Great Success at Ralph Esmerian Sale



On January 25, 2014 at Sotheby’s auction of “Visual Grace: Important American Folk Art from the Collection of Ralph O. Esmerian,” we successfully acquired the largest number of lots, winning a total of  37 out of 188 sold items. This highest-ever total for an auction of American folk art surpasses the previous record set in 1994 and speaks to the strengths of this market.

We represented eleven private collectors, and were successful in acquiring many of the auction’s most important works, including the single most expensive lot, Samuel Robb’s unique figure of Santa Claus made for his daughter Elizabeth in 1923 as a Christmas present, which set a world auction record price for any Robb figure of $875,000.
 

David and the late Peggy Schorsch were instrumental in advising Ralph Esmerian in building this landmark collection of American folk art over a period of three decades. Thirty-two lots sold at the Esmerian sale that were acquired from David and Peggy Schorsch between 1978 and 1995 for a total of $946,000 sold for a total price of $3,258,813. We take great pride in the quality of the pieces in this sale that represent our dealing and are gratified by the monetary results

 

SAMUEL ANDERSON ROBB
Santa Claus made for his daughter, Elizabeth Robb
New York City, 1923
(Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s)

A PREMIER SOURCE FOR THE FINEST EXAMPLES OF AMERICAN ANTIQUES
BOTH COUNTRY AND FORMAL

David A. Schorsch and Eileen M. Smiles are dealers, consultants and brokers who specialize in the finest examples of American antiques from the 17th, 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, single items or entire estates and collections. Their interest and expertise covers a variety of categories, both formal and country in style.

In the realm of late seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth century furniture, we specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment important examples from all the major cabinetmaking centers, such as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Newport & Providence, Rhode Island, New York, New York, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, Charleston, South Carolina, Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland, and Williamsburg, Virginia.. We are also interested in examples of vernacular furniture made in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, including the Shenandoah Valley, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment for sale fine examples by well-known cabinetmakers such as:

John Shaw John Shearer John Gaines Thomas Affleck Benjamin Randolph James Gillingham William Savery Joseph Barry Samuel Harding Henry Clifton Bernard and Jugiez The Garvan carver Judkins and Senter Robert Harrold Richard Walker John Chipman Ebenezer Harthshorne William Lloyd Nehemiah Adams John Goddard William Buttre Samuel Clement Duncan Phyfe Michael Allison Charles-Honore Lannuier William Whitehead Benjamin Burnham Eliphalet Chapin Aaron Chapin Brewster Dayton Samuel Loomis Mills and Deming Alden Spooner Levin Tarr Elijah and Jacob Sanderson Daniel Goddard Townsend - Goddard School Job Townsend Christopher Townsend John Townsend Matthew Egerton Samuel Fiske William Fiske Ebenezer Martin Jacob Forster Nathaniel Gould Benjamin Frothingham Joseph Davis Samuel Gragg John Seymour Thomas Seymour Samuel McIntyre Thomas Needham John Carlyle Joseph Rawson Henry Rust Edmund Townsend John Cogswell John Dunlap Samuel Dunlap

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment fine examples of American Windsor chairs, by unknown makers and signed examples by makers including Thomas Gilpin, Joseph Henzey, John Lambert, Walter Macbride, William Seaver, James Frost, Ebenezer Tracy, Stephen Tracy, Francis Trumble, Amos Dennison Allen, Samuel J. Tucke, James Chapman Tuttle, John Always, James Always, Thomas Ash, James Bertine, Charles Chase, David Coutong, John DeWitt, William Harris, Jr., John Lechtworth, John Sprosen, Michael Stoner, John Wadsworth. Top prices paid for Windsor chairs in old or original paint finishes.

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment examples of American paint-decorated furniture and boxes from the southern states, mid-Atlantic region and New England states and pieces decorated by George Robert Lawton, Thomas Matteson, Moses Eaton Jr.. Examples of school girl decorated furniture and boxes, grain-painted, smoke-decorated, floral painted, scenic painted and other types of paint-decorated furniture of highest quality and best condition are eagerly sought.

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment examples of American folk art sculpture such as weathervanes in metal or wood, carved wooden trade figures such as cigar store Indians, trade signs, tavern signs and other three dimensional works, especially any that retain original surfaces, and carved figures by Wilhelm Schimmel. Of particular interest are weathervanes made by unknown makers and known makers such as Mott, Fiske, Cushing and White, Jewell, Washburne, Westervelt, Jones, and J. Howard, and others that are handmade one-of-a-kind carvings. Carved and painted wooden figures including those made for carousels and shops in old or original paint by makers such as Dentzel, Robb, Brooks, Bellamy, Dowler, Melchers, Campbell, Cromwell, Rush and Edmondson.

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment fine examples of Pennsylvania and Southern Germanic and Anglo American folk art, including:

• Paint decorated boxes such as examples of the Bucher type, Jonas Weber, Joseph Long Lehn, John Drissel, The Compass Decorator.
• Dower chests by Johannes Spitler and others, painted or walnut furniture, Chester County vine-and-berry inlaid furniture, spice cabinets, Mahantongo valley furniture.
• Ironwork including pieces by Peter Derr and John Long
• Painted tinware, including pieces attributed to the Filley Tinshops.
• Pottery by makers such as Solomon Grimm, Conrad Mumbouer, Philip Mumbouer, Conrad Kolb Ranninger, William Mills, George Hubener, David Spinner, Andrew Headman, John Dry, John Monday, John Neis, John Leidy, Daniel Henne, John Bell, Samuel Bell, Solomon Bell, Anthony W. Baecher, Rudolph Christ, The Bell pottery.
• Textiles such as show towels, samplers and Baltimore album quilts
• Ephrata Cloister objects, and fraktur (illuminated manuscripts) by such notable artists as Johannes Bard, Heinrich Engelhard, Johann Otto, Johannes Ernest Spangenberg also known as The Easton Bible Artist, David Cordier, Johann Adam Eyer, Johann Frederich Eyer, Christian Strenge, John Conrad Gilbert, John Zinck, Henry Young, John Van Minian, David Kriebel, Sarah Kriebel, other members of the Kriebel family, David Kulp, Heinrich Seiler, Jacob Fleischer, Karl Munch, William A. Faber, The Washington Sussell Artist, Samuel Musselman, John Landis, Frederich Krebs, Christian Mertel also known as the C.M. artist, Ehre Vater Artist, Arnold Hovelman, Susanna Huebner, Abraham Huth, Durs Rudy, Sr., and Durs Rudy Jr., Johannes Whisler, Jacob Strickler, The Stony Creek Artist, Peter Bernhart, Jacob Gottschall, Samuel Gottschall, Samuel Bentz also known as The Mount Pleasant Artist, Francis Portzline, Daniel Otto, The Schwenkfelders, and other important examples of Pennsylvania watercolor drawings.
   

WANTED: Miniature and toy woodenware made in Hingham, Massachusetts by members of the Hersey family and others: Hobart, Burr, Cushing, Wilder, and William S. Tower and the Tower toy guild. Forms wanted include nests of oval and round boxes, dippers, churns, pails, firkins, and doll house sized furniture. A premium will be paid for examples in original paint, and signed, labeled, or stamped pieces: Bela F. Hersey (B.F.HERSEY), Caleb S. Hersey (C. S. Hersey), Edmund Hersey (E.L.H.), Samuel Hersey (S. Hersey or printed paper label), Cotton Hersey (C.H. and COTTON HERSEY HINGHAM), Joseph H. Hersey, Joseph H. Hersey, Jr., and Edward Hersey.
 

WANTED: Fine examples of nineteenth century American photographs depicting American folk art, including folk paintings, portraits, landscapes, and other two dimensional works of art, sculpture such as cigar store Indians and other trade figures, weathervanes and early furniture. We seek all sizes of daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tin types, and other early forms of photography depicting American folk art. A premium will be paid for tinted examples and noteworthy images that portray desirable and classic subjects by identifiable and unidentified folk artists. We will purchase single images or entire collections.

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment American folk art paintings of the highest quality including portraits, landscapes, ship paintings, still-life and theorems. Artists such as:

John Durand Emily Eastman Jacob Maentel Joseph Whiting Stock Mrs. Moses B. Russell William Murray Deborah Goldsmith The Carver Limner A. Ellis Ruth W. Shute Samuel A. Shute Joseph H. Davis Jane Anthony Davis J. Evans Erastus Salisbury Field Winthrop Chandler Joseph Goodhue Chandler Ammi Phillips J. Brown Noah North Abraham Parsell Edwin Plummer Edward Beyer Asahel Powers Mr. Willson Micah Williams The Reading Artist The Puffy Sleeve Artist Mary B. Tucker Justus DaLee Members of the DaLee Family Henry Walton Deacon Robert Peckham Sheldon Peck Rufus Hathaway Edward Hicks Ferdinand A. Brader Paul Seifert Charles Hoffman John Rasmussen John and/or James Bard Milton W. Hopkins Carl Hambuch The Beardsley Limner G. Gustemer William Matthew Prior Sturtevant Hamblin Emma Jane Cady Joseph H. Hidley Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma Moses” Pieter Vanderlyn Jonathan Fisher Fritz G. Vogt Thomas Chambers Rufus Porter John James Trumbull Arnold Luscious Barnes Jonathan Adams Bartlett William T. Bartoll Ruth Henshaw Bascom Zedekiah Belknap J. Bradley John Brewster Jr. Samuel Broadbent James Sanford Ellsworth Ruby Devol Fitch Aaron Dean Fletcher James H. Gillespie Ira C. Goodell William Jennys Joshua Johnson Samuel Jordan William W. Kennedy Alexander Boudrou Eunice Pinney Lewis Miller Bill Traylor Horace Pippin

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment superior examples of Shaker furniture, accessories, textiles and boxes, especially those in old finish or original paint from New Lebanon, New York, Enfield, Connecticut, Watervleit, New York, Enfield, New Hampshire, Hancock, Massachusetts, Canterbury, New Hampshire, Harvard, Massachusetts, Alfred, Maine, Sabbathday Lake, Maine, Shirley, Massachusetts.By makers such as David Rowley, Daniel Crossman, Freegift Wells, Isaac Newton Youngs, Benjamin Youngs, Joseph Johnson, Benjamin Lyon, Anthony Brewster, Amos Stewart, Thomas Hammond, Jr., Abner Allen, Grove Wright, Orren N. Haskins, George O Donnel, Samuel Humphrey Turner, Giles Bushnell Avery, Alfred Collier, Elijah Myrick, Thomas Damon, Eli Kidder, Henry Clay Blinn, Henry Green, James X. Smith, James V. Calver. We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment Shaker watercolors, spirit drawings, and heart gifts or maps by such artists as Polly Ann Jane Reed , Hannah Cohoon, Joshua Bussell, rugs by Elvira C. Hulett, and other makers and artists.

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment classic examples of waterfowl decoys, such as shore birds, geese, ducks, herons, egrets, swans, etc., from New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Michigan, and Illinois by unidentified makers and well-known makers such as:

Gus Wilson George Huey Os Bibber George Boyd Fred Nichols Thomas Willson Elmer Crowell Charles Hart Keyes Chadwick Frank Richardson Lothrop Holmes Joseph Lincoln Gardiner and Dexter Shang Wheeler William Southard Albert Laing William Bowman Thomas Gelston John Dilley Obadiah Verity Members of the Verity family Frank Kellum Daniel DeMott Daniel Leeds Harry V. Shourds Nathan R. Horner John Blair Daniel English John English John Dawson James Holly Ward Brothers Lloyd Sterling Ira Hudson Nathan Cobb Lem and Lee Dudley Hucks Caines John Wells George Warin John Tax Charles Schoenheider Charles Clark Morris Eaton John Schweikart William McClellan

We specialize in and seek to acquire or take on consignment exceptional examples of American clocks in a variety of shapes and sizes and periods, from Queen Anne to Federal periods, and ranging from tall-case or grandfather clocks, to lighthouse, banjo, shelf and grandmother-sized clocks by makers such as:

Joshua Wilder Reuben Tower Simon Willard Aaron Willard Benjamin Willard David Rittenhouse Daniel Balch David Wood Daniel Burnap Timothy Chandler Abel Hutchins Levi Hutchins William Clagett James Cole Lemuel Curtis Curtis and Dunning Nathaniel Dominy James Doull Edward Duffield Effingham Embree Isaac Gere Jacob Godshalk Thomas Harland Silas Hoadley Daniel Hubbard Silas Merriman Issac Newton Youngs Benjamin Youngs Thomas Stretch Elnathan Taber Eli Terry Reuben Tower Riley Whiting David Williams Joseph Wills Benjamin Morrill Jonathan Mulliken Nathaniel Munroe Thomas Pearsall Noah Ranlet Walter Cornell William Cummens