Country Americana, Glass & Ceramics Lead Garth’s Fall Auction Schedule

Country Americana: Painted Furniture, Folk Art & Accessories

As summer winds down and kids head back to school, Garth’s is prepping for two solid auctions in back to back weekends. Kicking off Garth’s fall schedule is the September 6-7 Country Americana auction. Filled with a spectacular array of painted surfaces on furniture, folk art and accessories, the annual auction has come to be known as the “Labor Day Weekend Auction” (although it occurs on the weekend after Labor Day). Among the 830+ lots is a small sampling of the extensive Antiques, Country Store & Advertising Collection of the late J. Garland Warren of San Marcos, Texas (with more of the collection to follow in upcoming fall sales); additional items from the collection of the late Helen B. Porter; and a handful of remaining pieces from the Dick and Sue Studebaker Collection of Quaker Hill (Dayton, Ohio).

A fine tall case clock with movement by Luman Watson, Cincinnati, and case by A. Read and Company, Xenia, Ohio, ca.1825, is the first lot of the weekend. The curly maple and crotch cherry case with broken arch pediment and quarter columns encloses a 30-hour wooden movement with its original dial marked “L. Watson Cincinnati” and is expected to reach $4,000-8,000. Of the nine stepback cupboards in the sale, a two-piece example with elaborate scroll cut decoration over eight paneled doors and an elaborately scroll cut skirt retains an old cream paint on the exterior and old cream and blue on the interior. Ex Harvey Pranian (Illinois), the 86” high cupboard should fetch $6,000-$9,000, while a Pennsylvania example of good, small size and the original red and black paint decoration (sold at Sotheby’s from the Alice and Murray Braunfeld collection in January 2004) is likely to reach $4,000-$8,000.

A superb Soap Hollow blanket chest by John Sala (1819-1882 and one of the earliest documented cabinetmakers of the Soap Hollow group) will be a highlight of the Friday session. Inscribed “JS 1868” and “Manufactured by John Sala”, it retains the original red and black paint on a case with two drawers and stencil decoration including a melon basket. Sold at Mishler and Associates (Pennsylvania) in April 2005, it brought over $22,000, but a conservative estimate of $12,000-18,000 accompanies it in the catalog. Garth’s Labor Day Weekend Auction has been known for good paint, and this year will not disappoint. Ten drysinks in a variety of paint colors can be useful in many interiors. A child’s size example measuring just 23.5” tall with a single drawer and two paneled doors carries an old red-bittersweet paint and an estimate of $500-1,000. A more unusual example is the dry sink cupboard with an upper cupboard which only spans one third the width of the base and overall old Spanish brown and yellow paint (estimate $2,000-$4,000).

Ceramics lovers should enjoy the bounty of choices in the sale. Of the stoneware, a ten-gallon crock by Eagle Pottery, Diamond Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is adorned with cobalt decorated of two eagles and is inscribed “W.D. Cooper & Son” (estimate $2,500-4,500). A rare New York pitcher labeled for Charles Cartlidge “American Porcelain” has molded corn decoration with gilt accents and an American shield (estimate $1,000-$2,000).

The colorful catalog cover shows one of the twelve gameboards in the sale, a vibrant five-color parcheesi board estimate at $600-$1,200. A selection of forty-four advertising and trade signs to be sold are artfully illustrated on the back cover of the catalog. Promoting the sales of everything from “groceries and provisions” to “umbrellas and rain capes” to “Emerson Vehicles”, and even “homes furnished complete”, the varied styles and colors ensure something for every savvy country Americana collector. Some of the staff favorites include examples for the “Royal School of Music” painted by the “Harold W. Chamberlain Sign Shop, Athens, Ills” measuring 122.5” long (estimate $800-$1,600), a “Maple Syrup Warehouse” sign humorously marked both “Public” and “Keep Out” measuring 96” wide (estimate $400-$800), and a “Welch’s Stoves, New & Used Furniture”, 65” wide (estimate $600-800).

Rounding out the sale are more than a few lots that should entice some competitive bidding. An oval, bentwood box, probably by Heinrich Bucher (Berks County, Pennsylvania), retains the original painted flower basket decoration (estimate $1,500-$3,000). A Sandwich glass openwork fruit basket (estimate $1,000-$3,000) with sixteen staves atop a rayed base and hexagonal foot is similar to examples in The Glass Industry in Sandwich, Vol. 1 by Barlow and Kaiser. A copper full-bodied running horse weathervane with zinc head mounted atop a wooden post should easily reach $2,500-$4,500.

A whimsical painting of a grey cat with a red bow in a wooden travel crate by Gaylord is sure to tempt many a folk art collector. At just 8.75” square, the oil on board is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. Just as whimsical are the varied pattern names of the seventeen quilts in the auction. A neatly pieced “Blazing Stars” quilt with double diamond borders is estimated $1,000-$2,000, while a classic Amish “Diamond in the Square” quilt composed of rich green, deep purple and precise and closely worked stitches is estimated $1,500-$2,500.

In reflecting on the selection within the auction, Garth’s CEO Jeff Jeffers commented “This is a classic Garth’s Americana sale for bidders: a diverse auction of quality, affordable objects. It’s all about the thrill of the hunt and finding the next treasure – and it’s fun to feel everyone back at it after the summer.”

The Joyce & Vernon Haan 40 Year Collection of Glass and Ceramics

Joyce and Vernon Haan of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin will celebrate their sixty-third wedding anniversary on the second of September and they have spent most of that time together satisfying their passion for collecting. It’s serendipitous that just eleven days later on September 13th, the Haan family will commemorate the occasion again when Garth’s sells the Haan 40 Year Collection of Glass and Ceramics in an online, virtual auction. Comprised of over 200 lots of Gaudy Welsh, Gaudy pearlware, English transferware, early American blown lamps, fluid and whale oil pressed and pattern glass lamps, pattern glass candlesticks, Sandwich glass lamps, Bohemian glass, lacy glass cup plates & dishes, Rockingham, Bennington pottery, yellowware, redware, stoneware ink bottles, Bargeware, Pittsburgh tumblers and tasters, and more, the catalog goes live online August 23rd. While the dispersal of a beloved collection is always a tough process, Joyce Haan stated “We knew we could trust Garth’s to sell our treasured collection.”

One of the fine pieces of glass includes an American Emerald green trumpet vase in the loop pattern on a white marble base. Ex Paul Carpenter (Ohio), the 11” high piece sold at Garth’s once before in October, 1997. It is estimated $400-$600. Lovers of Victorian glass will have a good selection from which to choose including an exceptional Vaseline hexagonal pattern, footed sweetmeat bowl (estimate $100-$150.

Historic Staffordshire transferware with American scenes is highly collectible and well represented. A red English jug, ca. 1830-1840, from Jackson’s American Scenery Series depicts “Schenectady on the Mohawk” (estimate $300-$400). Several lots by Adams are also to be sold including a red wash jug of “Chess Players”, 12″ high, and a group of three red plates depicting “View Near Conway, N. Hampshire”, 9″d. and “Monte Video Connecticut”. The estimates are $200-300 and $200-$250, respectively.

For further information about these September auctions, contact Garth’s at 740-362-4771 or visit www.garths.com. Consignments are still being accepted for Garth’s upcoming fall schedule including the October 4th Eclectic Auction, the October 5th The J. Garland Warren Country Store Collection, and the November 1st Gentleman’s Auction of Sporting Weapons, Taxidermy & more.