale and it ended up at $2,373,257.25, well above our expectations,” Ron Pook said of the two-day auction of the collection of El Roy P. and Helene Livingood Master of Berksveldt Farm. Previews of the sale began on Saturday, June 13, and ended with a reception at the gallery on Friday, June 19, 4 to 6 pm, when the first 240 lots of the 733 lot-sale were sold. All prices quoted in this review include the buyer’s premium of 17 percent and there were no reserves. “We are going to sell everything for what people are willing to pay,” Ron said.
It was standing room only on Friday, with 571 in-house bidders registered, and the refreshments were as popular as the objects being sold. The food was moved into the dining area of the gallery at 6 pm, and people continued to enjoy the spread all through the sale. An equally large gathering was on hand for the Saturday session, during which 492 lots were sold. This collection has remained intact for five generations and has now been spread about for the enjoyment of others.
Part of Berksveldt Farm, a lovely, sprawling brick and stone home, dates back to 1769, and another part to 1830. From 1937 to 1941, portions of the house were remodeled, and a stone addition added. That accounts, in part, for the selection of 34 rugs that made up the first lots of the sale. In addition to the first lot, another highlight was a Mahal carpet, circa 1920, with an oval floral pattern on a rust field with a blue border, 11 feet 11 inches by 9 feet 5 inches. The high estimate was $2,500, and it sold for $5,616.
The top lot in the sale was the pair of Chippendale-style dining chairs in the Boston taste after a design by Manwaring. “I appraised those chairs at one time for $120,000, but a few people, including a curator and a conservator, thought them to be incorrect so we put a presale estimate on them at $1,5/2,500,” Ron said. “When they sold for $163,800, even my appraisal was too little,” he added.
The collection of glass in this sale drew a great deal of interest, with a pair of colorless Pittsburgh blown glass milk pitchers, mid-Nineteenth Century, with hollow applied handles, 7½ inches high, bringing about three times high estimate, selling for $1,404. Five lots of Tiffany began with number 51, a Favrile glass agate perfume, signed and retaining the original paper label, 3 inches high, estimated at $1,2/1,800, that sold for $7,605, and one lot later a Tiffany Favrile glass agate type vase, also signed and with the original paper label, 2½ inches high, brought $11,115 against an $1,800 high estimate.
A George II walnut daybed, circa 1740, adjustable back with solid splat in the Chinese manner, eight cabriole legs terminating in pad feet, 5 feet 9 inches long, went for $4,446 against a high estimate of $3,500, and a New England Queen Ann walnut veneer and maple flat top high chest, circa 1750, the lower section with arcaded apron and two acorn pendants supported by cabriole legs ending in pad feet, 66 inches high, fell just short of the low estimate selling for $11,115.
Several lots later a New York Federal inlaid mahogany sideboard, 1790‱810, serpentine front above a conforming case containing four drawers over a pair of recessed cupboard doors, square tapering legs, crossbanded cuffs, went just over the high estimate, selling for $22,230. The Charles Copper (Lebanon, Penn.), Federal inlaid cherrywood tall case clock, early Nineteenth Century, the case with a rosette swan neck crest above a decorated dial, waist inlaid with a spread-winged eagle, 95½ inches tall, went within estimate at $8,775.
A Massachusetts corner chair in mahogany, circa 1770, carved crest rail, pierced splats and ball and claw front feet, went well over the $3,000 high estimate, selling for $15,210, and a rare 32-rib pale lime green sugar with applied ribbed handles, probably South Jersey but the same rib mold was used in Ohio, 6½ inches high, went well over the $5,000 high estimate, selling for $17,550.
A blown green glass bottle dating from the Eighteenth Century, 10 inches high, was expected to bring between $100 and $150 and sold for $3,744. A few lots later, one of the rifles in the sale, a Lancaster, Penn., flintlock long rifle, Melchoir Fordney, circa 1825, having a relief carved tiger maple full stock with ornate brass furniture with German silver thumbrest, 42½-inch-long octagonal barrel, sold over the $10,000 high estimate for $28,080.
The second session, starting at 10 am on Saturday, again had standing room only and started with a Philadelphia Chippendale carved mahogany easy chair, circa 1760‱780, canted back with slightly serpentine cresting, scroll wings, square legs joined by an H stretcher terminating in Marlborough feet, sold within estimate at $9,945. A New England Federal inlaid mahogany lolling armchair, circa 1800, the back with serpentine crest, inlaid square tapering legs, banded cuffs, sold for $10,530 against a high estimate of $5,000. The winning bidder for lot 260, a set of 12 New York Federal carved mahogany dining chairs, nine circa 1800 and three later Nineteenth Century examples, the splat with a central stylized Prince of Wales feather, molded square tapering legs ending in spade feet, paid $15,210, half the low estimate.
There was a good number of Wilhelm Schimmel carvings in the sale, including lot 363, a carved and polychrome painted wood figure of a rooster, the fat body painted with black streaks on a yellow ground, 6¼ inches high, estimated at $10/15,000, that sold for $17,550, and a set of four Georgian silver candlesticks, two circa 1791‱792 bearing the touch of Wakelin and Taylor, and two circa 1813‱814, bearing the touch of Wakelin and Garrard, 121/8 inches high, sold for $14,040 against a high estimate of $5,000.
Staffordshire Adams Rose dinnerware, Nineteenth Century, approximately 200 pieces, brought $9,360, within estimate; a New England William and Mary maple drop leaf dining table, circa 1740, oval top, baluster and ring turned legs and single drawer, went just over twice the high estimate at $4,680; and a Ralph Wood Staffordshire figure of a seated squirrel eating a nut, circa 1770, 7¼ inches high, brought $7,605. It was estimated at $1,5/2,000.
A Pennsylvania Queen Anne carved walnut flattop high chest, circa 1740‱760, shaped apron, cabriole legs ending in trifid feet, 70 inches high and 40 inches wide, went just over estimate at $10,530. A rare Maryland redware urn dated 1874, signed by the potter James C. Mackley, with S-scroll handles and applied florets centering on incised floral spray, above a coggled stepped base, 6 inches high, 8½ inches wide. It sold for $19,890, just over the high estimate.
An estimate of $200/250 went by the boards quickly when lot 527, an English porcelain inkwell, circa 1800, sold for $9,360. The piece is inscribed “A Trifle from Lowestoff” and measures 27/8 inches in diameter. Several lots later, an oil on panel depicting figures butchering an animal, Isaac Van Ostade (Dutch, 1621‱649), signed lower left “Ostade,” 7½ by 5¾ inches, went five time the high estimate, selling for $30,420. A New England Chippendale mahogany slab table, circa 1780, probably Portsmouth, N.H., with serpentine marble top resting on a rectangular frame with gadroon-type apron supported by molded square top legs with pierced returns, 31½ inches high and 37 inches wide, was estimated at $5/10,000 and sold for $28,080.
The last 63 lots were bottles of wine, the collection of El Roy Master that was stored in a room on the lower level of the house. The temperature was not controlled for the storage of fine wine and thus the collection was evaluated for ullage, label condition and signs of seepage. Ron Pook said that he heard from one of the successful bidders on several bottles who reported that the condition of the bottle was very poor. However, Ron reported that the man said, “It was the best bottle of wine I have ever had.”
Pook & Pook will not be having any summer sales, but scheduling will resume in the fall. In addition to a variety auction in September, the October 1′ auction will include two museum collections, plus some outstanding silver. For information, 610-269-4040 or www.pookandpook.com .
