A Good Day for Southern Furniture

June 18th, 2016

Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates, Mt. Crawford, Virginia

Photos courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates

Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates held its semiannual Americana and fine arts sale on June 18 at the firm’s gallery in Mt. Crawford, Virginia. These sales are commonly referred to as Evans’s southern sales, as there is a strong emphasis on items that originated in Virginia and other southern states. These sales are also noted for their size and duration. The June 18 sale offered 974 lots, with all except two selling in the single session.

The high lot of the sale came from among the southern furniture lots. A circa 1780 Virginia Chippendale walnut sideboard sold for $87,750 (includes buyer’s premium). It had an estimate of $10,000/15,000. The table had been deaccessioned by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello; proceeds will benefit the collections and acquisitions funds. The catalog notes made it clear that this particular table is not directly related to either Thomas Jefferson or Monticello, and therefore it falls outside of the scope of the foundation’s collection, thus accounting for its deaccession.


This Virginia Chippendale sideboard table earned the highest price of the sale. The walnut table has yellow pine secondary wood. The front of the two-board top is serpentine, and the three show edges are molded. The top is mounted on a rectangular base with conforming serpentine frieze. The lower edge of the frieze features an applied molding. The legs are square sectioned with the outward-facing surfaces channel-molded and with the inside corners chamfered to receive the X-form stretcher. The stretcher has carved upward-facing decorative elements at the leg intersections and at the center junction. The 35½" x 67¼" x 25" table retains an old undisturbed surface. There are two repairs to the stretcher. It sold for $87,750 (est. $10,000/15,000).

The table was purchased by dealer, author, and southern furniture expert Sumpter Priddy III of Alexandria, Virginia, who was bidding in the room. While the table is not attributed directly to Jefferson or Monticello, Priddy felt that the table is extremely significant. In an e-mail following the sale he stated:

“The table is one of two closely related pieces—the other being at the Virginia Historical Society and having a history in the Coles family of Albemarle County. Based on the two tables having Albemarle County histories, and the fact that they bear no relationship to other pieces from further east in the Virginia Tidewater, they almost certainly originate in the Piedmont, and more specifically in Albemarle County or Charlottesville. Equally important, Jefferson had extremely close ties to the Coles family, and his workman James Dinsmore assisted them off and on over the years and made furniture for them, as well. Although the sideboard table likely predates Dinsmore’s time in Albemarle, there is little doubt in my mind that at some point we will be able to tie it stylistically to existing furniture by another artisan in the community, and the likelihood is that he would have also worked with Jefferson. Indeed, Jefferson completely transformed the character of architecture and furniture in the region and was tied to virtually all of the talented cabinetmakers in that region.”


This South Carolina (attributed) yellow pine and birch punched-tin-panel sideboard was highly sought after. The mid-19th-century piece is quite large at 56¼" x 71" x 25" and features a rectangular two-board top with applied complex molding on three sides. Below are two fielded-panel doors flanked by fixed-frame punched-tin panels. The side panels are also framed punched tins. The tin design features a central stylized palmetto tree with a crescent moon and four stars above. The lower edge of the case displays a narrow applied molding. The case is raised on square-section legs with the inside surface tapering slightly beginning at the bottom of the case. This spectacular piece sold for $28,080 (est. $3000/5000).

While this table and other furniture items shown in the accompanying photographs represented unusually strong sales, southern furniture in general enjoyed a breath of fresh air.

A circa 1835 cherry and poplar spice/valuables chest, likely from Virginia or Tennessee, brought $4387.50; and a pair of western Maryland/West Virginia Chippendale walnut side chairs, 1760-90, sold for that same amount, as did a pair of circa 1810 Baltimore Federal carved and inlaid side chairs. A paint-decorated Shenandoah County, Virginia, yellow pine and poplar blanket chest brought $3393; and a Sullivan County, Tennessee, cherry punched-tin food/pie safe attributed to John Wolfe sold for $3276. All of these sales exceeded the high estimates.


This circa 1820 Kentucky Federal chest of drawers is cherry with poplar as the secondary wood and features double string inlay to the top edge. The drawer fronts are defined with both a scratch bead and string inlay detail. The ends are solid with the forward exposed edges inlaid with an urn and trailing vine design. The base features dot and dash inlay on three sides. The chest is raised on tall, slightly flared French feet. The 40½" x 41½" x 19½" chest has had some repairs but has a stunning presence and sold to a telephone bidder for $12,870 (est. $3000/5000).

Stepping a bit out of character, this Evans sale included 45 lots of collector-grade coins. Virtually all of the coins were dated in the 18th and early 19th centuries. None had been professionally graded, and each lot sold well above its estimate. The high lot from among those lots is shown in the photo section.

Within the ceramics category, more than 80 lots were offered from the personal collection of George and Mickey Deike. The Deikes literally wrote the book on decorated pearlware, Feathers and Foliage: The Life and Times of the Pearlware Peafowl. Although the Deike collection lots came late in the sale, they were strong performers and in most instances sold above estimates.

For additional information, contact Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates at (540) 434-3939 or visit the website (www.jeffreysevans.com).


The high lot from among 45 collector coin lots was this 1795 Flowing Hair dollar with three leaves beneath each eagle’s wing on the reverse. The coin had not been professionally graded. It sold for $14,040 (est. $2000/3000).


This carved mahogany Federal side chair is one of a probably assembled set of 12 American, possibly Charleston, chairs. The set has ten side chairs and two armchairs, each with an arched crest rail and a molded frame with a center splat that is pierced and decoratively carved. The chairs are raised on square-section legs terminating in spade feet. The front legs are tapered, and the rear legs are raked without a foot treatment. There has been some repair or restoration to most of the chairs. A telephone bidder brought the set for $30,420 (est. $8000/12,000).


The subject of this 18th-century miniature watercolor portrait on ivory is unknown. The 3¾" x 2¼" oval does not appear to be signed, but the catalog suggests that it may be by or from the school of James Peale (1749-1831). The miniature is in excellent overall condition, and it enjoyed intense interest from several telephone bidders, ultimately selling for $3510 (est. $200/300).


The large (61¾" x 50¾" x 24") Virginia pie safe, constructed of walnut with poplar secondary, features a total of 24 tins crimped into four panels and face-nailed to the case. The tins are punched with central eight-point stars within an array of overlapping circles and dash bands. The safe has tall, continuous stile legs that terminate in slightly tapered ring-turned feet. The food safe sold to a telephone bidder for $8775 (est. $1000/1500).


This Rockingham County, Virginia, fraktur is by Jacob Crop(th) and dated 1809. The announcement is that of the 1785 birth of Daniel Wiessler (Whisler). The watercolor and ink on paper is decorated with parrots flanking the central inscription and with a central tulip and star flowers with trailing vines. The fraktur sold in the room for $25,740 (est. $8000/12,000).


This Confederate archival lot relates to the family of Colonel Samuel R. Johnston. Johnston, a civil engineer, rose within the officer corps to become the engineering officer on the staff of Robert E. Lee. This group of items includes a signed and inscribed carte de visite of Lee, a cased tintype of Johnston, and two personal letters from Lee to Johnston and his wife related to their naming their son after Lee. This intimate archive sold for $16,380 (est. $5000/8000).


 In the same week that the Broadway musical Hamilton walked away with 11 Tony Awards, a 9¼" x 7 3/8" portrait in profile of Alexander Hamilton did well in its own right at the Evans sale. The oil on poplar panel is attributed to William J. Weaver (English/American, 1759-1817). Shown out of its giltwood frame, it depicts Hamilton in his Continental Army uniform and probably dates 1794-1806. The catalog notes that in spite of Hamilton’s importance during the early period of our nation’s history, there are few contemporaneous portraits of him. This portrait sold to an absentee bidder for $26,910 (est. $8000/12,000).


Originally published in the August 2016 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2016 Maine Antique Digest

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