Christie’s experts on their favourite objects from Americana Week

‘This is the earliest complete manuscript of the New York State Constitution — which happens to be the only one that quotes the text of the Declaration of Independence in full. As such, it is the only 18th century manuscript of the Declaration of Independence ever to appear at auction — all the more important in that it is written in the hand of someone intimately involved in the founding of the country.

‘This manuscript was discovered in a book called the New York Session Laws, printed in 1782, which was owned by a person named Samuel Jones. During the American Revolution, Jones was a Loyalist. However, he was not outspoken in his politics, so he wasn’t forced into exile like many other Loyalists at the end of the war in 1783. By 1786 he was a member of the New York Assembly and was given the job of harmonising the colonial laws that were in effect in 1776 with the laws of the state.

‘It’s our view that Jones penned this manuscript as a reference for use at the New York Ratification Convention of 1788. A known champion of the bill of rights, Jones would have found both the text of the Declaration as well as the New York State Constitution useful in citing precedent for his arguments. Ultimately, Jones is credited with securing New York’s ratification of the Constitution by breaking the impasse over the inclusion of a bill of rights.’

‘Thomas Cole’s Mount Chocorua, New Hampshire of 1827 represents the pinnacle of Hudson River School painting and the portrayal of the sublime in American painting found throughout the magnificent American Sublime: Property from an Important Private Collection.

‘Cole was a founding member of the Hudson River School, a group of artists who sought to depict the transcendental beauty of the American landscape. Mount Chocorua, New Hampshire quite literally depicts the peak of these ideals, the glorious sunshine creating a spiritual, halo-like glow above the rugged Northeastern mountains.’

‘Before last summer, this chair was unknown to the field. It’s since been identified as the seventh known example from a set of most likely eight armchairs. They’re extraordinarily unique — the only set of armchairs in the Queen Anne style from the United States.  

‘Most sets would have side chairs with maybe one or two armchairs, but to have a whole set of armchairs is very unusual. They’re also exceptionally tall, standing at least three inches above most other chairs. The Queen Anne style is all about elegant curves, and this chair has intertwining S and C curves. It’s challenging to work in curves with wood, so this is not just a beautiful object but a very ambitious one to make.

‘There are a lot of theories about who might have commissioned these chairs, but none are confirmed yet. The mystery continues, but that’s what’s so thrilling.’

‘Bill Traylor is truly revered in the field of outsider art and has been the subject of many major exhibitions, including one at the Smithsonian in 2018.

‘Traylor often depicts an interesting mix of ideas and memory, drawn from his early years on a plantation and what he saw while living in Montgomery, Alabama. We’re used to seeing Traylor represent animals or people or constructions. To have a large-scale composition that instead studies an everyday object is exciting. This work is incredibly modernist.

‘His material of choice was repurposed card from boxes or the backs of posters or signs. He developed a very sophisticated way of using these surfaces. For this drawing, instead of filling it with energy and vibrancy, he considers two ordinary vessels for a moment of calm and finds a way to monumentalise them.’

‘Magnolias on a Shiny Table (c. 1885-95) represents not only the high point of Martin Johnson Heade’s still-life painting but also one of the highest achievements in 19th-century American painting on the whole. At once complex and serene, Heade’s paintings of magnolias are celebrated for their lush beauty and alluring quality.

‘Arranged across a reflective tabletop rather than confined to a vase, the white blossoms seem to glow with an inner light that mesmerises the viewer. Part of a small series produced in St. Augustine, Florida, Magnolias on a Shiny Table closely relates to examples of the same subject in the National Gallery in Washington DC and the Art Institute of Chicago.’

‘It’s rare to find large works such as this by Joseph Heinrich, who created incredible works of silver that combined elements of the emerging Art and Crafts movement with his interest in the American West. There are only four other known punch bowls attributed to him, one of which is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

‘The offered set is a tour de force of the American West, and it shows the very distinct style Heinrich was working in. It’s a celebration of the Arts and Crafts movement and finds Heinrich combining different metals and materials in new ways. The punch bowl features two silver and copper heads of Native American figures on either side, and is further embellished with silver bear pelts and flint arrowheads. The tray has giant antler handles and is engraved with scenes of Native Americans hunting and canoeing. The copper around the bowl is made to look like pieces of leather stitched together with silver threads.’

‘While T.S. Eliot spent much of his life in England and later renounced his American citizenship, he was born and raised in St. Louis, and this first edition copy of The Waste Land was signed and inscribed during a lecture he gave at Yale University. It’s inscribed to John Cournos, a Russian-born Jewish American writer who presumably attended the lecture Eliot delivered at Yale titled English Poets as Letter Writers.

‘The Waste Land is one of the undisputed masterpieces of the era and an unmatched reflection on psychological trauma and post-war disillusionment. This is one of 1000 copies of the first edition printed in 1922. Inscribed copies are scarce on the market, making it a special rarity for collectors.’

‘Thomas Moran first visited the Grand Canyon in 1873 and was immediately captivated by its unique and powerful topography. It became one of his favourite subjects, and he depicted the canyon from a range of vantage points, under a variety of atmospheric conditions.  

‘Grand View Trail overlooks the canyon from a point on the southern rim in Arizona. Here, Moran not only successfully reproduces the dramatic forms of the landscape but also evokes the awe-inspiring Western atmosphere that mystified 19th-century audiences and still impresses today.’ 

‘Benjamin Franklin is kind of like Mark Twain: there are very few boring letters from him. This letter was written the day before Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence. He’s writing to his daughter-in-law, the wife of William Franklin, his son born out of wedlock whom he raised openly and gave his name. 

‘In the early 1760s William Franklin became the Royal Governor of New Jersey. By August 1776, he was incarcerated in Connecticut for being an outspoken Loyalist. Meanwhile, William’s wife is distressed and their finances are in disarray. Franklin responds, reminding her that people have lost their loved ones and homes. “The only loss that you have suffered in your property is that of a few green apples,” he says. 

‘I think this is amongst his greatest letters because it encapsulates the moment so succinctly while illustrating complex family dynamics. These are human beings making choices in extremely difficult and trying times. You might have friends and family on both sides of the struggle. The American Revolution was truly neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother. And this is a document that really underscores that.’  

‘Winslow Homer is regarded as one of the most important painters of 19th-century American life and one of the greatest watercolourists in the history of American art. The artist first worked in watercolour during a visit to Gloucester, Massachusetts, a location that would become essential to his career and one that inspired masterworks like Boy with Blue Dory (1880).

‘Painted in 1880, this work epitomises the clarity of colour and design for which Homer’s Gloucester watercolours are celebrated, as well as the themes of childhood pastimes and man’s relationship with the sea that the artist explored throughout his long career.’  

‘As an Alaskan myself, this my favourite lot in the sale, as it represents a key point in the development of our state. Work on the Alaska Railroad began in 1914 as a way to connect the ports on the coast to natural resources at the centre of the state. Authorised under President Woodrow Wilson, the huge multiyear project was completed in 1923.

‘The spike on offer was presented as a gift to Colonel Frederick Mears, one of the three men in charge of the project’s engineering, from the city of Anchorage, which he helped found, and where I’m originally from. Mears later loaned the spike to the territorial governor, and it was used in a ceremony attended by President Warren G. Harding when the final span of the railroad was completed. That event was one of the first visits by a sitting president to the state, which was still a territory at the time. It’s an honour to offer this important piece of Alaskan history that has never come to market before.’

‘Ammi Phillips is one of the most prolific American folk artists — he’s believed to have produced more than 2,000 portraits. While recent scholarship attributes many works to him, there are no recorded double-sided portraits until now. The sitter is unidentified, presenting a bit of a mystery. In a study of both the front and back, you might note that many of the details are the same, but the way they are rendered are on the front side presents the sitter with more refined features. If you look closely, you can see a beauty mark on both sitters on the same cheek, suggesting these women are the same person.

‘Props are a trademark of Phillips, and the chair, table, and book, like the ones depicted in this portrait, were often used by him. We honed in on the chair in particular. Phillips paints only a handful of sitters in this same fancy-painted pale green and yellow chair, leading us to conclude that the present sitter was likely a family member or visiting guest of the Dorr or Spicer families.’