Case Antiques See Record Registered Bidders and Strong Prices in Books, Maps, and Documents

A Midwestern museum paid $31,590 to acquire a still life by Kansas painter John Steuart Curry, depicting pheasants and a shotgun, and a Southern institution prevailed on a painting of a Vieux Carre courtyard by Boston Impressionist Abbott Fuller Graves at $23,400. A large moonlit canal scene by important Norweigian painter Frits Thaulow earned $36,270, and an oil and gouache study of a pirate by American illustrator Norman Rockwell brought $12,870. A small landscape with haystacks by Tennessee’s most important female artist, Catherine Wiley, sold for $12,870, with proceeds benefiting the Earl O. Henry Memorial Avian exhibit at the Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville. A pastel/gouache duck-hunting scene by Aiden Lassell Ripley flew to $7,020. An Art Nouveau painting of a woman in a garden by Tennessee-born Fred Carpenter more than doubled its estimate at $25,830, as did a Manhattan snow scene by Johann Berthelsen at $8,424.

The audience burst into applause over the sale of a pair of silver sauce boats, made circa 1770 by silversmith Lewis Fueter of New York. The pair had been purchased by the consignor in a box lot at a country auction for $25, but were featured in several Case ads and skyrocketed to $43,290.

One of the hottest areas of the sale was the book/map/document category. A first edition Byron book, “Hours of Idleness,” in jeweled leather binding, by noted bookbinding firm Sangorski and Sutcliffe, attracted six phone bidders and multiple online bids. It had a happy ending at $22,230, and an archive of letters related to the family of author George Gordon, Lord Byron brought a strong $5,382. A cache of 730 ballots from the 1864 presidential election (won by Abraham Lincoln) tallied $12,870. An 1835 pocket map showing Indian lands in Mississippi climbed to $4,920 (est. $500-800), while an 1835 edition of Bradford’s Atlas, including an early Texas map, reaped $4,446 and an 1809, two-volume set of David Ramsay’s “History of South Carolina,” also with maps, closed at $3,198. Civil War material was also popular. A half plate tintype of a seated Confederate officer in uniform soared to $2,706 (est. $350-450), while a sixth-plate tintype of a Confederate soldier with Mississippi star belt buckle visible commanded $2,091.

The sale featured a large collection of Tennessee furniture, much of it from the estate of William Selden of Athens, Tennessee. Selden’s cherry glazed-door corner cupboard, made circa 1825 in East Tennessee and pictured in The Art and Mystery of Tennessee Furniture, competed to $13,455 (est. $3,500-4,500). A circa 1825 Knoxville chest of drawers with reeded quarter columns and inlaid escutcheons brought a hearty $9,594, while a Middle Tennessee Sheraton sugar chest and a Kentucky Jackson press, both cherry and dating from around the same period, sold for $8,658 apiece. A splay-legged blanket chest led a group of furniture by the Fisher family of cabinetmakers from Athens, TN, at $6,084. A circa 1889 San Antonio, Texas, horn chair attributed to Charles Puppe rounded up $5904, while an early 20th century Carlo Bugatti ebonized and inlaid plant stand realized $9,102 and a 1970s Milo Baughman/Thayer Coggin credenza with book-matched rosewood veneers served up $5,148.

Southern Pottery is a staple at Case, and several lots in the auction exceeded their estimates. They included an ovoid Tennessee stoneware jar dated 1827, $4,212; a Staunton, Virginia stoneware jar with cobalt tulip/Federal shield decoration, $3,510; and a rare urn form jar attributed to the Hedgecough Pottery of Putnam County, Tennessee, $2,808.

The textile category featured two decorative mid-19th century Middle Tennessee samplers, which brought $7,020, and $4446.  A quilt which won first place at the Tennessee state fair in 1909 proved a winner again, selling for $3,198, and a Tennessee signature quilt with 450 names sewed up $1,320.

Asian items continued to attract sizeable numbers of internet bidders from overseas. A pair of hardwood armchairs with dragon-carved backs soared to $20,295 against a $700-900 estimate, a Japanese Meiji period silk embroidered landscape screen sold for $7,722, a pair of Chinese porcelain hat stands with figural and poem decoration competed to $7,626, and a small Chinese hardwood tabletop screen with white jade inset earned $7,020.

Other highlights included a 1.93 pear shaped D-color diamond ring, $12,870; a Victorian Paillard Swiss Music Box on Stand, $14,760; and a powder horn dated 1841 with engraved decoration of William Henry Harrison and the other presidents up to that date, $4,212.

Thinking of selling? Consider the following:

• We average over 2000 registered bidders 
• We utilize postal mail, email, and social media to reach 20,000+ fine art and antique buyers
• We have an experienced staff including two accredited appraisers to provide comprehensive evaluation and catalog descriptions of your objects. 

We are currently accepting consignments for our April 7 through April 18 online-only auction of Asian antiques, silver, and jewelry via iGAVEL.com Auctions, and our July 19 live auction with live, absentee, phone, and internet bidding via LiveAuctioneers.com/Invaluable.com/ArtFact.com/Auctionzip.com. For more information, call the gallery in Knoxville at (865) 558-3033 or the company’s Nashville office at (615) 812-6096 or email photos and descriptions of items for review to photos@caseantiques.com.