On September 26, beginning at 10 a.m., Pook & Pook, Inc. of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, will conduct its opening fall catalogue auction. This auction will include some outstanding rare items, together with American, English and continental furniture, folk art and accessories.
The cover of the sale catalogue depicts the congregation of the Heidelberg Lutheran Church and a portion of the two extremely rare William Will pewter communion services that are being deaccessioned by the church. The Heidelberg Lutheran Church and Heidelberg United Church of Christ have been proud custodians of their pewter services for almost two hundred and fifty years. “After careful consideration and deliberation, the congregations have decided to sell these services in order to expand the mission of our Union Church. It is our hope and prayer that these services find their way into the collection of a major museum or the hands of a private collector who will display and share them with pride and reverence with other collectors and the public,” said a spokesperson for the church. Both services consist of a flagon, chalice, and paten. The first is dated 1765 and is inscribed to Mathias Culp. The unusual flagon of the second set, dated 1767, has a flame finial and spout whimsically engraved to simulate a serpents head with eyes and teeth. Both services are illustrated and discussed in Pewter in Pennsylvania German Churches by Dr. Donald Herr.
Another rare and important lot, offered by a Pennsylvania educational institution, is a Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, watercolor and ink on paper metamorphosis signed by Durs Rudy, a highly sought-after artist in the field of fraktur. The piece consists of four vibrantly illustrated sections, each with a cover scene folding out to a second scene, ultimately making eight scenes in all. The scenes depict the story of man from birth to death beginning with Adam and Eve and ending in Jerusalem, the city of paradise.
Included in the auction is a group of material from an eastern Pennsylvania home. The residence, which was not lived in for years, contained many fresh to the market finds. The Jonas Weber trinket box, which was found under a stand in the living room, will certainly be front and center, with its vibrant paint and untouched surface. It is inscribed “Sarah Weidman” and decorated with a house atop rolling hills with yellow trees.
A fantastic carved bird by Aaron Mounts, which was rescued from a box in the kitchen is also set to take flight. The 15-1/2 inch high bird retains a great surface and is initialed “AWM” on? the underside. Also unearthed were two silver presentation speaking trumpets, a Berks County dower chest, a New York ink and watercolor map, several fraktur, toleware, as well as other period furniture and accessories.
Outstanding folk art will be offered throughout the day. For those interested in fraktur, many other examples will be offered, including pieces by Karl Munch, Christian Mertel, Friederich Krebs, Gustav Peters, Frederich Speyer, Martin Brechall and many others, together with some colorful bookplates and watercolor drawings.
Other items in the folk art category include an exceptional Pennsylvania tole-decorated coffeepot, a vibrant hooked rug with horse and pinwheels, a selection of spatter and gaudy Dutch porcelain, and an unusual child’s barber chair in the form of a painted leopard, attributed to the workshop of Marcus Charles Illions.
A Berks County dower chest dated 1798 with colorful tombstone panels with potted flowers and heart corners will garner interest. Several painted tall case clocks, including a Massachusetts example signed “S. Hoadley Plymouth” with a bold grained surface, will also attract attention of dealers and collectors alike. Many fine pieces of stoneware and slip-decorated redware will be offered throughout the day. A large stoneware water cooler, 19 inches high, by Wells & Richards, Reading, Pennsylvania, and several vibrant Remmey cobalt decorated pieces highlight this category.
A selection of fine furniture will command the attention of bidders. A New York Hepplewhite mahogany sideboard, circa 1790 with bellflower inlay, a New England cherry high chest, a Hudson Valley kas, a New Brunswick, New Jersey tall clock by Matthew Edgerton, and a Connecticut River Valley Chippendale cherry slant front desk are a few of the important items. Several other tall case clocks will be included. A Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, example by Rudy Stoner, an inlaid Northampton County, Pennsylvania, example by Murphy, and a painted Kutztown, Pennsylvania, example by Peter Gift are offered.
Tall chests from Pennsylvania, including a Chester County walnut Octorara piece will be sold. Other highlights include a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, shrank, New York and New England dining tables, Pennsylvania walnut drop leaf tables, Philadelphia candlestand and a Maryland Hepplewhite fan inlaid bowfront chest of drawers.
With a provenance of Titus Geesey and illustrated in Worldly Goods, a large Dutch delft punchbowl should command attention. Other pieces originally from Titus Geesey include a English Delft sack bottle dated 1650, various wrought-iron utensils, a Pennsylvania painted deacon’s bench, a copper kettle stamped John Getz, and a Pennsylvania corner cupboard with rattail hinges and raised panel door.
Other items of special interest include a Philadelphia silver presentation fire horn by R & W Wilson, and a silver presentation trumpet with floral engraving and oval vignette of a side-wheeler, presented to Eustace Barron of New York, a set of four English silver candlesticks bearing the touch of John Carter, and a British ship model of the frigate class warship Lydia. A very fine American School portrait of Mary, Julius, and Ella Lewis at their estate on Long Island Sound, is being offered for the first time.
Textiles are well represented in the sale. An important Philadelphia silk on linen band sampler (dated 1745), by Mary Ashbridge, a silk and paint on silk pictorial needlepoint attributed to the Folwell School, quilts, coverlets, and room-size Heriz and Tabriz rugs are a few of the pieces. Other items of mention include Stiegel-type pattern glass, art glass including examples by GallÈ, Schneider, Moser, etc, a New York ink and watercolor world map by a student at Mrs. J. Kemp’s school Champlain, a folk art depiction of George Washington, a late bronze age Cypriot gold funerary frontlet, and a seven-volume set of John James Audubon’s? The Birds of America, 1859.
For further information on the sale call (610) 269-4040, or visit the Web site at www.pookandpook.com.
