Newtown Home Yields

$20,000 Carved Eagle Folk Art Find

The carved and paint-decorated eagle had been appraised by an antiques dealer as worth $100 or less. But Jack DeStories, owner of Fairfield Auction in Newtown, knew otherwise. He encouraged the owners to sell it at auction.

On Saturday evening, June 29, the 26-inch carving fetched $20,750.

This was no ordinary eagle; it was the work of American wood carver John Haley Bellamy (1836-1914), who may be the country’s best-known carver. Bellamy carved figures for ships and buildings around Kittery, Maine, in the late 19th Century and is particularly well known for his carved eagles. He worked as a ship carver at Boston and Portsmouth Navy yards, where he carved the huge eagle figurehead for the USS Lancaster, now at The Mariner’s Museum. Many of his works now reside in museums and few are offered for sale.

The eagle originally was purchased by the consignor’s grandmother while summering in Kennebunkport about 1880 and later resided at her mother’s home, the Stauffen-Childs mansion in Greenwich, before passing to the consignor.

The 26-inch eagle was discovered in a Newtown home in May during a visit  to discuss other potential consignments.

“They had been told by an antiques dealer [that] it was worth no more than $100, but I assured them they were looking at thousands [of dollars],” Mr DeStories said. “Although the carving was unsigned, it bore all the hallmark characteristics of a Bellamy … and it was superb!”

 “Once our advertisements and brochures were released, calls came in from all over the country,” said Mr DeStories.

On auction day, five phone bidders stood ready as the eagle came to the block as Lot 17. Opening at $2,000, bidding alternated between various telephone bidders and a single bidder on the floor before finally selling to the nation’s preeminent folk art dealer David Wheatcroft, who was bidding by telephone.

With the 15 percent buyer’s premium, the total price of the Bellamy eagle was $20,700.

The July 29 auction was well attended, with bidders present from four states and absentee bids from several others. The sale was preceded by a five-hour preview with 186 bidders registered. Prices quoted do not include the 15 percent buyer’s premium.

This isn’t Fairfield Auction’s only great find in Newtown. Last September Mr DeStories found a native American war club which also shocked and delighted its consignor after selling for $36,000 at auction.

“These things don’t surface every day, but they are out there,” Mr DeStories said. “The important thing is to recognize great pieces and promote them properly.”

Also of interest on June 29 was a collection of KPM painted porcelain plaques, which generated, according to Mr DeStories, as many as 40 separate inquiries prior to the sale. A 10 by 16-inch plaque depicting two lovers on a gondola guided by a cherub was the popular favorite and several bidders were determined to own it. After extended bidding it sold on the phone at $13,000.

Another plaque depicting a religious scene, measuring almost 20 by 17 inches, was acquired by a collector for $11,500. Four other smaller plaques sold between $1,300 and $2,600 each.

Also going under the gavel was a Tobey Furniture Company tall case clock, circa 1890 with marquetry case and Elliot works, which earned a top bid of $7,500; a set of seven Windsor rod-back chairs, $3,250; an English Chippendale-style secretaire, circa 1880, $2,800; a Regency dumbwaiter with drop sides, $950; a Lucias Rossi watercolor of a courting couple outside palace gates, $1,900; a Cartier 18k gold flower pin with rubies, $900; a Regency tortoise shell tea caddy, $750; and a pair of large Elkington sterling footed trays, $1,500 and $1,050.

Fairfield Auction’s next event will be an antiques appraisal clinic. Mr DeStories and other experts from Fairfield Auction will be at Kent Specialty Care Facility on Saturday, July 20, from 11 am to 2 pm. (Mr DeStories has conducted similar events in the past to benefit The Leukemia Society, Newtown Historical Society, and St Rose Church of Newtown, among others.)

Treasures will be evaluated for a cost of $5 per item, with all proceeds going directly to the center’s residents. The event will be held in Kent at 46 Maple Street.

Fairfield Auction is located at 53 Church Hill Road in Newtown and conducts antiques auctions eight times a year. Its next auction is scheduled for September 14. The business can be reached at 364-1555 or at www.FairfieldAuction.com.