The Marion Antique Auction
June 25th, 2016
Marion Antique Auctions, Marion, Massachusetts
When Frank McNamee and David Glynn hold a Marion Antique Auctions sale in Marion, Massachusetts, dealers and collectors take note. The sales are often a blend of area estate antiques and quirky material relating to the history of New Bedford and other seafaring communities along the southeastern coast. Much has not been seen in the market in decades, if at all. The June 25 sale was no exception, and with only five lots with reserves, bidding was energetic.
David Glynn hammers down a late 19th-century Chinese silk and wool rug, 92½" x 118", woven with birds, waves, and pagodas with metal highlights. It sold online for $35,090 (est. $1000/2000).
It was a feast of ships’ portraits by the Danish-American artist Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (1850-1921). A view of the sail and steamship The Island, a 22" x 36" oil on canvas from the Shaw estate, sold online for $9680 (includes buyer’s premium). A 23½" x 41" (sight) oil on board of the steamship Orleanian was signed and dated 1906. It, too, came from the Shaw estate, and it sold for $6490. A 21½" x 35" oil on board scene of a steamship off New York was signed and dated 1909 and brought $9680 online.
This Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (1850-1921) oil on board, 23½" x 41", of the steamship Orleanian is signed and dated 1906. It came from the Shaw estate and sold for $6490.
Antonio Jacobsen’s portrait of the sail and steamship The Island came from the Shaw estate and sold online for $9680.
Antonio Jacobsen’s 1909 oil on board, 21½" x 35", of a steamship off New York is signed and dated and brought $9680 online.
Bidders were also pleased to win the New Bedford school paintings that sold. A 14" x 22" (sight) oil on canvas scene of sloops off the Boon Island light in Maine by Clement Drew (1806-1889) was signed and dated 1893 and sold for $2183.
An Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969) watercolor scene of Boston, 11½" x 15¼" (sight), Arlington Street and Commonwealth Avenue, retained a label from the Guild of Boston Artists (of which he was president) and included Boston gallery Alfred J. Walker Fine Art in its provenance. It realized $3127. Walker had purchased the Ripley estate when it was offered for sale.
An early 19th-century Federal mahogany bed carved with pineapple and acanthus and an elaborate swagged headboard sold for $2360. An old label attached to the back of the headboard noted, “This bedstead was brought over by Ansel Gibbs (6) of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. 1772-1835.” Gibbs, of Fairhaven, was a whaling shipmaster, agent, merchant, and justice of the peace. The bed had been deaccessioned by the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Frank McNamee said after the auction that the bed could have been made on the coast—possibly in New Bedford where late 18th- and early 19th-century cabinetmakers flourished.
A Federal mahogany and mahogany veneer two-part secretary desk with two glass doors, a foldout writing surface, and columns on the front sold online for $1331. The desk was also deaccessioned by the New Bedford Whaling Museum. A Federal mahogany card table with a serpentine front from the Shaw estate that had been purchased in 1974 for about $1200 from Boston antiques dealer Samuel Lowe Antiques of Charles Street sold for $649.
The late 18th-century Connecticut Chippendale mahogany reverse serpentine-front cherry chest on an ogee bracket base is untouched and thought to be related to the school of Eliphalet Chapin. It came from a collection in nearby Wareham and sold to a Connecticut dealer on the phone for $5310.
This late 18th-century Boston Chippendale mahogany slant-front desk with a serpentine front, ball-and-claw feet, and an interior fitted with drawers and cubbies is from the Shaw estate. It sold for $4235 online.
A 19th-century Renaissance-style 40" high bronze gas chandelier that was electrified had replaced glass shades and sold for $2714. A Regina double-comb music box in a refinished inlaid mahogany case with a three-drawer oak stand for storing its 135 discs was estimated at $1500/2500, opened at $3000, and sold online for $4537.50.
Among a group of 19th-century nautical charts from a South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, estate, the highlight was the 1886 chart of Long Island Sound between Newport, Rhode Island, and New York City by George Eldridge that brought $1298.
A 19th-century sign, 14" x 84" x 2", from the Seamen’s Bethel in New Bedford came from a Marion estate and brought $1062 from a phone bidder.
This 3'6" x 3' wooden sign from the movie Jaws, filmed on Martha’s Vineyard, came from the estate of islander Barbara Nevin, whose many accomplishments included the position of production secretary during the filming of the movie. The Marion consignors acquired the sign from the Red Barn/Granary Gallery on the Vineyard. It was estimated at $1000/2000 and sold to a Rhode Island collector of Jaws material for $14,160.
This early 19th-century iron and wood velocipede made by G.H. Mercer & Monod of New York is missing a brake handle and seat but is in otherwise fine condition. It was deaccessioned by the New Bedford Whaling Museum and sold for $4130 (est. $2000/3000).
An early 20th-century monumental Gorham sterling repoussé loving cup presented to Philip F. Donahue in 1925 had an interesting history. Donahue was the treasurer of Tammany Hall and later the commissioner of the board of water supply. His cup sold for $1298. A Gorham sterling flatware service in the Chantilly pattern (84.25 troy ounces) brought $3540. An early 19th-century Canadian officer’s sword was signed “Cripps, London” and had been made for Gibb & Co., Montreal. It realized $472.
Among a group of estate jewelry was a platinum, diamond, and pearl choker with five strands of matched graduated pearls and three carats of diamonds that sold for $4720. A couple of charm bracelets also sold. One, in 14k gold with seven large charms, six of which were set with stones, sold for $2006. A 14k gold bracelet with 33 gold charms, 26 of which were 14k, one was 18k, two were 10k gold, one was jade, and another was a U.S. $2½ gold piece, brought $3304. A 1909 U.S. $10 gold Indian coin made $3304.
Two Qing Dynasty blue glass vases with four character marks, each with a rosewood cover that was possibly later, were estimated at $4000/6000 and sold for $4956.
Marion Antique Auc-tions holds two sales a year. For information, check the website (www.marionantiqueauctions.com) or call (508) 748-3606.
This New American Atlas by cartographer Henry Schenck Tanner (1786-1858)waspublished in 1825 and is considered by many to have been the most distinguished atlas published in 19th-century America. Bidding opened at $10,050 and escalated to $14,160 from fine art dealer Alfred J. Walker, who was bidding for a client on the phone.
This four-panel paravent or dressing screen with four original lithographs by Marc Chagall (1887-1985), printed at Atelier Mourlot, Paris, sold online for $18,150. It is numbered 70/100 and is printed in 12 colors. The screen had at one time come from Sandra and Al Sanders, who owned the Roby Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. It was accompanied by its original shipping crate.
Originally published in the September 2016 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2016 Maine Antique Digest
