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The Schuttes acquired this late Eighteenth Century Massachusetts tall case clock with works by Daniel Balch from Peter Eaton. Standing 82¼ inches tall and cataloged as in original condition, it rose to the top of the sale, bringing $42,500 ($6/12,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
BRANFORD, CONN. — “It was a robust sale and our highest volume of bidders to date. We had strong retail and trade interest, with about 75 percent going to private collectors,” confirmed Fred Giampietro, sending in his post-auction thoughts a few days after New England Auctions sold more than 750 lots from the lifetime Americana collection of Thomas F. and Tess L. Schutte, October 10-11. All lots on the first day sold and, with just four lots passing on the second day, more than 99 percent of the lots offered found new homes; an aggregate total of $1,470,000 was realized.
The Schutte collection had an emphasis on Americana and folk art from New England and Pennsylvania, including many lots acquired from either Peter H. Eaton or his late wife, folk art dealer, Joan Brownstein.
Eaton was not available for comment following the sale, but the quality of the works on offer speak to the Schuttes’ eye and rigorous standards for collecting. Nearly all of the top dozen lots crossed the block on the first day of the sale, including the highest-achieving lot, a tall case clock made in Newbury, Mass., that had a brass dial engraved “Dan’l Balch / Newbury.” A date of 1780 was inscribed in chalk inside the case, which was topped by gessoed and gilt wooden finials. Estimated at $6/12,000, it did much better, clocking in a result of $42,500.
Zedekiah Belknap’s oil on panel wedding portraits of Nancy and Obed Hale, measuring 27 by 21 inches, that had history of ownership in the family of the sitters, achieved $30,000 and a second-place finish ($5/7,000).
A survey of the sale suggested that the Schuttes had an affinity for folk portraits, whether in oil, watercolor or ink and the second place result of $30,000 was realized by a pair of portraits of Obed and Nancy Hale, painted by Zedekiah Belknap (1781-1858) on the occasion of their 1813 wedding. Like the clock, the portraits had provenance to Eaton and were also described as in excellent original condition.
Joan Brownstein was included in the provenance of a miniature profile portrait of two girls that had sold at Sotheby’s in 1977 as part of the Garbisch collection. Interest more than quadrupled its estimate and it realized $27,500. The same price was realized by another lot handled by Brownstein, as well as Bob Thayer and Skinner Auctioneers. A group of profile portraits of the Patten family, painted in watercolor, ink and gouache on paper, circa 1813, in Portland, Maine, more than doubled expectations.
Brownstein and an auction at Skinner were also part of the history of a portrait of Sara E. Arnold by Jane Anthony Davis (1821-1855) that was painted when she was 7 years old, in 1850.
A family history by William Saville, painted in Lexington, Mass., in 1805, was also a top seller, though rather than depicting portraits of the family it featured a tree with large roundels with names and birthdates, as well as inverted hearts with the names of the father and mother — and their wedding date — at the bottom of the tree. The watercolor brought more than 15 times its high estimate: $27,500.
The Schuttes acquired this family record, painted by William Saville in 1805, from Joan Brownstein. Described as in excellent original condition, the tree-form composition blossomed well past expectations, earning $27,500 against an estimate of $1,2/1,800.
South Egremont, Mass., dealers Elliott and Grace Snyder were the Schuttes’ source for a portrait of Mary Ingraham painted by Ammi Phillips (1788-1865) in New York State in 1829. The sitter was represented holding a red bible and her spectacles and courted bidders to $20,000.
A needlework sampler, wrought in New England by Mary Goodridge at the age of 10, circa 1811, was one of several examples in the sale. The dark background color of Goodridge’s sampler provided a charming support for an alphabet, verse, trailing foliate vine and flower basket. The Schuttes had acquired it from Philadelphia sampler dealers M. Finkel & Daughter and it brought $16,250, more than 10 times its high estimate.
The Schuttes’ collection featured just two weathervanes, a cast zinc and copper example of a rooster by J. Howard on the first day and a molded copper running horse model on the second. The rooster, bolstered by having been published in an unidentified issue of The MAGAZINE Antiques, flew to $17,500, while the horse ran to a more modest finish of $625.
An Eighteenth Century doll, carved from a pine bedpost, was a rare survivor in its original block-printed linen cloak that was embroidered with the name “Betsy C-oye.” The 7¼-inch doll charmed bidders, who took it from an estimate of $1/2,000 to $12,500.
Emery and Susan Fletcher were listed as the provenance for this 7¼-inch-tall doll carved from a New England pine bedpost. It sold for $12,500 ($1/2,000).
Pottery lots reached an apex at $11,250 for an Eighteenth Century English combware loaf dish that was one of two similar examples, the other selling immediately afterwards and earning $7,500.
Following the clock, furniture was a sizeable category and several lots achieved $10,000. A Queen Anne kettle stand made in Rhode Island in the mid Eighteenth Century achieved that price first, followed shortly after by a primitive child’s potty chair with tall back and scalloped sides that dated to the early to mid Eighteenth Century and retained its original sage green paint. A circa 1700 William and Mary gateleg table that had provenance to both Alice Kugelman and a sale at Sotheby’s in 2013 realized this price, as did a Pilgrim Century Hadley chest with a single drawer and early mustard paint.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. New England Auctions will sell European and Asian antiques on November 13, jewelry on November 14, the collections of Bob Walin and Robert Giambalvo on January 8 and a Stonington, Conn., estate on January 9.
For additional information, www.newenglandauctions.com or 475-234-5120.
