A Sale Two Years in the Making

April 18th, 2015


Shultz included three pieces of Soap Hollow furniture in his sale. The best was the 1867 chest of drawers (above right) stenciled “Manufactured by Jeremiah Stahl.” Shultz bought it out of a house in Windber, Pennsylvania, about 25 years ago. In my index, none of the ten signed Stahl chests or several others attributed to him have birds stenciled like those on the drawers. With typical Stahl brilliant paint, the chest was missing three of the kite keyhole surrounds and most of its paint on top. Auctioneer Adam Violet suggested $100,000, but bidding opened at $10,000. It sold for $25,000, a number that disappointed the seller.


The next lot up was the one-drawer stand bearing the initials “HMA” and “BWM” on the front as well as the phrase “Manufactured by John Sala.” It went for $11,500 to a couple who passed on it when Shultz bought it for $8000 (plus buyer’s premium) at the auction of Skip and Effie Sheppheard a couple of years ago.


The third lot of Soap Hollow was the blanket chest with sponge decoration and date of 1886. It sold for $3055 at Garth’s in 2009, $2015 at Pook & Pook in 2013, and $4500 this time around.


Earlier in the sale, Shultz sold a miniature blanket chest (top left) with the initials “FS” and date of 1880. Its paint was terribly blistered. It brought $7080 at Conestoga Auction Company in 2013 and only $3500 this time. Win some, lose some!


The miniature blanket or trinket box had hidden dovetail construction and a wonderful walnut inlay heart with leaves. It brought $2000.


The six-drawer Hepplewhite chest with French feet was in good condition with its original reddish finish. It sold for $2100.


One of the highlights of the sale was this blanket chest by Joel Palmer of Sideling Hill, Fulton County, Pennsylvania. A miniature example by him sold at Sotheby’s in l995 for $10,925 and in 2012 by Leland Little of Hillsborough, North Carolina, where it brought $15,340. A full-size chest sold by Hassinger & Courtney, Richfield, Pennsylvania, in 2007 brought $36,300. With its original condition and bearing the initials “M.S.,” this one sold for $12,000.

The colorful chalk Punch tobacco store figure stood 70" high. The delightful character had a crack on its right side. A buyer paid $2500 for it.

 

C. Wayne Shultz, Martinsburg, Pennsylvania

A  Wayne Shultz sale is impressive. With almost 400 lots and variety including Indian jewelry to significant Pennsylvania collectibles, the April 18 auction encompassed the spectrum of American antiques. But it was also the culmination of two years’ work by one man! Shultz alone knocked on doors, attended auctions, and paid other pickers at his door to bring together artifacts and collectors.

Shultz is a longtime auctioneer and picker who has the grace and reputation to make it into the homes of people throughout middle Pennsylvania. Before knocking on doors, he would often pay a visit to the local law enforcement to introduce himself and let them know what he was doing.

His breadth of antiques knowledge predates his picker days because his father was an auctioneer, and Shultz spent every Saturday from age 15 to 55 working the sales. He recalls with great affection his father’s ability to politely correct people when they disagreed with him, and then add, “The last thing I want you to do is leave.” He and his father would have four or five sales a week, sometimes two a day.

When Shultz wanted a car, his father insisted he earn the money by helping him. So he was off to auction school in Decatur, Indiana, at the age of 15. “Dad conned me into being an auctioneer,” said the younger Shultz. After 40 years of selling households, real estate, and commercial inventories, he decided that the antiques business was successful enough to give up other people’s wares. He sold off his 250 head of beef cattle, rented the land to a dairy farmer, and went full time knocking on doors and buying at sales.

All of the merchandise at the sale was owned by Shultz, and, with notable exceptions, acquired in the past couple of years with the decided purpose of selling it in this auction. The abundance of fine material offers hope to collectors that good things are still available. With this possibly being Shultz’s last sale, and only one day long as opposed to two days previously, the woe for collectors is that there are not as many good things around.

The exceptions were items that had been long in Shultz’s house. For example, a miniature chest of drawers with a mirror was the first piece he purchased. He acquired the walnut and rosewood-inlaid piece from the Halehurst mansion (Hardman Philips house) in Philipsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania, in 1972. And the top lot of the sale, the 1867 Soap Hollow chest of drawers, had been picked out of a house in Windber, Pennsylvania, more than 25 years ago. The miniature chest brought $3250 (no buyer’s premium charged), and the full-size one, $25,000.

The sale was notable for the wares themselves and the fact that this was one person’s offerings. But it was also distinguished by the negatives: no reserves, no buyer’s premium, no credit cards, no absentee bids, no Internet bidding, and no phone bids. To the attendee go the spoils!

The variety of offerings was impressive. There were 25 pieces of country furniture, an assortment of miniature furniture, about 35 quilts, several coverlets, more than 50 examples of metalware, Indian jewelry, mechanical banks, chalkware, 70 pieces of stoneware, R.S. Prussia, etc., etc. Well-known names in antiques collecting were scattered throughout: Joel Palmer, Tiffany, William Mountz, Samuel Plank, Hamilton & Jones, Parker Brothers, Henry W. Stiegel, etc. It is hard to comprehend one person gathering such an assortment and quality over two years. It is even harder to think of a person putting this much time, energy, and money into a one-day payback!

Every item in the auction was numbered, with the ordered descriptions provided on printed sheets. A few unlisted items found in the last month or so were interspersed throughout the sale, as were Shultz’s stories about the pieces and where he had obtained them. Generally, the offerings were grouped, with quilts selling, then pottery, then metalware, etc.

The Soap Hollow chest of drawers that brought $25,000 was the highest-priced item of the day, followed by an 1865 powder horn from the Pennsylvania Cavalry that brought $22,000. It is elaborately decorated with the name of the maker and the recipient, as well as a Civil War soldier with flag, Lady Liberty, Indian, and Union shield.

Among the smalls were an 18" butter bowl in yellow ($550), miniature ink and watercolor rural farm scene ($1400), 7" double buttocks basket in salmon paint ($750), signed John Bell redware cup ($2100), Mount Washington Burmese art glass epergne with four vases ($900), and a 13" x 10" Rookwood Vellum plaque by Fred Rothenbusch ($1400). Quilts included 24" Star of Bethlehem baby quilts ($600) and a 44" appliquéd crib example in bright green, burgundy, blue, red, and yellow.

Stoneware and redware were dominated by Pennsylvania makers. Several pieces from E. B. Hissong of Cassville were competitively bid, with a 12" signed pitcher decorated with tulips and leaves plus “James Hamson” in script bringing the highest price at $6500. A 2 2/3" Hissong souvenir jug brought $1100. A 9" storage jar, signed by Henry Glazier of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, went for $1800, and a 4½" pitcher attributed to the same maker reached $3000.

The furniture included a two-piece grained corner cupboard ($3000) and a two-piece flat-wall cupboard with mustard over red paint ($2500). A Schoharie County, New York, blanket chest with its original but not bright finish sold for $1750.

The prices of a few of the more expensive pieces such as the chalkware cat, Soap Hollow chest of drawers, and Palmer chest were surprisingly low to Shultz. On the other hand, the better examples of R.S. Prussia, quilts, primitives, and painted items did quite well.

“I used to be able to come within ten to twenty percent of what an item would bring. Not anymore,” stated Shultz a few days after the auction. “The market is up and down. Overall, I am satisfied. I am particularly happy for the faithful collectors and knowledgeable dealers who come. They are people of integrity, and they trust me to have a good sale.”

It might be the end of an era. It is a difficult business to regularly put together a collection specifically to sell. Shultz started his biennial auctions in 1974. This was his 20th and maybe his last.

A few days before the sale, Shultz said, “I don’t think I’m going to try for another large sale. When I find something, I may just put it in a sale of another auctioneer. The untouched attics are gone with the wind. Now, in nine out of ten house calls, there is nothing I want. Yes, there is an occasional find but not enough.

“I have to buy at auction and pay the buyer’s premium. Then I hold it for two years for the next sale. You can’t do that and make a profit.”

On the day of the auction, he commented that he was working on a couple of nice collections. The following week, he had
several house calls lined up. If he got those….

For more information, call (814) 832-2582.

One of the stars of the sale was the magnificent 15½" tall chalkware cat. It opened and closed at $10,000, reportedly considerable less than what Shultz had paid and been offered for it.

Shultz tries to offer something for everyone in his auctions. The 10¢ Coke machine had its original paint and was in working order and sold for $1900.

Shultz described the sewing stand on the right as “a great stand!” and the one on the left as “a winner!” He was certainly correct. The round Amish accessories holder made $3500, while the tiger and bird’s-eye maple example with a drawer and pincushion reached $3250.


Two days before the Shultz sale, auctioneer Dale Mishler of Davidsville, Pennsylvania, pulled this Soap Hollow corner cupboard out of a dilapidated barn. Mishler and those attending his auctions had driven past this place for years but never knew about the cupboard, which had been well protected by stacks of trash. With grain paint over red, it went for $4200 on April 24 at Mishler Auction Service.


Originally published in the July 2015 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2015 Maine Antique Digest

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