[Rarebooks] FS: The Most Important American Furniture Auction Ever Held

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

TITLE: “Colonial Furniture -the Superb Collection of the late Howard
Reifsnyder, including signed pieces by Philadelphia Cabinetmakers...”

GALLERY / DATE: New York; American Art Association: April 24th-27th, 1929.

DISCUSSION: One of the most important sales of American furniture, and
extremely well-timed as well. Howard Reifsnyder was a wealthy Philadelphia
wool merchant whose taste turned to the antiquarian. He collected books,
oriental ceramics & rugs, and American colonial furniture and arts. He did
all this at a time, in a place, and with an enthusiasm and knowledge,
which made it possible for him to assemble one of the finest collection of
American colonial furniture ever made. Reifsnyder was generous with his
knowledge and his antiques- his home was always open to the student,
scholar and connoisseur, and he lent his treasures freely to museums, with
the consequence that by the time he died his collection was known and
envied throughout Americana collecting circles.

For four days collectors battled each other in the halls of the American
Art Association as Major Parke knocked down lot after lot for staggering
prices. The height was reached by the Van Pelt family highboy which was
coveted by both Hearst and Du Pont, with Du Pont (using the name H.F.
Winthrop) finally winning for a record-setting $44,000.

As Towner sums it all up in ‘The Elegant Auctioneers’, “It took the
explosive Howard Reifsnyder sale of April, 1929 to broadcast the fact that
a highboy made in colonial Philadelphia could be worth as much as a
‘secretaire a abattant’ made for Marie Antoinette... In the giddy antique
market of that Spring the Reifsnyder doings were a revelation, the
repercussions wide and long-lasting. Native works of skilled craftsmen
gained immeasurable prestige, and to this day, the auction is considered
historic in the chronicles of collecting events. Forthwith, in the 1929
spender’s gambol, colonial highboys became the quarry of the house-proud
and the stylish. Authentic pieces were called priceless, their value
multiplied; and the AAA was credited, if not with the discovery of
America, at least with its multitudinous exploitation”.

DESCRIPTION: Hardcover. 7.5"x11", 275 pages, 717 lots, many black & white
illustrations.

CONDITION NOTES: Bound into cloth, without the original card covers.
Covers a bit faded and worn, some internal soil and light wear.  Priced in
the margins.

PRICE: $600.00

SOME PICTURES =>

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JOSLIN HALL RARE BOOKS, ABAA
Fine books of the 16th-20th centuries
on the decorative and fine arts & design

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