Date: Fri 26-Mar-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: MELISS

Quick Words:

WarPeace

Full Text:

War And/or Peace, American Indian Style

By Rita Easton

YORK, PA -- The starring lot in a two-session auction held by Yorktown went to

a private buyer on the phone at $12,100.

The object, a marvel of versatility, was an American Indian war tomahawk/peace

pipe, 27«" long. Equally effective in either situation, the hollow handle

terminated in a business end which was sharpened to a fare-thee-well on one

side, while the other was fashioned into a bowl to hold tobacco to be smoked

in peace pipe ceremonies, a dual-purpose object of some ingenuity. The lot was

thought to be circa 1870, and was made by a Plains Indian tribe.

The two-day winter auction took place on January 22 and 23. One thousand one

hundred and seventy one lots crossed the block before an audience holding 500

bidding numbers, resulting in a gross of $482,000.

Property from the estate of Mary Blanchard; the home of Marie G. Stoner of

Hanover, Pa; the homes of Galen and Frieda Jones; Mary C weaver of York, Pa;

the home of William H Kain III of Grand Junction, Co; the Brockie Mansion in

York; and old collections from Gettysburg, Carlisle, Lancaster, Hanover, York

Camp Hill, and other locations was offered. The first evening was devoted to

American Indian objects and decoys.

Excavated in shards at an archaeological dig, a polychromed olla which was

reassembled, 16 inches wide by 11« inches high, circa 1300-1400, brought

$1,100 for the prehistoric lot. Together with the olla was a bill of sale for

the Apache Junction Historical Society.

An ambrotype of John Barclay Withers, a Confederate soldier member of the

Mosby Raiders, sold for $2,700 for the sixth plate; of a collection of 80

decoys a Madison Mitchell goose decoy realized $500; and L.T. Ward miniature

mallard drake sold at $700.

A Maental watercolor of a man holding a top hat at his side, circa 1825/1830,

measuring 12 inches by 8 inches, made $5,750; a Manchester township rare

printed hand-colored fraktur, a baptismal certificate having geometric

decoration, went out at $5,500; a manganese redware blotched sugar bowl

attributed to Miller, having a hairline crack, reached $1,900; a redware cup

and saucer from Hanover achieved $3,300.

Elegant and unusual clocks brought well-deserved prices, with Tiffany clock

set in cloisonne and brass, selling at $8,000; a French cathedral clock, early

Nineteenth Century, 21 inch high, in gold plated brass, was purchased at

$2,000; a French alabaster obelisk clock standing 17 inches high, with a white

marble case, late Eighteenth Century, with replaced movement, achieved $4,900;

a 30 inch high musical English walnut cuckoo clock went at $5,250;and a bronze

three train clock, signed J. Litzken, the figural example having a round face

supported by two male figures and surmounted by an eagle with outspread wings,

fetched $8,500 for the 25 inch high lot.

A Lancaster County tiger maple painted corner cupboard with double panelled

doors above smaller double panelled doors, having an old salmon painted

interior, brought $9,750; a mahogany pie crust tea table, made in the 1770's,

found on North Shore of Massachusetts, made $7,250; a Queen Anne stretcher

base tavern table sold at $4,250; an 8-day tall case clock reached $5,750; and

a 30 hour John Fisher flat top tall case clock fetched $4,500.

Prices quoted do not reflect a ten percent buyers premium.