Summer 2014 Preview

Summer 14 www.antiquesandfineart.com NOTEWORTH Y S A L E S Lady Columbia Cigar Store Trade Figure Signed Wm. Demuth and Co., ca. 1876 Cast zinc with original polychrome surface H. 38 inches Courtesy, Allan and Penny Katz, Woodridge, Conn. William Demuth (1835–1911) was a German immigrant who came to America in 1851 at the age of sixteen. Within twelve years he had opened his own business manufacturing pipes and carving trade and show figures. By the late 1860s, Demuth formed a business relationship with a foundry to have carvings cast in zinc. His business expanded and he became highly successful by the 1870s, the time when Columbia was created. He eventually opened branches in Chicago and San Francisco, continuing to supply figures well into the 1890s. Zinc tobacco trade store figures are actually rarer than their wooden counterparts because they were too heavy to bring in out of the elements when in situ—thus making them vulnerable to vandalism and weather— and many were also destroyed in scrap metal drives during World War I and II. The original surface of this example increases its rarity. Columbia originally would have held a spear, which rested in an indent in the base. This unique figure of Columbia is documented to have been used in a tobacco shop in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. This counter-top Columbia form is the only example extant. The Lane Family Federal Dressing Table Attributed to William Hook (1777–1867) H. 36¼, W. 35¾, D. 19¾ inches Mahogany with rosewood, satinwood, birch and lightwood veneers. Secondary woods; white pine birch, mahogany Salem, MA, ca. 1808 Sold to a private collector Image courtesy, Gary Sullivan Antiques, Sharon, MA This rare Sheraton dressing table survives in remarkable original condition. It still retains the dressing box (or glove drawers) with segmented veneer top. The table is attributed to the celebrated Salem, Massachusetts, cabinetmaker, William Hook based on the mate in the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (See R. Randall, American Furniture in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston figs 49, 100). The history of the MFA table indicates that it was part of a suite of furniture that was given as a wedding gift by William Hook to his sister Hannah Hook Folsom in 1808–1809. The segmented top of the dressing box is similar to that of a sewing table from the Folsom suite. This dressing box rests on two steel alignment pins, but is not attached and is easily removed. The fact that it survives is remarkable, and provides evidence as to the form of the dressing box long missing from the MFA example.