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F O R I M M E D I A T E R E L E A S E

CHRISTIE’S PRESENTS AMERICANA WEEK 2014

MASTERPIECES OF RARITY AND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE TO BE OFFERED

ACROSS THE SALES OF IMPORTANT AMERICAN FURNITURE, FOLK ART, SILVER AND

CHINESE EXPORT ART

HIGHLIGHTED BY PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ERIC MARTIN WUNSCH

& FAVORITES FROM THE COLLECTION OF KRISTINA BARBARA JOHNSON

New York – Christie’s is pleased to announce that Americana Week 2014, a weeklong series of auctions, viewings, and

events, will be held from January 18-27. The week of sales is comprised of Important American Silver on January 23,

Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Decorative Arts on January 24, and Chinese Export Art on January 27.

Several prominent private collections will be highlighted, including Property from the Estate of Eric Martin Wunsch and

Favorites from the Collection of Kristina Barbara Johnson. In all, Americana Week 2014 will offer over 400 lots and is

expected to realize upwards of $11 million. In conjunction with the sales, Christie’s will also host the second annual Eric

M. Wunsch Award for Excellence in the American Arts on January 22, honoring Richard Hampton Jenrette and Linda H.

Kaufman and her husband, the late George M. Kaufman.

Chinese Export Art Monday, January 27

Important American Furniture and Folk Art

Friday, January 24

Important American Silver Thursday, January 23

ROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ERIC MARTIN WUNSCH Christie’s is honored to present Property from the Estate of Eric Martin Wunsch in

a series of January sales including Important American Silver on January 23,

American Furniture on January 24, Chinese Export Art on January 27, and Old

Master Paintings Part I on January 29. Eric Martin Wunsch was a New York

collector with an assiduous appetite for learning about art and antiques who was

revered for his diverse mix of treasures. He was an active and important member

of a number of public institutions such as the New York State Museum and the

Brooklyn Museum, where he donated works, and examples of his 17th century

European paintings and drawings have been extensively exhibited in museums

both in Europe and North America. Wunsch was also a founding member of the

Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the U.S. Department of State and the Friends of

American Art at Yale University Art Gallery, as well as a trustee of the Willard Clock

Museum. From American furniture and silver to Dutch painting, the collection is

comprised of 59 lots, and is expected to realize in excess of $4.5 million. Please

click here for the complete press release for Property from the Estate of Eric Martin

Wunsch.

MPORTANT AMERICAN SILVER January 23 at 10:00am The first in the series of Americana Week sales will be Important American Silver, offering a selection of works that

date back to the 17th century. Comprised of ninety-two lots, the sale is expected to

realize in excess of $1 million. Among the sale’s top lots is a fine set of six large silver

tablespoons with the mark of Paul Revere, Jr., Boston, 1783, engraved with the script

monogram DMS (illustrated left; estimate: $60,000-90,000). The initials on these

spoons are those of Daniel and Mary Sargent. Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts

in 1731, Daniel Sargent became a successful merchant and ship owner who

traded along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. In 1763 he married Mary

Turner of Salem, daughter of merchant and justice of the peace John Turner

(1709-1786), whose Salem mansion, “The House of the Seven Gables,” was

made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Daniel and Mary Sargent had seven

children, including the artist Henry Winthrop Sargent (1810-1882) and the

classical scholar Lucius Manlius Sargent (1786-1867).

A Silver Cocktail Shaker by Peer Smed, New York, 1931

(illustrated right; estimate: $30,000-50,000) is among the of American silver from the twentieth century.

This whimsical shaker is modeled as a standing bear on a circular base, and contains a hinged and

pierced ice strainer adding to its utility. Danish silversmith Peer Smed worked for Georg Jensen and the

Royal silversmith, Anton Michelsen, in Copenhagen before emmigrating to the United States in 1912.

During the 1930s, he worked from his Brooklyn studio, primarily in the Danish style. His work has been

featured in several exhibitions of contemporary metalwork, including one at the Metropolitan Museum

of Art in 1937 and at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1937-38.

Also among the 19th century highlights is a set of three silver meat dishes from The Mackay Service with

the Mark Of Tiffany And Co., in New York, circa 1878 (illustrated page 3, right; $20,000-30,000). The set

belongs to a New York Gentleman who is a direct decedent of John William Mackay (1831-1902) and Marie Louise

Hungerford Mackay (1843-1913), to whom the present dishes once belonged. Each of the three dishes is applied on one

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Property from the Estate of Eric Martin Wunsch A Chippendale Carved Mahogany Scallop-Top Tea

Table, Philadelphia, 1760-1770 Estimate: $800,000-1,200,000

side with the monogram MLM, the other with the coat-of-arms, crest and motto of Hungerford. The history of

the Mackay dinner service is a classic American tale. In 1873, John W. Mackay, an Irish

immigrant who spent 22 years mining in the west, discovered the

largest silver deposit in America deep inside the fabled

Comstock Lode of Virginia City, Nevada. According to family

legend, when his wife Marie Louise Hungerford Mackay visited

the mine, she asked if she could have enough silver for a dinner

service. Her husband obliged, sending a half ton of silver to

Tiffany's with instructions to make an elaborate dinner service for

twenty-four. Tiffany's records show that two hundred silversmiths worked for two years on the

service, producing 1,350 pieces of which 370 were holloware items. Charles Grosjean, who designed the Mackay service,

named the pattern "Indian" after its dense floral arabesques and other references to Near-Eastern design. The service

was exhibited to great acclaim at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris, one critic commenting that, "This splendid

service alone would form a very full exhibit.” The Mackays kept a house in Paris, and later in London, where they

entertained distinguished guests on a lavish scale, including the former United States President, Ulysses S. Grant.

MPORTANT AMERICAN FURNITURE, FOLK ART, & DECORATIVE ARTS January 24 at 10:00am Christie’s sale of Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Decorative Arts will present over 160 lots from the 17th,

18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and is expected to realize in excess of $4 million. Works with exquisite provenance figure

prominently, with Property from the Estate of Eric Martin Wunsch, Property from the Chipstone Foundation, and

Favorites from the Collection of Kristina Barbara Johnson contributing to the sale’s top lots.

FAVORITES FROM THE COLLECTION OF KRISTINA BARBARA JOHNSON Christie’s is honored to have been entrusted with works from the celebrated collection of Kristina Barbara Johnson, an

enthusiastic collector, whose interests were broad, though all poignantly a reflection of her unique aesthetic. Johnson

first started developing her folk art collection when she became involved with the American Folk Art Museum in the

mid-1960s, where she served on the board of Trustees for over four decades and was elected Board President in 1971.

Her folk art collection focused on maritime arts, portraiture, paintings, sculpture and decoys and, in the early 1980s, her

driving interest in hooked rugs led her to assemble one of the largest collections of hooked rugs in the country. As early

as the 1970s, her interest in Outsider Art became a growing

focus. She juxtaposed earlier American folk art in her home

with the Outsider pieces and took pleasure in sharing her

collection with others, offering guided tours through her

home for students, groups, dealers, and individuals sharing

her interests. Her collection was highly regarded, as her

works were frequently loaned to exhibitions across the

country and nearly always referenced in scholarly writings

about American Folk Art.

Grandma Moses’ idyllic Old Covered Bridge (illustrated right;

estimate: $300,000-700,000) is a masterwork that manifests

every element that has made the artist an American icon. In

private hands since its creation, this work is a desirable

example of a self-taught artist and presents a rare opportunity to obtain one of approximately twenty known and

documented large scale paintings by Moses. Old Covered Bridge depicts her belief that men, women, and children all

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had a role in the daily work of the community. The scene portrays the ice harvest, an important seasonal task that

requires the combined effort of the community to preserve ice for the coming summer. Though Grandma Moses never

had formal training, her natural skill is clear; by weaving the various vignettes throughout the landscape, the

composition becomes cohesive.

William Edmonson’s Mother and Child (illustrated left; estimate: $50,000-80,000) is another

work from the collection of Kristina Barbara Johnson. Edmonson’s works have crossed the

aesthetic boundaries of genres ever since his 1937 solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern

Art, the first of any African-American artist. Discovered in 1936 by a Vanderbilt University

professor and later photographed by a Harper’s Bazaar photographer, Edmondson’s work was

shown to then director of the Museum of Modern Art, resulting in his 1937 solo

exhibition. Born the son of slaves near Nashville, Tennessee, Edmonson was briefly employed

as a stonemason during the early years of the Great Depression. After receiving a vision from

God, Edmondson began carving tombstones, “miracles,” and “critters” in limestone. Using the

simplest of tools and working in limestone, Mother and Child is one of the at least six sculptures

Edmondson carved depicting the religious subject matter.

Two Deer in a Fiery Forest by William Hawkins (illustrated right; estimate:

$20,000-30,000) is another work of Outsider Art from the Johnson

Collection. Hawkins began painting and drawing in the 1970s. After

submitting and winning the 1982 Ohio State Fair exhibition, Hawkins

significantly increased his output, often painting subjects taken from

covers of the magazines, newspapers and other material he collection of

the street as well as his recollections and the buildings around Columbus,

Ohio. Using only a single paintbrush and working with enamel house paint

that he often found discarded by the local hardware store, Hawkins

created works of brilliant color as seen in Two Deer in a Fiery Forest. The

two deer stand alertly, as if disturbed by the viewer, at whom they gaze

directly. The faces have been heighted with starch (possibly dried glue) to

add three-dimensionality, a technique he increasingly used in the 1980s.

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM IMPORTANT AMERICAN FURNITURE The Deshler Family Chippendale carved mahogany side chair (illustrated left; estimate:

$200,000-500,000) stands as a stunning survival of Colonial American history and is being sold

with the approval of the Directors of the Chipstone Foundation to benefit the acquisitions fund.

Designed and executed by a craftsman of extraordinary talents, the chair is likely an example of

London-trained carver John Pollard (1740-1787), created while at the height of his career in

Philadelphia, and was originally made en suite with a set of side

chairs made for merchant David Deshler (1711-1792). With

eleven surviving forms, including the present example, the

Deshler suite of furniture is among the most celebrated

commissions of American Furniture from the eighteenth

century. Distinguished by its pristine condition, the side chair

offered in the sale retains its original surface, wonderfully

displaying the refined ornament and detail of the work.

A Chippendale mahogany bombé chest-of-drawers (illustrated right; estimate: $200,000-400,000) was likely executed in

Boston, circa 1770, and is a rare example of eighteenth-century Massachusetts’ most celebrated furniture design.

Having once belonged in the renowned Whittier collection and handled by the Boston shop of Israel Sack, the work’s

exquisite provenance contribute to its appeal as one of the most

sought after forms of American cabinetwork executed at the height of

the Rococo period. The combination of the subtle curvature of the

case sides and the ogee foot construction result in the graceful

silhouette that was prized by patrons.

The sale of Important American Furniture will also include a selection

of Maritime Art, all lots hailing from private collections. Antonio

Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen’s The Famous Clipper Dreadnought

(illustrated left; estimate: $7,000-10,000) depicts the well-known ship

that broke the New York-to-Liverpool crossing with a record ten day

trip. After crossing the Atlantic twenty times, the Dreadnought was nearly sunk in 1863 during its final voyage.

HINESE EXPORT ART January 27 at 10:00am

As the final sale in the Americana Week series, the sale of Chinese Export Art on January 27 in New York will

feature a stunning selection of Chinese porcelain made to order for American and European traders in the 17th through

19th centuries. Featuring a rich array of porcelains and paintings, the sale will offer over 150 lots and is expected to

realize upwards of $1.5 million.

An important China trade painting (illustrated left; estimate:

$125,000-175,000) made in the School of Spoilum, circa 1794,

depicts the historic event of Viceroy of Canton receiving Lord

McCartney, the first official envoy of the British Empire to the

Celestial Kingdom. McCartney was sent with the mission of

easing trade restrictions and permission for a British embassy

and residence. While he was largely unsuccessful to that end,

his relations with the Imperial government of the Emperor

Qianlong did lead to some progress. The momentous occasion

of the Viceroy receiving Lord McCartney was rendered in four

recorded large scale oil paintings, including the present example.

Among the top lots of the sale is a rare set of famille rose “nodding head” figures

from the Qianlong period (illustrated right; estimate: $40,000-60,000), depicting

two elegant court ladies in colorful robes and two court officials wearing tall hats.

At nearly eighteen inches tall, this monumental set likely represented a very

special commission. In addition to the size of these figures and their fine quality

modeling, their composition as two couples set them apart from any published

examples; models of couples are rare and almost exclusively Western. Originally,

these remarkable figures graced an important room in the grand baroque villa

of an aristocratic family on the outskirts of Rome. The set has never been sold

publicly, having remained in the same family since the 18th century.

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A very rare pair of Chinese export porcelain shoe tureens, covers and

stands, circa 1770 (illustrated left; estimate: $12,000-18,000), are each

in the form of a Dutch clog with turned up toe, adorned with

colorful vignettes of Chinese family scenes. While small

Chinese porcelain tureens were made in whimsical shapes, this

clog form is very rare. Closely associated with Holland, one of

China's earliest and highest volume trading partners, the clog

form perhaps makes sense as an amusing special porcelain order for

a Dutch East India Company director or investor.

Several porcelain dinner services with exceptional provenance will also be

included in the sale of Chinese Export Art, including two sets from the

collection of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, both of which were wedding gifts

to the newly married couple in 1929. Other dinner wares in the sale

include a large, richly enameled ‘Canton famille rose’ service and a large

service with the arms of the Earl of Nithsdale (illustrated page 1, right;

estimate: $70,000-100,000), featuring an unusually full complement of

serving pieces, platters and plates. Pieces of the Thomas Jefferson Chinese

Export porcelain will also be offered in ten separate lots in the sale (one of

ten lots illustrated right; estimate: $10,000-15,000).

PRESS CONTACTS: American Furniture and Chinese Export Art: Jaime Bernice | +1 212 636 2680 | jbernice@christies.com

Silver: Rebecca Riegelhaupt | +1 212 636 2680 | rriegelhaupt@christies.com

The complete eCatalogues for each sale will be available at Christies.com. About Christie’s Christie’s, the world's leading art business, reached a total of £2.4 billion/$3.68 billion in global auction and private sales in the first six months of 2013. In 2012, global auction and private sales totaled £3.92 billion/$6.27 billion, marking the highest annual revenue ever reached by Christie’s. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's has since conducted the greatest and most celebrated auctions through the centuries providing a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers over 450 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photography, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie's also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with an emphasis on Post-War and Contemporary, Impressionist and Modern, Old Masters and Jewelry. Global private sales totaled £465 million/$711 million in the first half year of 2013, an increase of 13% from the same period last year, breaking the sales record of half year private sales for Christie’s and the art market for three consecutive years.

Christie’s has a global presence of 53 offices in 32 countries and 11 salerooms around the world including London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai, Zürich, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Christie’s has recently led in growth markets such as Russia, China, India and The United Arab Emirates, with successful sales, exhibitions and initiatives held in Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai.

*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and do not reflect costs, financing fees or application of buyer’s or

seller’s credits.

# # # Images available on request

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