Sothebys held a landmark sale of the William du Pont collection, which he called the Rocky Hill Collection Jan. 22 and 23 in its New York City salesroom. The auction grossed $6.9 million, more than 1.5 times over the $3.9 million high estimate, and 99 percent sold by lot. Bill du Pont was born in Wilmington, Del., in 1938. His childhood home was down the road from the Winterthur Museum and Library (former home to his cousin, Henry F. du Pont). Bill du Pont served on the board of trustees of Winterthur for over four decades. He tragically passed away in a tractor accident on July 4, 2021. Overused words such as important and rare arent hyperbole when it relates to this grouping of material. Bill du Pont set out to assemble and research early arts of southeastern Pennsylvania, mainly both 18th century Pennsylvania German and Quaker decorative arts. In the line-and-berry category, a term used to describe the type and style of inlay work, one of the stars was the Montgomery family Queen Anne line-and-berry inlaid cherrywood slant-front desk-and-bookcase from the Nottingham area of Chester County, Pa., ca. 1745. The double dome-top desk-and-bookcase was du Ponts favorite piece of line-and-berry furniture. The initials W and M within the arched panels identify the original owner, likely William Montgomery (1665/6-1742), a Scots-Irish Presbyterian who emigrated to America in 1722 and settled in northern Delaware. The initial A was added later and may correspond to his son, Alexander Montgomery (d. 1747), who inherited the piece. The desk-and-bookcase brought $151,200. Wendy Cooper and Lisa Minardi discuss the piece in Paint, Pattern and People: Furniture of Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1725-1850 (Winterthur, Del., The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 2011). The desk-and-bookcase is the only complete example of its form with line and berry inlay that survives. It is unusual for being made of cherry rather than walnut and constructed in one piece rather than as a two-part form which was more typical. The top section of another double dome-top desk-and-bookcase with lineand-berry inlay is known in a private collection. It displays line and berry motifs and herringbone banding that relate to this desk-and-bookcase and several of the spice boxes from the group made in Nottingham. A William and Mary parquetry inlaid walnut Bible box, possibly by Thomas Thomas (1687-1774), Radnor Township area, Chester County, Pa., dated 1746, sold for $40,320. The top with banded inlay surrounding inlaid suns and tulips on each side sprouting from a central urn flanked by the initials HI and 1746, over a case front with additional banded and scroll inlay around tulip sprays and an elaborate geometric wheel design i on bracket feet with inlaid stars and a central fan medallion as well as the continued scroll inlay following the curve of the shaped apron. It was exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum of Art at Worldly Goods: The Arts of Early Pennsylvania, 1680-1758, October 1999-January 2000. In large part, during the 1990s, du Pont shifted towards this material, much of which was inlaid. Sure, many pieces had elements of restoration, yet, we are discussing 18th century furniture, most of which is not outside of museums. How much repair is forgivable? The walnut dutch cupboard with initials of original owners, AD B and AN B, flanked by tulips and vines and set within three plaques with a central rose motif and the date 1770 is the only example of the form known with sulfur-inlaid decoration. Yes, the pie shelf was replaced, but another cupboard will not be found. It was 50 years ago when the Lebanon County piece sold for a strong $10,000 when Pennypackers sold dealer Jack Lambs estate. Scholar Lisa Minardi discussed this cupboard in Sulfur Inlay in Pennsylvania German Furniture: New Discoveries published in American Furniture, edited by Luke Beckerdite (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 2015). Dealer Kelly Kinzle sold it to du Pont and bought it back at the sale. It realized $37,800. A powerhouse of a wardrobe was the Ley family walnut shrank, which was also sulfur-inlaid. What exactly is sulfur? Basically, it is a chemical element with a low melting point. The naturally occurring element of sulfur was a byproduct of blast furnaces and when liquidified sulfur was an alternative to wood inlay. Often used on walnut by Pennsylvania German craftsmen, it used to be incorrectly identified as wax. Probably made by Christoph Uhler (1741-1804) for Michael (1739-1824) and Eva Magdalena Ley (1744-1815) at Tulpehocken Manor, Myertown, Jackson Township, Lancaster (now Lebanon) County, Pa., the shrank is an important example of Colonial backcountry furniture, inlaid with sulfur ML & EML 1771. An officer of the Continental Army, Michael was the son of Christopher Ley (d. 1741), who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1732 and later settled on a tract of 1,000 acres near Myerstown along the Tulpehocken Creek. At an onsite sale at Tulpehocken Manor in 1997, it sold for $75,000 (no buyers premium). Dealer Greg Kramer sold it to du Pont at the Philadelphia Show. It brought $63,000 here. The Queen Anne walnut chest with cupboard top, ca. 1750, Chester County, Pa., realized $25,200. It brought $58,500 in 2007 at the Dr. and Mrs. Donald Shelley sale at Pook & Pook. Keep in mind, the Shelley sale reflected a different marketplace, a market that is a bit thinner today as a whole. The Shelley sale also took place prior to the 2008/09 recession, and it was not the same economic landscape. It is a big ask to get a return from a high profile single owner sale, most notebly one such as the Shelley sale, among the most high powered. Tastes also shift; any degree of restoration is often frowned upon today, even though the supply of material is extremely limited. Past generations of collectors were more forgiving. The du Pont sale provided a fascinating look at Americana near its pinnacle. The breadth of early pieces was staggering. This recap and accompanying images can only provide a short glimpse. A few items considered American were very possibly European, and a number of higher value lots only had two bidders competing at the upper levels, which signals a limited group of active players. Many lots of early candlesticks and iron performed very well. Pewter is one category that isnt what it was two or three generations ago. Silver did fine. The early long rifles and powder horns did well too. A small but noteworthy category of the collection were the fraktur. The rare fraktur attributed to The New Jersey Artist for Mary Jones, Burlington County, N.J., dated 1781, sold for an impressive $100,800 to the trade. Early in the sale another rare fraktur taufshein, an early work by Christopher Seiler dated 1807, only a few by Seiler are known, brought $56,700, also going to the trade, Pat Bell of Olde Hope Antiques. A taufshein for Johannes Schmit printed at the Ephrata Cloister and decorated by Arnold Hoevelmann (active 1771 to 1796) dated 1778 went for $13,860 to Lisa Minardi, executive director of Historic Trappe, an active buyer at the sale who had worked on the collection with Bill du Pont and knew the grouping of material better than anyone. Another small section of the Rocky Hill collection but worth including here was the redware. A pair of miniature sgraffito decorated Pennsylvania redware flowerpots sold for a not-so-miniature $25,200, and a little redware sgrafftio decorated redware pipe bowl sold for $5,670. John Hess of Conestoga Auction Company held a catalog sale on Jan 29 of du Pont material. The du Pont name greatly bolstered the results, and Hess couldnt have handled the sale better. It was presented well, and it was smart to hold it one week later from the Sothebys sale while still fresh in buyers minds. Baskets, glass, iron, and paintings brought strong prices. Hess also had an online-only sale of du Pont items. Could some of the better things sold in New York have done just as well, if not better in Lancaster County? Sure, but Sothebys did a wonderful job staging the material, and the two-volume catalog, printed in a limited quantity, is a must-have reference. For anyone interested, I would encourage visiting www.sothebys.com to study the catalog along with prices realized. You can also view the results of the Hess sale, which again did very well, through www.liveauctioneers.com. Images courtesy Sothebys.