518
Important Pardon for S.C. Governor John Manning, by President Andrew Johnson on two separate leaves, dated November 4, 1865, pardon and amnesty for all offences committed by former South Carolina Governor John Manning of the Clarendon District, for his part in the “rebellion against the Government of the United States”, with affixed seal, bearing signatures of President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward, 17-1/2 x 11-1/4 in. each leaf, toning, foxing, water stained (most notable at back), pinholes, tape remnants at periphery and back, visually pleasing despite the preceding qualifiers
Provenance: By direct descent of Governor John Lawrence Manning and Sally Bland Clarke Manning, Millford Plantation, South Carolina
Estimate: $5, 000 - $7, 000
John Laurence Manning was elected by the voters of Clarendon District to serve in the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1842; he returned in 1844 and was elected to the state Senate in 1846. He was still serving as a Senator when he was elected governor in December 1852, a post he held until 1856.
He attended South Carolina’s Secession Convention in 1860 and was one of 169 delegates to sign the Order of Secession. He sat in the state’s Senate during the Civil War until November 4, 1865, when he resigned upon his election to the U.S. Senate.
This document, dated that same day, pardoned and gave him amnesty for his part in the secession but the US Senate refused to seat him and he resigned in December 1866. Returning for a brief period in 1878, he retired from public life before his death in October 1889.
Manning was one of the wealthiest men in South Carolina and Millford Plantation, his home near Pinewood, Sumter County, is largely considered one of the finest extant examples of Greek Revival residential architecture in America. Manning filled Millford Plantation with an extensive commission from New York City cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe that included a mirrored dressing table (lot 795) and Klismos side chair (lot 796). A Classical mahogany work table (lot 797) also descended in the Manning family.
Manning’s second wife, Sally Bland Clarke Manning, was the sister of Mary Ellen Clarke Gordon, whose oil on canvas portrait and prayer book (together, lot 794) are also included in this sale.
794
Portrait of Mary Ellen Clarke Gordon, Millford Plantation (American, 19th century)
Seated in a South Carolina Landscape, unsigned, oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in.; very fine ornate period carved gilt wood frame, 39 x 34 x 4 in.
gilt wood and composition frame, 39-1/4 x 34-1/2 x 5-1/4 in.
Accompanied by a daguerreotype of the sitter. Mary Ellen Clarke Gordon was the sister of Sally Bland Clarke Manning, wife of South Carolina Governor John Laurence Manning, who governed from 18541856. With prayer book of Mary Good Clarke., wax lined, crackle, cupping, retouch, surface dirt; frame with wear and abrasions, losses, resurfaced; book with wear and losses to leather, front board detached, rear board beginning at head and tail of rear hinge, free fly papers partially adhered to pastedowns, text block toned and foxed throughout, tear and loss along top edge of index at rear
Provenance: By direct descent of Governor John Lawrence Manning and Sally Bland Clarke Manning, Millford Plantation, South Carolina
Estimate: $2, 000 - $4, 000
Duncan Phyfe American Late Classical Dressing Table with Mirror From Millford Plantation attributed to Duncan Phyfe, mid 19th century, poplar and ash(?) mixed secondary woods, octagonal mirror held on curved supports with turned finials, white marble top, scrolled supports and original mirrored back, underside of one drawer incised with “JM 81”, 78 x 42 x 20 in., veneers with wear, chips and repairs throughout; hinged mirror with later pane and supports lacking stabilizing blocks; marble top scratched; wear to drawers
Provenance: By direct descent of Governor John Lawrence Manning and Sally Bland Clarke Manning, Millford Plantation, South Carolina
Estimate: $3, 000 - $5, 000
On June 2, 1841, Duncan Phyfe & Son sent John Laurence Manning Esq. (1816-1889) a letter detailing nearly 50 boxes, and their contents, which had been sent “to the care of your agent in Charleston”, with “the balance of the order [to] be shipped in from 3 to 4 weeks.” This mirrored dressing table may be one referred to as being in boxes 19 and 20: “Mahog. Sideboard Table” with “swing glass”. This shipment followed 12 boxes that had been sent earlier and was itself followed by an additional 39 boxes; the contents of both the earlier and later shipments and their whereabouts are unknown. Surviving documentation of two letters, dated January 5 and 7, 1842, and an invoice dated January 5, 1842, totaled $2, 047.14 for work completed between January 1841 and January 1842 by Phyfe & Brother, the upholstery firm of James and Robert Phyfe, nephews of Duncan Phyfe and sons of his brother, John. While many of Phyfe’s patrons purchased from just a few pieces to the contents of one or two rooms, Michael K. Brown and Matthew A. Thurlow note “there is a single occasion when a client, John Laurence Manning, filled an entire house with Phyfe’s wares”. (“Duncan Phyfe Master Cabinetmaker in New York, ” Kenny, Brown, Bretter & Thurlow p. 37).
This dressing table bears similarities to a marble top mahogany basin stand with brass gallery noted on the June 2, 1841, bill of lading that Richard Hampton Jenrette acquired and returned to Millford Plantation (see Duncan Phyfe Master Cabinetmaker in New York, cat no 2.10, p. 283). Millford Plantation is largely recognized to be one of the finest extant examples of Greek Revival residential architecture in America. Built by Nathaniel Potter between 1839 and 1841, Frances K. Bretter suggest it was designed for Manning and his new bride, Susan Frances Hampton (1816-1845), by German architect Charles Friedrich Reichardt, who moved to Charleston in 1836; here, he designed several buildings, including the Charleston Hotel, a prototype for Millford. Manning was in New York City in October 1840 and stopped at Astor House, the first luxury house in the city; here he may have seen examples of the French-inspired Grecian Plain style Phyfe was known for and which was so well suited to Millford.
During the Civil War, Millford escaped destruction by Union troops and remained in the Manning family during Reconstruction. The plantation was sold to Mark Clark Thompson in 1902, in whose family it remained until 1992 when it was purchased by Richard Jenrette. He restored the house and reassembled much of its original furnishings; in 2008, the home became part of the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, which is now known as the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation.
796
Duncan Phyfe Mahogany Klismos Side Chair possibly from Millford Plantation New York, 19th century, arched back, shaped splat, slip seat, 32-3/4 x 18 x 21 in., crown rail with scattered restorations to breaks, especially at joint of rail with proper right stile; proper right front leg with restoration to crack, proper left seat rail interior corner with replaced piece, rear legs appear to be replaced
Provenance: By direct descent of Ellen Clarke Manning, daughter of Sally Bland Clarke Manning, Possibly from Millford Plantation, South Carolina
Estimate: $2, 000 - $3, 000
Despite differences in the crest and splat, there are similarities between this chair and other known examples by Duncan Phyfe, including a French chair from a set of parlor seating furniture made by Phyfe for New York lawyer Samuel Alfred Foot, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This chair descended in the family of Ellen Clarke Manning, daughter of Sally Bland Clarke Manning, the second wife of Millford Plantation owner, John Laurence Manning. During the Civil War, Millford escaped destruction by Union troops and remained in the Manning family during Reconstruction. The plantation was sold to Mark Clark Thompson in 1902, in whose family it remained until 1992 when it was purchased by Richard Jenrette. He restored the house and reassembled much of its original furnishings; in 2008, the home became part of the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, which is now known as the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation.
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797
Classical Mahogany Three Drawer Work Table Possibly from MIllford Plantation probably New York, 19th century, poplar secondary wood, top opens to reveal work surface, 29 x 22-1/4 x 17-1/4 in., significant wear and loss to veneer with some restoration, working surface missing leather, shrinkage splits at sides and back, feet with scattered repairs and one loss
Provenance: By direct descent of Ellen Clarke Manning, the daughter of Sally Bland Clarke Manning. Possibly from Millford Plantation, South Carolina
Estimate: $300 - $500
This work table has a history of ownership in the Manning family, descending from Ellen Clarke Manning, the daughter of Governor John Lawrence Manning’s second wife, Sally Bland Clarke Manning. Manning purchased extensively from New York City cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe and is even noted in the scholarship as being Phyfe’s only known client to fill “an entire house with [his] wares”. This form, however - with its folding top and four-legged support - is not an model illustrated in “Duncan Phyfe Master Cabinetmaker in New York (Kenny, Brown, Bretter & Thurlow, 2011).
The family of Ellen Manning always referred to it as “Miss Ellen’s sewing table” and it may have come from Millford Plantation, which was John Laurence Manning’s home near Pinewood, Sumter County. Millford Plantation is largely considered one of the finest extant examples of Greek Revival residential architecture in America. A National Historic Landmark, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is run by the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation, formerly the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust.
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