Horst Auction Center in Ephrata, Pa., held a two-day multi-consignor sale Oct. 2 and 3 consisting of 598 lots grossing a total of $204,425. Horst does not charge a buyer’s premium for in-house bidders. Absentee and online bids are charged 10 percent.
Much of session one came from the estate of Peggy and Harlan Greenly. Local collector/dealers, the couple were fixtures at most Horst sales for decades. They had an extensive collection of quality contemporary folk art, much of it by Luke and Fannie Gottshall of nearby Reinholds. Luke (1899-1993) and Fannie (1891-1976) made an array of fascinating folk art in different mediums, a lot of which was marketed and sold in Hattie Brunner’s shop. Hattie and Fannie were sisters. Luke was a woodcarver, and Fannie made fabric birds. The two also made folky bird tree collages using a combination of watercolors and cut-out fabric. Both painted.
Much of the market has cooled since the Greenlys were actively buying. Like some specialized categories, the market fluctuates given many factors, namely who is currently active at any given time. Case in point, remember when Oprah Winfrey was briefly in the Shaker market in the 1980s?
Luke’s handmade wagons aren’t bringing what they used to. Seven were sold in this sale. A Gottshall blue Conestoga wagon with a team of two horses brought $190. It had a Reamstown Fair (1983) blue ribbon. A similiar Conestoga wagon sold for $200. A blue “Stone” cart pulled by a single horse sold for $140, and one of Luke’s horse drawn hearses went for $160. It had a tag from The Tulip Shop that read “For Paul D. Gerhart.” A Gottshall folk carving of a pigpen with a farmer and pigs sold for a low $140 to a local collector, and a dated 1979 fabric cut-out collage of cardinals brought $150.
Mixed in on day one was a collection of early baseball cards. “All of the cards came from a single consignor,” mentioned Brent Horst. A 1909-11 Polar Bear T-206 Ty Cobb, ungraded, realized $2,500. A group of 18 various Piedmont T-205 cigarette baseball cards, some with diamond background, some gold border, $1,200; and 18 Old Mill T-210 cigarette minor league baseball cards, $775.
The news on day two centered around the Hattie Brunner paintings. Hattie Klapp Brunner (1889-1982) passed away 38 years ago and yet remains a well-known figure not only in the West Cocalico Township village of Reinholds, Pa., where she lived, but on the national stage. For roughly 50 years, Brunner was an antiques dealer of prominent stature, handling countless important items. Her shop on Route 897, named The Tulip Shop, brought in collectors from around the entire country. Brunner was instrumental in supplying both Henry Francis du Pont (d. 1969) and Dr. Albert Barnes (d. 1951) with Pennsylvania German folk art. In the late 1950s, Brunner took up watercolor paintings and became known for her primitive farm scenes depicted in various seasons. They were popular, and the market for them has steadily risen over the years, proving to be seemingly recession-proof. Examples have sold well at large single-owner sales from the Richard and Rosemarie Machmer estate and also from the collection of Lester and Barbara Breininger. They have also sold well at small auctions.
At this Horst sale, a large 33.25-by-25 framed summer farm scene brought $18,000, to an older woman in the salesroom underbid by an older man, also in the room. The price is more than double the previous high. The buyer and underbidder are new to the market and have been driving the prices northward over the past year at several Horst sales. It simply takes two active players to shape a market. The consignor of the large summer scene recently moved into a nursing home. The sky had a wildfire-like glow. Brunner did not paint many large scenes, and her winter snow scenes are the most common. An 18.25-by-14 framed winter scene with children ice skating, a horse-drawn carriage, red barn, and yellow cottage sold for $8,200.
A small yellow ground Weber lidded box with tin hasp missing brought $4,000, and a brass and iron betty lamp attributed to Peter Derr (1855) sold for $1,950.
A Soap Hollow paint decorated sewing caddy with high bracket feet, dowel scroll top spool rack, and drawer sold to the trade for $11,500. It had a small restoration to bracket skirt, chipping to drawer’s lipped edge, and repair to upper right scroll of spool rack. The date “1872” was stenciled on one side.
On Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6 and 7, Horst will hold a sale for Edson Brown and the late Ross Trump (Medina, Ohio). It is a an old time Pennsylvania-focused collection, much of which was assembled in the 1950s and 1960s.
For additional information, call 717-738-3080.