Rare Virginia Blanket Chest Captures High Bid at Garth's On March 28, buyers filled the Garth’s sale room for the chance to bid on the wonderful selection of early American antiques and accessories when the star of the auction became a rare, decorated blank
POST AUCTION PRESS RELEASE - GARTH’S INC. - Delaware, Ohio
Some people know that 2009 is The Year of the Ox on the Chinese calendar, but for Garth’s Auctions of Delaware, Ohio, its second auction of 2009 proved that, to the members of the antiques community, it is shaping up to be The Year of the Painted Surface. On March 28, buyers filled the Garth’s sale room and the phone lines for the chance to bid on the wonderful selection of early American antiques and accessories when the star of the auction became a rare, decorated blanket chest from New Market, Shenandoah County, Virginia. The chest retained its original paint decoration consisting of yellow, orange and black leaves on a blue ground and a stylized bird adorning the lid. When the heated bidding ended and the dust cleared, the highly sought after piece sold to Pennsylvania dealer, Greg Kramer, with an in-room collector underbidding, for an impressive $38,187. “In any economy, the rarity and folk nature of a piece like the Stirewalt blanket chest will stand up and be noticed. You not only have paint as a primary interest factor – you also have regionalism. And the pride of ownership for regional objects from Virginia, as we know, runs strong,” remarked owner of Garth’s, and lead auctioneer, Jeff Jeffers.
Whether it was simply the desire to introduce a bit of color to a room or the intuitive need to own a decorative and utilitarian piece of the past, collectors and dealers alike flocked to other painted furniture and accessories yielding strong results overall. Pieces in various blue paints included a wonderful thirty-drawer apothecary chest, in old, but not original paint, that brought $16,450, a Pennsylvania poplar blanket chest dated 1836 with three lower drawers and turned feet that sold for $6,169, and a one-piece architectural corner cupboard which fetched just over $4,406. A Southern, possibly Virginia, punched tin pie safe with old red paint crossed the block for $4,230. A carved and painted eagle attributed to John Haley Bellamy in pine with a painted banner reading “Don’t Give Up the Ship” flew to a high bid of $9,988. A life-size, folk art carved and painted figure of a man (possibly Noah Weiss, Northampton County, Pennsylvania) walked away with a high bid of $7,050. Two assembled sets of American maple painted treen bowls realized $1,028 and $499.
While paint was bringing many of the leading prices of the day, it was by no means the sole sale focus as formal furniture accessories from both America and Europe faired well. The sale of a late-18th//early-19th century Scottish inlaid barometer by John Russell of Falkirk made many bidders sit up and take notice as it easily beat its pre-sale estimate, selling for an outstanding $11,162. An ash burl bowl with good figure and carved handles went to a new home for $5,875. Other highlights among the formal furniture included a Chippendale serpentine-front, cherry chest of drawers with fluted quarter columns and spurred ogee
