NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s annual Americana Week auctions will take place in New York on 24 & 25 January 2014. The Important Americana sale will begin at 2:00pm on the 24th with a selection of Audubon prints, Chinese export porcelain, silver and carpets. The auction will continue on the 25th, with a 2:00pm session dedicated to important furniture and folk art, led by a Rare and Important Elder Drake (est. $350/500,000) likely made on Mohegan Island in Maine circa 1900 – arguably the finest of all eider decoys. Sotheby’s Americana Week sales also will include the highly anticipated auction of Visual Grace: Important American Folk Art from the Collection of Ralph O. Esmerian, which will be held at 10:00am on Saturday the 25th. The Americana Week exhibitions will be on view in Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries beginning 18 January.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM IMPORTANT AMERICANA
The Important Asa Stebbins Federal Inlaid and Figured Mahogany Tall Case Clock Works By Aaron Willard (1757-1844), Painted Dial Probably by John Minot (1793-1826), Case Attributed to Stephen Badlam SR. (1751-1815) Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1800 Estimate $150/250,000
This remarkable tall case clock was made for Colonel Asa Stebbins, one of Deerfield, Massachusetts’ wealthiest and most respected citizens. His brick home, built in 1799, was a testament to refinement and fashion. The present clock is one of the most ambitious ever made by preeminent Boston clockmaker Aaron Willard.

Rare and Important Eider Drake, Maker Unknown. Probably Mohegan Island, Maine. Circa 1900. Estimate $350/500,000
The present example is arguably the most sophisticated of all eider decoys, with flowing lines and stylized abstract paint worthy of a Zen calligrapher.

Unique American Silver Hand Seal for the 1st Continental (Rifle) Regiment, 1776. Estimate $100/150,000
Lost to time for over two hundred years and recently rediscovered, this silver seal is one of only two surviving objects related to the famous 1st Continental or Rifle Regiment, the first American unit to be raised, equipped and paid directly by the Continental Congress.

Rare and Important Canvaswork Picture: A Hunting Scene with Long Dog, Worked By Anna Woodbury (Swett), Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1748. Estimate $150/250,000
This extraordinary canvaswork picture was loaned to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 1942. It has descended in the family of Anna Woodbury Swett to Adelaide Jackson Winsor, and thence to the present owner. A full family genealogy will accompany this remarkable lot.

Fine and Rare Queen Anne Figured Mahogany. Marble-Top Pier Table. Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1755. Estimate $80/160,000

John James Audobon, Say's Squirrel, 1831. Estimate $80/120,000
Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, Audobon’s volume about mammals published 1845-48, was comprised of handcolored lithographs that lose much of the clarity and vitality of the originals retained by the engravings in his Birds of America. Original ink and watercolor drawings from this series however, such as the present example, allow the viewer to experience the true accomplishments of Audubon as an artist.

A Rare Chinese Export Porcelain Famille-Rose Goose-Form Tureen and Cover. Qianlong Period, circa 1780. Estimate $150/250,000
Goose-form tureens are the most colorful of the various animal-form tureens made in China for the Export market in the 18th century. The present example is of the largest size and extremely well painted in an unusual combination of bright enamels.

An American Silver Five-Piece Tea and Coffee Set. Christian Wiltberger, Philadelphia, circa 1795. Estimate $50/70,000
Comprising a teapot, coffee pot, covered sugar bowl, creamer and waste bowl, all of urn form on square plinth bases, beaded borders, urn finials, engraved with contemporary foliate script.

Exceptional Queen Anne Red-Painted, Carved and Figured Maple. Open Armchair, Portsmouth, New Hampshire or Southern Coastal Maine, circa 1745. Estimate $30/50,000
This outstanding armchair, with its exquisitely turned front stretcher, graceful curved back and bold solid brush feet, relates to a group of furniture made in or around Portsmouth, New Hampshire during the first half of the 18th century.

An American Silver-Hilted Eagle Pommel Sabre. Carried By Major John Griffith Johnston At Fort McHenry, Circa 1810. Estimate $20/30,000
The present lot is one of 13 swords on offer from the collection of the late Dr. John Kingsley Lattimer. Major John Griffith Johnston served in the First Regiment of Artillery in the Maryland Militia and defended Baltimore Harbor while stationed at Fort McHenry during the British naval bombardment 12-13 September 1814 – the engagement that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.