Tradition Takes Center Stage In Asheville

Published: September 23, 2025

Leading the American & Southern sale, and the week, at $39,360 was this circa 1861 blue-painted yellow pine huntboard from Georgia. A private collector bidding by phone had the prevailing bid ($5/7,000).

Review by Madelia Hickman Ring

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Brunk Auctions showcased approximately 200 lots of fine and decorative arts from a single-owner collection from Maryland on September 10, flanked by 231 lots of British & Continental works of art on September 9 and, on September 11, with more than 260 lots in its American & Southern sale, which also included more offerings from Historic Iris Court, the collection the firm sold in late May. While sale totals were not provided, the combined sales saw a sell-through rate of 92 percent.

The highest prices of the week were realized in the American & Southern auction, which was led at $39,360 by a Federal powder-blue painted yellow pine huntboard, made in Georgia circa 1861 and inscribed “M.C. Jackson 1861, Georgia, Dawson Co. Barrettsville” on the inside of one drawer. Until 1991, the piece had remained in the Jackson-Williams-Simpson family of Georgia before it passed through the hands of Woodbury, Conn., folk art dealer David A. Schorsch, who sold it to the important Chicago private collector who consigned it to Brunk.

Another piece of painted furniture from the important Chicago collection that surpassed expectations was a northern New Mexican carved and painted diminutive chest, possibly made in Taos in the Nineteenth Century, that had been in the Taos and Aguilar, Colo., collections of the Cordova family before going into the collection of Mr and Mrs Al Luckett, Jr. When the Lucketts sold their collection at Sotheby’s in January 1988, it realized $34,500; Brunk got $11,070 for it, from a private collector on the phone.

This Nineteenth Century carved and painted diminutive chest was probably made in northern New Mexico and came to sale from an important Chicago collection. It realized $11,070 from a private collector ($3/5,000).

The huntboard was closely followed in price by a Virginia Federal inlaid cherry tall case clock with a dial signed “Jacob Craft Shepherd’s Town.” The catalog note indicated it was “one of the most fully developed tall case clocks by Jacob Craft known” and referenced an article on the maker that appeared in an article in the Jefferson County Historical Society magazine. It surpassed expectations and sold to an online private collector for $36,900.

The still life paintings of fruit by German American artist Severin Roesen (circa 1815-1871) are perennial favorites by knowledgeable collectors, and the sale offered two examples: one in the single-owner sale on September 10 and the second the following day. Of the two, the one from the single-owner collection was slightly larger and more lush; it realized $27,060 from a private collector bidding online and was the top lot in the single-owner collection. The second still life by Roesen sold a day later for $15,990 to a phone-bidding private collector.

Other highlights from the important Maryland private collection included a 136-piece assembled service of orange Fitzhugh Chinese export porcelain, some of which had been acquired by pre-eminent Chinese export porcelain dealer, Elinor Gordon. Dating to the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century, the service found favor with a private collector who nearly tripled its high estimate with their online bid of $13,530. The same price was realized by an early Twentieth Century Serapi carpet that measured 13 feet 6 inches by 10 feet 3 inches and also sold to a private collector with an online bid.

Shown here in part, this late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century 136-piece lot of Orange Fitzhugh Chinese export porcelain had provenance to the Important Maryland estate and achieved $13,530 ($3/5,000).

Homer Dodge Martin’s (1836-1897) “Afternoon,” painted in 1867 in oil on board, had a Kleeman Galleries’ label on the back that had a note by Frederic Kleeman in which he called it “The finest picture of Martin’s of the period…” Estimated at $5/7,000, it did much better, and an online private collector took it to $11,685.

A George IV mahogany triple pedestal dining table from the Important Maryland estate that had provenance to both GKS Bush and Hyde Park Antiques exceeded expectations and found a new (probably temporary) home with a trade buyer, bidding on the phone, for $10,455.

The British & Continental auction on September 9 reached its apex at $24,600, for a gouache over pencil by Fernand Léger (French, 1881-1955), titled “L’Homme a la nature morte,” which came from the same Chicago collection that consigned the blue-painted hunt board. It had been handled by galleries in both Paris and London and is included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Léger. Another private collector, bidding online, won it for a little less than its low estimate.

Topping the British & Continental sale at $24,600 was “L’Homme a la nature morte” by Fernand Léger, circa 1937, 12-5/8 by 15½ inches (paper) ($30/50,000).

Another highlight from the important Chicago collection that was offered in the British & Continental auction that finished on the sale’s leaderboard was David Hockney’s (British, b 1937) “Stanley in a Basket,” a homemade print on Arches paper that realized an above-estimate $10,455.

A late Nineteenth/early Twentieth Century 182-piece English silver flatware service from the Maryland estate of Sylvia and Richard Garrett, offered on the first day, topped off at $8,610 while a painting of the Martyrdom of St Sebastian, after Guido Reni (Italian, 1575-1642) on canvas, also from the Garrett estate, more than doubled its high estimate and finished at $6,765.

Property from the Garretts were also sold in the American & Southern sale, where “Circus Horse” by Katharine Ward Lane Weems (Massachusetts, 1899-1989) was one of the sale’s top lots, at $24,600.

Southern artists Maud Gatewood (North Carolina, 1934-2004), Robert Gwathmey (Virginia-born, 1903-1988), John White (South Carolina, 1781-1859), Winfred Rembert (Georgia, 1945-2021), Karl Wolfe (Mississippi, 1904-1985), William Aiken Walker (South Carolina, 1838-1921), Elliott Daingerfield (New York/North Carolina, 1859-1932) ) and Leo Franklin Twiggs (South Carolina, b 1934) were just some of the creators represented.

The highest price for Southern artwork offered across any of Brunk’s three sales was the $18,450 realized by “Coming Home” by Maud Gatewood, acrylic on canvas, 30 by 36 inches ($10/20,000).

Topping the Southern art category at $18,450 was “Coming Home,” a 1983 acrylic on canvas painting by Gatewood that sold on the phone to a private collector. It was followed at $13,530, by “Prologue,” a circa 1962 oil on canvas townscape that had provenance to two private collectors and found a new home with another private collector.

The highest price realized by a lot from the Iris Court collection was a circa 1810 Boston Federal inlaid and figured mahogany and rosewood sideboard attributed to John Seymour and/or Thomas Seymour that finished at $10,455. Comparable to one owned by Richard Crowninshield Derby that was published in Robert Mussey’s The Furniture Masterworks of John & Thomas Seymour (Peabody Essex Museum, 2003).

[UPDATE: Following our press deadline, Brunk Auctions sold, in a post-auction sale, the portrait of Peter Augustus Jay by John Singer Sargent, for a hammer price of $900,000.]

Upcoming sales at Brunk Auctions include Wines & Spirits (October 15), Modern, Contemporary & Design (October 16), a premier Autumn auction (October 21-22), the SCNA Convention Coin & Currency auction (October 23) and the Jerold D. Krouse Collection: Masterpieces from America & Ireland (November 11), alongside British & Continental (November 12) and session two of the Vander Sande Collection (November 13).

Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 828-254-6846 or www.brunkauctions.com.

Leading the American & Southern sale, and the week, at $39,360 was this circa 1861 blue-painted yellow pine huntboard from Georgia. A private collector bidding by phone had the prevailing bid ($5/7,000).
Katharine Ward Lane Weems’ “Circus Horse,” circa 1930, 26¾ inches long, sold to a private collector, bidding online, for $24,600 ($3/5,000).
“Still Life with Grapes” was the second painting by Severin Roesen that Brunk offered. The oil on panel composition, 9½ by 12 inches, had been acquired directly from the artist and had descended in the Williamstown, Penn., family of Edmund Koch and published in a November 1951 paper on the artist that appeared in the Lycoming Historical Society Proceedings. A private collector on the phone won it for $15,990 ($5/7,000).
This Nineteenth Century carved and painted diminutive chest was probably made in northern New Mexico and came to sale from an important Chicago collection. It realized $11,070 from a private collector ($3/5,000).
Coming to auction from the Historic Iris Court collection, this Federal inlaid and figured mahogany and rosewood sideboard attributed to John and Thomas Seymour had been acquired in 1984 for $28,500. It sold to a private collector, bidding in the room, for $10,455 ($10/15,000).
“Prologue” by Robert Gwathmey, oil on canvas, 20 by 16 inches, earned $13,530 from a private collector ($10/15,000).
The highest price for Southern artwork offered across any of Brunk’s three sales was the $18,450 realized by “Coming Home” by Maud Gatewood, acrylic on canvas, 30 by 36 inches ($10/20,000).
This tall case clock was noted to be one of the most fully-developed clock cases by West Virginian clockmaker Jacob Craft. Estimated at $3/5,000, it did much better and sold for $36,900 to a private collector bidding online.
The Maryland collectors, whose important estate was sold in a single-owner sale, had purchased this George IV mahogany triple-pedestal dining table for $50,000 in 1993. A trade buyer spotted a bargain and paid $10,455 in Brunk’s auction ($6/8,000).
The important Maryland private collection offered this group of five late Eighteenth Century Staffordshire pottery figurines for $400/600 and inspired a bidding battle, which was won by a trade buyer, bidding online, for $7,995.
A highlight of the important Maryland estate was this early Twentieth Century Serapi carpet that a private collector won for $13,530 ($2/4,000).
The important Maryland collectors whose estate was sold on September 10, acquired this American or English Eighteenth Century walnut and parcel gilt Chippendale mirror from Israel Sack in 1989, for $12,500. The 44½-by-24½-inch mirror traded hands at $5,228 ($1/2,000).
The highest priced lot of the single-owner sale was Severin Roesen’s “Still Life with Strawberries,” circa 1865, unframed oil on canvas, 13½ by 16 inches. Accompanied by a letter from Roesen authority Judith O’Toole, the lot sold to a private collector for $27,060 ($8/12,000).
“Afternoon” by Homer Dodge Martin, 1867, oil on board, 9 by 6¾ inches, was part of the important Maryland estate and realized $11,685, from a private collector ($5/7,000).
Shown here in part, this late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century 136-piece lot of Orange Fitzhugh Chinese export porcelain had provenance to the Important Maryland estate and achieved $13,530 ($3/5,000).
Topping the British & Continental sale at $24,600 was “L’Homme a la nature morte” by Fernand Léger, circa 1937, 12-5/8 by 15½ inches (paper) ($30/50,000).