WOODBURY, CONN. — Art Pappas of Main Street Auctions & Estate Liquidators offered up the contents of the home and shop of a longtime Woodbury antiques dealer on July 10, including early American antiques, decorative arts, fine art, folk art and more. A rare Seventeenth Century Brewster chair in old finish with a wooden plank seat presided, winning a top bid of $8,750, with premium included. The throne-like chair featured strong turning and spindles and its dimensions were 48 by 23 by 18 inches. Why is that style called a Brewster chair? The story goes that in the 1620s, soon after the Pilgrims landed from England, cabinetmaker John Alden made a chair for William Brewster, a passenger on the Mayflower and the ruling elder of the Pilgrim Church. The chair was made of ash and was designed to resemble a throne — appropriate for a man of Brewster’s importance. After Brewster died in 1644, a second chair was made. Brewster’s chair has survived and is on display in Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth, Mass. The second chair was discovered in the early 1900s by Wallace Nutting and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. More highlights from this sale will follow in an ensuing review.