The Gallery at Knotty Pine was bustling with sales activity in its two-day auction, April 28′9. Saturday was a sale comprising valuable collector books from the Springfield Museums, Springfield, Mass., with more than 300 lots. The topics included Seventeenth⁔wentieth Century volumes on early exploration and travel, British, Japanese and Americana art, architecture and history. Day two comprised household goods, furnishings, early collectibles and art.
According to John Pappas, auctioneer and manager, “We got the overall numbers we wanted. Furniture was doing well, especially the early painted pieces.” He was especially pleased with the book sale, describing it as “even better than we expected.”
Just a few examples from the first day’s sale include Frescoes of Diego Rivera, $4,312; two volumes of Various Tracts on Troy at $4,015; Homer & His Iliads Translated selling for $3,450; Thomas Jefferson Architect achieving $2,530; a three-volume set of Travels in Morea for $2,415; and Report Upon the U.S. Geographical Surveys for $2,875.
Sunday’s sale of antiques, art and early collectibles began with five pink luster plates going for $80. Following that was another piece of pink luster, a pitcher with relief decoration of swags and tassels, for $126.
Pewter for the dining table was selling well, with a porringer by Samuel Hamlin of Providence, R.I., from the late Eighteenth Century selling for $172; an American teapot in bulbous form with black wooden handle marked I. Vickers sold for $184; another porringer attributed to Samuel Hamlin at $103; a Capen & Molineux whale oil lamp with brass collar, double burner and dish base at $218; and an American pewter porringer attributed to Josiah Danforth, Middletown, Conn., showing some wear and dents, $172.
Art, fine art, folk art and antique prints were leading the sale, according to Pappas. An oil on board seascape signed by Charles Herbert Woodbury was hammered down at $4,485; a scrimshawed powder horn, 12 inches long with British lion and unicorn, castle and cannons for decoration, sold at $862; a Carl Nordell oil on board autumn landscape, “The Blue Pool,” was $690.
Two portraits that had old inventory tags from the Smithsonian Museum of American Art were sold separately, but were purchased by the same floor bidder; the portrait of a man identified as William Henderson was $373, and the woman identified as Mary Jane Henderson was $460.
Charles Chase Emerson’s signed small New England landscape fetched $862. The Eighteenth Century American frigate, USS Essex, was the subject of an oil on board signed by C. Hunt, which sold for $747; an oil on board signed by William J. Kaula, “Sunlight and Shadow,” sold quickly for $1,840.
Furniture and household items were also strong sellers, along with collections of Sandwich glass and stoneware. Early in the sale, a Sandwich cut overlay fluid lamp with marble base and brass stem and fittings went for $345; a Sandwich glass pedestal open salt in sapphire blue was $115; and two small opalescent plates were $149. A ten-drawer apothecary chest, New York State, in teal green paint with red drawers was $345.
Other highlights included a Nineteenth Century New Jersey sampler, signed but not dated, that sold for $161, a 36-hole candle mold in very good condition with original double handles that achieved $287; and highly sought after was an early ark in good condition with bright paint decoration at $264.
Stoneware sales included two Seymour ovoid jugs, a 1-gallon at $373 and a 2-gallon for $184, which had stains; a J&E Norton, Bennington, Vt., 2-gallon jug with a bird on stump decoration was $460.
Sales in porcelain and other dishes included a Canton fruit basket and reticulated underliner for $575; a 15-inch blue Canton platter at $207; a Bennington Toby coachman bottle in mottled brown flint enamel glaze, coachman holding a bottle, at $460; and three Nineteenth Century Bennington pie plates, two marked and one unmarked, were $345.
Furniture and furnishings included an early primitive courting mirror in red and black grain paint, 4 by 8 inches, shaped as a lollipop, with the small end a holder or hanger for the lady to check her face, selling for $316; and a New England Queen Anne highboy in maple with fan carvings, cabriole legs and pad feet, signed C.H. Seavey, Portsmouth, N.H., bringing $3,220.
A Samuel Terry pillar and scroll shelf clock, painted wood dial, was actively bid to $2,185, a Shaker #1 child’s rocker in black paint with an original taped seat was $632, and an cast iron Enterprise coffee grinder in good original paint only showing some use found a new home for $690.
Described as a dry sink was an unusual primitive piece, bow front in pine with a shallow sink at countertop height, with an open shelf below and bootjack ends in a dark natural finish; it realized $1,092. From the Mid-Atlantic there was a chrome yellow painted pie safe in good condition, save some signs of wear, selling for $862.
Other highlights included a small Hepplewhite-style mahogany secretary desk, centennial with glazed doors and French feet, at $1,840; cabriole legs and a tilting top accented a bird caged tea table that went out at $632; a two-piece Welsh pewter cupboard in oak, sold for $690.
Two early bicycles, with a large front wheel and a small rear wheel, each sold for $3,450.
Three flags or early Nineteenth Century pennants were offered, all of which had been conserved or restored by Amelia Fowler some time ago. First up, were a lettered A&SVAA 1804 with an applied gilt eagle; and a silk 44-star American flag, with the markings 8th Reg’t, US Infantry. Both achieved $1,725, followed by a US infantry flag, blue silk with applied embroidered eagle and shield, 12 stars and motto, at $2,990.
All prices reported include a buyer’s premium of 15 percent.
Knotty Pine is a shop open every day with many dealers exhibiting their antiques on Route 10. It was opened in 1960 by Stephen and Joan Pappas, with the auctions started by their sons, Michael and John about, 13 years ago. Auctions are now conducted by John with assistance from Paul Gorzocoski III.
Upcoming dates include another Americana sale July 28′9. For information, www.knottypineantiques.com or 603-352-2313.