Neal Auction Winter Estates January 2015

34 125. A Fine American Classical Bronze-Mounted and Carved Mahogany Bookcase Cabinet , early 19th c., attributed to Duncan Phyfe, New York, rectangular marble top above molded cornice and plain frieze, pair of glazed doors opening to shelves flanked by colonnettes; lower case with drawer, two cupboard doors, sides with writing slides, acanthus carved paw feet, height 78 3/4 in., width 44 3/4 in., depth 22 in. $8000/12000 Note: The sophisticated overall quality of the bookcase cabinet in the current lot suggests the work of New York City cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe, who produced elegant and refined interpretations of the French Empire style in the 1820s. This case shares several features with two examples of writing furniture firmly attributed to Duncan Phyfe, one a secretary bookcase most likely made about 1822 for Robert Donaldson of New York City and Fayetteville, North Carolina, the other a fall-front desk made in 1820- 1825. All three pieces feature columns with similar gilt-brass bases and capitals, marble tops with reeded edges, and carved lion’s paw feet combined with acanthus leaves that curl forward where they overlap blocks below the columns. The bookcase cabinet presently offered is more closely related to the secretary bookcase produced for Robert Donaldson in regard of its two-tier arrangement and the “attic” between the cornice and marble top. Reference: Peter M. Kenny et al., Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York (New York, 2011), pp. 209- 210, 214-215. 126. A Rare and Important Modern Gothic Maple and Woven Wire Daybed , c. 1876, George Hunzinger, New York, stamped with patent date, turned crest rail terminating in applied bosses, adjustable back, curved arms with cone finials, rectangular seat, retains original fabric wrapped metal wire webbing, spindle stretchers with ball finials, tapered legs with ball turnings, height 35 in., width 72 in., depth 24 in. $6000/8000 Note: The daybed offered here was produced by one of the most innovative American furniture manufacturers of the nineteenth century, George Jakob Hunzinger, a German-immigrant craftsman who established a reputation for highly inventive furniture based on the twenty-one patents he secured for table, chair and bed designs. In 1876, Hunzinger obtained a patent for weaving flat metal wire into a grid pattern in which the wire rested in grooves or channels in the frames of seats and backs. The flat metal strips were entirely wrapped with a woven fabric that softened the industrial quality of the wire. This wire mesh essentially substituted for traditional upholstery consisting of coil springs and layers of stuffing. Hunzinger used his innovative woven wire mesh in a variety of seating furniture, including armchairs, side chairs, rocking chairs, daybeds, and settees. The designs of the frames of the chairs, settees and daybeds were just as inventive as the woven wire seats and backs. The daybed presented here represents one of Hunzinger’s most restrained designs for furniture with woven wire in the Eastlake or Modern Gothic style. Ornament is restricted to the ball turnings, applied bosses on the crest rail, and conical terminations of the arms. Geometry predominates in a design that seems to pay no homage to the past in a period when historical styles pervaded the furniture industry. The innovative daybed with woven wire seat and back is regarded as one of Hunzinger’s rarest designs, represented by a only a few surviving examples in both public and private collections. Reference: Barry Harwood, The Furniture of George Hunzinger: Invention and Innovation in Nineteenth-Century America (Brooklyn, 1997), pp. 86-103. 125 126