Jeffrey S. Evans Americana sale Nov. 10 has array of stars
Important pair of Tidewater, Va., Chippendale cherry side chairs, circa 1770. Estimate: $6,000-$9,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.
MOUNT CRAWFORD, Va. – Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates will sell Americana and fine antiques from Virginia and the South on Saturday, Nov. 10. The 643-lot auction will begin at 9:30 a.m. EST. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The sale will featuring the collection of Sally and the late Stanley Greenbaum of Williamsburg, Va., and material descended in Shenandoah Valley families.
The sale is composed of an outstanding selection of rare Virginia and other Southern material, 18th and 19th century furniture, fine and decorative arts, outstanding folk pottery, important folk art, textiles including samplers, decoys, baskets and other country accessories, Southern coin and English silver, ceramics, select Virginia manuscript material and more.
The Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Fall Lecture Series will be held in conjunction with the auction. On Friday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m. the featured speaker will be Elizabeth A. “Betsy” Davison, independent decorative arts scholar and author of The Furniture of John Shearer, 1790-1820: A True North Britain in the Southern Backcountry. This lecture and book signing is open to the public and without charge.
The featured lot in the auction is an important Washington County, Md., walnut schrank, circa 1790, which has descended through seven generations of the Keiffer Funk family, Dry Spring Farm, just east of Hagerstown. The yellow pine and walnut schrank stands 91 inches high by 78 inches wide by 22 inches deep. The interior features shelves on the left side and an open compartment with pegs for hanging garments on the right side. It survives in a remarkable state of preservation and retains its original brass H-hinges and drop-bail drawer pulls, turned feet and an excellent old dry surface that is possibly original. It has an estimate of $30,000-$50,000.
A photograph of this schrank in an upstairs room at the Funk family homestead was part of an article on Dry Spring Farm published in the Aug. 6, 2000 issue of the Hagerstown newspaper Herald-Mail Sunday. The article was reprinted by Patricia Schooley in her 2002 publication, Architectural & Historic Treasures of Washington County, Maryland, on p. 126.
The identity of this schrank’s maker is not currently known, however, it exhibits architectural design elements (raised six-panel doors and double-ogee molded pilasters) and construction methods (wedged dovetails) that indicate it was produced by a local house joiner of German decent. The schrank’s cornice profile and manner in which it is fabricated is consistent with other pieces from the Washington County, Md., area.
Senior auctioneer and Southern decorative arts specialist Jeff Evans observed that schranks produced south of the Mason-Dixon Line are rare. “The fact that this example survives in its original condition is a testament to it descending in the same family for more than 200 years and residing in the same residence for at least 175 years,” he said.
Another rare item is a signed Fry and Davis, Woodstock, Va., walnut tall-case clock that stands 100 inches tall. Jacob Fry (d. 1814) and Caleb Davis (1769-1834) worked together from 1796 to around 1800. Only five or six clocks signed for this short-lived partnership are known, notes Evans. It has a $15,000-$25,000 estimate.
Among folk art highlights is a fine Augusta County, Va., baptismal fraktur for Johannes Haffner by Peter Bernhart, dated 1804. This 8-by-13-inch fraktur represents one of only two recorded uses of mermaids by Bernhart. It was included in the landmark exhibition “Southern Folk Art” at the Museum of American Folk Art in 1984. It is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.
Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Important Washington County, Md., walnut schrank, circa 1790. Estimate: $30,000-$50,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.
Rare signed Fry and Davis, Woodstock, Va., walnut tall-case clock. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.
Augusta Co., Va., baptismal fraktur for Johannes Haffner by Peter Bernhart, dated 1804, 8 inches by 13 inches. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.
Rare Shenandoah Valley of Virginia earthenware bear-form manganese-glazed inkstand in four parts, attributed to Anthony Bacher, Winchester, Va. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.
Russian school Czar Paul I portrait, oil on canvas, 18th/19th century, 28 1/2 by 23 1/2 inches, attributed to a follower of Dmitry Levitsky or Stepan Schukin. Estimate: $1,000-$1,500. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.
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