Date: Fri 17-Jul-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Willis-Henry-Auctions

Full Text:

Willis Henry

(W/Cuts)

By Rita Easton

PEMBROKE, MA -- Antiques drawn from local collections and estates, including

that of well-known antiquarian, scholar, dealer and teacher David Brown of

Wrentham, Mass., were offered at an Americana estates sale by Willis Henry

Auctions on June 28. Three hundred eighty lots were offered to a full house.

Colorful local rumor has it that Brown was noted for (among other things)

purchasing an early Eighteenth Century Norwell shop at public auction for $1.

Realizing the highest bid of the day, a private collector from the Boston area

won an oil on canvas by A. Thieme, "After the Storm," at $16,000.

A Chippendale serpentine chest, with original brass and old finish, having

four drawers, standing on bracket feet, realized $8,250, purchased by a Hingus

dealer; a narwhal tusk, seven feet long, circa Nineteenth Century, unusual in

that it did not have end breakage, went to a West Coast dealer at $6,400; and

a Chippendale couch, originally purchased at Shreve & Crump, possibly a Rhode

Island piece, realized $5,250. A spokesperson for the gallery estimated that

it had been reupholstered approximately 20 or 30 years ago.

A mahogany secretary with an arched top, having double doors with four panels

of glass on each door, decorated with urn finials, made $5,000; an oil on

canvas by the American artist C.F. Pierce, "Cows in a Meadow," never having

been cleaned, fetched $4,500; a room-sized rug, 9 by 13 feet, of indeterminate

origin, went out at $2,800; and a Caucasian Oriental with Arabic lettering,

measuring 58 by 35 inches, sold at $1,200.

Collectors of American Indian historical items hotly contested a spectacular

Nineteenth Century Sioux knife sheath in light blue, greasy yellow, and green,

bearing an old exhibition tag from a local museum, which was finally knocked

down at $4,200; a pair of arched wood trellises painted in old grey,

approximately seven feet high, went to a dealer at $1,700; and a set of six

Nineteenth Century grain painted chairs reached $3,000.

Several samplers were notable, with a Canterbury example by Nancy Kern,

measuring 16  by 16 inches, reaching $3,600, and a needlework sampler, done in

Carlisle, Mass., in 1808, measuring 12« by 10« inches, selling for $1,900. A

9« inch gilt and painted watchmaker's sign, Nineteenth Century, went out at

$1,600; a sailing vessel half hull, 51 inches long, with original finish,

reached $3,700; an early Pennsylvania hanging shelf, with wrought-iron

heart-shaped hangers and wheel-shaped cut-out sides, fetched $1,500; and a

Nineteenth Century canvas, painted with an American ship in a folky style,

brought $1,700.

Prices quoted do not reflect a required 10 percent buyer's premium.