This Charles II mounted table clock is a highlight of the Tuesday session of Freeman's sale. Estimate: $40,000 to $60,000.
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With items such as a carved ivory German tankard and a Charles II ebony and gilt-brass mounted table clock with its builder's plate written in Latin, Freeman's two-day sale of fine English and Continental furniture, silver, and decorative arts promises to be a study in sophistication.
For a primer on primitives, a South Jersey auction tomorrow will offer such items as signed face jugs and a three-faced, three-legged figure identified as a depiction of the Jersey Devil.
The face jugs and the devil will be among highlights of the Von Rhine Auction Service sale beginning at 9 a.m. at the Elks Lodge of Millville - about 30 miles west of where, according to legend, the devil was born to Mother Leeds, her 13th child. Probably made in the late 1800s out of an unknown substance, the figure was found in the loft of a carriage barn in Mays Landing where it had remained in the same family for 80 years, according to Carl Von Rhine's description.
Early accounts of the Jersey Devil say it was born around 1735 near what is now Leeds Point. According to a summary of the legend included in Von Rhine's posting for the sale at www.auctionzip.com, no sooner was the creature born than "it sprouted horns from the top of its head and talonlike claws tore through the tips of its fingers. Leathery batlike wings unfurled from its back, and hair and feathers sprouted all over the child's body. Its eyes began glowing bright red as they grew larger in the monster's gnarled and snarling face." After killing most members of its family, the creature fled from the house into the Pine Barrens where it has been seen off and on ever since.
The figure to be offered tomorrow, which stands about 4½ feet high, does not bear much resemblance to that description, except for a tattered black silk shroud that covers much of it and can be construed as the devil's wings. Von Rhine says of the third appendage that it is "anatomically correct."
Von Rhine calls it an important item of folklore fame and historical interest, but does not know what it will sell for. "It either could do $5 or $500," he said this week.
The auction is not broken down into formal numbered lots. Rather, the auctioneer works his way through the consignments, from about 20 sources, that are spread out on tables in the sale site, generally finishing around 5 p.m. He plans to sell the "devil" about noon.
Along with the face jugs, one signed by Sandy Cole, another by Chester Hewell, and another ceramic spittoon also with a face signed by Charlie Fisk, the auction features stoneware, yellowware, and other ceramics; wooden farm and kitchen implements, locally made Ware chairs and other furniture; and advertising items. Preview is from 7 a.m. to sale time at the sale site, 1815 E. Broad St. For more information, call 856-785-1026.
Elegance at Freeman's. The Charles II mounted table clock will be a highlight of the English furniture, silver, and decorative art that Freeman's will offer at the first session of next week's sale, beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the gallery at 1808 Chestnut St. Made by Joseph Knibb around 1685, it has a presale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000, according to the auction catalog.
The 340-lot session also features almost 70 lots of silver, notably a set of 12 Edwardian service plates ($10,000 to $15,000), a large Georg Jensen "acorn" pattern silver flatware service for 12 made around 1945 ($15,000 to $25,000), and more than 40 lots of Asian ceramics and artwork.
The German tankard is a highlight of the second session, beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday and offering almost 400 lots of Continental furniture and decorative arts. It has a presale estimate of $20,000 to $25,000.
The session's top item is actually not Continental but American: a Tiffany Studios jeweled "dragonfly" pattern bronze and glass table lamp made around 1910 in New York. First purchased here at Freeman's in 1928, it now has a presale estimate of $80,000 to $100,000.
Most of the other lots in the session, including fine art glass, Meissen and other fine porcelains, Russian decorative objects, bronzes, and furniture, have presale estimates in the three- to four-figure range, although a South Italian walnut and tulipwood parquetry commode from the estate of Charles Sterling has a presale estimate of $10,000 to $15,000, and a 45-inch, late-19th-century carved Indian elephant tusk has a presale estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.
Previews are from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today, tomorrow, and Monday. For more information, call 215-563-9275. By the way, on Feb. 12 Freeman's will offer more artworks from the Lehman Brothers Collection.
Honoring Dan Comly. Philadelphia has two reasons for priding itself as the birthplace of American auctions. One is Freeman's, generally thought to be the nation's oldest continuing auction house.
The other is Wm. F. Comly & Son Inc., the nation's second oldest. Last Friday in Harrisburg, Daniel F. Comly, past president and chairman of the 175-year-old company - and the fifth-generation member of the family that has run it - was inducted into the Pennsylvania Auctioneers Association's Hall of Fame in recognition of his years of service, not only to the company but also to the auctioneering profession in general.
Among the achievements the induction of Comly, now 83, recognized was his role in protecting Pennsylvania auctioneer licensing law and the $2 million a year the company raises for worthwhile causes through the charity auctions it conducts.
Contact David Iams at daiams@comcast.net./
