Date: Fri 04-Sep-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDYC

Quick Words:

Merrill

Full Text:

Reflection Of Rural Life At Duane Merrill

w/3 cuts

By Rita Easton

DERBY CENTER, VT. -- Two thousand lots of primitive and antique Vermont and

Quebec provincial furniture and accessories were sold by Duane Merrill &

Company July 23-26.

The setting, five miles from the Quebec border, was charming and appropriate.

Three ancient barns of the consignors, Lorraine and Dale Conley, which have

been locked for 30 years, were finally opened for the event. Mrs Conley's

father, John Taplin, was the original collector of the consignment, and was a

well-known antiques dealer in the mid-Twentieth Century.

The antiques, in their original "as-found" condition, reflected the rural life

of northern Vermont and Quebec in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century. Four

auctioneers presided, with the undisclosed gross well into six figures, said

Duane Merrill.

Cupboards overshadowed any other type of furniture, with 40 lots offered. The

most sought-after was an Eighteenth Century Quebec ship carved armoire, having

two panelled doors and a "wave" undulating skirt. The lot, in old yellow paint

over blue, reached the high bid of the auction at $16,000.

A small Quebec Eighteenth Century single door cupboard reached $13,000.

"All the old Quebec armoires were in pine," noted Merrill. "Once in a while

you find a butternut piece, or if the maker was an English loyalist or an

English cabinetmaker, you might find one in cherry, but the early ones were in

pine, usually painted, as these were."

"Some had three or four coats," he continued, "but the buyers were going to

scrape them down to the original wood." A third armoire reached $11,000.

A 28-inch long folk art copper cow weathervane garnered $3,000; a two-sided

sheet metal Quebec prancing horse, with painted-on reins, fetched $800; a

cast-iron horse's head hitching post brought $1,100; a Quebec dome top box,

carved and painted dark red, approximately ten inches long and ten inches

high, sold at $1,000; a grain paint decorated grandfather clock reached

$2,900; and a cast-iron jockey boy hitching post on a pedestal was purchased

at $3,750.

A flax wheel went out at $750; a green-painted bucket reached $325; an old

surgeon's kit with instruments realized $350; a blue swing handle primitive

bucket sold at $500; a Quebec folky clock shelf made $900; a Japanese, silver

inlaid letter opener went at $600; and an Edison phonograph, with

petunia-shaped horn, brought $500.

Shaped like a flatiron, a brass trivet decorated with a fireman's hat made

$250 and kerosene and oil lamps ranged from $50 to $700 and $800 each.

"Overall, lamp prices were very strong," said Merrill. "These days people are

becoming more interested in decorative smalls."

An unusual cast-iron child's Victorian cradle went "under the money,"

according to Merrill, at $1,500; a paint decorated baby carriage, having two

large side wheels and one smaller wheel in front, reached $800; and a grain

painted sewing box, with a steeple top, brought $500.

An Eighteenth Century book press, with two drawers, brought $450 despite

damage; a large post lantern fetched $325; a large cheese basket earned $375;

and an Eighteenth Century Quebec banc lit, sometimes known as a "tramp bench,"

garnered $1,400. A step back red painted cupboard, with double eight-light

doors above double panelled cupboard doors, reached $3,750; while a green

painted step back cupboard realized $2,100.

An 1859 wall map of Orleans, Lamoille, and Essex counties made $325.

Prices quoted do not reflect a required ten percent premium.