Auction Preview: Americana at Bonhams Skinner
Upcoming auction presents a new take on what defines American style .
Sometimes, Americana is assigned to a certain date and time, often associated with the earliest years of the nation and imagined through folk art crafts or straightforward Shaker furniture. It evokes an era before the onset of manufactured goods, when one’s access to art and design was through commissioning the talent of a craftsperson or artist. To quote the October 1925 issue of The Americana Collector magazine, “Every piece of Americana somewhat represents pioneer condition…something worth while (sic).”
But as we approach America’s semiquincentennial and look back at the past 250 years, the objects that have come to define America have changed greatly in form, manufacture, and purpose. Not only can an Americana antique be a Log Cabin handmade quilt, but it may also be a 1950s gumball machine.
A reimagining of this genre is presented at the Bonhams Skinner’s upcoming Americana: Crafting a Nation: Art, History, & Legacy sale. The event will take place at the Marlborough, Massachusetts, saleroom on January 27 and will be followed by an online sale, Americana: Art & Objects, on January 29. “We want(ed) to think about what makes Americana special,” explains Bonhams’ Elizabeth Muir. “What does (it) mean today versus the idea that people have of Americana?”
This event is inspired by the United States’ 250th anniversary and offers hundreds of objects ranging from fine art to household decorative objects. As the house’s Senior Specialist and Head of Sale, American Furniture & Decorative Arts at Bonhams, Muir defines Americana as an “innate spirit of earnestness, innovation, and sort of a thinking about the piece. It's about how you can rework the piece to make it be almost as honest, as interesting, and as sort of as American as possible.”
Interesting American objects are represented in a selection from the famous Rex and Patti Stark collection. Known in the antiques industry for their meticulous eye and collecting skills, the Starks built an inventory as both dealers and collectors of Americana political decor and ceramics that are now highly prized at auction.
Among the objects for sale are a c. 1900 friendship album quilt from Saratoga County, New York, that shows initials and signatures on pieced and appliqué cotton squares, and an oil and applied needlework portrait that replicates John Trumbull’s 1780 portrait of George Washington standing beside a tree. Also offered is a c. 1880 paper, pen, and ink composition titled Penmanship of E. Horton that shows an illustration of the Lincoln home in Illinois that is superimposed with a portrait medallion.
Outside the Stark collection are utilitarian items like weathervanes, such as a late 19th-century copper horse-trotting example, a collection of 19th-century baskets, and late-19th-century salt-glazed stoneware. More ornate pieces are also seen, including a Ziegler Sultanabad carpet and a gold snuffbox and medal with a silver tray that was awarded to Robert Crighton in 1854 after saving the passengers and crew of the U.S. steamship San Francisco.
Even the relics of previous American industries are available for purchase, such as a c. 1880 hand-painted silk pillow banner for the Tidewater Pipeline Company and a c. 1950 rocket ship-shaped gumball machine.
As a collector shops the auction, one may notice that there are also unsigned, uncredited items that have no well-known names attached. According to Muir, this is attractive for some Millennials and Gen Z collectors, who “are interested in the pieces just for the pure beauty of them.”
But for those who are on the hunt for famous pieces, Bonhams has plenty to offer with its fine art selections. Particular standouts that are sure to sell past estimates include the famous Trophy of American Game Birds (1830) by wildlife artist John James Audubon (1785–1851), which shows freshly hunted game birds hanging from a branch. This is one of Audubon’s few known oil paintings and was created while he was promoting his book, The Birds of America, in England.
Another notable option is a period copy of Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s (1816–1868) Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851). This work has been exhibited across the country and is believed to have been painted during the artist’s stay in Düsseldorf in the mid-nineteenth century.
A newer take on Americana is offered with the work of icon Bob Ross. Three landscape paintings are up for bid, which were created by the artist for the famous television series The Joy of Painting or an instructional book. This is the second sale to feature Ross’s works, with 100% of the proceeds going to American Public Television. Thirty original works were sold at a Bonhams auction on November 11, 2025.
This initiative to sell Ross’ paintings was created by the President of Bob Ross Inc., Joan Kowalski, as a way to continue the artist’s legacy. “Bob Ross dedicated his life to making art accessible to everyone through public television,” she explains in a Bonhams’ press release for the November 11 sale. “I can’t think of a more meaningful way to share his works of art than by supporting public television’s mission to educate and inspire.” More of Ross’s paintings will be sold at auction throughout the year.
As the Americana Collector, perhaps a bit dramatically, explained, “Americana is something that if it grips you once, will change your habits, temperament, and view of life. Pity the one that never came under its spell.” Let’s pity the bidders who will lose out on a Bob Ross painting.
Selected lots are available for viewing at Bonham’s Marlborough gallery and the Boston Gallery at 236 Clarendon Street. More information is available at bonhams.com.
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