DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. – Pook & Pook Inc. will launch its fall catalog season with an 830+ lot sale on Oct. 2-3 featuring items from estates and educational institutions, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Woodmere Art Museum, Washington County Maryland Historical Society, the Pennsylvania estates of Walter Bott Loucks Jr., Richard Wright and Nicholas Muhlenberg; and the New Jersey estates of Catherine Nicholson and Myra Godley, to name a few. The Friday, Oct. 2 session commences at 6 p.m. Eastern Time and continues on Saturday, Oct. 3 with a starting time of 10 a.m. Internet live bidding will be provided by www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Friday evening’s offering will begin with Oriental room-size carpets and throw rugs. A fine Serape, ca. 1900 with a large blue center medallion on a red field (est. $12-18,000) is one of the featured items. Other rugs include a Mahal with tree of life design, a large Agra with floral pattern and two silk carpets deaccessioned from the Woodmere Art Museum.
The estate of Walter Bott Loucks Jr. continues the Friday evening items. A rare New Brunswick, N.J., Chippendale walnut linen press with the label of Matthew Edgerton Junior (est. $15-30,000) will be an fine addition to someone’s collection, as will a stunning Montgomery County, Pa., Queen Anne tall clock by Jacob Godschalk (est. $20-30,000). The clock has a sarcophagus bonnet with gilt flame finials enclosing an 8-day engraved brass face works with name boss.
One of the furniture highlights from the Loucks estate is an exceptional Philadelphia Federal satinwood veneered mahogany games table, ca. 1795 (est. $30-$60,000). The skirt with its highly figured veneers inlaid with astragals, its delicate tapering legs with inlaid panels and tapering bellflowers make this table a bold statement.
A pair of oil on canvas over mantel landscapes by James Ross (British, ca. 1735), an enchanting portrait of a young girl holding a bird in her finger, and a pair of China trade oil on canvas courtyard scenes represent some of the fine paintings of Mr. Loucks. Other items of note include a Chinese enamel 6-piece tea service, early 19th century made for the European market (est. $5-10,000), a Philadelphia Queen Anne candle stand (est. $5-8,000), a wonderful English quillwork-framed looking glass (est. $8-12,000) and a New England William and Mary walnut veneer tall chest (est. $15-25,000).
The sale will continue with some exciting pieces of fine jewelry primarily from the Estate of Myrtle Quier of Reading, Pennsylvania. A diamond ring in a platinum setting containing a 6-carat marquise-cut diamond (est. $8-10,000) is sure to attract attention together with a fine diamond band with platinum filigree setting containing five old European cut diamonds. One of featured items will be a diamond and platinum bracelet, ca. 1930, with four large diamonds and twelve other center diamonds and 256 melee diamonds (est. $10-15,000).
The Friday session with conclude with a selection of decoys to include two miniatures by Ward Brothers, several from New Jersey makers and Mason Factory, and an early Virginia goose and swan.
A Confederate cavalry saber made by the Nashville Plow Works will lead the charge of edged weapons, followed by 90 lots of firearms. A sustained volley is anticipated as bidders shoot it out over 15 Winchester rifles, a fine Parker Brothers BH grade double-barrel shotgun, a pair of boxed English dueling pistols, several Civil War muskets and rifles as well as British flintlock pistols. A close-range battle will be fought over a Starr Army revolver, Manhattan percussion revolvers, 10 Colt revolvers, a pair of H. Aston percussion pistols with saddle holsters and a Henry Derringer pistol among others.
Saturday morning will begin with two fine Pennsylvania tall-case clocks. A York Chippendale walnut clock by Jacob Spangler has a broken arch bonnet and an 8-day painted dial works (est. $8-12,000), and the Philadelphia Chippendale walnut clock by George Miller of Germantown descended in the family of George Rittenhouse (est. $10-15,000).
The first section of a collection of historical blue Staffordshire continues the sale, including many American views, approximately 75 pieces. Several fine mocha ware groups will be sold, including a large bowl with earthworm decoration on an orange ground, a pitcher with seaweed decoration on a brown ground, a bowl with twig decoration on a black ground and a tankard with gray checkerboard design.
A feature in Saturday’s sale is an important Philadelphia silver coffee pot, ca. 1780, bearing the touch of Joseph and Nathaniel Richardson (est. $20-30,000). It has an elaborate engraved monogram for Mordecai and Hannah Lewis, double-bellied form, foliate spout and scrolled handle. Other silver objects include a Tiffany flatware service, a Boston tankard by Coney and several pieces by Hester Bateman including a teapot, a two-handled cup and a mug.
Another highlight is an important Wilmington Delaware mahogany desk and bookcase, ca. 1798 from the Thomas Robinson family, with its original bill of sale from the cabinetmaker Joseph Newlin (est. $25-45,000). This is one of three pieces by Newlin known, one in private hands and one at the Historical Society of Delaware. Several Philadelphia chairs are to be sold including three Delaware Valley Queen Anne walnut armchairs, a four shell Chippendale dining chair and a pair of Hepplewhite mahogany shield back dining chairs.
Other prominent furniture pieces include a Massachusetts Chippendale mahogany block front desk, ca. 1770, a Pennsylvania Chippendale walnut secretary desk and bookcase, a small Pennsylvania Chippendale slant front desk with bold ogee bracket feet, and a Bergen County, N.J., painted poplar Dutch cupboard.
A wide range of specialty items is incorporated into this sale. Four carousel figures will cross the block. These include an excellent giraffe attributed to Looff, with a carved saddle with the cantle having a bird terminal, scenic panels of swans and the majority of its original surface (est. $30-50,000); a circa-1910 polar bear, a zebra retaining an old surface, and a child’s duck gondola.
Two Native American tobacconist figures and a massive American painted-zinc spread-winged eagle originally from the Merritt Museum of Childhood will be offered. An exceptional pair of carved and painted female nudes, most likely ornaments for a theater organ carry an estimate of $20-40,000.
Items of a political nature are always of interest including a pair of bronze profile busts of George and Martha Washington in high relief by Edward A. Kretschman, probably made for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.
Another unusual item is an outstanding hand crafted copper weathervane of a Baldwin American type locomotive (est. $7-10,000), together with a rare Chinaman hitching post ($8-12,000).
Sure to interest many bidders is a Victorian carved-oak tall-case clock, late 19th century, attributed to R.J. Horner (est. $40-60,000). It has a nine-tube, three-weight movement with Whittington and Westminster chimes and the case is adorned with mermaids and griffins. A collection of early Halloween and Christmas candy containers and figures are to be offered, including jack-o-lanterns, belsnickles and nodders.
Several painted dower chests with be sold, including a Lehigh County, Pa., example with pointed star, philphlot and heart decoration on a stippled ground (est. $15-25,000); and a Berks County, Pa., example with white panels of potted flowers.
Jacob Maentel, the well-known folk portrait painter of Pennsylvania, is represented by an endearing watercolor depicting a young girl seated in a blue Windsor rocking chair holding a floral garland and seated under a tree with stone farm buildings in the background.
Also in the folk art category is an oil-on-poplar panel Peaceable Kingdom, after Edward Hicks, depicting William Penn making peace with the Indians and a child surrounded by wild animals. This scene appears to have been executed after Hicks painted an identical Peaceable Kingdom that is now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Rounding out the sale is a selection of chalkware, miniature furniture, spatter, gaudy Dutch, portraits, miniature portraits, stoneware, redware, fraktur, Georgian furniture, Chinese figures and furniture, etc.
For further information on any item in the sale, call Pook & Pook at 610-269-4040. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
