Important Americana is the cornerstone of Christie’s Americana Week auction series and features several important discoveries led by the Samuel Jones Declaration of Independence, the only obtainable contemporary manuscript of the nation’s founding charter, as well as two remarkable furniture offerings: a block-and-shell bureau table made by celebrated Newport cabinetmaker John Goddard and a previously unknown survival from a rare set of Queen Anne Philadelphia armchairs.
Other important works include a tea table documented to Goddard, a block-and-shell clock that like the bureau table was first owned by Jabez Bowen of Providence, an exquisitely proportioned Boston Queen Anne tea table, and a boldly paint-decorated card table from the Finlay shop in Baltimore. These works are complemented by the collection of Sam and Patty McCullough, which includes the Pomeroy family high chest with expressive carved ornament from Colchester, Connecticut and a rare Southern scallop-top tea table.
The folk art offering includes weathervanes and a cigar store figure, as well as portraits by Ammi Phillips, Sheldon Peck, Winthrop Chandler and Deacon Robert Peckham. Other highlights include several rare broadsides, featuring an important example from Paul Revere; significant letters from the American Revolution by Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and George Washington; as well as important documents and letters from Abraham Lincoln.
This year’s offering of American silver is particularly strong in mixed metals, including works by Tiffany & Co., Gorham Mfg. Co. and Whiting. Highlights include a rare Tiffany & Co. flatware service featuring mokume handles and an impressive silver and stone-mounted copper punch set by Joseph Heinrichs. Also included is a small selection of Chinese export wares for the American market, including a tea-caddy made for James Giles of New York City.
