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Although the “flavor” of the sale was definably Americana, it was this pair of leather covered French Art Deco club chairs that brought the highest price, $5,313.
Review & Onsite Photos by Rick Russack
WESTMORELAND, N.H. — A multipronged enterprise, Flying Pig has three legs: a group shop, an auction business and manager of the Tailgate shows. It’s essentially the brainchild of Kris and Paul Casucci and Ian McKelvey. They are partners in the group shop and Tailgate shows, while Roxanne Reuling manages the shop and is a partner in the auction business. The group shop celebrated its fifth anniversary on March 8-9. At the same time, the preview for the March 18 auction was also set up and open.
The Casuccis and McKelvey met when they shared space in the group shop that was the predecessor of the current shop. It was run by Marlo Paju, who is still with the business, and, when she decided to sell it, the partnership was formed. Kris Casucci and her husband Paul have decades of experience in the business, now doing about eight shows a year, including two annually on the grounds of their 1698 home in West Brookfield, Mass., under the name of Walker Homestead Shows. These shows are vetted to maintain the “feeling” of the shows and are now in their 15th year. Being that the shows are on the grounds of a 1698 home, the show offers period antiques and country Americana.
Ian McKelvey has been a picker much of his life, and in the business full-time since 1999. “Full-time” may be something of an understatement as he often does more than one show a week. He is responsible for the design of the shop, commenting, “We just bought a collection of 67 pig-shaped cutting boards — I have to figure out what to do with them.” When asked what he’d like to see added to the business in the not-too-distant future, he said, “I’d like to be able to add some outside space for things like garden furniture and sculpture. I’d also like us to re-do our website to give our dealers more exposure.”
The Flying Pig team, from the left: Roxanne Reuling, Paul and Kris Casucci, Ian McKelvey and Marlo Paju.
Reuling, who manages the Flying Pig auctions, which run regularly throughout the year, has more than four decades in the auction business having grown up in the family that ran Stanton Auctions.
The Tailgate shows run once a month from March through November, rain or shine, on the grounds of the group shop in Westmoreland. Starting this season, they will run on Saturdays; the first was on March 30. These shows are about as simple as possible: they open at 9 am and dealers are not permitted to even put out their tables until that time. That means the playing field is level; no one gets to see stuff before anyone else. Admission is free for buyers and booth space for exhibitors is just $45. And, as Casucci said, “they’re over when they’re over.” It can’t get any simpler. On show Saturdays, the group shop opens at 8 am.
When the group shop changed ownership, it was closed for remodeling and reopened a couple of months later. It now has about 50 vetted dealers who, although they specialize in Americana and country furnishings, also carry a wide assortment of other merchandise, including Twentieth Century items. These dealers offered several pieces of early painted furniture and woodenware, mocha, delft, redware, stoneware, Southern pottery, baskets, weathervanes, Steiff animals, cloth dolls, folk paintings and even some midcentury Danish enamels.
Buyers interested in baskets had many to choose from. This group of three staved baskets or buckets realized $313.
The Fifth Anniversary Open House was well attended by a group of dealers who have known each other for years. There was plenty to eat and the atmosphere was that of old friends getting together. They lingered, consuming plenty of snacks; several reminisced with one another, telling stories of past finds and other stories. We chatted with several, including Dennis and Anne Berard of Dennis and Dad Antiques, Kathy Schoemer, Bev and Tom Longacre, Charlie Guinipero, Diane Halperin and others. Some were telling war stories from days gone by. Dennis Berard recalled traveling up the auto road to the top of Mount Washington to meet up with a collector, who had a concession stand at the summit, and a passion for Hampshire pottery. He’d had an appointment to meet the customer at the top of Mount Chocorua, but when he got there, he was told the man had left for Mount Washington, which was 50 miles away. Making a sale was important, so he followed; after making the sale, he had a drive home of nearly 200 miles. That was in the 1970s when he dealt with art pottery before switching to early English ceramics.
As the shows are simple, so, too, are the auctions: all items carry an estimate of $50-$1,000: let the buyer decide. The most recent auction on March 18 comprised exactly 321 lots, mostly, but not all, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Americana, representing a variety of categories. As if to emphasize this point, the lots that achieved the six highest prices in the sale were unrelated to one another.
With the emphasis on Americana across all aspects of the business, it was somewhat surprising that the top price of the auction, $5,313, was earned by a pair of oversized French Art Deco leather-covered club armchairs with rolled, shaped backs and rolled arms. They were in fine condition and very comfortable.
The second highest price of the sale, $1,875, was paid for this carousel rabbit. It was attributed to either Philadelphian Gustave Dentzel or the French carver, Gustav Bayol.
The second highest price was earned by a large, leaping carousel rabbit, attributed either to Gustav Dentzel of Philadelphia, or Gustav Bayol, (1859-1931) a French woodcarver who produced numerous mostly farm animal figures for European carousels. It sold for $1,875.
Early furniture included an Eighteenth Century two-over-three drawer chest on replaced ball feet. The old red surface may have been original, and it brought $1,500, the third highest price of the sale. A paneled blanket chest dated 1754 realized $531. A partial label indicated that it had come from the collection of Dustin Hoffman. An even earlier chip-carved, paneled blanket chest, dated to the Seventeenth Century, sold for $438. There were several Nineteenth Century hanging wall shelves; selling for $375 was one with nicely scrolled sides, in mustard paint and another, with two drawers and an old red surface that closed at $313. A simple, late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century Chippendale game table with one drawer realized $344. It had an attractive tiger maple top and a sycamore base.
There were 17 stoneware lots in the sale. Another of the top results, $1,125, was earned by a Nineteenth Century double-dipped stoneware jug with two handles, two stamped hearts and was stamped “Charlestown.” One of the sale’s pleasant surprises was a collection of miniature stoneware. Twenty-seven pieces were divided into four lots. One lot of seven crocks, jugs and jars, some cobalt-decorated with birds and deer, realized $813. None were more than 1½ inches tall. A second lot of seven pieces, including a churn that stood 3½ inches tall, realized $531.
The seven pieces in this lot of miniature stoneware — some of which were signed — ranged from ½ to 1½ inches tall. The group sold for $813.
The selection of lighting-related items was extensive, ranging from several candle molds to early tin sconces. An unusual pair of three-dimensional star-shaped, mirrored wall sconces, each designed for one candle, brought $375. The multiple reflections from these must have created quite an effect in a darkened room. A lot of three mirrored tin sconces earned $156 and two tin pierced, cylindrical candle boxes, 14 inches long, together brought $63.
The most popular of more than a dozen trade signs was a large four-part sign with applied gold letters. It was for “Calvin Bullock Stocks Bonds” and the largest of the four sections was 93 inches long. It sold for $500. A vibrantly painted sign advertising “2 Eggs Toast 99 C” brought $250.
As you would expect in an auction with a concentration on country Americana, there were numerous painted firkins, bowls, pantry boxes, gameboards, iron and brass fireplace equipment, punched tin foot-warmers, painted tin storage boxes, woven coverlets and more. Many of these items were sold in lots of two or three examples: three handled firkins, with later paint, sold for $219, two unpainted trenchers, one of which was 21 inches long, sold for the same price, and three unpainted firkins with handles sold for $188.
Outdoor and garden items did well. This pair of molded cast iron garden planters, in a weathered white paint, realized $531.
After the auction, Reuling commented, “This was my favorite kind of auction: an eclectic sale with a variety of categories. I was surprised by the strong reaction to the collection of miniature stoneware. Happily, as it happens, we have another large selection, from a different collection, for our next sale, May 13. It’s going to be a good year for us. We already have sales planned for the rest of the year and we have some wonderful stuff.”
Prices quoted on auctioned lots includes the buyer’s premium. For information, 603-543-7490 or www.flyingpigantiquesnh.com.
