Eight Beauties Painting, ink and color on silk, signed Hua Xuan, with a cyclical date corresponding to 1736. A very rare painting of extravagantly large size—230 by 52 inches—it is estimated to sell for $200/300,000. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby's.

Sotheby’s 2009 auction season in New York will begin with the two-day sale of Important Americana. Leading the Folk Art offerings is A Rare and Important Molded Copper Fireman “Old Jake” Weathervane Made for the Union Fire Hall, now Charley Rouss Fire Company, Winchester, Virginia, American, circa 1850 (est. $3/5 million). “Old Jake,” as the weathervane has long been called, is unprecedented in its quality, form, and scale – measuring over six feet high and six feet wide – and has topped the Charley Rouss Fire Company since just after the Civil War. Also among the Folk Art highlights will be a group of approximately thirty waterfowl decoys led by a Fine and Rare High-Neck Pintail Hen, Mid-Western, circa 1900 (est. $70/90,000). Highlighting the furniture offerings, The Important Captain Edward Allen Chippendale Carved and Figured Mahogany Bombé Chest-on-Chest, Probably Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1780, is estimated at $800,000/1.2 million. Bombé case furniture represents the most expensive type of furniture available in eastern Massachusetts during the eighteenth century, and the chest-on-chest to be offered in January is one of approximately seven known examples to survive as well as a new discovery for the market, never before published. Property from the Estate of John William Boor, MD will feature select timepieces and Pennsylvania furniture led by a Very Fine and Rare Carved Walnut Chest-on-Chest, Signed by George Claypoole, Jr., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1755 (est. $80/160,000), and Property from the Estate of Peter Terian will comprise American Classical furniture highlighted by a Important Neoclassical Ormolu-Mounted and Figured Mahogany Marble-Topped Pier Table, labeled by Honoré-Lanuier, New York, circa 1818 (est. $80/120,000). The Silver and Furniture Collection of the First Parish Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts, formerly the Second Church of Christ will feature six lots of silver beakers highlighted by two pairs of beakers – The Deacon John Jacobs Silver Beakers by Jacob Hurd, Boston, 1728 (each pair est. $70/100,000) as well as An Important William and Mary Carved and Figured Maple Armchair, Ipswich or Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1720 (est. $50/100,000).

PROPERTY OF DR. AND MRS. HENRY C. LANDON III

January 24, 2009

The Property of Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III will include furniture, paintings and decorative arts. Dr. and Mrs. Landon are celebrated Americana collectors who were twice included on, Art & Antiques list of top collectors. Their collection has been profiled by numerous publications and was the subject of a 2005 exhibition at Dr. Landon’s alma mater, the University of Virginia Art Museum, entitled A Jeffersonian Ideal: Selections from the Dr. and Mrs. Henry C. Landon III Collection of American Fine and Decorative Arts. Highlights from the collection include: a Very Rare Federal Ornately Inlaid and Carved Cherrywood, Mahogany, and Maple Serpentine-Front Sideboard, Attributed to Nathan Lombard, Sutton, Massachusetts, circa 1795 (est. $80/160,000); an Important Rococo Carved and Figured Mahogany High Chest of Drawers, the carving attributed to Nicholas Bernard, Philadelphia, circa 1755- 1760 which was exhibited in the landmark 1929 Girl Scouts Loan Exhibition (est. $200/$1,000,000); and a Fine and Rare William and Mary Ebonized and Burl Walnut-Veneered Dressing Table, Massachusetts, circa 1715 (est. $30/100,000).