For 12/24

Slug: Americana At Christie’s Jan. 20-21

#613676

TG – 2 cut

 

NEW YORK CITY — Two exceptional works of art, the only documented piece of furniture by Thomas Townsend and one of the most important marble top pier tables from New York, will lead Christie’s Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver and Prints sale on January 20–21.

Boasting an impeccable provenance, the Townsend bonnet top chest-on-chest comes from the estate of Robert David Lion Gardiner, a scion of one of the oldest and most important New York families. The circa 1772 Chippendale mahogany bonnet top chest-on-chest, Newport, R.I.,  estimated at $500/800,000, is the only known documented piece of furniture made by Thomas Townsend. In addition, the chest also bears the ink inscription, “Nicholas Easton 1772,” on the top of the lower case. Easton was a cabinetmaker and may have signed the case while working as a journeyman in Townsend’s shop.

Equally impressive is the extremely rare New York marble top pier table. Very few marble top tables have survived from Colonial America and the present example, the Cortelyou family Chippendale carved mahogany marble top pier table, 1750–1770, estimated at $800,000/1.2 million, is not only an exceptional example from New York but also the most developed form to survive from the area.

Other furniture highlights include a 1755–1765 Chippendale carved mahogany easy chair, Philadelphia, ($600/900,000); a 1740–1760 distinguished Queen Anne mahogany tray top tea table from Boston, ($400/600,000), one of the most sophisticated American examples of the tray top form with an addition of a drawer; and a Federal painted and figured maple work table, 1800–1810 ($120/180,000).

Christie’s strong offering of American Folk Art will be highlighted by a selection of delightful pictures. A watercolor on silk titled “Aurora,” by Ruth Downer ($250/350,000), is a beautiful and meticulously rendered work in a bold and colorful design and demonstrates the sophistication, skill and education of young women in early Nineteenth Century New England.

Some very rare portraits titled “A Group of Family Portraits,” by William Matthew Prior, circa 1840 ($100/$150,000), will also be offered. Similar in style is George Hartwell’s handsome “Pair of Portraits of a Gentleman and a Lady,” circa 1840 ($30/50,000).

A menagerie of carved and painted carousel animals will highlight the sale including a rare and charming elephant by Charles Looff, circa 1885 ($40/60,000); a stander horse by Daniel C. Muller, circa 1927 ($70/100,000); and a giraffe by Gustave and William Denzel, circa 1910 ($30/50,000). Other animal figures in the sale are a pair of carved and polychromed wood parrots by the trader Wilhelm Schimmel, Southeastern, Penn., 1865–1890 ($12/$18,000).

An allegory of liberty, highly popularized during the formation of the new American nation, is shown on a watercolor, silk and chenille on silk needlework picture, 1805-1810 ($30/50,000), possibly by Sarah Wheeler of the Abby Wright School, South Hadley, Mass. James Bard, a marine artist who painted steamboats traveling the Hudson River and surrounding waters of Manhattan, will be included in the sale with “Brother Jonathan,”, circa 1851 ($150/$200,000).

A nice grouping of weathervanes will highlight the sale and includes an early Twentieth Century copper Indian mermaid weathervane, ($18/22,000), and a copper and zinc peacock weathervane, late Nineteenth Century ($30/$50,000).

The mocha ware sale features more than 100 examples assembled by devoted collectors Charles and Gloria Mandelstam over the past 35 years. This collection includes both English and French examples in a variety of shapes, colors and patterns, including a rare double jug circa 1830–1840, one of only six known examples ($15/25,000) and a selection of blue and green banded tavern mugs and jugs with estimates ranging from $500 to $3,000.

Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver and Prints auctions will be held January 20 at 2 pm and January 21 at 10 am and 2 pm. Open viewing will be at Christie’s Galleries at Rockefeller Center January 15–19. Additional information about Christie’s Americana sale can be found on Christies.com.