On Saturday, May 14, at 10 a.m., the doors will open to the historic barn occupied by Garth's Auctioneers & Appraisers for over 60 years for an Americana auction featuring the 10th annual Ohio Valley Session. Nearly 700 lots of furniture, pottery and porcelain, artwork and historic and decorative objects from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries should attract bidders from across the country who look forward to the special auction each year.
Highlighting the Ohio Valley Auction are a number of fresh-to-market items with significant historical interest, including an important monumental carved sandstone mantel with full-bodied eagle flanked by trees with serpents and urns, surrounded by flowering vines and incised "Wm. V. S. Roberts, 1827." Estimated to fetch $8,000-$12,000, the three-section masterpiece was removed from the Cochran family home near Cadiz, Ohio, before passing through the shops of Bill Samaha and Bill and Jane Woodring. A rare and well-documented farm drawing by 19th-century itinerant artist Ferdinand Brader depicts the "Residence of Joseph and Anna Gindelsperger" in Wayne County, Ohio. Dated 1888 and signed and numbered, the large, detailed picture is accompanied by a birth record for Mary Gindelsperger and is expected to sell for $10,000-$15,000.
After an award-winning debut at the Centennial Exposition in 1876, brothers Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin parted ways, with Homer becoming one of the most well-known names in American pottery. Three meaningful examples from Homer's early years, independent from his brother, will sell. Two, with nearly identical exhibition history, come from the collection of Fred Mutchler and are each estimated from $10,000-$14,000. One, from the personal collection of the Wells family (later owners of the Homer Laughlin China Company), is described as a rare pink, circa 1886-89, potpourri or perfume jar with reticulated lid, acanthus leaf handles, vining floral decoration and cobalt reserves with angel and putti. It is illustrated in "The Dish" Fall 2003, exhibited at DACO and exhibited and illustrated in Andrew Richmond's “A Tradition of Progress: Ohio Decorative Arts, 1860-1945.”
True to the history of the Ohio Valley Auction, the session will include a wide variety of material spanning nearly 200 years. A scenic Rookwood plaque by Carl Schmidt (est. $3,000-$6,000) will sell alongside a self-portrait by famed Ohio artist Emerson Burkhart (dated 1968 and estimated for $1,800-$2,500). A number of works by renowned sandstone carver Ernest "Popeye" Reed will cross the block, including a female nude (est. $400-$800), a mother and child (est. $400-$600) and a self-portrait (est. $600-$1,200), as well as several figural animals, such as an owl, a frog and a pig. Furniture from Soap Hollow, Pa., will certainly be a focal point of the session, with a grain-painted and stenciled blanket chest initialed "S.A.W." (est. $2,500-$3,500), a smaller blanket chest in original red paint with gold stenciled urns (est. $1,500-$2,500) and a tall chest of drawers attributed to Joseph Sala with original red and black grain paint (est. $2,000-$4,000).
Ceramics from the personal collection of dealers Diana and Gary Stradling of New York City will sell in the Ohio Valley session. Rare items from the 19th-century pottery center of East Liverpool include a rare twig-handled Lotusware bowl from Knowles, Taylor & Knowles (est. $900-$1,200) and a delicate Lotusware vase with celadon flowers known as "Umbrian" from the same company (est. $600-$900). Yellowware from the Stradlings consists of a well-documented Richard Harrison two-part Chinoiserie inkwell of octagonal form with Rockingham glaze (est. $250-$450); a wonderful Gothic-arch pattern covered storage jar with honey, brown and blue-green glaze (attributed to Woodward, Blakely & Co., est. $300-$600); and an early eight-sided vegetable dish impressed with the only mark known: "Bennett & Brothers, Liverpool, Ohio" made before 1844, when the pioneer potter James Bennett and his brothers' initial financing contract expired and they decamped to Pittsburgh, Pa. (est. $500-$700).
From nearby Carrollton, an Ohio Pottery Company commemorative plate decorated with the transferred image of a $365 check drawn on United States Bank, January 1st, 1910, for "365 Bright, Happy, Prosperous Days" selling with a KTK East Liverpool plate for an Ohio Society of New York banquet at the Waldorf Astoria honoring Secretary of State John Hay, January, 1903, is estimated at $200-$300. Moving south, a cylindrical tobacco jar with branch handles and embossed eagle is impressed on the base "W. Bromley, Cincinnati, Ohio, North America" and is estimated at $200-$350.
The "regular" May Americana is equally strong, with a selection of early painted furniture, folk art, textiles, historic firearms and pottery set to cross the block. The carved tobacconist figure in original paint is a headliner of the session, estimated at $7,000-$9,000. A Wythe County, Va., two-door cupboard with a wonderful folksy cutout top and sides and a scrolled cutout base in original blue-green and gray paint is estimated at $2,000-$4,000. A two-piece Pennsylvania corner cupboard in alligatored, grain-decorated surface should fetch between $1,200-$1,800. Collectors of Joseph Long Lehn painted wares will be happy with choices of salts, a covered saffron jar and an egg cup (estimates ranging from $600-$2,500) available. Plenty of paint is included, with numerous boxes of all shapes and sizes. Pottery offerings feature slip-decorated redware items and a plethora of redware and white stoneware from Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas and Tennessee. Textiles include vibrant quilts, scarce coverlets, early samplers and a selection of antique Oriental rugs. Rounding out the day will be a small but mighty collection of historic firearms, with a Pennsylvania full-stock Kentucky rifle in curly maple and bearing a remarkable 25 engraved coin silver inlays, including an eagle and a stag (est. $3,500-$5,500). Several military field drums will also be sold, including a labeled Abner Stevens example.
For more information or to view a complete online catalog, visit www.garths.com or call 740-362-4771.
Images courtesy of Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers.