Date: Mon 08-Feb-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Garth-auction

Full Text:

Whimsy At Garth

(with cuts)

DELAWARE, OHIO -- Bidders braved freezing rain and sleet to attend Garth's

Auction's January 8-9 sale of early American furniture and accessories.

The collections of Walter and Evelyn Johnson of Kenton, Ohio; the Lone

collection of Hermann, Missouri; and long rifles from Frederick Schry were

offered.

A William and Mary maple gateleg table, with a curly top in worn natural

finish and a base with old dark finish and one dovetailed drawer, sold for

$19,250.

A redware pitcher featured on the catalog cover sold for $9,900. Formerly from

the collection of Margo Jester, the pitcher had a ribbed strap handle and

clear mottled green glaze with running daubs of yellow slip and brown and

green highlights.

An early one-piece wall cupboard, in pine with old dark brown grained repaint,

sold for $16,775.

A number of kugels were offered. A cranberry kugel, eight inches in diameter,

sold for $990; a blue kugel, ten inches in diameter, brought $1,045; and a red

example, 3‹ inches, sold for $660.

Toys included two clowns with balloons, among 20 or so pieces from "Dunn's

Toyland," which sold for $357.50. A cut-out wooden flower in a frame, with

original green, orange, red and yellow paint, created by Columbus folk artist

Elijah Pierce (1892-1982) and signed "E. Pierce," brought $1,045.

A hanging clock in an architectural case, with a three-tiered building

featuring columns, galleries and other embellishments, included brass works

and sold for $550. A carved wooden chicken signed "Made by Canfield, Ravenna,

Ohio" sold for $495.

Many of the pieces sold at the auction came from the lifetime collection of

Evelyn and Walter Johnson. Among their pewter sold was a European charger that

brought $770, and a basin with the "Hamlin" touch (Samuel Hamlin Jr or Sr),

which sold for $385.

A transitional armchair in refinished cherry, with turned arm posts, scrolled

arms, a vase splat and a serpentine crest, from Garth Oberlander, according to

Tom Porter, sold for $3,410. Immediately following, a Hepplewhite serpentine

sideboard in mahogany and mahogany veneer, with inlay, sold for $3,025.

A tavern table, with a maple base, some curl and a pine top, had a one-board

breadboard top and one dovetailed overlapping drawer. It sold for $2,530. A

country grandfather clock, in a walnut case with old dark finish, went for

$3,960.

A stoneware jug, with double ear handles and the impressed label "Whites Utica

5," sold for $2,090; a wooden brick mold for eight bricks, marked Ohio, sold

for $632.50; an English hanging plate shelf in oak and pine went for $687.50;

a decorated checkerboard in black and vivid mustard-yellow paint sold for

$605; a 17-inch sewer pipe owl brought $660; a decorated hatchel (a tool for

separating fibers), from the Lone collection, sold for $660; and a carved

eagle lectern found in Pennsylvania sold for $4,675.

A Biedermeier dresser, with bird's-eye veneer, in old varnish finish, had a

double lyre base with demi-lune cutout and three dovetailed drawers. The top

had a marble insert, two lift-lid compartments and an adjustable mirror with

lyre supports. The dresser sold for $2,420.

Among several quilts, coverlets and hooked rugs, a pieced quilt, with 20 lyres

with hearts in green and goldenrod, sold for $1,155.

A Kentucky flint long rifle by "N. Beyer" (Nicholas Beyer, Lebanon County,

Penn.), had a curly maple stock with relief carved detail and a 46 5/8 inch

octagonal to round barrel. The brass hardware included an engraved patch box

with Beyer's typical long-necked bird on the finial. The rifle sold for $7,260

to an absentee bidder.

Another Kentucky long rifle, one with "N.S." on the barrel (Nicholas

Shenafelt, Huntington County, Penn.) had a curly maple stock, brass hardware,

and 19 silver inlays, including an engraved eagle on the cheek piece.

Referenced in Chandler's Patch Box Book, the rifle sold for $4,510.

A hunting pouch with a powder horn and measure was also offered; it sold for

$1,375.