Amorsolo and “Exceptional” Paintings Top Cobb Sale
Mark Sisco | October 20th, 2012
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This 16" x 19" oil on canvas by Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo, signed and dated “F. Amorsolo/ Manila 1941,” sold for $29,900. Oil on canvas horse portrait by Richard Stone Reeves of the racehorse Exceptional, sold for $10,350. Charlie Cobb noted, “This was one of his earlier paintings.” This mocha pitcher with black seaweed on a cream background with orange bands, with minor craquelure and chips, beat the $400/700 estimate by a wide margin to sell for $1150. Seven-piece sterling silver coffee or tea service (three pieces shown) by Arthur Stone, Gardner, Massachusetts, sold for $5462.50. |
The Cobbs Auctioneers, Peterborough, New Hampshire
by Mark Sisco
Two paintings broke five figures at The Cobbs Auctioneers on October 20, 2012, in Peterborough, New Hampshire. There was worldwide interest in an important oil on canvas by Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972). Charlie Cobb noted, “We’ve got a guy in Jakarta bidding on that, a guy in the Philippines, a guy in Scotland, on the phone plus the Internet.”
Amorsolo was a prolific Filipino artist who has more than 10,000 paintings and sketches to his name. Many paintings are of romanticized dalagang Pilipina, or young native women in their natural surroundings, bathing in streams or working in rice fields and orchards. His work was in high demand for most of his working life, even during World War II when he switched to images of suffering and wartime destruction. The 16" x 19" oil on canvas offered here, signed and dated “F. Amorsolo/ Manila 1941,” showed a young woman washing laundry in a quiet stream. With virtually all the action on the phones and Internet, it sold well above the $15,000/25,000 estimate for $29,900 (with buyer’s premium) with the buyer in the Philippines prevailing.
Several items had some solid regional history. An 89" tall clock by maker Robinson Perkins (1766-1847) of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, circa 1800, found residence not far from its original home. It was purchased by the Jaffrey Historical Society for $2185. It had a simple red-painted pine case with black and gold highlights, 30-hour wooden works, and a full-column bonnet, and was signed on the painted face “R. PERKINS/ JAFFREY/ NO. 198.” Perkins was first trained as a blacksmith but later took up both silversmithing and clockmaking.
A two-part corner cupboard came with its own regional credentials. Known as a Hackensack cupboard, it had a nine-light tombstone arch door, applied half columns over bull’s eye moldings, a blue-painted interior, and flat-paneled doors, and it stood on short turned feet. Auctioneer Charlie Cobb explained the features that isolated it as a Hackensack cupboard. “Two things that were typical of that area—one is the matchstick molding around the top, and that arched pane is typical of right down in that area,” he said. “You only find it in New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania. So you put the two of them together, and it’s classic form from that area.” But even with the distinctive features, it sold under the $1500/2500 estimate for a modest $1150.
The price of antique silver is driven in part by the spot market silver prices of the day. Although prices spiked in April 2011, they’ve been on a solid upswing since 2003 or earlier. The increase in value helped to drive up the price on a seven-piece sterling tea and coffee service by Arthur Stone (1847-1938) that included a teapot, coffee pot, hot water pot with a burner stand, creamer, small pitcher, and waste and sugar bowls. Each piece was marked, “A Stone-STERLING,” indicating his working period in Gardner, Massachusetts. They were also marked with a family crest with the motto “SUB LIBERTATE QUIETEM,” part of the state motto of Massachusetts. The full motto is “Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem,” translated as “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.” Estimated at $3000/5000, the service finished at $5462.50.
An oil on canvas by Richard Stone Reeves (1919-2005) of a racehorse that was identified as “Exceptional” on the frame and reverse was signed and dated 1948 lower left. Reeves is known as a painter of racehorses. His illustrious client/owners included W. Averell Harriman, the Aga Khan III, and Harry Guggenheim. A label on the reverse explained, “Exceptional/ Bay Horse 1939/ by Hard Tack-Prodigy by Light Brigade.” Exceptional, born in 1939, was the grandson of legendary racehorse Man o’ War. But his racing career was less than exceptional, with only one win for a total of $975. The painting brought in more than ten times the life earnings of the horse when it sold for $10,350 (est. $10,000/15,000).
For more information, visit (www.thecobbs.com) or call (603) 924-6361.
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This English Queen Anne upholstered stool with a back, in an old refinish with four cabriole legs with large acanthus leaf carvings on the knees and hairy paw feet, doubled the $700/1000 estimate to sell for $2070. Cobbs photo.
This elephant folio chromolithograph of mockingbirds pestering a snake came from the Bien edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. In 1858 Audubon’s sons contracted with Julius Bien to produce life-size renderings of Audubon’s images at less cost than the original Havell double elephant folio edition by using the latest innovations in color printing. The Bien edition was never completed, and only an estimated 50 to 100 copies were printed. This print sold for $3565 (est. $600/1000).
Charlie Cobb sold this Karabagh Oriental runner commonly known as a Cloud Band Kazak rug, probably from the Armenian area formerly known as the Duchy of Khachen, now part of the Caucasian region known as Nagorno-Karabakh, for $5175.
This Chippendale tip-and-turn tea table in mahogany, 32" diameter, has a mechanism inside the block supporting the top that allows the table to spin as well as lift. The table has elongated ball-and-claw feet with raised relief flowers and vines. The Cobbs reported that the form typically is found in the New Jersey area. Charlie Cobb rejected an insulting $300 opener, but it still sold reasonably for $1322.50.Originally published in the February 2013 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2013 Maine Antique Digest
