It is said that the only tool John Scholl used to make his figural and whimsical folk art carvings was a jackknife. A German carpenter who immigrated to the United States in 1853, Scholl had a hand in constructing a swath of buildings in Germania, Penn., but he is most well known for the things he made when he stopped working and settled into old age as an octogenarian. It was then that he began carving. Folk art dealer Adele Earnest is credited with Scholl’s discovery, organizing the first exhibition of the artist’s work at the Willard Gallery in Manhattan in 1967. A half-century later, Scholl is a folk art superstar. In 2005, Northeast Auctions sold a Scholl carving for $193,000 to Massachusetts dealer David Wheatcroft. Another example from the renowned carver approaches the block as it joins lots from across the United States in this week’s picks.
NORTHEAST AUCTIONS
Sale Date: August 18–20, 2017
Lot 1143
John Scholl (1827–1916), Carousel For Birds And Men
Germania, Penn., late Nineteenth Century. The carved arched canopy on baluster posts, enclosing figures of men in bowler hats and birds in swinging nests, the circular base set on red ball feet, surmounted by a redbird finial; 24½ inches high.
Estimate: $28/38,000
BLANCHARD’S
Sale Date: August 11, 2017
Lot 60
Thomas Molesworth Club Chair with Indian
Thomas Molesworth, Cody, Wyo., burled club chair, original worn red leather and Chimayo fabric, late 1930s. This chair has a routed and polychrome painted Indian chief panel on each side said to be painted by J.K. Ralston. Originally from the Noble Hotel in Lander, Wyo.
Estimate: $10/20,000
JAMES D. JULIA
Sale Date: August 16–18, 2017
Lot 2163
Exceptional And Rare Sheraton Maine Painted One-Drawer Stand
Second quarter Nineteenth Century, probably Paris, Maine. The rectangular top with pronounced turret corners above the conforming frieze fitted with a single cedar drawer with tapering ring turned cylindrical legs headed by noteworthy turned pilasters with 12 suppressed disc turnings. The table terminating in turnip feet. The stand with exceptional simulated rosewood graining within green and mustard yellow lined borders. The side panels decorated with a single strawberry, the drawer front with a strawberry-filled basket.
Estimate: $15/25,000
MICHAAN’S AUCTION
Sale Date: August 12, 2017
Lot 612
Fine Chinese Faceted Paste Encrusted Gilt-Bronze Automaton Musical Clock In The Form of Pavilion Case
Guangzhou Studio, first quarter Twentieth Century, 37¼ inches high. Fashioned as a three-tiered edifice form raised on the back of four elephant supports, finely cast ornate bronze case with floral relief, inset with faux ruby-colored paste stones around the windows and around the white porcelain dial with black enameled Roman numerals, the interior automaton glass waterfall and spinning ducks seen on three sides, and flowering exotic trees on each corner. Clock Mechanism: 8-day mechanical movement with quarter strikes, with Guangzhou Studio mark. Automaton: music plays hourly, three large windows on the low level shows a spinning twisted glass tube to imitate waterfall, horizontal glass tubes made to look like river with animating ducks, palm trees on the corners of upper decks rapidly spin as part of the automaton, two ribbons spinning on the center of top double gourd.
Estimate: $80/100,000
ALTERMANN GALLERIES
Sale Date: August 11–12, 2017
Lot 240
Kim Douglas Wiggins (American, b 1959)
“Dia de Pascua, Rancho de Taos,” oil on canvas, signed lower right, 84 by 60 inches.
Estimate: $25/40,000
SELKIRK
Sale Date: August 12, 2017
Lot 242
Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (American, 1850–1921)
Oil on board, signed. Full profile of the steamship Brazos with flags flying, American flag aft; 20 inches high.
Estimate: $3/4,000
HUDSON VALLEY AUCTIONEERS
Sale Date: August 12, 2017
Lot 217
Charles Demuth (American, Twentieth Century)
Watercolor on paper. “Pink Iris,” signed lower left, 14½ by 9½ inches.
Estimate: $10/15,000
SARASOTA ESTATE AUCTION
Sale Date: August 13, 2017
Lot 366
Monumental Leo Hermann (1853–1927)
“Entre Intimes,” painting of cardinals in an elegant interior setting. Oil on canvas, 35 by 47 inches.
Estimate: $12/18,000
SKINNER
Sale Date: August 13, 2017
Lot 494
Molded And Painted Sheet Copper Goddess Of Liberty Weathervane
Cushing & White, Waltham, Mass., circa 1865–75, flattened full-body form with outstretched arm, sash, liberty cap and grasping a pole flying an embossed sheet copper flag with pierced stars and three-dimensional finial, metal base with canted corners, the base of the figure’s gown with oval presumed maker’s plate, old painted surface, 38½ inches high.
Estimate: $30/50,000
