Vibrant Colors & Whimsey to Lead GARTH’S March 11-12 Americana Auction Vibrant colors and whimsical creations should warm up the saleroom and beat the winter doldrums at Garth’s March 11-12, 2011 Americana auction. With over 800 lots offered in two sessions, the spectru
A lot of two Whieldon tea caddies are each of oblong form with molded columns and panels. At 4 1/2" and 3 ¾” high and each displaying green embellishments in the glaze, they should easily make $350-450.
Of the thirty lots of spatter, pieces in red, blue, green, yellow, purple and rainbow combinations will be sold. A spatterware handleless cup and saucer with parrot is expected to reach $500-800, while a blue paneled plate with red and yellow schoolhouse is estimated at $900-1,200. A blue teapot with dove decoration has some repairs but will still be sought after at $500-900. Additionally, a banded mocha pitcher with rows of cat's-eyes above and below a central band with tulips will draw the eyes of many bidders (est. $1,500-3,000), while an historic blue Staffordshire cup plate with transfer decoration of the Holiday Street Theater in Baltimore is special at 3 1/2" diameter and an estimate of $600-900.
The warm colors found in a fine collection of thirty-five lots of Bennington & twenty-six lots of Rockingham are being offered from a lady in Delaware. They represent signed pieces and some unusual forms giving both the novice and seasoned collectors an ample selection of lots to pursue including a washboard, hanging flower pots, pitchers, spittoons and more. As only one-fifth of all Bennington produced was marked, finding them is often a challenge, but most of the items to be sold have the most common mark Type A which also may appear on Rockingham pieces. The marks were on pieces produced between 1849-1858 & can be seen in Bennington Pottery and Porcelain by Barret. Of the special Bennington forms to be sold, the finest are a poodle with fruit basket (est. $900-1,600), an impressive 20” long foot bath in colors of blue, amber and green (est. $600-1,200 ), two similar candlesticks with one ex G.W. Samaha ($900-1,600), a 10 ½” high coachman bottle in shades of amber and some green (est. $300-500), and a wash bowl and pitcher set in an alternating rib pattern with good colors (est. $800-1,200). All are impressed with the Type A label.
Whimsey in the world of academia may be defined as “a fanciful or fantastic device, object, or creation”. That is certainly an apt description in the world of antiques as well and for the 30-lot collection of bottle whimseys to be sold during Garth’s two-day event. Depicting everything a bottle can hold from wool winders, logging tools, ships and crucifixion scenes to detailed bars and stores in miniature, the creative, bottle whimseys are an affordable way to acquire folk art with most examples estimated in the $100-300 range. It is the rarer, signed examples by known makers which command higher prices. As noted in Genius in a Bottle by Jones, German born Carl Worner was in America in the 1880's and created over sixty bottles, most of saloons. An unsigned, 11 ½” tall example of a bar in the classic Worner style will be sold with an estimate of
