A quality selection from top estates at Pook & Pook, Apr. 24-25

A varied selection from Pook & Pook’s April 24-25 auction of Period Furniture, Fine Art and Decorative Accessories. Image courtesy Pook & Pook.

DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. – On April 24-25, 2009, Pook & Pook Inc. will present its spring catalog auction. The sale will encompass a myriad of objects to include fine art, Russian enamels and accessories, important American silver, American and Continental furniture, carpets, textiles and decorative accessories. More than 750 lots will be offered over the two days of the sale, with Internet live bidding through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

The sale begins at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday night with 84 lots of fine art. Items deaccessioned from the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village include a landscape titled Tumbling Run Valley, Pottsville by Edmund Darch Lewis, a watercolor portrait by Nicholas Huet, an oil on board New England coastal scene by Winckworth Allan Gay, and an oil-on-canvas landscape depicting a naval engagement between French and English frigates.

The Reading, Pa., estate of Myrtle Quier offers works by Christopher High Shearer, Ralph Dunkelberger, and Francis Hopkinson Smith. Other paintings include an oil-on-canvas portrait of mother and five children by George de Forest Brush, a California landscape by Cornelius Botke, an oil on canvas of hen and 13 chicks by Reading artist Ben Austrian, a New York winter scene by Johann Berthelsen, and a coastal scene of the HMS Victory by British artist George Webster. An unusual subject for William Aiken Walker, a still life with fish will attract bidders.

The sale will continue with a stunning array of Russian enamels from a Main Line Philadelphia collection. Swans, eagles, plein-air scenes, elaborate flowers and trailing vines, are just some of the many fanciful decorations on the pieces. A chalice and cover, circa 1900, bearing the maker’s mark of Feodor Ruckert, has a double-headed eagle finial and teardrop-form panels (est. $8,000-$12,000). A silver and enamel tankard with panels depicting various animals bears the mark of M. Ovchinnikov (Est. $5,000-$10,000). A silver, enamel and cabochon inlaid egg on stand are decorated with three landscapes and a gilt interior (Est. $4,000-$6,000). Other important pieces include goblets, kovshes, a tea caddy, perfumes, cruets and eggs.

An item of historical interest is a Russian Karelian birch presentation cigarette case, inlaid with a German nautical flag and a cabochon emerald thumb piece set in gold, the interior inscribed “From Charlotte to Charlie Sept. 1902” (Princess Margaret of Connaught to Prince Charles Edward).

Also of historical interest is a Royal Hapsburg presentation collection to include a faience pitcher and cover and two pewter beakers. The pitcher was given by Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and the beakers were presented by Emperor Fray Joseph and Empress Elizabeth in 1893. Each piece bears the royal coat of arms.

From a Huntingdon Valley (Philadelphia) estate and the Estate of Myrtle Quier comes a fine selection of American and European silver. An important Carlisle, Pa., 4-piece tea service, circa 1800, bearing the touch of George Hendel highlights this category.

Hollowware pieces by Hendel are exceedingly rare, with only one other intact tea service known – the one now residing in the collection of the Cumberland County Historical Society (Est. $40,000-$60,000).

A rare New York lighthouse form silver teapot, circa 1730, by Jacob Marius Groen, is sure to attract attention from collectors (Est. $12,000-$18,000). Boston pieces by John Coney include a tankard and a porringer. Other pieces include a Philadelphia creamers by Joseph Richardson Jr. and John McMullin, a pair of sauceboats by Thomas Fletcher, a Baltimore covered sugar urn by Liberty Browne, a Baltimore teapot by Andrew Warner, and a Boston cann bearing the touch of Jacob Hurd.

A rare “History of the Revolution” silver medal will garner much interest. Designed by Joseph Sansom and engraved by John Reich, Philadelphia in 1805, it retains its original silver case stamped B & S.

Eleven tall-case clocks will cross the block during the Saturday session, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on April 25. A Berks County, Pa., walnut tall clock by George Grim, Orwigsburg, has a broken-arch bonnet and 8-day works (Est. $15,000-$20,000). Illustrated in Pennsylvania Clockmakers, Watchmakers, and Allied Crafts, a Chippendale apple wood tall clock by Peter Gift, Kutztown, Pa., will be sought after.

An extremely rare Simon Willard regulator banjo clock with a sweep second hand and painted dial will be sold (Est. $18,000-$25,000). This clock is pictured in Sack’s reference Good, Better, Best, page 135. A Federal walnut clock from the Estate of Myrtle Quier, has a castle-top bonnet with eagle inlay and is signed Daniel Oyster, Reading.

Several tall clocks are from the estate of Dr. John William Boor, including a fine Chester County, Pa., Chippendale cherry example by Isaac Chandlee; and Bucks County, Pa., walnut clock with brass face by Benjamin Morris. Several items from the Boor estate are illustrated in his book Philadelphia Empire Furniture, published in 2006, and researched by Boor and his four children. Dr. Boor and his daughter Allison were co-curators of the Philadelphia Antiques Show’s exhibition titled Philadelphia Empire Furniture: Bold, Brash and Beautiful.

Additional important items from Dr. Boor’s estate include classical Philadelphia and Baltimore mahogany center tables, a Philadelphia classical mahogany secretary and mahogany Pembroke table, and a Chester County, Pa., Chippendale walnut Octorara tall chest.

Included in the sale are many items from the estate of well-known Pennsylvania dealer and collector, Meredith Schuibbeo. From his collection comes a wide variety of painted furniture and folk art accessories. Two Lancaster County, Pennsylvania schranks will be offered, one with raised-panel doors and rattail hinges (Est. $5,000-$10,000), one being a painted example with bracket feet (Est. $8,000-$12,000). Twelve Windsor chairs, mostly from Lancaster, are included, plus several child’s Windsor chairs. Also in his collection are examples of redware including a Mumbouer sgraffito plate, early baskets, wallpaper boxes, chalkware, fraktur, several dower chests, cupboards, trade signs and tables.

A central Pennsylvania painted pine dower chest dated 1822, probably York or Dauphin County, initialed CH, the lift lid decorated with two yellow and red philflots, above a case with two arched panels and crescent moons supported by straight bracket feet, is estimated at $15,000-$25,000.

Consigned by a Pennsylvania educational institution is a set of six Southern mahogany dining chairs, circa 1775, probably Virginia, each with a scalloped crest and pierced splat, above a trapezoidal slip seat supported by square legs, with juniper rear-seat rail and cedrela corner blocks (Est. $8,000-$12,000).

Another important furniture offering is a massive 17th-century French oak refectory table, measuring 186 inches long. It was purchased from an abbey in France by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation (Est. $20,000-$30,000).

Many items in the accessory category will draw interest from collectors and dealers alike. An important pair of circa-1790 Philadelphia Federal brass andirons attributed to Daniel King, with cabriole legs and ball and claw feet, stands 27½ inches high (Est. $10,000-$15,000). An imposing carved and painted figure of Abraham Lincoln was carved in the early 20th century, while another carving of interest is a painted-pine figure of a black butler (Est. $8,000-$12,000).

A superb Qing Dynasty carved pale celadon green jade Mughal-style low circular bowl, 18th century, the interior with a blossom surrounded by panels, the exterior sides with scrolling tendrils, will be sold (Est. $20,000-$40,000). This piece was from the collection of John Jakob Raskob, the New York financier who founded GMAC and was the builder of the Empire State Building.

A German-made flintlock pistol of American interest will be offered. The elaborately scalloped brass side plate is engraved P. Muhlenberg (Est. $10,000-$15,000). An unusual 5-color rainbow spatter platter is a highlight (Est. $8,000-$12,000). Textiles of interest include several Lancaster County friendship quilts from various families, room-size Kashan carpets, hooked rugs, Navajo rugs and samplers.

To view the fully illustrated catalog online or to sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the auction, log on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com. For further information on any lot in the sale, tel. Pook & Pook at 610-269-4040. Visit their Web site at www.pookandpook.com.