East Dennis, Mass. – Scrimshaw from the Thomas Mittler Collection, widely regarded as the best private scrimshaw collection to come on the market in 30 years, is the centerpiece of Eldred’s Spring Americana, Paintings and Maritime Art Auction, scheduled for April 6-8, 2017, in East Dennis, Mass. Two Audubon elephant folios, a large Michael Keane yachting scene, “Head-to-Head, The Sandbaggers”, and a Joseph McGurl landscape, “Evening Comes to Marsh”, are other highlights in the diverse sale, which will also include period furniture, sporting art, silver, jewelry and Oriental rugs.

Sixty-two lots from the Mittler Scrimshaw Collection, including numerous whale’s teeth and whaleman-made utilitarian items, will go on the block this April. The first sixty lots from the collection were sold during Eldred’s October 2016 Maritime Arts Auction, where bidding on three lots surpassed $120,000. The top seller last fall was a scrimshaw whale’s tooth by W.L. Roderick, which sold for $180,000, a record price for the scrimshander.

“This portion of the collection includes some really intriguing utilitarian items, like whalebone saws and a miniature whalebone hammer, as well as fine examples of busks, pie crimpers and whalebone-mounted tools,” said William Bourne, company vice president and head of the Americana and Maritime Art departments. “Although there is some emphasis on folk art pieces, many of the whale’s teeth included in this auction feature whaling and other maritime scenes.”

Anticipated top lots include a polychrome scrimshaw tooth attributed to Moses Denning with a ship portrait on the obverse and a portrait of a woman on the reverse, estimated at $30,000/50,000, two teeth attributed to the Brittania Engraver, both depicting Lady Britannia, estimated at $20,000/30,000 and $30,000/40,000, and a tooth attributed to the Lady Wellington Engraver depicting a battle between the Shannon and the Chesapeake, estimated at $25,000/35,000. Estimates on this portion of the collection range from $150/250 for the miniature hammer to $30,000/50,000 for the example attributed to Moses Denning.

Thomas Mittler, a midwestern business owner who died suddenly in 2010 at age 67, began collecting scrimshaw in 1969. His collection was the subject of the 2015 book, “Through the Eyes of a Collector: The Scrimshaw Collection of Thomas Mittler”, by scrimshaw historian Nina Hellman of Nantucket, Mass.

The two Audubon elephant folios come to auction from a Cape Cod, Massachusetts, estate. “Carolina Parrot” and “Pileated Woodpecker” carry estimates of $65,000/85,000 and $18,000/22,000. Both retain vibrant coloration and have Whatman watermarks.

The Michael Keane yachting scene, estimated at $30,000/50,000, and the Joseph McGurl landscape, estimated at $18,000/22,000, are both from private New England collections. Other contemporary artists represented in the sale include Richard K. Loud, William E. Bartlett, and William R. Davis.

“We’ve seen an increased demand for quality works by top contemporary artists,” said Joshua Eldred, president of the company and head of the Fine Arts department. “We’re pleased to offer a wide array of paintings by some of America’s best contemporary artists.”

In addition to contemporary pieces, the sale also includes works by C.H. Gifford, Henri Rousseau, Frederik Tudgay, William Edward Norton and Ross E. Moffett, as well as a collection of North Shore paintings by Emil Gruppe and others.

Highlights include a Norman Rockwell graphite “Calamity”, from a 1946 Saturday Evening Post, estimated at $15,000/20,000, three works by Cape Cod artist Ralph E. Cahoon, all whimsical scenes involving mermaids, estimated at $30,000/35,000, $18,000/22,000 and $4,000/6,000, and an Arctic whaling scene by William Bradford, estimated at $6,000/9,000. American, English and European artists are represented in the approximately 230 paintings being offered.  

Other highlights from the sale include a life-size decorative carving of a killdeer by famed decoy carver A. Elmer Crowell, estimated at $10,000/15,000, a circa 1800 Bru Bebe doll, estimated at $5,000/7,000, a Van Cleef & Arpels jade, diamond and platinum brooch, estimated at $6,000/8,000, a Confederate foot officer’s sword from the College Hill Arsenal in Tennessee, estimated at $5,000/7,000, and a Queen Anne Tavern table, probably Connecticut, circa 1750, estimated at $3,000/5,000.

The Spring Americana, Paintings and Maritime Art Auction will take place at the company’s main facility, located at 1483 Route 6A, in East Dennis, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod’s historic Route 6A. Interested bidders can visit www.eldreds.com for a complete sale listing and to register to bid via phone, absentee bid or online. Online bidding will also be hosted by Invaluable.com. Those wishing to bid live in the audience may register at the offices the day of the auction. The auction preview exhibition will be held Wednesday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Session I, on Thursday, April 6, will start at noon. Sessions II and III, on Friday and Saturday, April 7 and 8, will start at 10 a.m.

About Eldred’s

The Robert C. Eldred Co. is New England's oldest established antiques and fine arts auction house, now in its third generation of ownership under the Eldred and Schofield families. In addition to its headquarters on Cape Cod’s historic Old King’s Highway in East Dennis, Mass. the firm also has an office at 5 Roosevelt Avenue in Mystic, Ct. Eldred’s conducts approximately 25 auctions per year encompassing Americana, paintings, Asian art, European decorative art, maritime antiques, sporting art and collectibles. It was recently named one of the top worldwide auction houses by Art + Auction and holds auction records across a wide range of collecting areas.  

For more information please call (508) 385-3116 or email info@eldreds.com.