Proper Philadelphians

By: John Dorfman

March 2008

New York—Chippendale tea tables from Philadelphia led the mid-January Americana sales at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s, but in terms of prices realized, it was a tale of two cities.

Sotheby’s had hyped its circa 1755 scalloped "piecrust" mahogany table as the "Acme of Perfection"—quoting from William Hornor’s 1935 book on Philadelphia furniture—and as "the Mona Lisa of American tea tables." The carving on the so-called McMichael-Tilghman table is attributed to a mysterious figure known as the Garvan Carver, and no doubt the auction house’s estimate of $2 million to $6 million was influenced by the handsome $6.8 million that a similar Garvan Carver table brought at Christie’s in October 2007. At Sotheby’s on January 18, the table sold to a private collector for $1,833,000, quite a lot of money but still below the low estimate. In contrast, at Christie’s on January 17, a circa 1770 Chippendale scalloped mahogany folding tea table attributed to Nicholas Bernard and Martin Jugiez of Philadelphia (est. $1.5–2.5 million), was purchased by a dealer for $5,417,000. It had been with the Stevenson family of Philadelphia until 1990.

At Sotheby’s, a circa 1760 Chippendale block-and-shell carved mahogany kneehole dressing table attributed to Edmund Townsend of Newport, Rhode Island (est. $750,000–1.5 million), sold for $937,000. An important hand-colored engraving by Paul Revere depicting the Boston Massacre (est. $150,000–200,000) sold for $229,000. One particularly interesting item was a clipper ship’s figurehead in the shape of the 19th-century opera singer Jenny Lind (est. $100,000–150,000). In 1994 an antiques dealer in Sweden acquired it from a farmer who had used it as a scarecrow. The life-sized (66-inch) wooden sculpture sold for $121,000. From a single-owner sale of the collection of Mr. and Mrs. George Fenimore Johnson on January 19, a Chippendale carved-mahogany easy chair from Philadelphia, circa 1770, sold in the middle of its broad estimate of $200,000 to $800,000, for $505,000.

At Christie’s, a Chippendale mahogany high chest of drawers, with provenance from the Andrew family (est. $800,000–1.2 million) went for $1,049,000, while an 1870s goose decoy by famed Virginia carver Nathan Cobb Jr. (est. $400,000–600,000) sold for $457,000, an artist record. A large red-painted burlwood open-handled bowl (est. $25,000–35,000) also reached a record price, $181,000. And in a separate sale devoted to American silver, the top lot was a circa 1900 silver-gilt and enamel vase designed by Paulding Farnham and with the mark of Tiffany & Company. Estimated at $120,000 to $180,000, it sold for $265,000.

The relatively high buy-in rates and the tendency of lots to stay well within, if not below, their estimates were indications that the market may be shakier than it has been in the last couple of seasons.