AMESBURY, Mass. – John McInnis Auctioneers will conduct a three-session auction over the Memorial Day weekend featuring an immense array of items from prominent estates in the Boston area, including the Hoes family, direct descendants of President James Monroe.
Session I, on Saturday, May 28, starting at 4 p.m. Eastern time, will feature vintage clocks and pocket watches, including French, English and American examples, and an outstanding collection of model steam engines.
Session II, the following day, starting at 11 a.m., will be an important sale of high-quality items, many of them fine decorative arts and merchandise from the Belle Epoque – the French phrase meaning “beautiful era,” which was a golden age from around 1870-1914, when Europe, especially Paris, was brimming with optimism and artistic expression.
Lots from the session will feature an Art Deco Cartier French 18K gold case with engine turned decoration and a sapphire clasp, hallmarked with an eagle’s head and maker’s mark, with a presale estimate of $5,000-$6,000; and a circa 1920 Louis Vuitton steamer trunk, with the original key and a hinged lid opening to the original lift-out tray, estimated at $2,000-$4,000.
Session III, on Monday, May 30, starting at 10 a.m., will be an old-fashioned country Americana auction, featuring something for nearly every budget. Items will include fine country primitives, folk art, paintings, glass, period furniture, rugs, advertising and Americana.
Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
A choice timepiece in the opening session is a French Louis XVI Lerolle Freres shelf clock (below) boasting white marble with ormolu mount, an onyx urn, swags of fruit, ropes of leaves and other decorations, estimated at $3,000-$4,000.
A wonderful example from the model steam engines category is the finely detailed and well engineered 1/8 scale mechanical model of a Case traction engine (below). The model was built by Arnold E. Thompson (1931-2010), a master machinist and passionate boat and train builder from Marblehead, Mass. It is expected to turn $4,000-$6,000.
Session II will include a pair of 18th or 19th century Chinese carved jade table screens. Each panel is 5 inches by 6 inches; both are mounted on hardwood stands. The lot should reach $5,000-$10,000.
Certainly the oldest item in Session II is a framed 15th century watercolor and gouache on vellum painting, titled The Ascension. The painting’s provenance is impressive: it was once owned by James Howard Bridge, the first curator of the Frick Museum and consigned through his family. It is estimated to sell for $4,000-$6,000.
Session III is a celebration of Americana, from a Gustav Stickley bride’s chest to a late 18th century carved eagle by Joseph Wilson of Newburyport, Mass.
A White House dinner invitation, dated 1802 and written in then-President Thomas Jefferson’s own hand. It is addressed to Nathan Read (1759-1849), a Congressman and inventor of the first true high-pressure steam engine. The invitation should bring $1,000-$2,000.
An early and important glazed stoneware vase (below), beautifully executed by Ed and Mary Scheier, 14 3/4 inches tall and with a central band of figures depicting birth or entrapment, carries a presale estimate of $5,000-$8,000.
The Gustav Stickley quartersawn oak bride’s chest (below), made around 1902 and featuring hand-hammered copper hardware, with an old original deep brown patina finish, 25 inches by 41 1/4 inches, is estimated at $7,000-$10,000.
A pair of “Patchwork” stools, made with three distressed metals in 1974 by Paul Evans (1931-1987), with the original upholstery, should rise to $3,000-$5,000.
A maritime oil on canvas painting by Marshall Johnson, Jr. (1850-1921), titled Crossing the T / USS Constitution at Sail, 30 inches by 40 inches, signed and framed, should change hands for $4,000-$6,000; while a rare, 1930s-era horse form parade velocipede, with a horse’s head that bobs as the off-set rear wheels produce a galloping effect, is estimated to fetch $1,500-$2,500.
For details contact John McInnis Auctioneers at 978-388-0400 or email mcinnisauctions@yahoo.com.
