Brooklyn Museum Sells Deaccessioned Items at Brunk Auctions

Brunk Auctions will conduct a sale on April 9, featuring approximately 225 lots of early American and Continental furniture, samplers, works on paper, flags, and military buttons from the Revolutionary and Civil War eras, all deaccessioned from the Brooklyn Museum. The items were originally acquired by the museum from prominent early collectors and dealers, including Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonel and Mrs. Edgar Garbisch, Mabel Brady Garvan, Mrs. J. Haskell Amory, and Israel Sack. This event follows previous deaccessioning actions by the museum, with 150 lots sold in March 2024 and nearly two dozen tapestries and carpets auctioned at Brunk Auctions in March 2025. The April 9 sale highlights early American furniture as a key category, with several rare pieces, including the only known New York sawn-leg table from around 1690, which is linked to a small group of high chests with similar leg designs and has been widely published and exhibited. The sale underscores the museum's ongoing efforts to refine its collection and generate funds, while providing collectors with access to historically significant artifacts.