Date: Fri 09-Apr-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: LIZAM

Quick Words:

Olmstead

Full Text:

Olmstead Sells Untouched Estate

with 27 cuts

By Bob Jackman

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- On March 2, the antiques world focused upon the Frank

Jones Center, where Auctioneer Daniel Olmstead of Greenland, N.H., sold the

contents of Eleanor Batchelder's estate, which totaled $583,000.

Batchelder descended from Portsmouth and Newburyport families who had resided

locally for 250 years. The family resisted overtures from dealers such as

Joseph Grossman -- father of Hymie Grossman -- over the past 70 years, and

consequently the estate was a trove of fresh merchandise.

The lead lot was a local blockfront desk that sold for $170,500, won by

Hampton Falls, N.H. dealer Richard Kenney, with Washington, D.C. dealer Guy

Bush as the underbidder.

"In my opinion, [the desk] is from the Merrimac Valley-Newburyport region,

with a Boston influence," commented Kenney. "It's one of the better examples

of furniture from the Merrimac Valley. In this day and age, it is

unprecedented for a piece of this quality to become available from direct

descendants of the original family. The brasses were replaced, but otherwise

it is in very good condition, with an untouched surface. The interior has

seven shells, which is very unusual for a Boston-influenced blockfront."

His Newburyport attribution was echoed by Exeter, N.H. dealer Peter Sawyer,

who added, "It has the big Boston dovetail on the bottom, but there is an

additional board above the dovetail on the inside. That was an innovation

added after the style moved north. Originally it had wide bail brasses rather

than the earlier plate brasses used in Boston on blockfronts. It might be the

work of Abner Tappan of Newburyport."

Another extraordinary piece of furniture offered was a Portsmouth dressing

table in the Sheraton style that sold for $55,000. The profile of the top was

fundamentally rectangular with an elliptical front and serpentine sides. The

superbly preserved wood retained crisp details, and the cabinetmaker's skill

was evidenced by extremely sharp turnings and reeding on the legs.

Beneath a heavily crazed, mahogany tinted Victorian varnish, the original

surface was evident. When illuminated with spotlights, a band of inlay became

visible along the edge of the top, and figured panels became visible along the

facade. The facades were finely constructed with triple horizontal

laminations. An extra bottom board provided additional reinforcement.

An interesting, one-drawer stand had curly maple on all four sides. The curly

maple was fashioned from solid stock rather than the more common veneer. It

was supported by square tapered legs with a noticeable splay. Peter Sawyer won

the piece for $22,660.

Many chairs in the estate had been ended by two or three inches. These

included a lolling chair to which castors had been added. Chairs with these

distinctive arms had previously been attributed to the Newburyport workshop of

Joseph Short, but more recently have been give Portsmouth origins.

The arm support of this Federal-era chair had large terminals with

Chippendale-type form and surface carving, and retained its original linen

beneath a circa 1850 second upholstery. Bidding reached $15,950.

Dealer Ken Tuttle of Gardiner, Me., paid $46,200 for a set of six shield back

Federal chairs. At the base of each shield was a rising sun inlay from which

three slats sprouted. Each slat had a bulbous elliptical portion with inlay.

The chairs were in original surface and generally in very good condition.

There were a few breaks in the shields, but these were at junctions between

the back posts and low segment of the shields.

Four Chippendale mirrors with their original bezels and gilding were another

discovery in this estate. When the Olmstead crew went into the home, they

found these mirrors hung Victorian style -- with long cords hooked on nails

driven at the top of the walls.

Folk art attracted nationally prominent dealers such as Betty Berdan, Stephen

Score, and Pat Fulton. Deep areas included hooked rugs, quilts, baskets,

seashell encrusted frames, and other Victorian smalls.

Documents found in the home were a treasure trove for New Hampshire

historians. William Upton of Concord, an historian and decorative art

consultant, summarized, "I bought one box lot with early deeds, some as early

as 1714. I also got the military commission of Abraham Brown, which was signed

in 1743 by then New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth."

The Historical Society of Old Newbury underbid a strongbox from the Eastern

Stage Company that sold for $770. Later, society curator Jay S. Williamson

lamented, "We wanted it for the Cushing Museum. Given the family provenance,

we are pretty sure it was used at the Newburyport stop on the corner of State

Street and Thread Needle Alley. The Eastern Stage Company was founded in

Dover, N.H. Their route ran from Portsmouth to Boston between 1818-1838."

Amidst the expertise and competitiveness were highly specialized dealers who

swept their fields. One of those was Cambridge, Mass. button specialist Jane

Quimby, who stated, "I got all three boxes of buttons. There were some

wonderful [examples] in there."

Many members of the audience were happy to see Dan Olmstead handle such a

profitable estate. After college, Olmstead became a reading teacher in

Frankfort, Me., residing in Winterport. He recalled, "For a couple years, we

watched Chris McLean -- Betty Berdan's brother -- selling antiques and it

seemed attractive. We decided to take the plunge. We moved to New Hampshire in

1978 and went into the business full time."

"In addition to being dealers, we've been running several auctions a year

since the early 1980s," he continued. "We auction almost exclusively fresh

merchandise from houses. We usually have one Americana auction a year. This

year we have a Victorian sale. Last year we had a combined toy and ephemera

auction. I particularly like the discovery process of finding unanticipated

things. I enjoy the researching."

All prices quoted in this article include a ten percent buyer's premium.