January 26, 2006 Issue                                               

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Selling treasures since 1805
Hill family runs nation’s oldest auction house
by PETE BEISSER and LEN LEAR

Freeman brought in a world record for a painting by Pennsylvania Impressionist Edward Willis Renfield with this work, “The Old Mill, Washington’s Crossing.” It fetched $691,250 in December, 2003.

Beau Freeman’s 25-minute drive from his Chestnut Hill home every morning is just a bit farther of a trip than his forefathers’ journey into the city for work. For 150 years, the Freeman family called Germantown their home – that is, until this sixth generation auctioneer moved his clan a little farther up in the Northwest.

“It’s really convenient,” he said of his Chestnut Hill residence’s close proximity to his Center City work place.

Every weekday for the past 45 years Freeman has driven from his Chestnut Hill home to a six-story structure on the 1800 block of Chestnut Street – Samuel T. Freeman & Co. The oldest American auction house, the very business begun by Freeman’s great-great-great grandfather, Tristram Bampfylde Freeman, in the early days of the 19th century, is still both a hometown institution and a family tradition today.

“I do believe in the city,” said Freeman, 69. “I think Philadelphia is still a very livable city. It’s a historic city. I like it. It’s not intimidating or huge.”

Step inside the same building at 1808 Chestnut St. that several generations of Freemans have, and you’ll quickly see how tied the historic operation is to Philadelphia’s past, present and future. Each floor of the 82-year-old building is continuously filled with impressive lots of auction items of all shapes and sizes, many from the estates of prominent Pennsylvania residents.

As the chairman of the auction house prepares to begin the third century of business, things are looking better than ever for this Philadelphia operation.

Samuel M. “Beau” Freeman and his son, Jonathan, relax in Beau’s Chestnut Hill home, where the older Freeman has lived for 45 years. They are the sixth and seventh generations of the Freeman family, founders of the oldest auction house in the U.S. The Freeman family just completed its 200th year in business. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

With last year’s Freeman’s 200, the successful year-round commemoration of the local auctioneers’ second century in the auction world, and the publication of The Vendue Masters: Tales From Within the Walls of America’s Oldest Auction House, a 192-page illustrated hardcover book chronicling the history of the business, in November, the auction house gained a new-found admiration. The $21 million auction sales total Freeman’s reports it did last year helped make their bicentennial celebration a winner.

“It’s been a great marketing tool,” Freeman said of the anniversary promotion that included a big celebration on the same day in November its founder had initially begun business two centuries earlier.

Inside the company’s fifth-floor boardroom recently, Freeman stood near portraits of his great-great-great grandfather and the portraits of subsequent generations of chairmen. On the wooden board table in the center of the room lay a Pennsylvania German painted pine candle box—circa 1840 – recently sold at auction. Over the years, Freeman’s has seen its fair share of big time lots come through its doors, including a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the pen Abraham Lincoln used to put his signature on the Emancipation Proclamation.

This inconspicuous piece, however, was one of its most expensive sales ever for Freeman’s at $774,825.

“It’s artwork,” he said describing the little blue box that sold for that world-record price two months ago. “It’s not just an object. It’s art.”

Besides selling pieces of artwork such as that prized candle box, Freeman himself acts as the auctioneer for various lots, including jewelry, books, fine porcelain and furniture. Wearing his trademark bow tie, he regularly leads the live auction by wielding the wood gavel on the auction floor.

According to Freeman, he’s been hammering out higher prices these days. He says the company has become refocused and concentrated less on volume and more on fine items in recent years. After several changes and partnerships since the turn of the new century, Freeman believes these various operational modifications helped to raise the bar even higher at America’s oldest auction house.

Increasing their buyers’ premium and selling far fewer lots has attracted a much greater level of premium auctions.

“We were the sleepy little auction house selling everything and anything,” Freeman says of previous years. “I think we’ve been brought up to snuff.”

Luckily, a seventh generation has an appreciation for the past – and the items that come from it – too. They’ll be on hand to keep the family tradition alive for more Freemans to carry on. Two of Beau’s children, Samuel and Jonathan, are currently involved with the operations at the Samuel T. Freeman & Co. auction house.

But for Beau Freeman, things are just getting going. Even as he passes 20 years as the chairman of the board, and quickly nears his 50th anniversary as an employee – he’ll celebrate a half-century in 2008 – he still looks forward to that morning ride down Kelly Drive to work.

“I love to sell at auction,” Freeman said. “It’s theater, a lot of it. You get to act.”

Freeman’s, the oldest auction house in the U.S., was founded in 1805 and has remained in the family’s hands for 200 years. Freeman’s has an international reputation as an outstanding regional auction house and holds dozens of world records, primarily in the areas of Americana and Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings. Freeman’s, at 1808 Chestnut St., which has 30 to 35 employees at any given time, has a client base of buyers and consignors that extends around the world.

Freeman’s specialist departments — Fine Paintings, Americana, English and Continental Furniture and Decorative Arts, Rare Books, Fine Prints, Jewelry and Silver and 20th Century Design — are among the finest in the country. Among Freeman’s many world records is the highest price ever paid for a fraktur, a type of commemorative Pennsylvania Dutch folk art ($366,740 in April, 2004) and for most of the Pennsylvania Impressionists such as Edward Willis Renfield and Fern Isabel Coppedge.

For example, a painting by Coppedge entitled “The Delaware, Reflections,” recently sold for $201,750. A painting by William Sotter, “The Village Road,” was estimated in the catalogue at $70,000 to $100,000 but sold for $233,750. A work by Renfield, “Under the Laurel,” estimated in the catalogue at $200,000 to $300,000, sold for $300,750 after spirited bidding by more than 10 intrerested buyers. Freeman’s also has sold another Renfield piece, “The Old Mill, Washington’s Crossing,” for $691,250.

In 1999, when Freeman’s initiated a dramatic restructuring of its staff and sales program, the company realized a turnover of about $4.3 million. Five years later, that 1999 total was matched in one day. More than 230 lots were presented for auction on Dec. 5, 2004, 90 percent of which were sold. The total brought in was $4,820,000, which brought the annual total for Freeman’s paintings department to $9.3 million.

Another highlight of that particular auction was a bronze sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz called “Danseuse.” It was owned by Mr. And Mrs. Philip F. Newman of Philadelphia, who paid $8,000 for the piece in 1962. Freeman’s sold it for $465,750. Another Newman piece, a gold and silver leaf painting on glass by Charles Prendergast called “The Zoo,” was estimated at about $60,000 to $100,000, but it sold for $179,750. (The influence of eBay live auctions is growing, with many sales now going to on-line bidders.)

Things have certainly changed dramatically in the 200 years of auctions carried out by Freeman’s. Many more pedestrian, everyday items were sold in the early days. For example, the first auction the firm ever held — on Nov. 27, 1805 — included, among other things, two bales of cloths, three dozen striped blankets, one dozen worsted hosiery, one case of buttons, one box of Irish linens, one cask of cutlery, three bales of India muslins and four trunks of chintz and cotton.

Jonathan Freeman, 30, manager of appraisal services for the trusts and estates department, is the seventh generation of the family to join the business, having started to work there in 1999.

“It was not a foregone conclusion that I would go into the business,” said Jonathan, an Oreland resident who grew up in Chestnut Hill and graduated from Chestnut Hill Academy in 1994, where he played soccer, squash and tennis. “I didn’t go there (the auction house) much when I was growing up, and when I went to college (Trinity in Hartford, Connecticut), I planned to go into environmental law.

“But then I took a course in art history, and I was hooked. The teacher was excellent. It was a three-hour class twice a week, from 1 to 4 p.m. in a darkened room. Half the class would fall asleep, but not me. I was excited by it, and I began to see what my dad was doing. That started me going. Then in 1995 I mistakenly signed up for a Renaissance course, and I loved it. So I decided to major in art history, and that interest in art led me to the family business.”

Freeman’s receives much of their inventory from lawyers or executors for large estates. They usually ask first just for an estate appraisal, and they may or may not ask Freeman’s to sell the appraised works. The proceeds are usually divided up among family members. Freeman’s may also be asked to sell artworks by collectors whose tastes have changed or by museums who receive gifts they don’t have room for or which don’t fit into their collections.

“Computers have made a huge difference in this business,” said Jonathan, “because now anyone can look at all of the items at an upcoming auction on our web site. We used to have to mail the pictures to people. Normally we will get about 50 people at an auction, although people can also make bids by phone or on-line, or they can leave a bid if they can’t stay for the whole auction.

“Usually there will be private collectors, art experts and representatives of museums. Some individuals do not want to be known because they don’t want it known that they own millions of dollars in artworks. Some will hire an art dealer to go to the auction for them. They may say, ‘You can bid up to X dollars but no more than X.’ Many just love the action of an auction. Our record sale was a Pennsylvania Impressionist painting that brought about $800,000, but we will eventually have one that brings $1 million.”

For more information about Freeman’s, call 215-563-9275 or visit www.freemansauction.com.