Pook & Pook Inc. of Downingtown, Pa., held three sales starting with its International sale on the evening of April 22. That 232-lot sale grossed $249,949 and was 85 percent sold. On April 23, a 367-lot Americana sale which grossed $680,795 and was 89 percent sold. A 838-lot, online-only sale through Bidsquare took place April 25, and totaled $204,093. It was 99 percent sold. Prices include buyer’s premium. There was a 20 percent buyer’s premium and 23 percent online through Bidsquare.
One of the larger consignments was from the Frank and Frances Auspitz estate. Material from the Auspitz collection was sold in all three sales. Frank Auspitz (1923-2002) was an Army Air Corp veteran and served in WWII. He ran the Auspitz Cabinet Shop for 50-plus years in York, Pa., specializing in designing and reproducing period furniture and architectural elements. The shop was located in a brick warehouse between Market and Philadelphia Streets.
His business partner was Rodney Boyer(1933-2008), an Air Force veteran who served in the Korean War. He worked for 45 years with Auspitz. A highly skilled furniture maker and carver, Boyer replicated early American furniture and also Wilhelm Schimmel style carvings. Both men went to William Penn High School.
“The general consensus was that in today’s world the material did just fine,” said Jamie Shearer of Pook & Pook. A diminutive Queen Anne style walnut sugar chest-on-frame from the Auspitz shop sold for $1,476; a Queen Anne style mahogany marble top tea table, $2,250; a Chippendale style walnut secretary desk and bookcase, $4,560; and a William & Mary style walnut chest of drawers sold for $960. The chest of drawers was purchased by the York County Heritage Trust who wanted an example of the work that came out of the Auspitz shop. Fourteen Schimmel style carvings from the Auspitz estate sold in the April 25 online-only sale and totaled $7,012. Boyer rarely signed his work. Later in his career, he wrote his initials “REB” underneath his carvings. None of the carvings in this sale were signed. His work rarely comes onto the market, yet enough collectors appreciate the workmanship, that it has a healthy market when it does come out for sale. Boyer was among the very best of Schimmel reproduction carvers. A 8.5-inch high rooster sold for $320; a 5.5-inch high owl, $455; an 8-inch high squirrel, $590; and a 8.75-inch wingspan spread-wing eagle sold for $713.
A 22-lot group of antique bicycles sold at the end of the April 23 Americana sale. “I was ecstatic with how well the bicycles did. Just thrilled,” said Shearer. “The guy who comes here to inspect the elevators struck up a conversation with me that a family relative had this collection and asked if this was something we sell and I asked him to send me a few photos,” said Shearer. The group brought close to $30,000. An early 20th-century Columbia model 74 chainless bicycle with shock frame sold for $1,800. It was estimated at $400-$600. A late 19th-century Columbia penny farthing high wheel bicycle sold for $3,840 against a $1,000-$1,500 estimate and a Gormully & Jeffrey penny farthing high wheel sold for $2,280. It was estimated at $500-$1,000.
An iconic image - a well-executed oil-on-canvas rendition after Benjamin West’s “Penn’s Treaty with the Indians” sold to a local collector for $9,000. A Jacob Maentel interior double portrait of John George Kitzmiller (1738-1824) and wife Anna Christina (1747-1831) sold to private collector Dr. David Bronstein for $21,600. It came from a collection in Maine. The large 16.25-by-18-inch double portrait was exhibited in 1944 at the Historical Society of York County in York, Pa. Today, the organization goes by the York County Heritage Trust. It will soon be rebranded the York County History Center. A portrait of the couple’s son John Michael Kitzmiller was also in the early exhibit. That portrait was also attributed to Maentel. At the time, they both were owned by Ms. Emma Forrest. The John Michael Kitzmiller (1782-1849) portrait sold at Sotheby’s in 1989 for $77,000. His wife was Mary Ann Kitzmiller (1790-1858).
Albert Abelt (1913-64) was a Navy serviceman who lived his later years outside of Harrisburg, Pa., near Boiling Springs. He dabbled in acting and art and is known to have done both some carving and painting. An old woodbox Abelt carved in relief and vibrantly painted shortly before his passing, and likely done in 1963, sold for $10,800. Depicting a series of animals in a forested scene with clear blue skies, it was illustrated in the book “Just For Nice” and discussed in the Summer 2002 issue of “Cumberland County History” in the article titled “Albert Abelt: All Around Artist-Athlete (1913-64).” The box was once consigned by Dorothy and Eugene Elgin to Sotheby’s on June 23, 1988 where it sold to New York City collector Ralph Esmerian for $18,700.
A three-bird Simmons bird tree sold late in the Americana sale for $14,400. “Schtockschnitzler” Simmons was active roughly between the years 1885-1910 in the Moselem Springs region of Berks County, Pa. The bird tree sold on Nov. 13, 2004 at Conestoga Auction Company for $3,630. In that sale, it was cataloged that the left bird was a replacement. The bird tree also sold at auction more recently on Jan. 1, 2016, where it brought $5,265. A nearly identical three-bird Simmons bird tree sold at the Dr. George Scott sale at Christie’s in 1994 for $4,370.
Visit www.pookandpook.com to view all three sale catalogs with prices realized.
Pook & Pook will be holding an excellent Firearms and Sporting sale on Saturday, May 21, in its Downingtown facility. “We will have an incredible Parker shotgun and a very good collection of Lugers,” said Shearer. Additional, on Wednesday, June 15, they will hold an online-only Decorative Arts sale. “I’ve really been blown away with how well they (online-only sales) have been doing,” said Shearer. “In October, we will have an Americana catalog sale which is really shaping up,” added Shearer. That sale is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7 and 8.
To learn more, call 610-269-4040.