City auctions this weekend and next will reflect two aspects of American history: the inventive glories of 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century arts and crafts and the excesses of the opening years of the 21st century, as symbolized by exclusive Yellowstone Club in Montana.

The sale celebrating the inventiveness of the last three centuries will take place at Freeman's tomorrow when it will offer American furniture and decorative arts, and on Sunday, when it will conduct its annual Pennsylvania sale. Tomorrow's session, beginning at 10 a.m. in the gallery at 1808 Chestnut St., will offer more than 500 lots, including 125 lots of pewter (from the collection of Rose and Stanley Rich), an inlaid Victorian gaming table made from scraps of wood collected from far and wide - and a pair of muskrat gloves reportedly given by George Washington to the Scottish Earl of Buchan.

Muskrats, whose pelts were often used for hats (and whose meat is still consumed on festive occasions in Salem County), were being trapped along the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay as recently as the 1980s. The gloves, dating to about 1796, accompanied by a note explaining their significance, and expected to sell for $3,000 to $5,000, will be offered immediately after one of the session's major items, a full-length portrait of Washington (after Gilbert Stuart) that has a presale estimate of $8,000 to $12,000.

Other artwork includes two miniature portraits by Charles Fraser of brothers John Ball Laurens and Edward Rutledge Laurens; a rare needlework depiction of a covered bridge by American folk artist Grandma Moses (each lot $8,000 to $12,000); and a historically significant mid-19th-century American School view of the Tombigbee River and Demopolis, Ala. ($15,000 to $25,000).

The inlaid Victorian gaming table is among the furniture in the session that extends from the 18th-century era of William and Mary to the end of the 20th. It was made around 1888 by George W. Davis, a shoe-store owner in What Cheer, Iowa, who used a penknife and more than 1,333 scraps of wood collected by 84 friends and acquaintances from around the world, including a shingle purportedly from George Washington's barn and another scrap from Andersonville Prison.

Exhibited in Chicago at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, it has a presale estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. Other important pieces of furniture include a Federal mahogany and satinwood inlaid sideboard and an early-20th-century brass, glass and iron navigational table (each $10,000 to $15,000).

Silver includes a New York Yacht Club trophy in the form of a circular covered butter dish ($8,000 to $12,000); a 289-piece mid-20th-century Tuttle "Lamerie" sterling flatware service ($10,000 to $15,000) and a silver and enameled vase made by George P. Farnham (1825-1927) for Tiffany. Also exhibited at the Columbian Exposition and now in the collection of the Newark Museum, it has a presale estimate of $30,000 to $50,000.

Also in the session are a full-size papier mache cigar-store Indian, circa 1900 ($3,000 to $5,000); a group of paintings by 20th-century folk artist Walter Parkes; decoys by James "Corb" Reed and Julius Edward Mittlesteadt; a collection of scrimshawed whale teeth and Nantucket baskets; and a meerschaum pipe carved with Indians and a horse in a leather case with a plaque inscribed "To Col. W.F. Cody Buffalo Bill from George O. Starr" ($6,000 to $8,000).

Sunday's 225-lot Pennsylvania sale begins at noon and features some of the weekend's top items. They include a mid-18th-century Chippendale walnut case clock made by Philadelphia artisan William Huston that has a presale estimate of $20,000 to $30,000; a 19th-century American School Philadelphia street scene of a corner at Third and Chestnut around 1815 with a presale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000; and a historic mahogany book press that is one of a pair of presses purportedly owned by Benjamin Franklin (the other is in the collection of Independence National Historical Park). It has a presale estimate of $50,000 to $100,000.

The session opens with 22 lots of rare books and works on paper, notably a Revolutionary War broadside printed in 1775 in Lancaster County in English and German ($5,000 to $8,000). It closes with nine lots of wood carvings made by Herman Joseph Kleiner (whose projects included the Valley Forge and Bryn Athyn College Chapels) and Herman Joseph Kleiner Jr., including a carved giltwood frame with eagle made by the senior Kleiner ($3,000 to $5,000), and 12 more lots of modern furniture and decorative items including two wool "Love" rugs made by Robert Indiana ($1,800 to $2,500 each).

Preview is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. For more information, call 215-563-9275 or to see the catalog online go to www.freemansauction.com.

The luxury items from the Yellowstone Club come by way of Monarch Designs, created in 2005 by designer Edra Blixseth to furnish the club. She and her ex-husband, Timothy, founded the club near Big Sky; it went bankrupt and now is operating under new ownership, and still includes such prominent members as Bill Gates and Dan Quayle.

The Yellowstone items represent about half of the nearly 700 lots that will be offered by Kamelot Auctions beginning at 10 a.m. Nov. 21 at the gallery in the 4700 block of Wissahickon Avenue and will be offered without reserve.

One of the Monarch Design lots is a monumental pair of rosewood bronze-mounted sideboards that come from a French chateau circa 1875 and should bring $8,000 to $12,000, according to Kamelot's online auction catalog at www.kamelotauctions.com. Other top items include a Victorian inlaid and ebonized credenza made around 1865 ($2,500 to $4,500) and a pair of monumental cast bronze elk standing on rocks ($3,000 to $6,000), both from Monarch; a 5-foot antique Victorian zinc figural newel post light of a classically draped female ($3,000 to $5,000); and an oil-on-board painting of two fishermen by Gifford Beal ($4,000 to $6,000).

Previews are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. For more information, call 215 438-6990.

Suburban sales. Three suburban sales this weekend may appeal to holiday shoppers. In Vineland, N.J., Bertoia Auctions will conduct a three-day sale of "Holiday Toy Trimmings," with the first session beginning at 1 p.m. today at the gallery at 2141 DeMarco Dr. It will feature more banks from the Dick Sheppard still bank collection.

Tomorrow's sale, beginning at 10 a.m., features pressed steel and European tin toys. Sunday's sale, beginning at 10 a.m., will offer more than 600 lots of Christmas and other holiday collectibles. For more information, call 856-692-1881 or go to www.bertoiaauctions.com.

At 4 p.m. today, an hour earlier than usual, Briggs Auction, 1347 Naamans Creek Rd., Garnet Valley, will offer 75 lots of fine U.S. and international stamps, including three German Graf Zeppelin issues that Briggs president John Turner expects to bring $500 to $600 apiece.

Preview is from 9 a.m. to sale time. For more information, call 610-485-0412.

And at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Horsham VFW, 324 Sawmill Lane, Andi Charkow will offer well over 600 lots of vintage clothing spanning 100 years and including wearable, affordable styles. Sample item: Bill Blass Couture suit with tassel buttons (XL). For more information, call 215-773-9176.

Contact David Iams at daiams@comcast.net.