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
$800-1,200. The carved and painted details include a landscape painting under the "Jim Cave" bar sign, bottles on the back shelf, food on the table, and a farmer in a straw hat. A signed 1915 example by Daniel Rose (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania ) is special with its wooden squirrels, rabbits, and hanging fish. It carries an estimate of $1,500-3,000 since Rose, crippled by arthritis by the age 19, was nevertheless nationally recognized for executing highly detailed bottle whimsey.
What is thought of as whimsical can transcend categories from folk art to the more traditional as well. The forms and decorations from a collection of late 19th-early 20th century American Indian pottery to be sold certainly qualify as fanciful. Of the approximately twenty-five lots of effigy figures and vessels from the collection of Charles Shanafelt (b. 1855), who was the senior member of the brickmaking firm of Shanafelt and Keurt, most were collected around 1900 and 1915. Originally placed in the "relic room" of an Ohio county courthouse, they remained there until later in the 20th century when were transferred to a local historical institution. That institution has deaccessioned this collection and is selling it to further its mission. A monumental Cochiti earthenware effigy figure with outstretched arms and polychrome paint measures 18" high and will stretch some bidder to the $4,000-8,000 range even with one finger missing on the left hand. An owl-form Cochiti effigy jar with molded eyes and beak, as well as a painted surface is a practical choice for some collectors at $800-1,200, while a large Cochiti figure of a deer with handle and painted designs may cause others to stretch their budgets to the $2,500-5,000 range.
Those bidders seeking a horse weathervane should race to the Americana sale for the large full-bodied copper running example with a cast zinc head. The verdigris patina retains traces of gilt and coupled with its 45" long size, a price of $10,000-15,000 should take a lucky bidder to the winner’s circle. Figural items in many other forms will also be sold including an American carved burl butter paddle with good figuring and a bird-form handle (est. $1,000-1,500).
The artwork in the sale is not to be missed. An oil on canvas by American artist Ben Austrian is signed and dated 1904. It is a finely detailed image of a mother hen and her fifteen chicks. The 20" x 26" canvas retains an ornate frame and carries an estimate of $20,000-30,000. Of the portraiture to be sold a double portrait of a father and his daughter may be unsigned, but the fact that it is ex Deanne Levinson( Georgia ) will tempt more than a few along with an estimate of $1,800-2,400. A portrait of a seated man attributed to the Prior-Hamblin School bears a Baltimore preparer's label on the canvas and an estimate of $1,000-2,000. A large group of silhouettes will be sold including two examples of distinguished men by Auguste Edouart estimated in the $300-500 and $400-700 ranges,
