Overmantel painting stars in Americana auction

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – August Americana was another success for Skinner with an auction total of $2.7 million. (All prices realized include the standard buyer’s premium.)

Double polychrome painted game board, 19th century, the Parcheesi playing surface with incised lines separating brightly painted stars, circles, and rectangles, the checkers playing surface with red and black squares, mounted in a custom frame, 20” h. x 18 1/2” w., $25,830

Stephen Fletcher, Partner and Americana Department Director, said: “We exceeded our expectations and were thrilled to see fresh to the market material, with compelling provenance performing well and oftentimes with no regard to auction estimate.”

Skinner’s August Americana Auction is much anticipated and a summertime destination for serious collectors and dealers from across the country, and around the world.

Bidders did not hesitate to vie for property from prominent collectors.

Brisk attendance for auction previews, a well attended scholarly talk on Saturday night and heavy participation by internet and telephone bidders to compete with absentee bids and bidders in the room resulted in a high sell-through rate and a wealth of items fetching five-figure results.

To this mix, Skinner welcomed a significant number of first-time auction buyers.

Overall, for both bidders and consignors, August Americana was a success.

Overmantel painting, Framingham, Massachusetts, mid-18th century, pine panel depicting naturalistic leaping stags in a landscape silhouetted against a skyline, in a burnt umber treed landscape on a mustard-colored ground, (small paint losses and tiny holes caused by the removal of the wallpaper which once covered it and also from its attachment to the interior structure), 15 7/8” h., 60 7/8” w., $67,650. All images courtesy of Skinner Auctioneers

More Americana auction highlights

James R. Osborne (Portland, Maine, fl. 1827-1832) “Portrait of a Man and Wife” signed and dated “J. Osborne, 1830” lower right, inscribed “Hannah Libby” on the back panel. Watercolor and ink on paper, 9 1/4” x 7 1/2”, in a blackpainted molded frame. $45,510

Auction highlights include, but are not limited to:

Lot 305, overmantel painting, $67,650
Lot 408, Fritz G. Vogt (New York, 1842-1900) Residence of Mrs. Mary E. Failing. Fort Plain, N.Y., $46,125
Lot 363, James R. Osborne (Portland, Maine, FL. 1827-1832) Portrait of a Man and Wife, $45,510
Lot 309, Ruth Whittier Shute (New Hampshire, 1803-1882) and Samuel A. Shute (New Hampshire, 1803-1836), Portrait of a Girl in a Yellow Dress, $43,050
Lot 798, double polychrome painted game board, $25,830
Lot 671, Paint-decorated box with houses, marked “E.B.T.,” $13,530
Lot 793, black-painted braced-back Windsor continuous armchair, $7,995
Lot 1458, A Four-oared Shell Race, Currier & Ives, publishers, New York, 1884, $10,455.

For complete prices realized and information on upcoming auctions, visit www.skinnerinc.com.

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120518 Americana auction fwaz Skinner

Antique Trader StaffAuthor