EAST DENNIS, Mass. — Eldred’s has announced a nearly 550-lot two-day Spring Sale for Thursday, April 4 and Friday, April 5. The sale includes a number of notable Americana lots, along with a 19th-century Thomas Sully portrait and desirable vintage clocks. The catalogs are now available for review and bidding at LiveAuctioneers.
The leading Day 1 lot is a 1967 Lotus Elan convertible with an odometer showing in excess of 64,000 miles. Eldred’s notes it is largely original, but has had a replacement frame installed. As a coveted British sports car, it is estimated at $20,000-$25,000.
Estimated at $12,000-$15,000 is an interesting Americana lot consisting of a Hassam Brothers (Boston) Bowie knife and sketch book thought to have been the property of Albert I. Sands of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Sands served in the Union Army’s Massachusetts 38 Regiment, Company F during the Civil War, which saw action at the Battle of Point Hudson and other conflicts between 1862 and 1863. The sketch book contains numerous illustrations of battle scenes, one being described as ‘Charge of the Fire Zouaves at the Battle of Bull Run Sketched on the spot …’
In 1876, the United States celebrated its centennial. This flag from the period contains stars in the form of the numbers ‘1776 1876’ in the canton. With fading and some holes, the 28.25 by 45.25in fabric artifact carries a $4,000-$7,000 estimate.
Thomas Sully (1783-1872) was born in England but spent most of his life in Philadelphia, where he painted portraits of many early American subjects, including Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson. At the request of West Point Military Academy cadets, he created this painting of Jared Mansfield, professor of mathematics at West Point. Apparently there are three versions of this work: one at West Point, one at Yale University, and this version, which Sully gave to Mansfield as a thank-you for introducing Sully to Thomas Jefferson, who became a close personal friend. The painting descended within the Mansfield family and is estimated at $15,000-$25,000.
Final highlights include a French Industry clock in the form of a windmill, estimated at $3,500-$5,000, and a Lemuel Curtis banjo clock with a door depicting Lake Erie, a War of 1812 naval battle, and a shield. It is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
