Pook & Pook’s Oct. 3-5 sale features wine, art, antiquities, Americana

DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. – As pumpkin spice lattes take over the world yet again, Pook & Pook will be unveilings its largest auction catalog ever. Their comprehensive Oct. 3-5 auction features 1,000 high-quality lots, with absentee and Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers.

Session one will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, following a special extended preview and reception. Wine from a Berks County estate will start the auction with fourteen lots, all of which are being sold to benefit the Shakespeare Festival in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. A lot of 12 bottles of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1982 ($8,000-$12,000) and a lot of 12 bottles of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac 1982 ($12,000-$18,000) are expected to attract the attention of more than a few oenophiles.

The first session will continue with a group of over 100 lots of ancient art and antiquities from a Pennsylvania estate. All of the lots come with extensive paperwork documenting their provenance and have been examined by an ancient art specialist in addition to Pook & Pook’s own appraisal team. The collection will begin with Egyptian predynastic pieces from about 3000 B.C., followed by Luristan bronze daggers, ca. 1500-800 B.C., and then Bronze Age European pieces, 1200-1000 B.C. One highlight is a Luristan bronze sword, 1500-800 B.C. ($3,000-$4,000). From the era of around fourth century B.C. to seventh century are Cypriot, Messapian, Mycenean, Corinthian, Villanovan, and Etruscan objects, with an emphasis on pottery. Bronze bowls with Near Eastern origins follow, dated to around the first century B.C. Two Attic black-figure trefoil oinochoes, one depicting Dionysus and a satyr ($5,000-$7,000), the other with Herekles wresting the Nemean lion ($3,000-$5,000), are sure to catch the eye of Greek enthusiasts. A Greek bronze skyphos, circa fifth-fourth B.C., is expected to fetch $4,000-$5,000, while a Greek bronze pilos helmet, circa fourth-third century B.C. is expected to bring $3,000-5,000. A plethora of Roman iron gladii will cross the auction block, all dated to approximately first or second century A.D. One example with a silver inlaid hilt is expected to fetch $2,000-$2,500. Multiple Apulian pieces will come in toward the end of the night, including an oinochoe with elaborate decoration from the fourth century B.C. that carries a $5,000-$7,000 estimate. The collection concludes with a couple of Byzantine, Celtic and Medieval pieces.

Session two, the start of the Americana & International material, begins with the Collection of Daniel and Mary Jane Sheppard of Lutherville, Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Sheppard began collecting antiques in the early 1980s focusing on American furniture and paintings. First up is a rare and important Charleston, South Carolina, Chippendale mahogany “French” chair, ca. 1770 ($20,000-$40,000). Highlights from their collection include a Philadelphia Chippendale dressing table, ca. 1765 ($10,000-$15,000), an important Philadelphia Chippendale mahogany piecrust tea table, ca. 1750 ($20,000-$40,000), an oil on canvas still life with fruit by American artist Joseph Biays Ord ($8,000-$12,000).

Various other pieces of Pennsylvania furniture, art and decorative accessories flesh out the introductory lots of this collection. The collection then moves on to New England pieces from the Sheppards’ collection, including a Massachusetts Queen Anne easy chair, ca. 1760 ($4,000-$6,000), a Connecticut Chippendale cherry oxbow chest of drawers, ca. 1775 ($2,000-$4,000), a New England Chippendale walnut chest on chest, ca. 1770 ($4,000-$8,000), and a pair of New York Chippendale mahogany dining chairs, ca. 1770 ($4,000-$5,000). Their collection concludes with a handful of English and continental pieces of fine art and decorative accessories, including two delightful pastel portraits by John Saunders I.

The majority of day two is filled with pieces from the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, with a few notable exceptions. The second session continues with the Estate of August Knapp of Hudson, Ohio. August Knapp was interested in antiques and art from a very young age. Throughout his life, he ran an antique shop, exhibited at antique shows, and restored antique furniture and art. His collection includes a variety of Pennsylvania and New England furniture and decorative accessories. Historical Blue Staffordshire from a prominent New England Collection will follow with almost 50 lots including a variety of patterns such as Columbus, Landing of Lafayette, Christianburg Danish Settlement on the Gold Coast Africa, Passaic Falls State of New Jersey, Almshouse New York, and Lafayette at Franklin’s Tomb. Next up is an eclectic Pennsylvania collection of advertising and contemporary art.

Highlights of this unusual collection include a painted sheet iron Manhattan Horse Shoes trade sign ($3,000-$5,000), a scarce Devoe Paints & Varnishes tin lithograph advertising flange sign ($2,000-$3,000), a pair of wood and leather articulated mannequins ($3,000-$5,000), and an Ettore Sottsass floor lamp ($1,000-$1,500). A collection of spatter from a prominent Montgomery County collector will be offered and includes a fifteen-piece Green spatter peafowl tea service ($1,500-$2,000). Another Pennsylvania collection set to cross the block will include a fantastic two-part painted pine Pennsylvania corner cupboard from the late 18th century. With its wonderful early yellow faux grained surface over the original blue, it is easy to see why this piece comes with a $5,000-$7,000 estimate. Also included in this collection is a variety of decorative pieces, including rye straw baskets, stoneware, wallpaper dresser boxes, fraktur, toleware, quilts, mocha, redware and hooked rugs.

Other lots from a variety of collections crossing the block on the second day of the sale are worthy of mention. The largest American quilt we have ever seen, a monumental Pennsylvania lone star quilt measuring 118 by 121 inches is expected to bring $3,000-$5,000. Eleven lots by artist David Y. Ellinger will be offered. A Lancaster County Pennsylvania two-part architectural corner cupboard, ca. 1785, will surely catch the eye of a collector with room for a statement piece such as this ($8,000-$12,000). Fraktur, folk art carvings, stoneware, redware, chalkware, ironware, woodenware and hooked rugs permeate the sale on day two. Several remarkable southeastern Pennsylvania William and Mary wainscot chairs and armchairs will cross the block, all extraordinary examples, two of which are from the Collection of Donald Shelley sold previously at Pook & Pook and one from Titus Geesey. An important Ohio painted pine and poplar blanket chest from the mid-19th century, with panels decorated with tulips, is anticipated to fetch $10,000-$15,000.

Three pieces by folk artist Wilhelm Schimmel will be offered on Oct. 4. Included are an incredible carved and painted spread-winged eagle retaining its original polychrome décor and in excellent original condition ($40,000-$60,000), a carved and painted eaglet stocking stuffer ($6,000-$9,000), and a carved and painted rooster ($3,000-$5,000). A carved and painted Native American cigar store Indian princess figure, probably by New York artist Samuel Robb, is expected to bring $5,000-$8,000. This is one of two figures in the auction. A credenza or room divider by American artist George Nakashima complete with a free form top and two pandanus cloth sliding doors out of a Bethesda, Maryland, estate is expected to bring $8,000-$12,000.

Session three will take place on Saturday, Oct. 5, starting at 9 a.m. with a selection of American fine art. Artists featured include Ernie Eugene Barnes Jr., Franklin Courter, Moses Soyer, Ben Austrian, Earl Lincoln Poole, Hovsep Pushman and Rockwell Kent. Several bronze sculptures will be on offer, including an incredible kinetic piece by Louis Brent Kington. European artists will follow with pieces by Reg Butler, William J. Webbe, Edmund Guido Hammer, Nicola Simbari, Jean Dubuffet, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes and Pablo Picasso. The art ends with Collection of Ambassador Robert and Mayrose Stausz-Hupe and includes pieces by Pablo Picasso, Edward Lear, Eliot Hodgkin, Thomas Rowlandson, Jean-Michel Moreau and Francois Boucher.

The sale continues with a variety of exciting consignments, the majority of which has origins in New England and Europe. A Massachusetts Chippendale mahogany secretary with an oxbow case and ball and claw feet is estimated at $5,000-$10,000. A fantastic Connecticut Pilgrim century joined oak Sunflower chest, ca. 1700, is heavily carved and decorated and expected to bring $8,000-$12,000. A selection of walking sticks from the Collection of David and Sue Ellen Miller of Bucks County, Pennsylvania will be sold. Carvings on the canes include deer, faces, eagle heads, a woman, a puzzle ball whimsey, etc.

A nice grouping of jewelry will also be offered at auction on day three. Starting with two lots of 18K white gold diamond and yellow sapphire jewelry to include a ring ($20,000-$30,000) and a pair of earrings ($25,000-$35,000). An 18K yellow gold Carimati beaded blue sapphire and diamond necklace ($10,000-$15,000) features carved blue sapphires surrounded by full-cut diamonds set in four irregular gold octagons linked to one another with blue sapphire beaded strands.

A Lancaster, Pennsylvania collection follows starting with a mid-century platinum and diamond necklace containing 237 diamonds of various cuts and weights ($8,000-$12,000). Included in this collection is a variety of furniture and decorative accessories. Next are 20 lots of glass, including pieces from the Boston and Sandwich Glass Co., Stiegel type examples, and a number of ribbed glass flasks. The collection ends with the start of the silver in the sale. A pair of English silver covered vegetable dishes, 1817-1818 is expected to bring $3,000-$4,000. Coin silver flatware, teapots, creamers, child’s mugs, and ladles continue the auction. A New York City estate starts with a fabulous set of four English Britannia silver candlesticks ($5,000-$10,000).

This collection boasts the other Samuel Robb cigar store Native American Indian Princess in the sale ($12,000-$18,000). A cool carved and painted eagle wall plaque by John Haley Bellamy with a banner that reads “Don’t Give Up the Ship” is expected to bring $8,000-$12,000. One of the most incredible pieces in this collection is a painting of crowds watching a soccer match by Haitian artist Philomé Obin. Also included in this collection are eleven Liverpool Herculaneum pitchers, a variety of paintings and portraits by English artists, European furniture and decorative arts, as well as Chinese export. The sale will conclude with a selection of carpets, including several excellent Serapi examples.

All of these items and more will be available to bid on at auction through LiveAuctioneers. Questions may be emailed to info@pookandpook.com, or call the gallery 610-269-4040.