Commemorative quilt stitches up $3,840
A quilt, created during the Spanish-American war, featuring a large eight-point center star and U.S. flags on a green background, embroidered with “War was declared April 22 1898″ was among several lots to sell during Garth’s Early American Auction, earlier this summer.
DELAWARE, Ohio — Earlier this summer, Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers hosted the Early
American Auction of furniture and decorative accessories, including the annual Ohio Valley session. “Jeff” Jeffers, CEO of Garth’s noted, “Friday’s auction saw a large, interested and attentive crowd with lots of bidding on material like the Ohio pottery, in which we see interest every spring during the Ohio Valley session.” Bidders also pursued country and painted furniture, as well as rather formal Americana furniture.
The top lot of the day was an oil on canvas river landscape after Cornelius Ver Bryck (New York, 1813-1844). The painting featured a river at sunset with a mother and child walking hand in hand along the riverbank. Signed in the lower right, “T.C. - from an outline by C. Ver Bryck” and estimated at $600 to $1,200, it sold for an outstanding $46,800.
Americana collectors prize jacquard coverlets. Woven of bright colors, jacquard coverlets remain popular because of their complex patterns, often including trees, buildings, birds and even trains and steamboats. One of the most popular themes is the American eagle. An example from the Margaret Brusher (Michigan) collection with a central field of eagles, with each eagle surrounded by 26 stars (perhaps to commemorate Michigan’s statehood, as it was the 26th state to enter the Union) sold for $3,240.
Four appliqué quilts were offered from the Brusher collection, including a Spanish-American War quilt, which hammered for $3,840. The quilt design consisted of a large eight-point center star and U.S. flags on a green background, and was embroidered, “War was declared April 22 1898” in red. The three other floral examples realized $1,680, $1,020 and $1,020, respectively.
The Ohio Pottery collection of the late Jim Murphy garnered attention prior to the sale. Highlights include a Westhafer and Lambright stoneware jug from Tuscarawas County, Ohio. The ovoid jug, which kicked off the auction, stood 18-1/2 inches high and with cobalt blue decoration sold for $2,640. A 20-1/4-inch tall Globe Pottery churn from Crooksville, Ohio, was dated 1902 and sold for $960.
An American decorated treenware jar had vinegar sponge decoration in shades of mustard and red driving it to a price of $1,800. Also selling for $1,800 was a Virginia stoneware crock impressed with the label “J. Keister & Co., Strasburg, Va.” A Morley & Company majolica spaniel doorstop or chimney ornament from Wellsville, Ohio, had a polychrome glaze and sold for $2,640. A Globe Pottery yellowware “Jumbo” elephant figure was stamped twice on the underside; despite a hairline on the front, the piece sporting Rockingham glaze on the base and tree trunk sold for $2,520.
American formal furniture performed well throughout the day. A Queen Anne cherry high chest of drawers, attributed to Wethersfield, Connecticut, dated to the mid-18th century and was comprised of a flat top upper section above 11 drawers (two with central shell carvings), a scrolled apron and cabriole legs ending in pad feet. Despite imperfections, the piece sold for $4,200. An American Chippendale walnut and poplar chest of drawers with ball and claw feet brought $2,760. An American Federal mirror, attributed to Albany, New York, with a reverse-painted tablet and a large floral finial, sold for $3,960. An early 19th century New England open-top cupboard with an exterior of old blue-green paint and an interior of reddish-brown hammered at $2,280. A decorated Ohio miniature curly maple and poplar chest of drawers from Carroll or Harrison County, circa 1830, sold for $1,920.
Additional pieces of interest included a Caribbean sofa, which descended in the Axel Holst family, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and sold for $1,875. A Civil War flute belonging to Bryon Holton, 117th New York, KIA, was made of rosewood and nickel silver and sat in its original case. The flute also sold for $1,250.
The last 42 lots of the sale were comprised of fine examples of historical ephemera and autographs. A Continental Army appointment from Massachusetts-Bay Colony named Samuel Parish a lieutenant of an unnamed company under the command of Abner Crane “for the Devence of the New England States.” Signed by John Avery and others, it sold for $1,000.
For more information, visit www.garths.com or call 740-362-4771.
