Back in 2005, the Metropolitan Museum in New York held an exhibition of the work of John Townsend, one of the highest regarded Colonial cabinetmakers. Just a few blocks away, in the townhouse of a family that had owned it since around 1770 but no longer had any sense of its value or provenance, sat one of Townsend’s rarest pieces. It was a four-shell kneehole Chippendale bureau table, discovered a visit last fall by Christie’s John Hays. One of only seven examples known to exist, it’s expected to sell for $700,000 -$900,000 at Christie’s Americana sale later this month in New York.Among the other valuable items in the sale are a Queen Anne Carved Mahogany Tea Table with slides, produced in Boston between 1740-1760 (est. $600,000-$800,000), and a Queen Anne Mahogany Tray-Top Tea Table with one drawer crafted between 1730-1750, also in Boston (est. $250,000-$350,000). A painting by Edward Hicks (1780-1849) depicting “Penn’s Treaty” is also featured in the auction. With a provenance that includes a period in the Yale University Art Gallery, it’s estimated at $600,000-$900,000.
Rare Colonial Cabinet Leads Americana Sale
January 15, 2013
Colonial Chair May Exceed $1m
January 23, 2013What makes a chair worth $1m? It doesn’t hurt if it’s a colonial rarity, like the Chippendale “easy” wing chair that’s the highlight of Sotheby’s Americana sale in New York later this week. Carved in Philadelphia circa 1775, in the style of Nicolas Bernard, it’s finely ornamented with front cabriole legs with acanthus-carved knees and claw feet. At the time of their crafting, these chairs were produced for only the wealthiest Americans. That’s a pattern that’s unlikely to change with its estimate of $800,000-$1.2m.
Read more...
Upwards of $900,000 Expected For Chippendale Chair
September 20, 2012There are chairs, and then there are chairs. A case in point: a Chippendale carved mahogany easy chair that dates from 1760-1765, for which Christie’s is expecting as much as $900,000 at its American Furniture auction on September 24thin New York.The mastry of its carver, an anonymous craftsman known as “Garvan,” is what gives this chair its unusual value. The seller doesn’t hurt either. It’s being consigned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art to benefit its acquisitions fund.
Read more...
Distinguished McCue Shaker Furniture Collection Will Be Sold
August 23, 2012From the late 18th to the mid-19th centuries, the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing or the Shakers, as they were better known, attracted as many as 20,000 to their monastic, celibate way of life. These days, they’re more likely to be known for the stern simplicity and beauty of the furniture they created. Next month in Marshfield, Massachusetts, Willis Henry Auctions will offer a particularly distinguished collection of their work, assembled over some 50 years by the McCue family. The sale’s star is likely to be a trestle table, dating from 1820-1840, that’s expected to sell for $70,000-$90,000.
Read more...Contributors
Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
