Jeffrey S. Evans began the 758-lot sale at 9:30 a.m. and hammered down the final lot just short of nine hours later. Only five lots carried a “safety-net” reserve and all lots sold.
The Evans firm is renowned for handling important southern decorative arts, and Evans himself is one of the nation’s leading experts in material from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley region.
This proficiency was evidenced by the five highest-selling lots in this auction all being of Virginia origin and selling in excess of their estimates. The extensive research conducted by Evans and his staff further enhanced the desirability of these lots as each catalog description contained detailed notes, references and an all-important provenance.
The sale’s most coveted lot was an important pair of circa 1800 Shenandoah Valley of Virginia watercolor and ink birth records (lot 272) for Joseph Stover Spengler (1790-1876) and his sister Margaret Spengler (1799-1848), of Strasburg, Shenandoah County. One certificate was signed “H.D. pinxit et scripsit.” Evans’ research attributed the pair to Heinrich Diefenbach (1771-1837), a Reformed minister who worked in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley from roughly 1799 to 1802. Diefenbach’s journal indicates that he produced three birth certificates for the Kiracofe family of Augusta County in 1802; however, the whereabouts of those certificates is unknown, making the Spengler records the first and only works ascribed to Diefenbach. The roughly 9-inch by 7-inch records had descended uninterrupted through six generations of the Spengler family inShenandoah and Rockingham counties.
Jeff Evans discovered the birth records during an estate appraisal for a Spengler family descendent in the early 1980s. Evans related, “I have lusted for this pair since the first day I laid eyes on them nearly 30 years ago.” Evans further explained, “I really never suspected that they would leave the family, but they became too much of a burden on the current owner from a preservation standpoint. The records received interest from several Virginia museums; however, the final bidding came down to two Virginia collectors and Pennsylvania dealer Kelly Kinzle, all bidding in house, with Kinzle ultimately winning the pair for $103,500 (all prices include a 15 percent buyer’s premium), a record auction lot price for Virginia folk art watercolors.
Another hotly contested Shenandoah County object was a rare signed “Caleb Davis” Woodstock, Va., inlaid cherry tall-case clock (lot 352), dated 1804 and published on page 66 of The Clocks of Shenandoah by Philip Whitney. In researching the clock Evans discovered that it had descended in the Steel family of Newtown (now Stephens City) in southern Frederick County, Va., about 20 miles north of Woodstock. Mager Steele (born circa 1789) and his sons Mager Jr. (born circa 1843) and Milton (born circa 1845) were successful merchants in Newtown throughout much of the 19th century.
Mager Steele had likely purchased the clock secondhand or accepted it on trade around 1838 and it had stood in the Steele home on Main Street until the 1970s when a selection of the home’s contents were carted off to New York City and sold at a Sotheby’s Arcade auction. Jeff Evans voiced great pleasure in successfully reconnecting the Davis clock with its Steele family provenance and associated historical context within the Shenandoah Valley. He was also elated to report that the Newtown History Center of the Stone House Foundation in Stephens City, Va., had placed the winning bid of $37,375 for the stately timepiece and that it would soon be installed in the center’s museum along with other Steele-family objects.
The clock was consigned from the collection of Dr. Charles and Elizabeth Umstott of Newport News, Va., who were not aware of the clocks association with the Steele family.
Also from the Umstott collection was an outstanding Rockingham or Shenandoah County, Va., sampler wrought by Levinea Campbell in 1824 (lot 257) that measured 17 1/2 inches by 16 1/2 inches and was in exceptional condition. Representing the earliest known example from the distinctive New Market “Yellow House” group, it had been published on page 88 of In the Neatest Manner: The Making of the Virginia Sampler Tradition by Kim Ivey, and exhibited at Colonial Williamsburg in 1997 and the Art Museum of Western Virginia in 1999. After spirited bidding the sampler sold to an advanced Virginia collector, one of seven phone bidders, for $34,500. Evans now holds the record for the first and third most expensive Southern sampler sold at auction (see the firm’s July 25, 2009 auction, lot 120 for the most expensive example).
Two other Southern samplers also drew strong prices – a 17-inch by 17-inch Alabama example inscribed “Clarissa B. Henry, Mobile, May, 1833″ that was in fine condition and appeared to have never been framed, sold for $13,800, while a 20-inch by 19-inch Martinsburg, Va. (now West Virginia) example dated Sept. 12, 1823 and wrought by 10-year old Elizabeth A. Sommerville, daughter of Capt. William Sommerville (1756-1826), RevolutionaryWar veteran and later postmaster of Martinsburg, sold for $6,900. Its colors were still excellent, but it did exhibit some staining to the foundation and was in need of conservation. Both of these latter samplers were recently discovered in the North and shipped to Evans in Virginia for research and sale.
The highlight from more than 120 lots of American folk pottery in the auction was an important circa 1810 Valley of Virginia attributed slip-decorated 12-inch earthenware pitcher (lot 1), probably made in Wythe or Smyth County., or possibly Augusta County. From a Shenandoah Valley private collection, the previously unrecorded pitcher had been purchased at an on-site farm auction in Augusta County in the 1980s. The kaolin-clay body of the pitcher featured a lead glaze over a yellow slip wash decorated with a bold slipped and brushed copper and manganese triple-tulip and urn on the front flanked by a stylized flower-star and upright ferns, all above multiple horizontal rings above the base. Evans went into detail outlining specific design, form and construction elements that the pitcher had in common with previously recorded “Great Road” wares illustrated in Great Road Style by Betsy White and numerous Alamance County, N.C., products of the Loy family illustrated in Ceramics in America 2010.
Evans also commented, “From a broader context this pitcher’s tulip-and-urn decoration relates to a large group of paint-decorated blanket chests from Wythe County, Va., and a counterpane with a Wythe Co. association that is currently on exhibit at the Dewitt Wallace Museum in Colonial Williamsburg.” In response to the pitcher’s possible Augusta County origin, Evans explained, “The distinctive star-flower, vertical ferns, and straight and wavy horizontal rings above the base are losely related to designs commonly associated with North Carolina earthenware in the St. Asaph’s tradition. The fact that Martin Loy, patriarch of the celebrated Loy family of Alamance Co. potters resided in Augusta County during the third quarter of the 18th century would suggest a possible familial or enduring craft association with a yet to be discovered Augusta County potter. In addition kaolin clay is abundant in Augusta County.” The pitcher was free of chips or cracks but did exhibit some glaze exfoliation primarily around the base. Evans opened bidding on the lot at $2,100 with an absentee bid and the advances came methodically until a prominent Virginia collector bidding by phone was triumphant at $14,950.
The top lot among the furniture offerings was a fine circa 1775 Southside Virginia Chippendale walnut side chair (lot 355) that was nearly identical to the example in the Colonial Williamsburg collection illustrated on page 108 of Southern Furniture 1680-1830 by Ronald Hurst and Jonathan Prown. This example retained an outstanding historical surface and appropriate yellow pine slip-seat frame; it was consigned from a private collection and had been acquired from esteemed Maryland antiques dealer Milly McGehee. The chair’s classic grace and elegance and superb condition drew many suitors and in the end it sold to another Virginia collector bidding $17,250, possibly a record auction price for a Virginia side chair.
Another item of special note was a rare circa 1770 American silver dish cross (lot 439) marked for Thomas Shields (1743-1819) of Philadelphia, that descended in the Crenshaw family of Washington, D.C. One of only a handful of recorded 18th-century American dish crosses; it drew strong interest from private collectors and the trade, ultimately selling for $9,200.
A fine collection of Bennington and related pottery assembled by a Virginia man over the past 40 years also crossed the block. The top lot of this collection was a large-size – 10 3/4 inches high – flint-enamel book flask (lot 511) inscribed “Bennington Companion” on the spine and attributable to Lyman Fenton & Co., 1849-1858, which sold for $4,312.
More than 1,000 bidders participated in the auction from 25 different and the Evans staff had processed more than 9,000 bids for the single-day sale. Evans was upbeat after the auction and commented, “While there are still a large number of great bargains to be found in the current antiques market, especially in the furniture sector, we are encouraged by the steady increase in the number of bidders participating in our auctions. One of the big keys to our success is that we are able to secure desirable, fresh material for each auction, 99 percent of which is unreserved, and present it with very attractive presale estimates that reflect the current market trends.”
Asked to comment to the present state of the American auction market, Evans said, “Well-cataloged, regional material in good condition continues to sell for solid prices when it carries a conservative estimate. Today’s collectors seem to focus more on objects that display social or historical importance within a specific region or culture – relevance and context seem to be the new buzzwords of the American antiques market.”
The entire auction catalog with prices realized can be accessed at www.jeffreysevans.com. or www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates conducts monthly cataloged auctions in a wide range of categories, all of which are available for in-house, absentee and Internet live bidding. All events are held at the firm’s gallery at 2177 Green Valley Lane, Mount Crawford, VA 22841. Contact the auction house or check the firm’s website at www.jeffreysevans.com for additional information. Call (540) 434-3939 for additional information or email info@jeffreysevans.com.
Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
