Date: Fri 05-Feb-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: LAURAB

Quick Words:

Knotty-Pine-Jackman

Full Text:

Confederate Coat Leads Knotty Pine Auction

(with 25 cuts)

By Bob Jackman

WEST SWANZEY, N.H. -- Saturday, January 2 in Swanzey was one of those days

when it was too cold to snow. A group of dealers attending Knotty Pine

Auctions' two-day, New Year's Weekend sale gathered in the firm's snack bar

and asked a local lad what the temperature had been that morning.

"I'm sorry, I don't really know," he replied. "Our thermometer gets stuck at

minus twenty, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as cold as minus thirty."

Inside the gallery, however, it was toasty warm, and the overlooking snack bar

offered a wide sampling of Joan Pappas's home cooked entrees, deserts, soups,

and muffins at 1960s prices. Needless to say, most of the audience made

several visits, and some chose to bid from lunch tables. Saturday's crowd was

drawn from across the Eastern half of the nation; Sunday's sale offered

general antiques with an emphasis upon Americana.

Offerings centered around a collection of Civil War antiques. During the

preview and at the start of the auction, Michael Pappas announced that his

firm did not have expertise in that area and that their attributions were

based upon the descriptions provided by the consignor. He also stated that the

consignor came from outside New England and wished to remain anonymous.

The sale's top lot was a Confederate officer's grey frock coat with red collar

and cuffs, worn by a first lieutenant from Georgia, which sold for $16,500 to

a phone bidder.

The coat was underbid by Civil War antiques dealer Dave Robinson of Sunapee,

N.H. "It was a rare coat because it was an officer's coat, and fewer of those

were made," he related. "Any Confederate uniform is rare and expensive. Since

this was a Confederate officer's coat, it was particularly expensive."

Collectors, reenactment buffs, and dealers drove the prices for Civil War

uniforms high. A shell jacket made by Scovillsa and Company and worn in the

Union artillery brought a handsome $2,090. Even post-Civil War was in vogue,

with a 1870's Confederate States calvary artillery shell jacket drawing a

$1,100 bid.

Another lot which stirred great interest was a huge, 74-by-59-inch flag with

13 stars, which ultimately sold to a phone bidder for $11,000. It was underbid

by a Connecticut collector in the audience, who stated, "I've gradually

settled into folk art related to American history. This was a very carefully

made folk art flag; it is the `sine qua non' that I've always wanted. The

colors are beautiful and the moth holes give it character."

Flag specialist Ken Kohn, of Elkins Park, Pa., added, "This flag is from the

first quarter of the Nineteenth Century. Since the selvage around the edge is

intact, we know that it originally had 14 stripes, which is rather unusual.

[In most cases,] the stars on American flags have five points, and the use of

six points here indicates the maker likely had a European origin. This flag

was homemade and particularly well done."

One item whose attribution was questioned by dealers in the audience was a

drum said to have been used by the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont during the

Revolutionary War (it appeared to this writer that the drum's nails were 1830

factory examples). The drum was won by a Massachusetts collector for $9,075,

who stated, "Often the items that sell for the highest prices in an auction

are actually the best buys."

Although Saturday had been too cold to snow, Sunday was not. By 8:15 am, the

temperature had risen to 20 degrees, but with that came heavy snow and howling

winds. Since the weather was not terrible at the opening, a decision was made

to go forward, and soon phones were busier than those on any television

shopping channel. Most enthusiasts who had previewed the auction over the four

previous days reported treacherous roads to the south and forecasts for snow

changing to ice in the local mountains. The staff scrambled to receive and

book new absentee bids. At 11 am, the auction opened and no further absentee

bids were accepted.

About 70 people attended Sunday's auction, but that included some 55

aggressive bidders. Those participants, along with phone and absentee bidders,

made the auction a success.

Top lot for that day was Chippendale bow front chest with ball and claw feet,

which sold for $7,150. A large 1915 Paul Jones whiskey advertising sign sold

for $825. A large burl bowl went for $1,128. Topping the ceramic field was a

75-piece flow mulberry set, in the Washington vase pattern, which sold for

$3,410.

Sixty doorstops provided a strong pull for specialized collectors and dealers,

prices ranging from $50 to $500. Among those was a cast iron figure of a lady

looking into a mirror. A candle socket had been placed onto the item, but a

few sharp dealers recognized that it was actually a stringholder. That lot

went to a Pennsylvania dealer for $1,100.

Knotty Pine auctions are a partnership between John Pappas, a graduate of AIC,

and Michael Pappas, a graduate of the University of Tampa. Their New Year's

auction is the main event among the eight sales they conduct annually.

Having grown up with a grandmother and mother who dealt in early Americana,

this area has been the anchor of their business. However, they are branching

into both the Arts and Crafts Movement and some European smalls. While there

are no catalogs, sales are listed with a typeface large enough to be read

without bifocals. Lots are sold in numerical sequence. A four-day preview

period generates a thick book of absentee bids and a long list of phone

bidders.

Prices quoted reflect a buyers premium.