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 Title: Skinner American Furniture & Decorative Arts Featuring The Herbert Nilson Collection of American Clocks, Session III  

Auction held in: Boston

Sale Date:  6/7/09

Sale No: 2460 

No. of Lots: 617

No. of Pages: 156

Condition:  Very Good

In addition to these offerings, Skinner will present 46 lots of primitive and folk art items from the collection of William Greenspon of New York City. A student of modern art and an artist himself, Greenspon’s unique collection features carved masks, trade signs, and larger than life folk art sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries. Other collections featured in the sale rein from Cape Cod, Concord, Mass., New Hampshire, New York, Kentucky, Maine, Connecticut, and Washington State. Noteworthy provenance includes the Walters and Edgell families of Baltimore, Maryland and New York, cosmetics industry giant Elizabeth Arden Graham, descendents of Theophilus Parsons, the estate of Nancy Wood of Brookline, Massachusetts, and the estate of Samuel Codman, in Pride’s Crossing, Massachusetts.
The Herbert Nilson Collection – Session III This final session of The Herbert Nilson Collection offers some of its finest works. Nilson, a Lexington native and longstanding member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, dedicated his life to the collection of clocks and timepieces. Highlights of the Nilson collection include a mahogany balance wheel steeple clock by S.B. Terry, Plymouth, CT (lot 70, est. $15/20,000); a mahogany regulator wall clock by J.N. Dunning, Burlington, VT (lot 37, est. $15/20,000); a mahogany gallery wall clock also by J.N. Dunning (lot 35, est. $15/25,000); and a mahogany and cherry outside escapement box clock attributed to Eli Terry (lot 1, est. $12/18,000).
Kentucky Derby Trophy
A special highlight of the auction is the 1947 Kentucky Derby Gold Winner’s Trophy and commemorative Mint Julep Cup (lot 223, est. $60/80,000), won by the American thoroughbred racehorse Jet Pilot, owned by cosmetics industry giant Elizabeth Arden. Descended through the family of Arden, the trophy had been considered all but lost by Derby devotees until it was consigned to Skinner. The Kentucky Derby gold winner’s trophy is believed to be the only solid gold trophy annually awarded to the winner of a major American sporting event since 1924, the “Golden Anniversary” of the Derby. The year 1947 was the 73rd running of the Derby and it was the first Derby race to officially feature a photo finish.
Furniture
A featured sale highlight is a Chippendale carved mahogany block-front desk, c. 1760-80 (lot 186, est. $40/60,000), exemplary of Boston furniture from the period. Purchased by Mrs. Ernest L. Reuter from Israel Sack in 1919, the desk is made of very dense mahogany, has its original brass, and has a well-developed interior. Of beautifully restrained quality and fashion, the block-front form flourished in Boston at the time of its making.
Also of note is a pair of Federal card tables from the North Shore of Massachusetts, c. 1810 (lot 213, est. $10/15,000). The tables were originally owned by Theophilus Parsons, an influential Massachusetts political figure of the late 18th and early 19th century, who served as a member of the Massachusetts Supreme Court from 1806 until his death in 1813. Rare is it to find a pair of tables of this quality and condition.
Other furniture offerings likely to be contended include a pretty set of four pine, maple and hickory painted bow-back chairs of good height (lot 251, est. $3/5,000); a Queen Anne walnut dressing table, c. 1730-50, Boston (lot 177, est. $20/30,000); a Joshua Wilder Federal mahogany tall clock of Southeastern Massachusetts origin with Massachusetts dial in a Roxbury case (lot 214, est. $20/30,000); and a yellow-painted pine Shaker freestanding cupboard (lot 260, est. $4/6,000), which was sold by the Shakers in 1923 for twenty dollars to Dr. and Mrs. Charles Upton of Ithaca, NY.
Paintings and Portraits
One of the jewels of the sale is a carved and stained pine “relief painting” entitled Striped Bass Fishing by Leander Allen Plummer II (lot 159, est. $50/75,000). Plummer, of New Bedford, MA, made these deeply carved wood reliefs that he stained with pigments he devised to create a life-like appearance. Plummer’s panels became popular with fisherman and sportsmen, and by 1906 he had orders for approximately forty to fifty relief paintings. Among the many works Plummer executed, he considered this his masterpiece and it hung over his home’s fireplace. A large number of his works were lost in a fire, making this piece all the more desirable.
Another spectacular work is a mourning picture for Mrs. Mary Lothrop of Cohasset, Massachusetts, c. 1832 (lot 194, est. $15/25,000). This picture has survived with much of its color intact, it was well cared for and is likely in its original frame. The house portrayed in the picture was Mary and husband Caleb’s home in Cohasset, which is still standing, and is now home to the Cohasset Historical Society.
A very interesting portrait of a husband and wife (lot 317, est. $8/15,000), unsigned, will also be featured. The naive piece has the couple seated looking straight at us with brightly tassels drapes in the background. Rounding out the offerings are two booklets with watercolor illustrations, poetry, and hairwork keepsakes (lot 199, est. $4/6,000). The booklets, produced by mother of two, Celia White Pearsall of New York, are cloth bound with fifty-six pages, ten of which have full watercolor illustrations.

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