Americana Week 2017

[jacon4]

Well, nothing as spectacular as last year when that painted pilgrim blanket chest sold for over one million bucks, matter of fact, the best early pieces of furniture are not even at Sotheby's or Christies in NYC this year but at Thomaston in Maine. My picks for best early american furniture this year, 2 pilgrim chests of drawers, one at sotheby's and the other at thomaston and, a goddard/townsend chest of drawers at thomason.

Sotheby chest
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/americana-collection-george-s-parker-ii-caxambas-foundation-n09605/lot.2003.html

Thomason chest
https://live.thomastonauction.com/lots/view/1-6ZU1D/important-pilgrim-century-chest-of-drawers

Goddard /Townsend
https://live.thomastonauction.com/lots/view/1-6ZU2H/important-newport-chest

[jacon4]

Naturally, i'll be VERY interested in pilgrim chest of drawer sale price. My view is, neither the Sotheby or Thomason chests can hold a candle to the the "bird" chest which, in my opinion is a masterpiece of early american furniture. Course, since i own the bird chest i guess i am biased but still, if I had a choice between the 3 pilgrim chest of drawers, I'd take the bird chest in a NY min.

[ghopper1924]

Liking the Pilgrim Chest AND the Bird Chest!!! A couple of beauties.

[KC]

I have to admit I REALLY LIKE the Bird Chest.  Not just saying that because it's yours Jacon4.  It is a style that transcends all styles.  The coloring is absolutely gorgeous.

[mart]

Jacon4,, You know I am particularly fond of John Goddard/Townsend`s work !!  Not that yours isn`t nice as well,, it is !!  Just different tastes in furniture !!

[jacon4]

Yeah, I like their stuff too but i am not including their chest as a comparison. It's much later for one thing, aprox 100 years so not really comparable, their best work was in the chippendale era which was last quarter of the 18th century (1770-1800). The goddard chest of drawers is going to sell for a BUNCH! as they are the most celebrated cabinet makers of the 18th century.

I was comparing the sotheby pilgrim chest (not pictured) &  the thomaston pilgrim chest of drawers to my pilgrim chest, i'd take mine! Now, if it was a choice between my bird chest and the goddard chest, i'd take goddard because it will sell for over 100k easy, even if it has issues.

I will be watching the 2 pilgrim chest sales though as i am hoping pilgrim makes a comeback on pricing and i will have a smile on my face if either gets to the 40k  number that was common for a good pilgrim era chest of drawers before the depression hit the antiques market.

[jacon4]

I cant seem to load a pic of the sotheby pilgrim chest, let me try it this way. Hmmm, didnt work out!

[mart]

I saw it on the link you posted !!  Its odd that two comparable chests have such different estimates !!  The Sotheby chest is 12 to 18K and the Thomaston is 30 to 40K !!

[jacon4]

 Its odd that two comparable chests have such different estimates !!

Not really, just different marketing game plans. Sotheby wants as low an estimate as possible to draw in bidders, Christie does this too. Thomaston on the other hand is a MUCH smaller outfit and more of a country type auction house and bases it's estimates on what they think the object will sell for. Although, this year i gotta say, at least for early american furniture, Thomaston has the better offerings. Nice to see the little guy win for a change.
Another thing to keep in mind, reserve, i would bet both chests are within a few thousand of each other on the reserve front.

[jacon4]

As an example, Christie's , in an email to me when discussing the bird chest, offered this example they sold in 2014. It's in Albert Sack "Fine Points of Furniture: Early American" on page 92 and is listed as superior. Naturally, the bird chest is listed on page 93 as a masterpiece and has the entire page all to itself. If you notice, the estimate on this chest is 12-18k, it sold for 40k.
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/furniture-lighting/a-william-and-mary-walnut-oak-and-5764129-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5764129&sid=7dfbd826-d960-4e0c-8041-31e75c921b15

[jacon4]

Bottom Line? I do not think it really matters how one markets at auction for early american furniture, it's ALWAYS been a crap shoot and probably always will be. And, as they say, it takes at least 2 to tango at auction. On another note, i kinda expected to see that 1731 W&M inlaid table i posted on a couple months ago somewhere in the americana week in NYC but so far it is MIA! I wonder where it got off to as it really is a great example of early colonial New York cabinetmaking.

[mart]

Thomaston or Thomason sure does  a better job of cataloguing than Sotheby !!

[jacon4]

Thomaston or Thomason sure does  a better job of cataloguing than Sotheby !!

Agrees! Yes, the little guys are much better in many ways than the big guns of the auction industry. I guess they have to be if they want to be successful.

[jacon4]

The Sotheby chest sold for 20k yesterday with BP

[mart]

Slightly over estimate !!  But their cataloging and advertising just doesn`t help the situation !!  I tried to see a condition report and couldn`t !!  Not that it was within my garage sale budget but I was curious !!