Date: Fri 28-Aug-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

Garths

Full Text:

Garth's Auctions Early American Furniture And Accessories

w/9 cuts

DELAWARE, OHIO -- A Pennsylvania Queen Anne tavern table sold for $27,500 at

Garth's Auctions' August 1 sale of the collections of the late Col Stephen A.

Ucherek and Eugenia R. Ucherek of Downers Grove, Ill., and the late Vivian

Young, a St Louis collector and dealer.

Glass canes and batons from the collection of Elaine Goldman of Terre Haute,

Ind., also were sold, including a blue and maroon twisted baton that was 87

inches -- that's over seven feet -- long. Garth's has sold many glass canes

over the years, owner Tom Porter told the audience, "but he never had one this

large." The clear blown baton sold for $220.

The tavern table, in walnut with old finish, had two dovetailed overlapping

drawers, a removable one-board top, and was completely original down to the

brasses and the pins that held the top. (One of those three pins was missing.)

The table was among several stand-out furniture pieces at a one-day auction

that began with the sale of over 30 Oriental rugs. A 6'3" by 7'8" Kazak with

trees started off the sale for $3,575. When a large Luristan failed to get an

immediate bid, Porter asked if the rug was worn. Garth's employee Rodger

Harvey, who was standing by the rug, said it was. "Then it's a nice rug for a

big dog," Porter said without missing a beat. The rug sold for $110 to a

bidder who may or may not be a dog owner.

A Queen Anne dressing table, also in walnut with old finish, had two

dovetailed overlapping drawers and period brasses. (One was repaired and

incomplete.) It sold for $7,700. A transitional Chippendale to Hepplewhite

table, also in walnut, had square legs, an "H" stretcher, a beaded edge apron

and a one-board top. Delicately beautiful, the table sold for $8,250.

A Chippendale chest on chest in cherry had bracket feet with a scalloped

apron, dovetailed cases, nine dovetailed overlapping drawers, and old brasses

in the original holes, sold for $13,200, while a country Hepplewhite stand in

birch with old red, found in Maine, ex Samaha, sold for $4,180.

A Hepplewhite two-piece secretary with a slant front lid, pigeon holes, and

ten dovetailed drawers had a removable cornice with high goosenecks and turned

finials that gave it an air of graceful beauty. It sold for $20,900.

Other furniture highlights included a Pennsylvania grandfather clock for

$4,950; a New Hampshire Queen Anne armchair in hardwood with old black

repaint, $4,125; a country Queen Anne work table with a maple base, $4,125; a

Hepplewhite one-piece corner cupboard in refinished cherry, $3,300; a country

two-piece wall cupboard, one of Vivian Young's pieces, $2,530; and an early

joint stool, in oak with old finish, $990.

Among the smaller items was a wallpaper-covered band box showing a scene of

the "Castle Garden" in red, brown, white, and green on a blue ground. Signed

in ink "Joel Post," the box sold for $3,300; Catherine Farquar's 1836 sampler

brought $550.

A mocha pitcher with a molded spout and a leaf handle, orange, blue, green,

and brown, sold for $1,265; a large tin cookie cutter in the shape of a woman

wearing a long dress and a hat, $522.50; a cookie cutter of a man with a pipe

and frock coat; a woven splint buttocks basket, ex John Long, had the penciled

inscription "Mrs W.A. Brown -- clung, V --," and sold for $1,430; a smoothing

board, chip carved with a horse handle, was dated "1787," $1,155; and a

Chippendale tea caddy in mahogany had its original brass bale handle, bracket

feet, and a dovetailed case. "That says `hi' to you," Porter remarked. It also

said "Take me home" to the bidder who bought it for $1,650.

Several early lighting pieces were offered, including a wrought iron lighting

stand with an adjustable betty lamp and a candle socket on a rod, $1,045; and

a wrought iron hanging grease lamp, $302.50. A brass student lamp with

two-tone gilding had a tole shade with original red paint and stenciled

decoration and sold for $2,530. An early candlestick, described in the

catalogue as Dutch, could possibly be English, said apprentice auctioneer Jeff

Jeffers, who also called it "a great-looking piece." The candlestick sold for

$3,520.

A number of Canton pieces were offered -- and snapped up -- during the day. A

blue and white Canton tureen with boar's head handles sold for $935; a blue

and white Canton platter featuring a scene with a tree and a well was

18«-inches long for $742.50.

A Staffordshire platter with the dark blue transfer "New Jersey" sold for

$1,925; a delft polychrome plate with portraits of a regal couple was marked

"FSW=PVOR," $770; and a delft polychrome bowl with floral decoration, $1,705.

Among several paintings sold was a 1976 signed watercolor on paper of a

household auction at a Pennsylvania German farm. The artist, Hattie K. Brunner

of Reinholtz, Pa., was "quite a character," Porter said. The price of the

painting climbed -- "What do you think, Hattie?" Porter said in an aside --

and ended, finally, at $3,905. "What would Hattie say?" Porter asked his wife,

Garth's co-owner Carolyn Porter. "`Have a pretzel,'" answered Carolyn. Hattie

used to offer stale pretzels to the visitors to her shop.

The successful buyer, questioned later, said he came to the sale from Maryland

on the strength of the pre-sale estimate of $250/300. He was hoping for a

bargain, said the buyer, who declined to give his name. The price of the

painting "wasn't a steal," he said, but he was pleased to add it to his

collection of "a few" Brunners. "There are no steals anymore," he said

cheerfully enough.

Other notable items included a number of paintings on velvet by William Rank,

a Twentieth Century folk artist and a student of Ellinger. A crowing rooster

sold for $577.50, as did a cornucopia with fruit and a bird; and a landscape

with a horse and buggy brought $467.50.

A transitional period Navajo rug was one of several Native American pieces

sold. The 1910 rug had diamonds and other designs in dark red and brown on a

gray ground. The rug sold for $605. An Eastern Woodlands Iroquois hat made of

four black velvet panels with beading brought $660; and a pair of Cheyenne

moccasins sold for $605.

As usual, the sale was speckled with amusing asides and brief, entertaining

digressions. When an Oriental leather covered wood trunk was presented, it had

an interesting rattle. "We're not going to tell you what's inside until you

buy it," Porter told the audience. The trunk sold for $275; only the buyer

knows its contents.

MIDDLETOWN, CONN. -- The Middletown Chapter of HADASSAH will present its 27th

annual craft fair on Sunday, September 13. The fair will be from 10 am to 4

pm, rain or shine, on Main Street, between Court Street and Old Church Street

in Middletown. There will be 120 craftspeople exhibiting, with a large range

of crafts.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. -- American Decorative Arts Forum lecture on Tuesday,

October 13, 8 pm, will be on Saarinen, Eames, & Venturi: Three Generations of

American Design," by R. Craig Miller of The Denver Art Museum. This lecture

will focus on three of the most famous husband/wife design teams of the

Twentieth Century.