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Blyth Auction Sells William Stackhouse Collection

by Priscilla Weldon St. Germain

When contacted by telephone before his October 21, 2001, sale of the William Stackhouse collection, auctioneer Daniel Blyth had this to say. "Everything in the house was antique, except for one bedroom which was French Provincial. Stackhouse started collecting when he was in his twenties. He was sixty-three when he died, so he had been collecting about forty years. The window treatment, the carpet, the doorknobs and plates, everything was antique and done up to be perfect. He attended almost every auction in this area within a hundred-mile radius. In fact, he was at my auction the day before he died. He was a piano tuner and sold pianos by profession, but he had been retired for quite a while. He was in a group shop around here and had sold some things, but most everything else is here to be sold. Nothing is protected. We don't play games here. It's here to be sold. I specialize in estate sales, actually."

This was the author's introduction to the Stackhouse estate, which had been advertised in the October 2001 issue of M.A.D. (p. 11-G).

Blyth went on, "I've been going around like crazy ever since the ads came out. I've spent three months putting this sale together. This is in between running one to two auctions per week this summer. We usually do fifteen to fifty thousand dollars per sale. That's about what I'm set up to handle. But I expect to do considerably better with this one."

Having been assembled by a Victorian collector, the contents of the auction were, of course, a Victorian collector's delight. The sale was replete with rosewood, ebonized mahogany, and walnut furniture representing every major period in 19th-century furniture history. There were overmantel mirrors, pier mirrors, Old Paris china, Parian porcelain, beaded fire screens, easels, engravings, girandoles, and stuffed birds in their original glass domes. The list could go on, but M.A.D. readers are getting the picture of a devoted collector's passion for his possessions.

Stackhouse was obviously devoted to the hunt for that perfect accouterment to make his period rooms sing sweetly of days gone by. He had owned three or four period homes in his lifetime. His last was located on Ten Broeck Street in Albany, New York.

The author arrived at Blyth's auction facility at the end of the preview on Saturday night, October 20. Dan Blyth and his wife, Lisa, conveyed a warm welcome of northern hospitality, but they were clearly tired. Dan Blyth commented, "There have been so many phone calls this week I couldn't believe it. A lot of interest on the lighting, but especially on the two matched chandeliers. If I had ten phone lines for those chandeliers, I could have used them. As it is I only have two. Most of the interest has been concentrated on the chandeliers, the Baudouine table, the Egyptian Revival mirror, the pair of chandeliers, and the mechanical desk."

Stackhouse was apparently an old-time collector who did all his own restoration work. None of the furniture had had the benefit of a cabinetmaker's skill. The original finishes had been stripped off, leaving the dry wood bare. Most of the pieces that possessed gilded incised carvings had been regilded with plain hobby store paint.

Did the home-done restorations hurt the prices? No. Prices on all the furniture items were high regardless of restoration techniques. Most of the bargains were concentrated in the decorative arts. Interestingly, furniture prices brought about the same money in the tiny town of Schoharie, New York, as they would have achieved in either New York City or New Orleans.

At sale time Saturday morning, the auction building was full, with attendees from Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Massachusetts, and New York. Single-owner sales really bring out buyers. Also, there were no reserves. Every single piece sold, as auctioneer Blyth let every lot find its own level.

The auction started promptly at 11 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. on the dot, with 300 lots bringing a sale total of around $300,000. As auctioneer Blyth had anticipated, the top lots were the pair of chandeliers at $19,800 (includes buyer's premium); the mechanical desk, $10,450; the Baudouine sewing table, $5500; and the Egyptian Revival mirror, $4620. A set of three cornices that had hung in the Stackhouse parlor brought $10,560.

Two full parlor suites were offered, both in the Louis XVI Revival style. The finer one, crafted of carved rosewood, consisted of two sofas, two armchairs, and four side chairs; it sold for $6270. A seven-piece suite made of satinwood on rosewood sold to a Schoharie, New York, buyer for $3190. Two fine rosewood side chairs, pictured in 19th-Century America: Furniture and Other Decorative Arts, cost $935.

The author's favorite pair of chairs consisted mostly of upholstery on rosewood bases and sold separately for $440 and $467.50. Chairs of identical form are represented in the collection of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York. A nice Sleepy Hollow form walnut armchair seemed reasonably priced at $275. The best set of four rosewood ormolu-mounted chairs made $3300 for the set.

The rosewood mechanical desk, New York City, circa 1870, sold to Southampton, Massachusetts, dealer Bruce Cummings, for $10,450. Cummings, one of the Northeast's premier dealers in 19th-century furniture, was a major buyer at the auction. Two other desks were available: a nice fall-front lady's desk brought $1430 from a dealer; and a plain, sturdy Renaissance Revival walnut fall-front brought $687.50.

Two bedroom suites were sold. One of the two took the author's vote for best furniture buy of the auction. Painted black with gold decoration, the cottage assemblage consisted of a double bed, table, chair, dresser, washstand, and somnoe; it fetched $2750. The other, a three-piece rosewood suite with a double bed, dresser, and washstand, brought $4070 from an in-house bidder.

Tables and stands available at the auction included an American marquetry-inlaid Neo-Grec example for $4180. A French ebonized, inlaid, and bronze-mounted center table made $1980. A Kilian Brothers small occasional table with a marquetry-inlaid top cost $1100. A John Jelliff walnut inlaid table of a desirable small size brought $2090, and a larger Jelliff-attributed table achieved the same price.

The author paid $1870 for a carved walnut Rococo Revival games table. Three Neo-Grec stands sold for $1100, $935, and $467.50. An interesting walnut chess table complete with its own chess set made $1540. A good pair of ebonized pedestals, one missing its bronze-colored front plaque, cost $2310. Three identical Renaissance Revival pedestals of walnut with gilding were sold; a pair realized $935 and an additional single brought $357.50.

Of the decorative arts at the sale, 19th-century lighting brought top prices. The star lot of the auction, a matched pair of Cornelius and Baker chandeliers, sold for $19,800 to a Mississippi dealer bidding in house. The dealer had her eye on a fine sinumbra lamp, but at $3410 another bidder was the new owner. Another fine sinumbra cost $3520.

Other lighting included three chandeliers at $7040, $6270, and $4400. Candle-powered girandole sets included a pair of three-light girandoles with glass bob<138>ches and dog bases that sold to the phone for $1210; two singles and a three-light holder with Cupid holding a bird, $1045; a Boston set, two singles and a three-light, $1100; and a pair of Hooper three-light holders, $1237.50.

The 19th-century mirrors at the auction were awesome. Top lot of the mirrors was an Egyptian Revival overmantel mirror at $4620. Following close behind was a stunning Rococo Revival gilded example that cost $4400. A huge gilded overmantel mirror sold for $1650; a Renaissance Revival overmantel mirror, missing its crest, $1320; a large Rococo Revival mirror, $660; a large gilded overmantel mirror with Renaissance Revival overtones, $1650; and an Aesthetic Movement pier mirror with original gilding was a stunner at $2530.

The front parlor's valances, a set of three still hung with Stackhouse's curtains, sold for $10,560. Another set of four gilded valances cost $1980.

Stackhouse had collected a good group of Parian porcelain that sold for reasonable prices. The author paid $467.50 for a large example of Venus Holding a Seashell. A pair of 12 inches Copeland busts was $880. The Parian version of Sir Edwin Landseer's Saved fetched $522.50. A Parian dog inkwell went to $467.50. Other examples included a pair of ewers that sold for $165; a boy and girl pair, $192.50; Cupid and Venus, $247.50; Faust and Marguerite, $165; and Meditation, $143.

On the cheap side, a pair of brown and white wall brackets marked Copeland was $66; a repaired 9 inches bust of Apollo, $22; a bust of a child together with a bust of a composer, $44; a small reclining dog, $66; and a figure of a child, $71.50.

At sale's end, the portieres that had divided Stackhouse's foyer and parlor sold for a low $55, and a beautiful set of three portrait cups brought $41.25. The last lot, a nice portrait in a gilded frame that needed repair, made $121.

Auctioneer Dan Blyth ran a lively, fast-paced, and interesting sale. He had total command of the podium the entire event. If the crowd's attention wavered, he quickly brought it back with a bang of his hammer.

Lisa Blyth commented, "We've worked ten years to be able to handle a sale like this one."

Dan Blyth said, "I know the executor [of the Stackhouse estate] well, and we've done business before. Mostly what's left at the house in Albany is glassware, Christmas stuff, books, and power tools, which I'll put into later auctions. I'd like to mention this sale would not have been possible without the help of my sister, Kimberly Klingbeil."

On Monday, October 22, when the author called, Dan Blyth was already out picking up another estate and getting ready for his next auction.

For more information, call (518) 868-4524.