Featuring the life collection of American Art Pottery/ Wendell and Susan Chamberlain of Kingston, Massachusetts. Collection includes, Rookwood, Weller, Hampshire, Fulper, Pewbic, Van Briggle, SEG, Clewell, Roseville, Scheier & more.

Also items from the Tom Thumb collection, Middleboro, Massachusetts including General Tom Thumb's piano from his house on Plymouth Street in Middleboro.

GENERAL TOM THUMB'S PIANO: Mid 1800’s rosewood Square Grand piano scaled to size believed to have been specially made by Chickering, Boston and given to Tom and Lavinia as a wedding gift 1863. Consigned by Salemi family who lived in the Tom Thumb house in Middleboro, MA. where the piano came from. Tom Thumb died in 1883 and Lavinia remarried to Count Magri. Magri held an auction at the house in Middleboro in October 1920, about a year after Lavinia’s death. Provenance: “This Piano was purchased at an auction held at Tom Thumb’s estate at Plymouth Street, Middleboro in October 1920 by a Middleboro lawyer. In later years to antiques dealer Hymun Bliss, who died in 1957. It remained in his estate in Fall River until purchased by Dennis Gouveia, antiques dealer, in 1991. Bought by the Salemi’s Feb 15, 1992. Middleboro, MA. The piano was specially made for him by Chickering. Tom Thumb was born Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838-July 15, 1883), better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb". He was a drawf who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum.

The Tom Thumb in Middleboro, Massachusetts has recently sold and the owners have consigned this piano to our auction. This piano was given to Tom Thumb and his wife Lavinia as a wedding present in 1875, specially made by Chickering of Boston, Massachusetts.

"Charles Sherwood Stratton was the four year old son of a Bridgeport, Connecticut, carpenter in 1842 when P.T. Barnum "discovered" him and transformed him into General Tom Thumb, an eleven-year old European marvel. Barnum trained the child to sing, dance, and imitate famous persons. Under the guidance of Barnum, Tom Thumb performed at the American Museum and toured the world as one of the best-known midgets, until his death in 1883 at the age of 46. Barnum reaped enormous profits from exhibiting a number of "human curiosities" (like Tom Thumb), whom he presented ostensibly for their educational and scientific value. While offensive to today’s sensibilities, exhibitions of people with disabilities or who otherwise deviated from what the majority considered normal were not uncommon in mid and late nineteenth-century popular culture."

SOLD $2,990

TOM THUMB COLLECTION: THE BOWLING BALLS: Wooden balls, painted black.  “Presented to General T. Thumb by the Fitzroy Bowling Club Victoria (Australia) March 18^th 1870”. Impressed Alcock & Co, Melbourne. Salemi collection. Balls measure approximately 3 ½”. Second bowling ball missing the presentation silver plaque.

SOLD $1,207

PLATINUM & DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING: Center stone prong set with one marquise cut diamond approximately 3.5 cts. Evaluated SI 2 in clarity and J in color. Center diamond complimented on either side by one small tappered baguette cut diamond, approximately .15ct. SOLD $14,375

US 1904 LIBERTY HEAD DOUBLE EAGLE $20 GOLD COIN: Organic design 14kt gold mount and 14kt gold chain.

 SOLD $2,530FOSTORIA GLASS BROCADE ICE BLUE ACORN PATTERN: 19th/20th century. Twenty six pieces includes plates, wines, cordials, water pircher and vase. SOLD $2,500

EARLY 19TH C STENCILED & HAND PAINTED GAME/SEWING TABLE: Ca 1820's. Possibly Anthony Quervelle (France, Philadelphia 1789-1856). Lift top game boards, hand painted eagles, original brasses. SOLD $1,840 

 LATE 19^TH/EARLY 20^TH C. FRENCH CLOISONNE CLOCK: Gilded bronze, bracket feet. Jasperware columns and urn finial. Painted porcelain face signed Smith Patterson & Co. Smith Patterson was a quality jeweler in Boston comparable to Tiffany in New York. Clock measures 8 ½” wide x 6” deep x 17 ½” tall. SOLD $690

EARLY PORTRAIT STUDIO/FIELD CAMERA ON STAND: Manufactured by Ansco Corp, Binghamton, NY. Adjustable wood and iron stand on wheels.

SOLD $539

KOREAN HAND PAINTED FOUR SECTION FOLDING SCREEN/ROOM DIVIDER: Piece was personally commissioned in the 1960’s by Nicholas Salgo from a prominent Korean artist as a gift to his first wife. Hand painted on rice paper with fighting hawks on a white ground. Signed lower right. Measures 137” wide x 72” tall. From the family household of Nicholas M. Salgo, a Hungarian immigrant who became a financier and developer and whose properties once included the Watergate commercial and residential complex. He served as Ambassador to Hungary under Ronald Reagan followed by many years as a State Department special negotiator on international property issues. Some staining, old repairs and small hole. SOLD $3,105

LADIES DIAMOND RING: Solitaire European cut diamond, 1.31 ct. Slightly bearded girdle, natural on girdle. Large culet. Color L. Clarity VVS2, 38% table, 65% depth percentage. Set in platinum. SOLD $2,760

 SEG ART POTTERY BOWL: Saturday Evening Girls. Blue Lotus bowl. Three colors of blue white and black, incised floral border. Signed AM 7-10 SEG. Measures 9 ¼” in diameter x 3 ½” tall. Wendell & Sue Chamberlain collection. SOLD $431

 800 SILVER COFFEE/TEA SET: Includes coffee pot, tea pot, creamer, sugar, waste pot and tray. Ribbed form with hand hammered scalloped rim matching tray, 21 ½” x 13 ½”.

SOLD $1,610 

SURVEYOR’S TRANSIT GROUP: Ca 1850’s W. & L.E. Gurley transit in fitted wood box, tripod, single spike, Cox’s Stadia Computer W.& L.E. Gurley and leather bound book “elements of Surveying and Navigation by Charles Davies, LLD, 1850.

EARLY WOVEN ORIENTAL RUG: Red field with three medallions Wide blue border. Overall geometric designs in reds, blues, gold, cream and rust. Measures approximately 4’10” x 6’ 8”. From the Wendell and Sue Chamberlain collection.

 GURLEY RAILROAD SURVEYOR’S COMPASS: Ca 1850’s. W. & L. E. Gurley, Troy, New York. With “Jacob’s Staff” spike. 6 1/4 in diameter silvered dial with compass bearings in block letters, fleur-de-lis and signed W. & L. Gurley at North, needle ring, screw-on sights. Makers label inside lid W. & L. E. Gurley Manufacturers of Civil Engineers' and Surveyor's Instruments, Fulton Street, near Union Railroad Depot, Troy, N.Y.

 MARTIN BROTHERS SOUTHHALL ENGLAND POTTERY VASE: Ca 1880’s. Bottle shape. Decorated with painted and incised birds on cherry or apple blossom branches in blues, greens and cream. Dark brown high gloss bands around neck and base. Shaded tan body, 9 ¾” tall. SOLD $402

THE INITIATING BANK FIRST DEGREE: Cast iron mechanical bank manufactured by Mechanical Novelty Works, New Britain, Ct. Designed by George W. Eddy, patented 1880. Orignal paint and condition.

SOLD $11,500 

 LOUIS VUITTON HAT BOX/SHOE BOX TRUNK: Ca 1910.Woven basket interior. Monogrammed R.H. on sides. Leather and brass bound. Measures 20” wide x 17 ½” deep x 18” tall. SOLD $6,210

J& E STEVENS CO. CAST IRON BANK: Ca 1902. Intricate battle ship OREGON. White with red interior life boats and green base. (The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the United States Navy battle fleet that completed a circumnavigation of the globe from December 16, 1907, to February 22, 1909, by order of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Measures 10 ½” long. All original. SOLD $3,220

PANAMA DISTRICT or SPANISH/COLUMBIA UNCUT BANKNOTES: Estado Soberano de Panama Lei 1865. Mounted uncut sheet with 4 notes “UNO” “TRES” “TRES” and “DIEZ PESOS” dated 1865. After its independence from Spain on November 28, 1821, modern-day Panama became a part of the Republic of Gran Colombia which consisted of today's Colombia,Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador. The Panama–Colombia separation was formalized on 3 November 1903, with the establishment of the Republic of Panama from the Republic of Colombia. SOLD $10,062

 One of several coin and currency lots.

 18KT YELLOW GOLD UNIVERSAL GENEVE GENT’S GOLDEN SHADOW WRIST WATCH: Automatic 25 jewels, two adjustments. Swiss movements. 18kt gold approximately 44 total penny weight. Champagne dial, platinum bezel set with fifty round single cut diamonds approximately .56 carats. 18kt yellow gold mesh bracelet or band.

 SOLD $2,415 

EARLY CAUCASIAN ORIENTAL SCATTER RUG: Unusual design and colors. Center with two and half “X” design medallions. Colors are gold, navy, blues, cream, tan and brown. Measures 65” x 46”. From the family household of Nicholas M. Salgo, a Hungarian immigrant who became a financier and developer and whose properties once included the Watergate commercial and residential complex. He served as Ambassador to Hungary under Ronald Reagan followed by many years as a State Department special negotiator on international property issues Good condition. SOLD $575

"THE GLEANERS" (AFTER JULES BRETON (1827-1906) BY ALFRED BRYANT COPELAND (MA/FRANCE 1840-1909): Large unframed oil on canvas, 27" x 52". Signed lower right "A. Copeland, dupre Paris '77 After Jules Breton 1859". SOLD $690

RARE AUTOPERIPATIKOS WALKING DOLL: With Blue Ribbon First Prize award. Ca 1862. Papier mache shoulders and head with molded painted hair in typical Civil War era style. Leather arms arms and hands. Original hand sewn chiffon and rick rack trimmed dress. Brass feet. Base marked “Patented July 15^th, 1862, also in England.” This doll won First Prize at The Doll Collectors of American, Inc Annual Meeting 1994 (Blue Ribbon). Measures 10” tall. Autoperipatikos Walking doll is a doll that walks by means of a clockwork mechanism (originally patented by Enoch Rice Morrison on July 15, 1862) which causes her feet, usually made of pressed metal, to move back and forth. These types of dolls were made in Germany, France, and America. They are supposedly the first mechanical toy patented in America from which there is still an existing example. Good original fragile condition. Missing a pin that holds the mechanism in place. With key. SOLD $1,092 

1892 1892 ROOKWOOD POTTERY MONUMENTAL STANDARD GLAZE POPPY VASE: Ca 1892. Light Standard glaze or Mahogany glaze, three handled vase. Marks “S 1068 W”. Special shape in white clay. First year of the Mt. Adams Kiln. Detailed Poppies on a light blue/green background. Colors of reds, greens and yellow on shaded yellow/orange ground. Probably a test shape. Very well decorated, no signature found for artist. Catalogued and appraised by Skinner in 2000. Wendell and Susan Chamberlain collection. Measures 20” tall x 12”. SOLD $1,150

DIAMOND DYES “FAIRY PRINCESS” COUNTER TOP DISPLAY CABINET: Wells & Richardson, Burlington, VT. Detailed lithograph on tin. Center circle with “fairy princess”. Separate vignette scenes featuring the dyes various uses. Wood frame, 31” tall x 24” wide x 10 ½” deep. SOLD $431

EDISON STOCK MARKET TICKER TAPE MACHINE: Signed Mfg. by T.A. Edison 10254. Iron, Brass and Steel Ticker Tape Machine. Original glass dome. Probably late 19th century, New Jersey, The enamel cast iron base reads " Edison Stock Ticker. This authentic old self-winding stock ticker was designed in 1870. It was used for about 80 years for receiving stock and commodity quotations from the Nation’s leading exchanges.”  Measures approximately 13-3/4"tall overall x 7” on diameter. In 1869 Edison developed one of the earliest practical stock tickers. Some were in use until the 1960's, but many were donated to World War II Metal Drives. SOLD $5,060

WELLER RHEAD VASE: Ca 1905. 6” tall. Rhead incised vase with floral decoration. “Fru Russet Glaze” signed “Weller Read”. Rare mark. Purple curdled matt glaze with stylized yellow flowers. Wendell and Susan Chamberlain collection. SOLD $891

ROOKWOOD WAX MATT “JACK IN THE PULPIT” VASE: Rare special presentation vase, 1938. Measures 6 ¾” tall. Signed Shirayamadani. Marked #6899 in ink. Raised leaf and flower decoration on blue to pale ivory to green ground. From the Wendell & Susan Chamberlain collection. SOLD $575

 ROOKWOOD EXPERIMENTAL PORCELAIN VASE: High gloss glaze. 1928, #604F. Ink #X3181. Rare floral glaze combination. Unusual piece. Sara Sax. Date blue and black decoration on dark teal ground. Measures 6 ¼” tall. From the Wendell & Susan Chamberlain collection. SOLD $460

19^TH C. FRENCH BRONZE BY PAUL RICHER: Full figure of a blacksmith working on his anvil. Paul M.L. Pierrre Richer (France 1849-1933). Signed and dated 1894. Measures 30” tall. Dark rich patina, good condition. SOLD $1,150

ANTIQUE OUSHAK ORIENTAL CARPET: Ca 1900. Palace size approximately 12’ x 16’. Directional design with wide borders and geometric and stylized floral designs. Wide border with alternating medallions on green ground. Colors of greens, oranges, light red, gold and cream on tan ground. From the family household of Nicholas M. Salgo, a Hungarian immigrant who became a financier and developer and whose properties once included the Watergate commercial and residential complex. He served as Ambassador to Hungary under Ronald Reagan followed by many years as a State Department special negotiator on international property issues. Rug has overall wear, staining, fading and few small holes. SOLD $5,290

 CONTINENTAL BEIDERMEIER INLAID BURLWOOD ABATTANT SECRETARY: Long top drawer, three graduated bottom drawers. Fall front desk writing surface, fitted interior, marble top, original brasses. SOLD $575