Bray & Co., Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Photos courtesy Bray & Co.
The Bray & Co. August 15 live sale in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, included about 100 selected lots of fresh-to-market Shaker furniture and accessories along with a strong selection of about 100 lots of quality folk art. John Keith Russell and Thomas Queen partnered with Bray in assembling the Shaker selection, as well assisting with the reliable cataloging. The 56-page catalog for the Shaker selection includes color photos, vintage photos, comprehensive descriptive notes, as well as provenance. Much of the material had originally been bought directly from the Shaker villages by pioneering collectors.
Most of the pieces have passed through the hands of knowledgeable and well-known Shaker dealers and collectors, including Doug Hamel; William L. Lassiter Jr., who was senior curator of art at the New York State Museum in Albany; Richard and Betty Ann Rasso; Suzanne Courcier and Robert Wilkins; and authors of books on the Shakers, such as June Sprigg. The catalog identifies this sale as “Number One,” and Bray, as well as his partners, expects this to be the first of many subsequent Shaker sales. There were about 75 bidders in the room for the Shaker portion of the sale, and they were successful on many lots. There were also numerous phone bids, the internet was active, and absentee bids were processed. The Shaker portion accounted for $329,000 (including buyers’ premiums) of the $578,000 sale total.
Bringing the sale’s highest price, $43,050, was this miniature tiger maple box with the original red stain. The 3½" x 4½" x 6¾" box had belonged to Sister Elvira Hulett, who spent nearly 50 years in the faith. She eventually became an eldress in the West family at the Hancock, Massachusetts, village. It was inscribed on the underside “owned by Elvira Hulettt.”
During the preview, Derin Bray was asked which item he thought would do particularly well. He showed us a circa 1840 miniature tiger maple lidded box with the original red stain. It had belonged to Sister Elvira Hulett, who would eventually become an eldress at the Shaker community at Hancock, Massachusetts. It was identified in pencil on the bottom. Bray was right in selecting this box—it was the highest-priced item in the sale, selling to an advanced collector, who was a phone bidder, for $43,050 (est. $3000/5000). Next in terms of final price was a circa 1850 sewing desk, a scarce form, which had been made at the Enfield, New Hampshire, community. Fittingly, it was purchased by Carolyn Smith, executive director of the Shaker Museum at Enfield. Her style of bidding was unconventional—simply holding up her paddle until the bidding ended. It sold for $39,975 (est. $10,000/15,000).
One of the rarities of the sale was this sixth-plate tintype of three Shaker sisters at the Watervliet, New York, community. One is identified as Sister Rosetta Hendrickson. Veteran Shaker dealer Scott DeWolfe paid $9225 for it. The catalog devoted two full pages to this item.
Scott DeWolfe of DeWolfe & Wood, Alfred, Maine, paid $9225 (est. $3000/5000) for one of the scarcer items in the sale, a circa 1865 sixth-plate tintype of three Shaker sisters at the Watervliet community. One sister is identified as Sister Rosetta Hendrickson (1845-1912); another is Sister Mary French (1814-1894); and the third may be Sister Anna Caroline Ulrich (1851-1871). The image is housed in a gutta-percha case.
Grace Bowers made this sampler in 1870 at the Mt. Lebanon, New York, community. It is small, only 4" x 6" (sight size), and it sold well over the $1000/2000 estimate, realizing $8610.
Other highlights of the Shaker portion of the sale included a two-drawer worktable with old red paint from the Alfred, Maine, community that realized $11,685 (est. $2500/3500). An 80-page manuscript hymnal with a 13-page index and 69 pages of hymns and poems in several different hands brought $8610 (est. $3000/5000). A dining table that Shaker craftsmen had modified, adding drop-leaves on each end, sold for $8960 (est. $4000/6000). Needlework included a framed sampler made in 1870 at Mt. Lebanon by Grace Bowers, which exceeded its estimate of $1000/2000, and also sold for $8610.
The highest price of the folk art selection was this circa 1815 portrait of a mother and child. It is attributed to Richard Brunton (c. 1749-1832) and brought $13,530 (est. $2500/3500). Brunton was a colorful character who may have been a forger at one point in his career. For more about Brunton, see Deborah Child’s Soldier Engraver Forger: Richard Brunton’s Life on the Fringe in America’s New Republic (2015).
The folk art offerings included game boards, trade signs, Outsider art, painted boxes, a selection of stone carvings by self-taught Ernest “Popeye” Reed (1919-1985), a group of tattoo flash art, and much more. Most popular with bidders was a circa 1815 small portrait of a mother and child attributed to Richard Brunton (c. 1749-1832). When he arrived in this country in 1774, he was in the British army and fought at the Battle of Breed’s Hill (or Bunker Hill as it is usually called). He had a colorful career, possibly as a forger, and there’s extensive information about him online. The small painting sold for $13,530 (est. $2500/3500).
Also doing well was a small fraktur with a sun face. It is 6" x 4½" framed and brought $9225 (est. $600/1200). Two of the game boards also exceeded expectations. A colorful Parcheesi board realized $7995 (est. $1500/2500), and a colorful checkerboard with a mill game on the reverse earned $5535 (est. $800/1200). Each of these offerings was from the collection of Bruce and Doranna Wendel, and the sale included several other items from their collection.
Bray conducts auctions of tattoo, or flash, art and knows the subject well. He included some examples by Leonard “Stoney” St. Clair in this sale. “Hands Off America,” 10" x 12" (sight size), realized $6080. From the catalog: “Leonard ‘Stoney’ St. Clair (1912-1980) was one of the last great tattooers to emerge from the golden age of the American circus and carnival.” He spent much of his career traveling with sideshows before eventually establishing a permanent shop in Tampa, Florida.
One of Derin Bray’s specialties is tattoo art, or flash art. He has run specialized sales of nothing but flash art, and some examples by self-taught artist Leonard “Stoney” St. Clair (1912-1980) were included in this sale. “Hands Off America” realized $6080 (est. $3000/5000).
Works by self-taught Outsider artist Howard Finster included the angel Gabriel. It is 49" long, and earned $3840. It is signed on the reverse “7000.121 works since 1976 / By Howard Finster / Dec. 29, 1987 / God bless you all.”
Charles Hart (1862-1960) was known for his carved penguins but this example may have been the largest one he made. It is 30½" tall. He made several different species, each realistically painted as was this emperor penguin. They date to the 1930s or 40s. It sold for $5842 (est. $2500/3500).
Outsider art included examples by Howard Finster (1916-2001) and “Popeye” Reed. A large work by Finster, depicting the angel Gabriel, 49" long, earned $3840 (est. $800/1200). One of Reed’s works, a circa 1975 carved limestone and sandstone bust of a medicine man on a table Reed made, sold for $1408 (est. $400/600). Both pieces are signed. Traditional folk art included two Charles Hart carved penguins. One exceptionally large example, 31½" tall, from the Wendel collection realized $5842 (est. $2500/3500).
A few days after the sale, Bray told us, “I think that both the Shaker crowd and those interested in folk art were satisfied. Only about six lots were passed, and the gross, almost $580,000, indicates that we’re going in the right direction. We’re already getting calls from Shaker collectors who want to discuss consigning material for our next Shaker sale. Together with my partners, we have a good understanding of Shaker material and can present it well. My own background allows the company to do the same with the Outsider art, which did well in this sale. So, I’m definitely pleased, not just with the dollars and cents. I mean the direction we as a company are going.”
For additional information, call (603) 427-8281 or visit the website (www.brayco.com).
One of the stars of the sale was this circa 1840 chrome yellow carrier, 11" long, which earned $33,825 (est. $4000/6000). It had had been acquired by Charles “Bud” Thompson, former curator at the Canterbury, New Hampshire, community, from Eldress Bertha Lindsay. It was marked “OK” in two places, indicating that it had been used in the office kitchen.
This staved bucket, only 4½" high x 5½" diameter, is probably Shaker. It sold for $2337 (est. $600/800).
This 6" x 4¼" (framed) Pennsylvania bookplate from the Bruce and Doranna Wendel collection sold for $9225 (est. $600/1200). It previously sold at Pook & Pook on April 19, 2013, for $2187.
This sewing desk was made at the Enfield, New Hampshire, community, and it will be going back to Enfield. The high bidder, who never took her paddle down, was Carolyn Smith, director of the Shaker Museum at Enfield. It sold for $39,975 (est. $10,000/15,000).
This uncommon 22" x 42" weathervane, an owl on a broomstick, was made by J.W. Fiske, New York City, circa 1890. A similar example is pictured in the 1893 Fiske catalog. With a gilt surface, it earned well over the $6000/8000 estimate, finishing at $24,600. It’s illustrated in Stacy C. Hollander’s article “The game is afoot: The game board collection of Bruce and Doranna Wendel” in The Magazine Antiques, July/August 2013.
The three partners in the Shaker portion of the sale: from left, Derin Bray, John Keith Russell, and Tom Queen. Appropriately, each is holding a Shaker peg rail. Russack photo.
Included in the sale were a small group of decoys. This pair of mergansers is from the Wendel collection and has original paint and horsehair crests. The pair sold for $1536 (est. $400/600).
There were several exceptional game boards from the Bruce and Doranna Wendel collection. This late 19th-century 19¾" x 19¾" Parcheesi board, ex-Stephen Score, was the most popular with collectors, earning $7995 (est. $1500/2500).
From New Lebanon, New York, this circa 1810 blanket chest is 49½" long. In original blue-green paint, it sold for $2767 (est. $2000/3000). The wood is poplar, and the applied bracket base is dovetailed, as is the case itself.
This huge trade sign was one of the items that Bray had promoted heavily, and it was worthwhile. The circa 1880 sign is just over 6' tall and had been made for Oscar Davis, a brick mason and vendor of building supplies in Berwick, Maine. It illustrated some of the building supplies he sold. According to family tradition, it was displayed in the front window of Davis’s store, which would account for its fine condition. Estimated at $5000/7000, it realized $14,760.
This circa 1830 multicolored box was, according to the catalog, made in Worcester County, Massachusetts. It measures 8¼" x 17¾" x 9", and went out for $2460 (est. $600/800).
Three circa 1840 iconic peg rails sold as a group for $861 (est. $200/300). They are pine, and the longest is 64¼" long. The one in the middle, with original red stain, has the name “Albert Hand” on the back.
A birch drop-leaf table, circa 1840, with its original red paint brought $1845 (est. $2000/3000). The catalog identifies it as having been made at the Enfield, New Hampshire, community and notes that examples of drop-leaf tables from New Hampshire are rare. It last sold at auction on September 4, 2005, at Willis Henry Auctions for $8050.
Earning $4160 (est. $800/1200), this Pennsylvania bird tree is 22½" tall. It has five well-carved and painted song birds, and it was probably made in the late 19th or early 20th century.
The sale began with an iconic Shaker form: a stove. This one, 24½" x 12" x 29", was from the Watervliet, New York, community and sold for $6150 (est. $1500/2500).
There were several stone carvings by Ernest “Popeye” Reed. This table, 17¼" tall, and carved medicine man were done about 1975. The limestone and soapstone creation, 14" tall, and table sold for $1408 (est. $400/600). Both pieces are signed.
The legs of this candlestand identify it as having originated at the Groveland, New York, community. Circa 1840, it is constructed of walnut with a surface that may be original. A phone bidder paid $1599 (est. $1500/2500) for the 27" tall x 19¼" diameter stand that was from the collection of Herb and Fran Kramer.
Things sold at auctions are sometimes described as having local connections. This stoneware cooler is very clearly identified with the Frank Jones brewery. The building that houses Bray auctions is part of the recently restored Frank Jones brewery buildings. It sold—hopefully to a local collector—for $704 (est. $600/900).
Originally published in the November 2026 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2026 Maine Antique Digest
