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 December, 2019 | 82 Items | February, 2020  |
| | RARE MINIATURE OGEE BRACKET BLANKET CHEST, Very fine and rare painted miniature ogee bracket blanket chest with 2 drawers. Pennsylvania, circa 1800. Outstanding original condition. H 11.75”, W 17.5”, D 9.75”. Provenance Elliott & Grace Snyder , Barbara Pollack Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $10,000-15,000 Price Realized: $8,750 |
| WATERCOLOR BIRTH RECORD - MOUNT PLEASANT ARTIST, AMOS GOOD BIRTH RECORD. Watercolor on paper, dated 1836. Period, possibly original, tiger maple frame. Frame size: H 10.75”, W 8.875; Opening: H 9.75”, W 7.25”; paper size: H 9.75”, W 7.75”. Condition: Excellent condition. Examined out of the frame. Some minor repairs, see images of the back. Provenance; David Wheatcroft. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $3,000-5,000 Price Realized: $5,500 | |
| VERY FINE QUEEN ANNE MIRROR, with carved crest, circa, 1770. Spanish brown paint appears original. Sold at Sothebys June 1996 sale, lot 396, H 18", W 11.875”. Exhibition: Museum of American Folk Art , The Keene Eye, 1984. Condition: Excellent condition. Examined under UV light. No restoration noted. Early glass . Backboard missing. Minor loses and chips. Provenance: Elliott and Grace Snyder. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $1,500-2,500 Price Realized: $7,500 | |
| GENERAL MESSENA WATERCOLOR ON PAPER, Signed F Peirson Sculpture, American, Circa 1800.Original painted frame. Frame size: H 10.5”, W 8.4375”, opening: H 8.25”, W 6.5”. Condition: Examined out of the frame. Outstanding original condition. Broken period glass. Provenance: Tom Moser Antiques. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $600-1,000 Price Realized: $5,625 | |
| HEART IN HAND WATERCOLOR ON PAPER, MARY S. HALL, Gilmanton, NH. Circa 1840. Frame size: H 5,75”, W 6.254”, opening: H 4.125”, W 4.625”. Condition: Examined out of frame. Excellent original condition. Hinged at top with period hand written prose on verso, appears to be original to watercolor. Provenance: Sotheby's sale #1126. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $300-500 Price Realized: $7,188 | |
| QUEEN ANN ARM CHAIR WITH SPANISH FEET, Beautiful Queen Ann arm chair with Spanish feet and rolled arms in early historic painted surface. Overall height 43.5”. Seat height 16.754”. Condition: Excellent condition, inspected under UV light, no restoration noted. Provenance Gaglio and Molnar 1990. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $1,500-2,500 Price Realized: $5,750 | |
| TIGER MAPLE CHIPPENDALE CHEST ON CHEST, Circa 1800. Untouched condition with original brasses. H 77", upper case W 34", lower case W 36", D 18.75”. Condition: Excellent as found condition. Minor losses and imperfections including minor lip damage, section of rear foot face missing. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $2,000-4,000 Price Realized: $10,000 | |
| TIGER MAPLE DESK ON FRAME, Circa 1800. H 49", W 37.5”, D 18.875”. Writing height, 37”. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $2,000-4,000 Price Realized: $7,188 | |
| EXCELLENT TWO PART CHERRY PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH CUPBOARD, circa 1840. Beautiful old mellow surface. Fabulous condition. H 88", W upper case 67.375”, W lower case 69.5”, D upper case 11.625”, D lower case 18.75”. Condition: No restoration noted. Provenance: Pennypacker Auction,1965. Estate of Dr. C.E. Lane Lititz, Pennsylvania. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 11, 2020. Estimate: $3,000-5,000 Price Realized: $9,063 | |
| HISTORIC MAJ. JOHN DIX CHIPPENDALE KNEE HOLE DESK, New York, circa 1760. The molded rectangular top above a compact case of drawers, consisting of one long drawer, over flanking banks of graduated short drawers, centering a shell and scroll carved blind drawer, above a recessed paneled cubby. The case is supported by four crisply carved frontal ball and claw feet. The rear feet, an ogee bracket profile in the New York manner. Mahogany with red gum and tulip poplar secondary woods. Recently discovered in the United Kingdom after more than a century of expatriation. In an as-descended, un-restored state, the bureau retains a full set of important original brasses and a good, historic old surface. H 33.75”, Case W 34", case D 18”. Condition: old repair patch to rear corner of top. Minor checking to left side of cabinet. 19th century flat iron support brace under top. Typical multiple re-blocking campaigns to leg supports, old repairs to rear bracket feet. Minor old losses to frontal feet claws. Partial loss to back of one brass plate. Old over-paint to back boards Provenance: Formerly the property of John Adams Dix (1798-1879), a US Civil War (Union) major general, US secretary of the treasury and US senator. He was also United States minister to France from 1866 to 1869 and served as New York's 24th governor from 1873 to 1874. As a civilian, Dix was president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1863-1868, during the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 12, 2020. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $26,250 | |
| LYMAN BEECHER (H. B. STOWE) TRACY WINDSOR CHAIR, (1775-1863 father of Harriet Beecher Stowe) Historic Ebenezer Tracy writing arm Windsor chair. Late 18th century. This custom writing arm Windsor chair is lovingly remembered by Harriet in the book, "Harriet Beecher Stowe; The Story of Her Life". The chair adorns the name "L. Beecher." which is centered on the back of the arm rail and a shipping label is affixed to the underside of the chair, indicating that the chair traveled with Lyman Beecher and his family from Connecticut to Cincinnati in 1832. Retains a 19th cent painted surface. Bible support added in the early 19th century. Probably at the same time as Beecher's name was added to the back of arm rest. Old repair to writing surface. Sold at New Haven Auctions January 12, 2020. Estimate: $10,000-15,000 Price Realized: $13,125 | |
| | RELIEF CARVED FLINTLOCK KENTUCKY RIFLE WITH WOODEN PATCHBOX, ATTRIBUTED TO BERKS COUNTY, This early Berks County rifle is pictured as 'Rifle 3' in Chapter 1 of "The Kentucky Rifle" by Merrill Lindsay. It is also featured on pages 114 and 115 as no. 26 in "Rifles of Colonial America: Volume I" by George Shumway. This early rifle has a buttplate that measures about 2" across, including the patchbox lid. The full length, long, octagon barrel is swamped at the muzzle. Barrel is heavily rifled. There is a small brass front sight and a notched rear sight mounted on the top flat. The flat lockplate has a molded edge and is unmarked. The brass furniture includes an early trigger guard with faceted bow and front tang, reinforced on the back tang with a screw in the early style. Buttplate is nearly straight across the back, which dates this rifle to about 1780. Brass buttplate has a faceted tang. Sliding wooden patchbox terminates in the front at a point and has a deep, incised, clover-shaped design at the back. The rifle has no toeplate and the brass sideplate has beveled edges. The full length, partially figured, maple stock is of the early Berks County form with a Roman nose buttstock, with wrist extending into it. There are long, carved relief panels along the lock and sideplate, terminating in an arrow at the back. This carving also surrounds the ramrod entry ferrule and the barrel tang. Within the arrows there are also small incised 'C' designs. The left side of the buttstock features a molded cheekpiece with foliate scrolls in relief on both sides. Rifle is complete with its original wooden ramrod. Condition: Barrel retains a light brown patina with some darker spotting and some corrosion around touch hole. Rifle appears to be in its original flintlock configuration. One lock retaining screw is stripped but present. Brass furniture retains a dark mustard patina. Stock shows much dark, original finish with a more recent coat of finish on top. There are a couple minor slivers replaced around barrel tang and a minor chip replaced at the toe. Patchbox lid is original and shows wear, scattered marks, and an age crack. Carving shows some wear, especially around ramrod entry ferrule. Some pieces along forend have been professionally replaced on both sides but have been blended to match. This is a very attractive and early American rifle. Barrel Length: 50 - .75” Caliber/Bore: .65 Rifled FFL Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $7,500-15,000 Price Realized: $36,900 |
| | IMPORTANT AND DOCUMENTED ENGRAVED NEW YORK POWDER HORN OF FRIETRICH LEPPERT. This very well documented powder horn is pictured on pages 196-197 of "Folk Art of Early America, The Engraved Powder Horn" by Jim Dresslar. It is also shown in "Engraved Powder Horns from the Collection of James E. Routh, Jr." from the exhibition in the Georgia Museum in March of 2000. The powder horn measures about 17" in length with a tapered body and bulbous spout section with a large relief ring at the tip. There is another relief ring closer to the engraved section. The engraved portion has a scalloped edge and depicts folk art Germanic designs including a man smoking a long pipe, a Georgian house, foliate and floral motifs and scrolls, a ring near the top in inscribed "FRIETRICH LEPPERT 1782". The neatly engraved eight-line inscription is entirely in German and translates to "When mine hour has come I shall go my way to Lord Jesus Christ. He will not allow my soul, which I entrust to His keeping, to go unaccompanied on my last journey". The convex wooden plug retains an early coat of red paint and is inscribed with a large "M" in the center. There is a horn flange for sling attachment, which is decorated with a scalloped edge. It is also believed that Frietrich Leppert was also the engraver of this horn, as another example in this sale is done by the same hand and is also dated 1782 and signed "FL". The names of both men on the horns appear on the roster of the Tryon County Militia 1st Regiment. Both fought in the Herkimer's Battle in 1777, also known as the Battle of Oriskany, named for the swampy creek flowing into the Mohawk River six miles below Fort Stanwicks. The horn is complete with a file of information, including a handwritten note signed by Jim Routh, dated 1986; information on Leppert; copies of books listing him in the New York Revolutionary War records; a handwritten letter from Walter O'Connor discussing the three known horns engraved by Frietrich Leppert; and copies of a book showing that Leppert and Schreibber are both listed as prisoners of war during the Revolution and listing them both as members of Camp Bell's regiment of the Tryon County Militia. Provenance: Ex James E. Routh, Jr. Collection. Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $25,000-50,000 Price Realized: $24,600 |
| | FANTASTIC SILVER AND BRASS MOUNTED PERCUSSION TARGET RIFLE ATTRIBUTED TO JACOB KUNTZ WITH LION HEAD PATCHBOX INSCRIBED PHILADELPHIA. This extraordinary rifle is certainly the work of Jacob Kuntz of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jacob Kuntz was born in Lehigh County and worked there between 1788-1811. After that, Kuntz moved to Philadelphia where he continued to work as a gunsmith. Sometime after the War of 1812, this rifle was taken to England and the lock was converted to percussion by John Manton around 1835. Manton was the most important gunsmith working in London at that time. The gun was further altered around 1861 when the barrel was changed by Alexander Henry of Edinburgh, who was known as the best barrel maker working in Scotland at the time. Recorded in Henry's records is ".385 gauge, front sight patent No. 389, 2-1/2 drams No. 6 38" Barrel fitted to American Stock", which is most likely this Kuntz rifle. In 1861, the Queen hosted a shoot which became an annual tradition. It is possible that this rifle was updated and refined to be used at this shoot. The silver thumbpiece is now engraved with the coat of arms of an Irish family. The rifled octagon barrel features a Damascus finish and an engraved hooked patent breech with an engraved floral clean out valve of silver and a case hardened breech section with scroll engraving. The barrel tang is also ornately engraved with scrolls. The barrel is inscribed "PATENT NO. 389 GAUGE 385. ALEXR HENRY 8 ST. EDINBURGH". The rifle has adjustable fire blued target sights. The rear sight is a flip-up adjustable sight. The flat lock was made by Manton and is masterfully engraved with scrolls and floral designs, including the hammer with a dolphin engraved on the top. There is a dragon also engraved at the front of the lock and is inscribed "JN MANTON & SON / PATENT". There is a sliding fire blued half cock safety at the rear tang. The rifle has a single target trigger. The ornate brass furniture include a large profusely engraved and pierced four piece patchbox, engraved "Philadelphia" on the lid. The surrounds are engraved with shaded foliate scrolls, florals, and drums. The finial is a detailed, shaped lion at rest with an American eagle perched on its head and biting its muzzle. The eagle is clutching three arrows and the lion is wearing a collar. The teeth and claws of the lion are all separate pieces of inlaid silver and his tongue is an inlaid piece of copper. There is a full length pierced and engraved comb wearplate decorated with graduated diamonds with floral engraving. There is also a pierced strip of decoration on the left side of the buttstock against the buttplate, pierced and with an engraved en suite. The ornate toeplate is pierced and inlaid with horn and also houses the horn patchbox release. A flower is engraved around the screw and there is a full extension that extends beneath the trigger guard and features pierced and with an engraved scroll decoration along the entirety of the toe. There is also a full forearm wear plate extending from the ramrod entry ferrule to the front tang of the trigger guard, which is engraved with foliate scrolls and detailed borders. There are silver inlays on both sides of both of the barrel keys. The sideplate around the single lock retaining screw is of solid silver and is pierced and engraved with foliate and floral scrolls. Above the cheekpiece there is a large eight point pierced star surrounded by an oval, and engraved with shading and decoration. The wrist escutcheon is engraved with and Irish family crest. The semi-full length highly figured maple stock shows Lehigh Valley influence and was shortened at the time the barrel was replaced. It now has a multi-faceted brass nosecap and a checkered wrist which was also probably done when the rifle was in Europe. There is a bone inlay molded on top of the cheekpiece and a brass pick holder below. The rifle is carved with ornate foliate designs on both sides above the ramrod entry ferrule and on both sides in front of the lock and sideplate. Rifle is complete with a brass and wood target ramrod which appears to be original to the time when the rifle was being used in Europe. Condition: Excellent overall. Barrel retains 85-90% of its original Damascus finish. Bore is excellent and shiny. Markings are also excellent. A portion of the top flat shows filing or scuffing. The lock retains about 60-70% of its original case colors, mostly faded to grey. Furniture shows some light wear and scattered marks, and is polished bright. There is a hole on the forend wearplate and one in the trigger guard, obviously drilled for some target purpose. Stock is excellent retaining much original finish with some scattered marks from use. An extremely attractive and high quality Kuntz rifle with an extremely interesting European provenance. Provenance: Ex Joe Kindig Antiques; Ex Peter Finer. Barrel Length: 38 - 5/8" Caliber/Bore: .40 Rifled FFL Status: Antique Manufacturer: Jacob Kuntz Model: Percussion Kentucky Rifle Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $20,000-50,000 Price Realized: $51,660 |
| | EXCEPTIONAL AND RARE ENGRAVED HAVANA MAP POWDER HORN DATED JULY 7TH, 1763 AND DECORATED WITH POLYCHROME COLORS. This powder horn is featured on a two page spread on pages 86 and 87 of "Engraved Powder Horns of the French & Indian War and the Revolutionary War Era" by Nathan L. Swayze. Havana map horns are extremely rare and only a handful are known to exist. This professionally engraved powder horn measures 16.5” overall and has a curved body. It is interesting to note that it is a left handed powder horn. The horn depicts a professionally engraved plan of havana, including "Mooro" (Moro Castle), Shepards Battery, New Store, Regluger, Ponto, North Port, and Fuza. Polychrome red is used in addition to black pigment. Three warships are also shown and labeled as "THE SPAINISH ADMIRAL, RIPPIN and VALLIENT". The horn has a large lobe at the plug end as well as a scalloped edge at the recessed section and two scalloped rings on the two stage spout section, one section is faceted. In the 18th century, Havana was the center of the Spanish trade in North America. During the French & Indian War, England declared war on Spain as they were allies with the French. After a forty day siege on Havana, Moro Castle was taken on July 30th 1762 and Havana was surrendered on August 14th. The main inscription over the city of Havana reads "THE CITY OF HAVANA ILLUMINATED AT THE EMBARKATION/ OF THE BRITISH TROOPS JULY THE 7TH 1763". On the reverse side the original name cartouche was removed during the period and the name "JAMES/ HOBEL" and the date "1767" were applied. It is possible that Hobel was a member of the British army during the occupation of Cuba and Florida according to Swayze. When the horn was photographed for the book, it was in the author's collection. The powder horn is also engraved with flora motifs, flags, forts, and a bird. Condition: Horn retains a light yellow dry surface and has not been cleaned or lacquered. The polychrome colors are bright and there is some minor chipping around the tip of the spout. On the back of the horn there are some minor cracks around the base, with one sliver professionally replaced and well matched. Flat wooden plug possibly replaced. Another example by this maker is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A very important and attractive French & Indian War powder horn. Provenance: Ex. Nathan L. Swayze Collection. Joe Kindig Antiques. William H. Guthman. Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $30,000-60,000 Price Realized: $50,430 |
| | PETER STRETCH TALL CASE CLOCK. PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. CIRCA 1740. Sarcophagus bonnet with pierced fret stepped moldings and ball finials. Arched brass face, depicting the phases of the moon with an oval panel engraved "Peter Stretch". Eight day movement. There is an arched waist door with a lip molded edge, plain base with ogee bracket feet. The clock consists of walnut with tulip poplar and white pine. With weights, pendulum and key. Condition: Top step of sarcophagus replaced, backboard of bonnet replaced, finials replaced. The ogee feet appear to be correct, making it the earliest clock known with ogee feet. Provenance: H.L. Chalfont Antiques. Condition: Dimensions: 101" x 21.25” x 11”. Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $50,000-80,000 Price Realized: $166,050 |
| | RELIEF CARVED FLINTLOCK KENTUCKY RIFLE SIGNED HENRY LECHLER. This rifle is featured as number 219 on page 522 of "Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in its Golden Age" by Joe Kindig, Jr. Henry Lechler was working as a gunsmith in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania prior to 1797. This is the earliest known surviving Lechler rifle and was clearly made in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and displays many similarities related to Jacob Dickert. Joe Kindig, Jr. states "I find Henry Lechler to be a very fine and interesting workman". Later in his life, Lechler relocated to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was last recorded in 1850 in the US Census in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he was still listed as a gunsmith. This is probably the finest example of his work. The long, deeply rifled, octagon barrel features a brass front sight and an engraved notched rear sight. It is inscribed "Lechler" on the top flat behind the rear sight. The muzzle is also decorated with a ring of punched circles. The rifle has double set triggers and a flat lockplate with beveled edges and a molded tail. The brass mounts are all unique to Lechler's shop. The rifle has a classic four piece patchbox with a Lancaster daisy finial and the outer edges are engraved with scrolls. There is a silver convex wrist escutcheon with a rocker panel engraved border, as well as an engraved eight point star above the cheekpiece. Sideplate and trigger guard are in the early Lancaster style and have beveled edges and faceted faces. Patchbox release is rectangular and located on the toeplate. Full length stock of highly figured maple with classic, early Lancaster County form and a long, relief cheekpiece. There are incised scrolls on the right side of the wrist and relief foliate scrolls with incised accents on the opposite side. There are large, finely executed, relief 'C' scrolls with incised accents in the classic Lancaster style behind the cheekpiece on the left side. Surviving examples of Henry Lechler's work are extremely rare and examples made in Lancaster County are even more rare. Condition: Barrel retains a pleasing brown patina with a crisp signature. Lock has been reconverted and is a replacement but is professionally done and the dark brown patina matches the barrel very well. Lock functions properly. Brass retains a mellowing mustard patina with some scattered marks from use. Lid shows a dent towards the hinge. Stock is very good and shows no restoration. There are some scattered age cracks and marks from use. The rifle retains much of its original finish. Complete with a period wooden ramrod. A very attractive, early, relief carved Lancaster County rifle signed by a rare maker. Provenance: Ex Joe Kindig, Jr. Collection. Barrel Length: 46 - 1/8" Caliber/Bore: .53 Rifled FFL Status: Antique Manufacturer: Henry Lechler Model: Flintlock Kentucky Rifle. Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $15,000-30,000 Price Realized: $38,130 |
| DRAWING OF AN ALLIGATOR AND TWO MERMAIDS. POSSIBLY BY JACOB OTTO (C. 1762 - 1825). POSSIBLY LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. CIRCA 1800 - 1820. Boldly drawn with colorful images of tulips, parrots, mermaids and a large alligator, this fraktur is inscribed in the bottom in English "Allegator & Mare Maid & Man". It is closely related to several fraktur made by Daniel Otto that include a large alligator and mermaids but appears to be made by a different hand, possibly Daniel's brother Jacob Otto. The unusual purple color used on the alligator is very uncommon on fraktur by Henrich Otto, father of Daniel and Jacob. Jacob Otto worked in Lancaster County as a furniture maker and a fraktur artist; he is listed in the 1790 census as a resident of Mount Joy Township and in 1800 in Rapho Township. On the Otto family of fraktur artists, see Lisa Minardi, "Henrich Otto and Sons: Fraktur Artists and Furniture Decorators" in "Der Reggeboge: Journal of the Pennsylvania German Society" vol. 49, no. 2 (2015). For related examples by Daniel Otto, see Minardi, ibid., p. 79; Weiser, "Fraktur: Pennsylvania German Folk Art", (Ephrata, Pennsylvania: Science Press, 1973), p. 94. Dimensions: Frame: 10.5" x 11.75". Condition: Examined out of frame. Losses and toning. Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $10,000-20,000 Price Realized: $19,200 | |
| | EXTREMELY FINE DIMINUTIVE RELIEF CARVED FLINTLOCK KENTUCKY RIFLE SIGNED J. WELSHANS. This rifle is one of the finest made relief carved rifles in existence. It is comparable in quality to the best Jacob Kuntz Philadelphia rifles. This rifle is signed by Jacob Welshans. For another signature that is nearly identical, see page 130 of "Gunsmiths of York County" by James B. Whisker. Jacob Welshans, Jr. worked in York County, Pennsylvania. He is also listed in the Harrisburg records as a gunsmith in 1807 and 1811. The form of this rifle is more indicative of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The full length, octagon barrel is deeply rifled and features a silver front sight and a notched iron rear sight with engraved decoration. The hand forged lock has a flat plate with beveled edges and a molding towards the tail. It is quite possible this lock was made by Jacob Welshans, Jr. The curled trigger has an ornate 'C' scroll cut out behind it. The brass furniture includes an extremely fine four piece patchbox with five piercings. The edges and finial are deeply chased and engraved with scrolls. The lid is engraved with foliate scrolls and well as a snake with its tongue extended facing a winged griffin with its tongue also extended. The toeplate is engraved with decoration and terminates in a ball which is also the patchbox release. The trigger guard has faceted faces and engraved bands. The sideplate is delicate and well designed with a molding at the tail and spurs surrounding the rear lock retaining screw. The rifle has faceted brass ramrod ferrules and a pin fastened brass nosecap. The slender stock is reminiscent of Dauphin County with an extremely thin Roman nose profile. There is relief carved feathering decorated with incised designs in front of the lock and the sideplate. There is a raised panel along the ramrod channel terminating in incised repeating chevrons as well as relief designs flowing into incised designs on both sides of the ramrod entry ferrule. The checkering shows diamond shaped panels of very finely executed checkering. There is chip carving along the crescent of the buttplate on the left side and decorative borders carved along the bottom of the buttstock on both sides. Below the cheekpiece there is a relief design with a checkered section in the center surrounded by two 'C' scrolls. Behind the cheekpiece There are two relief 'C' scrolls facing in opposite directions with the overlap section checkered. The relief scrolls are decorated with detailed incised designs. Condition: The barrel retains a spotted brown patina with some lighter areas and some light freckling on top flat. Lock is original and in its original flintlock configuration. It retains a brown patina and functions well. Brass retains a mostly mellow, dark mustard patina. The sideplate has been lightly polished. Stock is excellent, retaining almost all of its original finish with only a few scattered marks from use and some minor chipping below the lockplate. Checkering shows some minor wear. This rifle exhibits the pinnacle of Jacob Welshan's work. It survives in fantastic, almost untouched condition. Barrel Length: 42 .5" Caliber/Bore: .46 Rifled FFL Status: Antique Manufacturer: Jacob Welshans Model: Flintlock Kentucky Rifle Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $30,000-60,000 Price Realized: $67,650 |
| PORTRAIT OF MRS. GIBSON BY JACOB EICHOLTZ (1776 - 1842). LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA. OIL ON CANVAS. CIRCA 1820. This is one of the most successful and beautiful Eicholtz portraits of a woman and has survived in fine condition with a partial signature and date on the back. The sitter, Mrs. John Gibson, is depicted wearing a white dress with white kid gloves, gold bracelets, what appears to be a memorial ring and a red shawl. The detailed rendering is rare in Eicholtz's work. . Dimensions: Frame: 32" x 37”. Condition: The painting has survived with its original stretcher and frame. Provenance: Christie's Sale 7493, Nov 15, 1993, Sotheby's Sale NO09300, January 23, 2015, Joe Kindig Antiques, 2015 Sold at Dan Morphy Auctions January 16, 2020. Estimate: $5,000-10,000 Price Realized: $19,200 | |
| EDWARD HICKS (1780-1849) PEACEABLE KINGDOM Majestic in its composition and execution, this Peaceable Kingdom reveals the mastery and confidence of Edward Hicks working at the peak of his career. One of the artist’s so-called “Late Kingdoms” that illustrate the culmination of years of experimentation, this Kingdom stands as one of the most successful examples of his famous subject, a view that evidence indicates was shared by the artist himself. The painting offered here differs only in minor details to an example now at Colonial Williamsburg (fig. 1), a work described by Hicks as “one of the best I ever done” (Letter, Edward Hicks to Joseph Watson, September 23, 1844, Colonial Williamsburg, acc. no. 1961.1400.1). A triumvirate of grace, poise and aggression, the primary figures of the ox, lion and leopard are carefully placed in a triangular composition that enhances the dramatic impact of the scene. Variously described as “risen” or “arching,” the distinctive pose of the primary leopard has long received particular praise in the scholarship of Hicks. In her discussion of the work offered here, Hicks scholar Eleanore Price Mather notes that in contrast to the renditions of leopards in the Middle Kingdoms, the animal “springs to a gorgeous prime in the Leonardo Beans canvas, where an arching leopard snarls above his recumbent mate” (Eleanore Price Mather, introduction, Edward Hicks: A Gentle Spirit (New York, 1975), n.p.). Whereas Carolyn Weekley observes, “The arched leopard provided a heightened sense of drama and tension that was new and is rarely observed in these pictures” (Carolyn J. Weekley, The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks (Williamsburg, 1999), p. 151); see also Alice Ford, Edward Hicks: His Life and Art (New York, 1985), pp. 176-179). Hicks introduced this pose in the 1844 Kingdom in fig. 1 and it features in only four other examples with the Kingdom offered here the only of these in private hands; besides the work in fig. 1, the others are in the collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museum San Francisco and the Denver Art Museum. The Dallas example is of similar size and closely related in composition to those offered here and illustrated in fig. 1, whereas the latter two show an increasing relaxation of the tight, triangular composition. Such a progression suggests an approximate order in which these five works were executed within a three-year timespan. As dated by Carolyn Weekley, the group begins with the 1844 work at Williamsburg, followed by the example offered here and that at the Dallas Museum within the ensuing two years, followed by the San Francisco work and ending with the Denver example, which is inscribed “Painted by Edward Hicks in his 67th year,” indicating a date of 1847 (Weekley, pp. 201-202, 204, nos. 47, 49, 51, 59). Hicks’ 1844 letter to Joseph Watson, who commissioned the work in fig. 1, reveals considerable information relevant to the work offered here. Dated September 23, 1844, the letter reads: Newtown 2nd morn, 9 moth 23rd 1844 Dear Joseph I send thee by my son one of the best paintings I ever done (& it my be the last) The price as agreed upon is twenty dollars with the additional sum of one dollar 75 cents which I give Edward Trego for the fraim I thought it a greatele cheaper than thee would be likely to get a fraim with ten coats of varnish any where else --- Thee can pay the money to Isaac who can give thee a receipt if necessary but I have no account against thee --- With gratitude & thankfulness for thy kind patronage of the poor painter & a greatful rememberence of many favours from thy kind parents --- I bid the dear child & affectionate farewell Edw. Hicks Virtually identical in composition and with a canvas of the same size as the work discussed by Hicks above, the Kingdom offered here probably also cost $20. It probably originally had a similar walnut frame. Hicks reveals that the frame for the work in fig. 1 was made by Edward Trego (1812-1886), a Newtown cabinetmaker, had ten coats of varnish and cost $1.75. Like Joseph Watson, the first owner of the work offered here may well have been a family friend of the artist. The earliest known owners of this work were John Albert Harney (1913-1990) and his wife, Lillian Marion Lang (1911-2005), of Trenton, New Jersey. Both were children of Hungarian immigrants and grew up within twenty-five miles of Newtown, Pennsylvania where Hicks lived most of his life. In 1936, John and Lillian married and four years later are recorded as living in the household of Lillian’s mother at 252 Bellevue Avenue in Trenton, New Jersey. John was an avid collector of Washingtonia and Lillian or perhaps both were collectors/dealers of Hicks works. In addition to the example offered here, Lillian owned Hicks’ James Cornell’s Prize Bull which she sold to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection at Colonial Williamsburg (acc. no. 1958.101.11,A). Furthermore, John is listed as the owner of View of Trenton by Hicks’ cousin, Thomas Hicks (Letha Clair Robertson, “The Art of Thomas Hicks and Celebrity Culture in Mid-Nineteenth-Century New York” (PhD. Dissertation, University of Kansas, 2010), p. 248, no. 93). The Harneys were good friends with Leonardo List Beans (1904-1979), who obtained this Kingdom from them prior to December 1948 when he sent a photograph of the work to the Frick Art Reference Library. Hailing from Newtown, where he grew up “a five minute walk from Edward Hicks’ workshop,” Beans moved to Trenton in 1928. There, he ran an antiques shop with a focus on Washington material and works by Hicks. In addition to the work offered here, he owned at least six other Hicks paintings including one of Washington at the Delaware, which he later gave or sold to the Harneys (see Mather and Miller, pp. 156, 158, 168, 170, 193, 207, nos. 61, 65, 78, 80, 104, 118). The painting was most likely the “Peaceable Kingdom” featured in an exhibition of Beans’ collection in August-December 1949 in honor of the 100th anniversary of Hicks’ death and the 150th anniversary of Washington’s death and was illustrated in Beans’ 1951 publication on Hicks, one of the earliest dedicated studies of artist (“Collection of Art to Be Exhibited,” Trenton Evening Times, 17 August 1949, p. 26; see Literature above; for more on Beans and the Harneys, see Eugenia Cook, “Newtown artist’s work brings $270,000,” Trenton Evening Times, 22 November 1980, pp. 1, 20). Literature: Frick Art Reference Library, New York, no. 109J. “Shop Talk,” The Magazine Antiques (May 1950), p. 340. Leonardo L. Beans, The Life and Works of Edward Hicks (1951), pp. 2, 3, 14. Alice Ford, Edward Hicks: Painter of the Peaceable Kingdom (Philadelphia, 1952), p. 93. Mary C. Black and Alice Ford, Edward Hicks 1780-1849: A Special Exhibition Devoted to His Life and Work (Williamsburg, 1960), p. 19, no. 41. Eleanore Price Mather, introduction, Edward Hicks: A Gentle Spirit (New York, 1975), n.p. and probably no. 15. Jean Lipman and Tom Armstrong, American Folk Painters of Three Centuries (New York, 1980), p. 91. Eugenia Cook, “Newtown artist’s work brings $270,000,” Trenton Evening Times, 22 November 1980, p. 1. Eleanore Price Mather and Dorothy Canning Miller, Edward Hicks: His Peaceable Kingdoms and Other Paintings (New York, 1983), p. 139, no. 46. Alice Ford, Edward Hicks: His Life and Art (New York, 1985), pp. 172-173, 176, 181. Carolyn J. Weekley, The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks (Williamsburg, 1999), p. 202, no. 48. Exhibited: “Newtown 275th Anniversary”, 1959, no. 6. Williamsburg, Virginia, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, Edward Hicks 1780-1849: A Special Exhibition Devoted to His Life and Work, 30 September - 30 October 1960. New York, Andrew Crispo Gallery, Edward Hicks: A Gentle Spirit, 16 May - 28 June 1975. Provenance: John Albert Harney (1913-1990) and Lillian Marion (Lang) Harney (1911-2005), Trenton, New Jersey, prior to December 1948 Leonardo List Beans (1904-1979), Trenton, acquired from above by December 1948 Sold, Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, 30 April-3 May 1980, lot 235 Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $1,500,000-3,500,000 Price Realized: $4,575,000 | |
| A CAST IRON MILL WEIGHT IN THE FORM OF AN EAGLE AMERICAN, 19TH CENTURY, 20.5 in. high, 20 in. wide, 2.5 in. deep. Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $3.000-5,000 Price Realized: $5,250 | |
| A CARVED OAK “HADLEY” CHEST WITH DRAWER POSSIBLY HATFIELD AREA, MASSACHUSETTS, 1700-1725, the central front panel with intials SB; the top an old replacement, 34.25 in. high, 48 in. wide, 20.5 in. deep. Provenance: Charles Nicoll Talbot (1802-1874), New York City and Northampton, Massachusetts Edward Martin Talbot (1854-1927), son John Alden Talbot (1890-1962), son Thence by descent in the family Bernard and S. Dean Levy, Inc., New York Sold, Christie's, New York, 20 September 2016, lot 844 Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $15,000-25,000 Price Realized: $30,000 | |
| AN AMERICAN (JOHN BARTLAM) SOFT PASTE PORCELAIN BLUE AND WHITE SAUCER, CIRCA 1765-70, CAIN HOY, SOUTH CAROLINA. Printed with a figure crossing a fretwork bridge as another paddles a small boat upon a river, all among various pagodas and trees, a painted fretwork band at the rim, 4.75 in. (12 cm.) diameter. Provenance: The Watney Collection, London, a gift to the present owner by Bernard Watney's widow in September 1998. Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $15,000-20,000 Price Realized: $18,750 | |
| A LONDON DELFT POLYCHROME FIGURAL SALT, CIRCA 1655-80, Modeled as a sulking youth holding a shaped-oval basin painted with lozenge and scroll ornament, seated on a waisted fluted stool and wearing shoes with rosette buckles, 7.75 in. (19.8 cm.) high Based on an earlier Flemish figure, only four figures from this mold are known to exist. These include the example formerly in the Rous Lench Collection, sold Christie's, London, 29 May 1990, lot 10; the example from the Glaisher collection now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; and the polychrome example at the Victoria & Albert Museum (museum no. C.102-1950). See M. Archer, Delftware, the Tin-glazed Earthenware of the British Isles, Norwich, 1997, pp. 325-6, no. G.2 for the example at the V & A for a further discussion of the model. Literature: L. B. Grigsby, The Longridge Collection of English Slipware and Delftware, vol. 2, London, 2000, pp. 236-237, no. D212. Provenance: Frances L. Dickson. Vivian J. Scheidemantel. Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 30 July 1963, lot 78 (to Tilley & Co. on behalf of Kenneth Chorley). Jean and Kenneth Chorley; Christie's, New York, 25 January 1993, lot 16. Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $15,000-25,000 Price Realized: $30,000 | |
| A STAFFORDSHIRE SLIPWARE INSCRIBED DISH, CIRCA 1695-1720, HANLEY, SIGNED JOSEPH GLASS, The pale-ochre ground decorated in cream, light and dark brown slips with a magnificent bird, its wing raised, surrounded by foliage and flower-heads, the well with a band of interlocking ovolo-ornament within a trellis-pattern border, the lower part inscribed IOSEPH:GLASS within a rectangular cartouche, 18.375 in. (47.3 cm.) diameter. Josiah Wedgwood's list of Staffordshire potteries active around 1700-15 includes a Joseph Glass of Hanley who made "Clowdy and a sort of dishes painted with different coloured slops." For a dated cradle of 1703 see B. Rackham, Catalogue of The Glaisher Collection of Pottery & Porcelain in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, vol. 1, Woodbridge, 1987, no. 345, pl. 23F. See ibid. no. 215, pl. 19C for a 'Pelican in its Piety' dish by Ralph Simpson with a similar bird. No other dish by Joseph Glass appears to be recorded. Literature: J. Horne, A Collection of Early English Pottery, London, 1997, Part XVII, no. 483. L. B. Grigsby, The Longridge Collection of English Slipware and Delftware, vol. 1, London, 2000, pp. 76-77, no. S17. Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $40,000-60,000 Price Realized: $47,500 | |
| A NORTH DEVON SLIPWARE INSCRIBED AND DATED HARVEST JUG DATED 1757, SIGNED THOMAS FIELDS, Incised with a compass rose centered by a three-masted ship at sea, flanked by mermaids, hippocampi, smiling fish, and birds, a heart below the scroll handle inscribed, "The larger monsters of the deep on the command attendance keep by thy commison sport and play and cleave along the foming way if god his choice of tempest rears Leviathan lyes still and fears / W M Langdon 1757”, 12.5 in. (32 cm.) tall. Provenance: The family of William Langdon and by decent. Anonymous sale; Bonhams, London, 10 June, 2003, lot 94. Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $10,000-15,000 Price Realized: $40,500 | |
| GILBERT STUART (1755-1828), GEORGE WASHINGTON OIL ON CANVAS, 29.5 x 24 in., Painted 1796-1803. …the only idea that we now have of George Washington, is associated with Stuart’s Washington. --John Neale, 1823.1 An early rendition displaying the artist’s signature virtuosity, this Athenaeum-type portrait is a particularly significant survival of the most recognizable and oft-reproduced image of George Washington. Gilbert Stuart painted over seventy five replicas and, disseminated by countless other portraitists and engravers, including the designers of the US one dollar bill, the likeness remains today the primary image of America’s first President. The original canvas was painted from life in 1796 and details of composition and execution indicate that the work offered here was painted within the following few years. Remarkably well preserved, the portrait is further distinguished by its history. Likely first owned by Colonel Thomas Lloyd Moore (1759-1813), a hero of the Revolution, the work can be documented as early as 1841 in the Willing family of Philadelphia and later descended in an aristocratic English family. The shaping of the head, lace shirt ruffle and background all suggest that the portrait was executed during Stuart’s years in Philadelphia and prior to his move to Washington D.C. in 1803. As discussed by Ellen Miles, Curator Emeritus at the National Portrait Gallery, Stuart’s replicas painted in Philadelphia feature a face more rectangular in shape than the original work, an intricate lace shirt ruffle and queue with jagged profile, details seen on the work offered here that contrast with later renditions painted during Stuart’s years in Boston with a rounder face, linen shirt ruffle and ribboned queue. Stuart’s mastery is particularly evident in the execution of the lace shirt ruffle. His technique was to paint the black of the coat to the edges of the ruffle and then delineate the ruffle in shades of grey with white highlights, creating the appearance of a gauzy, semi-transparent fabric.2 Here, the shirt ruffle passage is marked by the briefest of strokes executed with supreme fluidity, illustrating Stuart’s mastery and confidence. Like Stuart’s replicas in general, no two shirt ruffles are exactly the same. However, the hint of cross-hatching, arc-shaped brushstrokes and edging with bright white highlights seen here closely relate to two now in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, an example in the US Capitol and one that sold at auction in 2015, the last two with documented early ownership in Philadelphia.3 Energised and rapidly applied, the brushstrokes on the red ground and column, like the shirt ruffle passage, demonstrate the talents of the artist. This portrait is one of only a few of Stuart’s replicas that do not have a plain background and the majority have plain dark grounds. Interestingly, Rembrandt Peale later described one of Stuart’s head portraits of Washington as having “..a Crimson Curtain Background…,” which must have been one of the earliest replicas as it was exhibited by Stuart in the spring of 1796.4 Rembrandt’s father, the artist Charles Willson Peale, owned one with a similar background and at least two other Athenaeum-type portraits by Stuart with a red ground and column are known. In addition to the Peale provenance, a Philadelphia origin for all is supported by their inclusion of lace shirt ruffles and jagged-edge queues.5 A common artistic device, a column with red drapery was also used by Stuart in his larger portraits of Washington executed in Philadelphia, such as the Lansdowne in 1796, the Constable-Hamilton in 1797 and the Munro-Lenox in about 1800.6 HISTORY OF THE PORTRAIT As documented by an 1841 letter, the portrait was owned by Thomas Moore Willing (1805-1850) who sold it in that year to Joshua Bates (1788-1864) (fig. 2), a senior partner in the London banking firm Baring Brothers. In the letter, Willing states that the portrait was painted for his grandfather, Colonel Thomas Lloyd Moore (1759-1813), who had fought alongside Washington during the Revolution. He variously served as Lieutenant of the 2nd Pennsylvania Battalion, Captain and Major in the 9th and 5th Pennsylvania regiments and was described by Washington as among “the best Officers who were in the Army.”7 Colonel Moore and Washington also knew each other socially. When in 1784 Colonel Moore’s sister Elizabeth married the French chargé d’affaires François Barbé-Marbois, Washington wrote to the prospective groom, “It was with great pleasure that I received from your own pen an account of the agreeable and happy connection you are about to form with Miss Moore. Thought you have given many proofs of your predilection to this country, yet this last may be considered not only as a great and tender one, but as a pleasing and lasting one. The accomplishments of the lady and her connections cannot fail to make it so.”8 Three years later, during the Constitutional Convention, Washington noted in his diary that on June 14th, 1787, he dined at “Maj’r Moore’s,” possibly Colonel Moore.9 On Washington’s recommendation, Colonel Moore was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel during the undeclared war with France in 1798-1800. Thus, with such personal connections, Colonel Moore would have been desirous to acquire a likeness of the first President and his ownership of such a portrait is confirmed by his 1813 probate inventory, which records “1 Portrait of General Washington” valued at $75 (fig. 1). The portrait was given a place of honor in the household and hung in his Drawing Room, which was extensively furnished with marble tables, twenty armchairs, twelve other chairs and two sofas.10 A member of the upper echelons of society, Colonel Moore lived amongst the most well-to-do and fashionable of Philadelphia, many of whom were patrons of Stuart. He was born in 1759 to merchant William Moore (1731-1793) and Sarah Lloyd (1736-1789) and while he joined the Revolutionary forces at the age of 16, his father furthered the Patriot cause politically and economically. William Moore served as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania toward the end of the War and in 1780 he along with Robert Morris was among the three highest subscribers who each paid a £10,000 bond to the Bank of Pennsylvania for the creation of a fund to support the Continental army. The next highest subscribers at £5,000 each were merchants Thomas Willing (1731-1821) and William Bingham (1752-1804), both of whom were to become Colonel Moore’s relations.11 In 1783, Colonel Moore married Sarah Stamper (1764-1826) and the couple lived in a mansion on Pine Street, near Second, on part of the block bought entirely by her grandfather, John Stamper (d. 1782). Their home was in the most prestigious area of the city and described as “a fine, dashing gentleman…[who] lived in style,” Colonel Moore was clearly part of Philadelphia’s most elite social set.12 Colonel Moore’s wife was the first cousin of William Bingham who along with his wife Anne Willing (1764-1801), were the undisputed King and Queen of Philadelphia society during the 1790s. At one time, the Binghams were neighbors of the Moores, living in John Stamper’s 1764 mansion, which housed the famous Stamper-Blackwell parlor now installed at Winterthur Museum. They were also Stuart’s most important patrons. The Binghams had first met the artist in London in 1784 or 1785, when they commissioned a family portrait. Over ten years later in Philadelphia, the couple commissioned several portraits from Stuart of Washington including the original Lansdowne full-length portrait, as well as their own likenesses.3 In 1804, Colonel Moore’s daughter, Eliza, married Anne’s brother Richard Willing (1775-1858) and a year later Richard was listed as one of the beneficiaries of William Bingham’s estate.14 Many other associates of Colonel Moore patronised Stuart. These include Samuel Blodget, John Craig, William Cramond, Thomas Fitzsimons, Philip Nicklin and John Vaughan, all of whom served along with Colonel Moore as Directors of the Insurance Company of North America; they all also appear on the list of “gentlemen who are to have copies of the Portrait of the President of the United States” drawn up by Stuart in 1795.15 Several of these as well as others involved with the company had their own portraits painted by the artist, as did many of Colonel Moore’s extended family and neighbors.16 Upon Colonel Moore’s death in 1813, he was hailed as “a Patriot and Hero of the Revolution, whose military services… were performed with so much distinction, as to secure to him the esteem and friendship of the GREAT WASHINGTON.” The same newspaper notice requested the attendance of the Philadelphia Society of Cincinnati at the funeral for “their Brother Member” at his Pine Street home; furthermore, in remembrance, they were to “wear crape on the left arm for thirty days.”17 The portrait likely descended to his daughter and son-in-law, Richard Willing, who was an appraiser of his estate and thence to their son, Thomas Moore Willing. While it is highly likely that the portrait offered here was owned by Colonel Moore, Willing wrote another letter in 1845 claiming the same history for a Stuart Athenaeum-type portrait of Washington now owned by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts.18 While it is possible, though not recorded in the 1813 probate inventory, that Moore owned two such portraits, it is much more likely that Willing inherited one of these from his grandfather and obtained the other from another source. As many in his family hailed from known patrons of Stuart, he may have inherited or acquired the second portrait from his relations in the Willing, Bingham, Lee and Carter families. In both letters, Willing claimed that each portrait was painted from life and that his grandfather posed for Stuart for his execution of Washington’s legs in the full-length Lansdowne portrait. Both claims are not supported by evidence and they illustrate Willing’s awareness that a life portrait rather than a copy would enhance their monetary value. Although Willing claimed that the portraits were being sold on account of his moving house, he was in fact in need of money after taking out a loan in 1840 that he could not repay.19 As the portrait offered here was sold first, it is likely though conjectural that it was the one painted for Moore and that after its successful sale, Willing used the same information to sell another example four years later. Willing’s 1841 letter, dated May 12th from Philadelphia, does not identify the recipient, but this individual is known to be Joshua Bates (1788-1864) as the letter descended with the portrait to the current owner. Born just outside of Boston in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Bates rose from modest circumstances to become the managing partner of the banking firm Baring Brothers in London, where he resided from the 1820s until his death. However, from April to August 1841, he travelled to America, first to New York, then by May 1st to Washington and by May 25th, he was back in New York. As Willing begins his May 12th letter with “It escaped one altogether yesterday to mention to you that I had a picture of Genl Washington painted by Stewart..”, it can be surmised that Bates stopped en route from Washington to New York in Philadelphia where he met with Willing on May 11th.20 Willing’s letter also specifies that he was entrusting the sale of the portrait with a “Mr. Carter.” This was undoubtedly his father-in-law, Bernard Moore Carter (1780-1843), who in 1840 travelled to London where through his stock sales was known to have been in touch with Baring Brothers.21 Bates may have seen other Stuart portraits of Washington through his work colleagues the Baring family, known patrons of Stuart. He may also have been particularly keen to own such a portrait as his father, Colonel Joshua Bates (1755-1804) had fought in the Revolutionary War. Although Bates lived in London, he remained an ardent supporter of America throughout his life. In 1852, he founded the Boston Public Library with a donation of $50,000 and thirty thousand books, a legacy honored by the naming of the institution’s Bates Hall. Besides the portrait offered here, he owned Mason Chamberlin’s 1762 portrait of Benjamin Franklin now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the sale of the collection of his grandson included many portraits of American statesmen probably inherited from Bates.22 Bates married Bostonian Lucretia Augusta Sturgis (1787-1863) and at the time of the purchase of this portrait, the couple lived at 46 Portland Place in London. In 1851, they moved to 21 Arlington Street, near Green Park, and the portrait likely remained at this address until its sale in 1912. Their daughter, Elizabeth Ann Sturgis Bates (1817-1878) (fig. 3) married Jean Sylvain Van de Weyer (1802-1874), the Belgian minister to the Court of St. James and the 8th Prime Minister of Belgium. The portrait was in the collection of their son, Lt. Colonel Victor William Bates Van de Weyer (1839–1915), when it was sold along with the other contents of the 21 Arlington Street mansion in 1912. At this sale, it was purchased by a relative, also a descendant of Bates, and has remained in the family ever since. 1Ellen G. Miles, catalogue entry, in Carrie Rebora Barratt and Ellen G. Miles, Gilbert Stuart (New York, 2004), p. 153. 2Miles, pp. 157, 162. 3Miles, pp. 157-158, figs. 97, 98; https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Painting_31_00004.htm; Dallas Auction Gallery, 5 November 2015, lot 20. 4Miles, p. 147. 5New-York Historical Society, acc. no. 1867.303; Christie’s, New York, 21 May 2015, lot 16; Sotheby’s New York, 2 December 2010, lot 3. 6Miles, pp. 166-175, 183-190, cats. 45, 48, 49. 7Letter, T.M. Willing to unspecified recipient, 12th May 1841, the John Morgan Hill Research Files, Frick Art Reference Library Archives, Box 6, folder 34; Miles, p. 157. 8Thompson Westcott, The Historic Mansions and Buildings of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1877), p. 27. 9“Extracts from Washington’s Diary, Kept while Attending the Constitutional Convention of 1787,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (October 1887), p. 301; this may also refer to another man of the same name, see W.S. Long, “Judge James Moore and Major James Moore, of Chester County, Pennsylvania,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 12:4 (January 1889), p. 473. 10Administration [of the estate of] Thomas L. Moore, Book L, p. 111, Administration Files, No 174-221, 1813 in Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. 11Charles P. Keith, The Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1883), pp. 23-24; Westcott, pp. 27, 340. 12Westcott, p. 27; Rufus Wilmot Griswold, The Republican Court; or, American Society in the Days of Washington (New York, 1856), pp. 256, 271, 299-300; Ethel E. Rasmusson, “Democratic Environment – Aristocratic Aspiration,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 90 (1966), p. 160). 13Miles,pp. 166-168, 170-172, 175, 195-198, 203-206, cats. 45, 46, 51, 53; see also Lawrence Park, Gilbert Stuart: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works (New York, 1926), vol. I, cats. 81-85, vol. II, cats. 3, 18, 19. 14Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Wills, 1:365, 17 September 1805. 15A History of the Insurance Company of North America (Philadelphia, 1885), pp. 12, 127-129, 131-133, 149; Stuart’s 1795 list is transcribed in Miles, p. 133. 16Miles, pp. 199-202; Lawrence Park, vol. I, cats. 48, 88-89, 96, 432, vol. II, cats. 538, 581-582, 633, 634, 869, 926-928; Abraham Ritter, Philadelphia and Her Merchants (Philadelphia, 1860), pp. 177-178. 17Political and Commercial Register, 31 August 1813, p. 5. 18Miles, pp. 157-159, cat. 41; Margaret C. Conrads, American Painting and Sculpture at the Sterling and Francine Clark Institute (New York, 1990), pp. 195-196. 19Eliza Cope Harrison, Best Companions: Letters of Eliza Middleton Fisher and Her Mother, Mary Hering Middleton (Columbia, South Carolina, 2001), p. 129. 20For Bates’ travel dates, see National Gazette, 27 April 1841, p. 1, Nantucket Inquirer, 1 May 1841, p. 2 and North-Carolinian, 31 July 1841, p. 3. 21Last Will and Testament of B.M. Carter, dated 8 June 1840 (misfiled as 1849) in Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Wills and Probate Records, 1683-1993 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. 22Philadelphia Museum of Art, acc. no. 1956-88-1; Phillips, Son & Neale, 21, Arlington Street, Piccadilly, W.: A Catalogue of the Valuable Contents of the Residence, 16-18 December 1912, lots 597, 623, 624, 626, 630-632. Literature: Mantle Fielding, Gilbert Stuart’s Portraits of George Washington (Philadelphia, 1923), p. 180, no. 59. Lawrence Park, Gilbert Stuart: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works, vol. 2 (New York, 1926), p. 876, no. 60. George Barton, “Painter of the Washington We Know,” New York Times Magazine, February 21, 1932, p. 11. John Hill Morgan and Mantle Fielding, The Life Portraits of Washington and Their Replicas (Philadelphia, 1931), pp. 287-288, no. 59. Gustavus A. Eisen, Portraits of Washington, vol. 1 (New York, 1932), pp. 156, 267, fig. 20, pl. LXIII. The Frick Art Reference Library, ref. 121-20. Margaret C. Conrads, American Paintings and Sculpture at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (New York, 1990), pp. 195-196. Ellen G. Miles, catalogue entry, in Carrie Rebora Barratt and Ellen G. Miles, Gilbert Stuart (New York, 2004), p. 158. Provenance: Probably Colonel Thomas Lloyd Moore (1759-1813), Philadelphia Thomas Moore Willing (1805-1850), Philadelphia, grandson With Bernard Moore Carter (1780-1743), Virginia, Philadelphia and London, father-in-law Joshua Bates (1788-1864), Boston and London, by purchase from above in 1841 Elizabeth Ann Sturgis (Bates) van de Weyer (1817-1878), daughter Victor William Bates van de Weyer (1839-1915), London, son Sold, Phillips, Son & Neale, 21, Arlington Street, Piccadilly, W.: A Catalogue of the Valuable Contents of the Residence, 16-18 December, 1912, lot 629 Purchased from above by a member of the family Thence by descent Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $200,000-300,000 Price Realized: $975,000 | |
| THE COLONEL GEORGE LEONARD WOOL-ON-CANVAS EMBROIDERED COAT-OF-ARMS OF THE FIENNES FAMILYROUGHT BY RACHEL LEONARD (1727-1805), DESIGNED BY MRS. SUSANNA CONDY (1686-1747), BOSTON, DATED 1740, lower banners with RACHEL LEONARD AGED 13 1740/ GEORGE LEONARD/ AGED 42; retains its original carved frame possibly made by William Price (1684-1771), Boston, 17 x 16.75 in. …these elegant status symbols… were… unquestionably peculiar to the families of wealth and prominence and were probably the most costly embroideries undertaken by American schoolgirls. -Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery, vol. 1, p. 75. The earliest dated embroidered coat-of-arms made in America, this needlework is a remarkable window into eighteenth-century craftsmanship and female entrepreneurship. As indicated in the stitched text in the banners, its young seamstress, Rachel Leonard (1727-1805), rendered the arms of her English ancestors, the Fiennes family, for her father, Col. George Leonard (1698-1778) when she was thirteen years old in 1740. Betty Ring, the recognized authority on American needlework, noted that the appearance and content (a girl’s name and her father’s) of the stitched text is so closely related to two others dated 1745, that they all indicate the work of the same designer/instructor. Through surviving receipts, one of these, that by Katharine (Greene) Armory (1731-1777) (fig. 2), is known to have been made under the tutelage of Mrs. Susanna Condy (1686-1747). Born Susanna Hiller, Mrs. Condy was one of the leading seamstresses in Boston during the first half of the eighteenth century and is thought to have been the original designer of the famous “fishing woman pictures” (Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth (New York, 2001), pp. 149-150). She married Jeremiah Condy (d. 1744) in 1806 and as early as 1736, advertised her business of selling household textiles and supplying patterns in local newspapers. In 1738, she focused on the latter: To be had at Mrs. Condy’s near the Old North-Meeting House: All sorts of beautiful Figures on Canvas for Tent Stick [sic]; the Patterns from London, but drawn by her much cheaper than English Drawing: All sorts of Canvas without Drawing; also Silk Shades, Slacks, Floss, Cruells of all Sorts, the best White Chapple Needles, and every Thing for all sorts of Work” (Boston News-Letter, 27 April 1738, p. 2). She may have also been providing instruction at this time and in 1742, opened a school: “Mrs. Condy opens her School next Week, and Persons may be supplied with the Materials for the Works she teaches…” (Boston Evening-Post, 22 March 1742, p. 2). Dated 1740, Rachel Leonard’s work was wrought from one of Mrs. Condy’s patterns and perhaps executed under her instruction. After the death of her husband in 1742, Mrs. Condy must have relied heavily upon the income from her business and upon her own death, her estate papers revealed she was highly concerned that her daughter would have some economic independence. While her son was tasked with distributing the funds, Mrs. Condy stipulated that these should be given “into her [Mrs. Condy’s daughter’s] own proper Hands, and not into the Hands of her said Husband… for her sole & separate Use and her said Husband to have no medling with the same” (cited in Vivan Bruce Conger, “’If Widow, Both Housewife and Husband May Be’: Widows’ Testamentary Freedom in Colonial Massachusetts and Maryland,” in Women and Freedom in Early America, Larry Eldridge, ed. (New York, 1997), pp. 259-260). Receipts relating to the coat-of-arms in fig. 2 indicate that Boston cabinetmaker William Price (1684-1771) supplied the frame for Katharine’s work. While the two frames differ in design, Price may very well have also crafted the frame for Rachel’s work offered here. Born and trained in London, Price arrived in Boston in 1714 where in addition to cabinetmaking, he sold a variety of goods including maps, prints, japanned work, picture varnishes, looking glasses, toys and musical instruments. His advertisements also indicate he made frames and examples include “…all Sorts of Picture-Frames made by William Price” (New-England Courant, 28 May 1722, p. 2), “..Carv’d Frames Gilt…” (Boston Gazette, 17 June 1728, p. 2) and “…Sells and Frames all sorts and sizes of the newest fashion’d Looking-Glasses” (Boston Gazette, 29 January 1733, p. 4). An organist, Price was also involved in several interior and exterior architectural projects at Boston’s Trinity Church and Christ Church. Just over a year before Rachel Leonard stitched her coat-of-arms, Price was hired by the trustees of Trinity Church to “Treat with a Carver about the Corinthian Capitals” indicating that his expertise was highly regarded (cited in Alan Miller, “Roman Gusto in New England: An Eighteenth-Century Boston Furniture Designer and His Shop,” American Furniture 1993, Luke Beckerdite, ed. (Milwaukee, 1993), pp. 161-162). William Price was also well-connected to Boston’s elite and Col. George Leonard, for whom this coat-of-arms was made and who probably paid for its production, would have been a likely customer. From one of the wealthiest families in Massachusetts’ Bristol County, Leonard very likely hailed from aristocratic stock. While the genealogical record is unclear, some sources claim that his great-great grandfather, Thomas Leonard, was the youngest son of Sampson Leonard/Lennard (1544-1611) and Lady Margaret Fiennes, Baroness Dacre (1540-1611), renowned for their lavish hospitality at the Fiennes-family home, Hurstmonceux Castle in Sussex, at one time the largest private residence in England. That Rachel Leonard stitched the Fiennes coat-of-arms indicates that there was (or at least the family believed there was) a previous Fiennes-Leonard family connection. As the youngest son, Thomas had to seek his own fortune and did so through establishing ironworks in Wales and later in Taunton, Massachusetts. The ironworks established by Thomas Leonard ran for over two hundred years and provided substantial wealth to subsequent Leonard family owners. Col. George Leonard held numerous civic and political posts in Norton, such as Royal Councillor, Representative to the General Court, Selectman, Justice of the Peace, Town Clerk, Judge of Common Pleas and Judge of Probate for Bristol County. He also commanded a regiment, rising to the rank of Colonel. One of his terms of representative to the General Court was from 1740 to 1742, so he would have been in Boston frequently during the time that his daughter may have been receiving schooling from Mrs. Condy. Interestingly, in 1770, George Leonard’s nephew, also named George Leonard, sold land with houses and mills to brothers Jonathan (1726-1797) and John Amory (1728-1803), the latter the husband of Katharine (Greene) Amory who had wrought the coat-of-arms in fig. 1 twenty-five years earlier. It is possible that the Leonard, Greene and Amory families had previous ties in 1740s Boston (D. Hamilton Hurd, comp., History of Bristol County, Massachusetts (Philadelphia, 1883), pp. 604, 618, 624-626). In 1756, Rachel Leonard married Rev. David Barn(e)s (1732-1811) of Scituate. It is not known if she inherited her work after her father’s death in 1778, but one of her daughters followed in her footsteps and wrought a coat-of-arms of the Leonard family (Betty Ring, p. 66; for the Leonard family coat-of-arms, see The Magazine Antiques (January 1992), p. 105). In 1949, the needlework was in the White Plains Antique Show booth of Connecticut dealer, Florene Maine, and Ralph Carpenter bought it through David Stockwell (Laura Beach, "The Past Is Present in Newport: A Couple's Lifelong Love of Antiques," Antiques and Fine Art (Summer 2005), p. 119). Literature: James Biddle, American Art from American Collections (1963), p. 114, no. 250. Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., "Mowbra Hall and a Collection of Period Rooms: Part 2," Connoisseur (August 1972), pp. 288-289. Betty Ring, Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework, 1650-1850, vol. 1 (New York, 1993), pp. 63, 66, fig. 65. Laura Beach, "The Past Is Present in Newport: A Couple's Lifelong Love of Antiques," Antiques and Fine Art (Summer 2005), pp. 118-119. Exhibited New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Art from American Collections, 1963. Provenance Made for Col. George Leonard (1698-1778), Norton, Massachusetts, the maker’s father Florene Maine, White Plains Antiques Show, 1949 David Stockwell, purchased from above Purchased from above in 1949 Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $150,000 | |
| THE CHRISTOPHER CHAMPLIN PAIR OF CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY STOP-FLUTED SIDE CHAIRS, POSSIBLY BY JOHN GODDARD (1723/4-1785) OR DANIEL GODDARD (B. 1747), NEWPORT, 1770-1785, 38 in. high The splats embellished with gadrooning, leafy clusters and C-scrolls, these chairs are among the most elaborately carved examples to survive from colonial Newport. Details in the carved ornament relate to other forms made by or attributed to cabinetmaker John Goddard (1723/4-1785) or his son, Daniel Goddard (b. 1747). Anthemion-shaped in outline, the central crest carving consists of a spray of leaves centering an S-shaped “tear drop.” In inverted form, similarly shaped clusters with pendant tear drops feature on the knees of tables by Goddard (Patricia E. Kane et al., Art and Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 1650–1830 (New Haven, 2016), pp. 328-333, cats. 66, 67). Significantly, on other tables with related knees by John Townsend (1733-1809), this tear-drop motif is absent (Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend Newport Cabinetmaker (New York, 2005), pp. 186-187, cat. 60; Kane, p. 304, fig. 3). The presence of gadrooning is a rare detail on eighteenth-century Newport furniture, but is seen on two bureau tables, one of which bears the signature Daniel Goddard (Kane, p. 293, fig. 2; The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at Yale University Art Gallery, RIF678 and RIF792). Like the chairs’ crest ornament, the gadrooning on the tables is similarly comprised of evenly sized convex lobes. The bureau tables also have related leaf carving on the feet, a detail also seen on a block-and-shell desk-and-bookcase attributed to the elder Goddard (Kane, pp. 298-301, cat. 57). Morrison H. Heckscher attributes the signed Daniel Goddard bureau table to John Goddard, while Patricia Kane notes that Daniel may have been only partly responsible for the form (Heckscher, p. 190, fig. 64; Kane, p. 291). As Daniel trained in his father’s shop, all these examples with related carving support the likelihood that the chairs offered here were made in one of these Goddard shops. Furthermore, John Goddard was probably one of the earliest Newport cabinetmakers to carve stop-fluted legs. Most stop-fluted furniture from Newport post-dates 1780, but a 1769 bill from Goddard to Aaron Lopez for mahogany tables includes an extra charge for “fluting legs” and indicates that Goddard was executing this design over a decade earlier (Kane, p. 374, 376, fn. 4). Literature: Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., The Arts and Crafts of Newport, Rhode Island, 1640-1820 (Newport, 1954), p. 30, cat. 4. Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr., "Mowbra Hall and a Collection of Period Rooms: Part I," Connoisseur (June 1972), p. 87, figs. 11–12. Laura Beach, "The Past Is Present in Newport: A Couple's Lifelong Love of Antiques," Antiques and Fine Art 6, (Summer 2005), pp. 118–121. Patricia E. Kane et al., Art and Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 1650–1830 (New Haven, 2016), p. 376, fn2. The Rhode Island Furniture Archive at Yale University Art Gallery, RIF1471. Exhibited: Newport, The Hunter House, The Preservation Society of Newport County, The Arts and Crafts of Newport, Rhode Island, 1640-1820, Summer 1953. Provenance: Christopher Champlin (1731-1805), Newport By descent in the family, possibly to Mrs. Oliver Hazard Perry, nee Elizabeth Champlin Mason (1791-1858), Newport Sold, sale of the contents of the Perry House, Parade (Washington Square), Newport, 1858 The King family, Newport and Albany, purchased from above Peter King, by descent Sold to Ralph E. Carpenter, Jr. (1909–2009), Newport, 1953 Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $20,000-30,000 Price Realized: $68,750 | |
| A CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY DRESSING TABLE CARVING ATTRIBUTED TO THE "SPIKE CARVER," PHILADELPHIA, 1760-1780, 31.5 in. high, 37.25 in. wide, 21 in. deep. Superbly rendered and carved out of a rich walnut, this dressing table has a finely executed shell drawer decorated with a central flower-head flanked by long flowing tendrils. The ornament continues below to a shell-carved apron, raised on similarly shell-carved cabriole legs ending in boldly carved ball-and-ball feet. Distinguished by elongated leafy tendrils and gouge cuts that run through the ends of leaf tips and shell lobes, the carving on this dressing table can be attributed to the unidentified carver nicknamed "Spike" by Alan Miller and Luke Beckerdite. According to Miller, this carver's work was very important in Philadelphia through the 1760s and early 1770s. This carver's capable and exuberant carved decoration from this pre-Revolutionary era can be observed on the Lawrence-Palmer high chest and matching dressing table at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Wistar-Sharples desk-and-bookcase at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. See Alan Miller, catalogue entry, in Clement E. Conger and A.W. Rollins, Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Arts in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the US Department of State (New York, 1991), cat. 28; Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia, 1976), pp. 104-105, cat. 84; Morrison H. Heckscher, American Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985), pp. 255-258, 351, cats. 166, 167. Provenance: T. Van C. Phillips, Jr., Westown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania Sold, James G. Pennypacker, Reading, Pennsylvania, 23 November 1970, lot 184 Dr. and Mrs. Henry P. Deyerle, Charlottesville, Virginia Sold, Sotheby's, New York, 26-27 May 1995, lot 576 Alan Miller, Quakertown, Pennsylvania Philip B. Steer, Kansas City, Missouri Sold, Sotheby's, New York, 22 January 2000, lot 669 Alan Miller, Quakertown, Pennsylvania Sold, Christie's, New York, 24 September 2012, lot 41 Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $60,000-90,000 Price Realized: $61,250 | |
| AFTER BENJAMIN WEST (LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY), THE DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE, OIL ON CANVAS, reverse with paper label hand-inscribed in brown ink, Sir Benjamin West/ death of/ General Wolfe/ from/ Ness Castle, 37.5x 53.75 in. (sight) One of the most celebrated images of 18th-century historical painting, The Death of General Wolfe hails the victory of the British over the French during the Seven Years’ War. This event established British dominance in North America and dictated the cultural heritage of the future United States of America. At the same time, the American origins of its original artist, Benjamin West (1738-1820), and his meteoric rise in the British art world points to the strengths and talents of the emerging nation. West’s decision to depict the figures in contemporary dress was a radical departure from the traditional practice of using clothing and settings from Antiquity and ultimately one that brought him the greatest fame. After completing the original 6 x 8 foot canvas commissioned in 1770 by Lord Grosvenor, West executed four other renditions on a similar grand scale during the following decade for the likes of King George III and Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck. The artist of the work offered here may have copied directly from one of West’s paintings or based his work on the widely disseminated 1776 print by William Woollett (1735-1785), engraver to the King. Bearing a paper label on the reverse handwritten in what appears to be 19th-century script, this painting was in the collection of Ness Castle, the Inverness, Scotland residence of one branch of the Fraser family. The castle was built by Simon Fraser (1727-1810), a wealthy merchant in London and a director of the East India Company. He ran his business from Kings Arms Yard in the City of London and resided at Dartmouth House, Blackheath, Kent. With substantial means, Fraser was well positioned to commission a copy of West’s famous painting, various versions of which were exhibited in London in the 1770s and later popularised by William Woollett’s engraving. After his death, Ness Castle was occupied by his daughter Margery, the widow of Alexander Fraser, 15th Saltoun (1758-1793) and later owned by his grandson, Hon. William Fraser (1791-1845). For more on the merchant Simon Fraser and his descendants, see Alexander Fraser, The Frasers of Philorth, vol. I (Edinburgh, 1879), pp. 209-210, 216, 312-313. Interestingly, one of the figures in the foreground is General Simon Fraser (1726-1782), also from Inverness but from a different branch of the Fraser family. After the General’s father, Simon “the Fox” Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat (1670-1747) was beheaded in the Tower of London and his family’s estates confiscated for his part in the Jacobite uprising of 1745, the younger Simon sought to regain his family’s fortunes through military service to the Crown. He raised a regiment, the King’s 78th Highlanders, and fought under General James Wolfe in Canada. Due to previous injuries, he, like several other of the identifiable figures in West’s painting, was not present at the battle. Nevertheless, he is clearly recognizable wearing the Fraser tartan, the second from the left in the cluster surrounding the dying Wolfe. West’s depiction of Fraser in full Highland dress was significant because after the uprising in 1745, the dress had been banned as part of the Disarming Act, yet General Fraser had convinced General Wolfe to allow the 78th Highlanders to wear the traditional dress during the Battle of Quebec. General Fraser was living in London in the early 1770s and from 1775 until his death in 1782, resided at 12 Downing Street. He may have commissioned this copy during this time. In 1774, by an Act of Parliament, his family estates were restored in recognition of his military service, yet five years later, he had incurred substantial debts, forcing him to place his estate in trust. Besides a distant familial connection, General Fraser had ties to the merchant of the same name and if the former commissioned the work, it could have later passed into the possession of the latter. General Fraser was enlisted in the East India Company’s military and was known to have influence within the Company. Furthermore, the merchant Simon Fraser was close friends with Alexander Fraser (1733-1794), from yet another Inverness branch of the family, who oversaw the settlement of General Fraser’s estates. For more on General Simon Fraser, see John Anderson, Historical Account of the Family of Frisel or Fraser, Particularly Fraser of Lovat (London, 1825), pp. 161-164; Alexander MacKenzie, History of the Frasers of Lovat (Inverness, 1896), pp. 486-501. Literature: Johanna McBrien, "A Sense of Place," Antiques and Fine Art (Winter/Spring 2009), pp. 206, 207-208. Provenance: Probably commissioned by a member of the Fraser family, London and Inverness, Scotland An owner of Ness Castle, Inverness, possibly Simon Fraser (1727-1810), his daughter Margery Fraser, Lady Saltoun (1754-1851) or her son Hon. William Fraser (1791-1845) Sold at Christie’s Auction January 24, 2020. Estimate: $20,000-40,000 Price Realized: $100,000 | |
| A CLASSICAL CARVED MAHOGANY AND INLAID SATINWOOD WORK TABLE, PROBABLY DUNCAN PHYFE (1768-1854), NEW YORK, 1810-1815, with inscribed paper label from The Hudson-Fulton Celebration on underside, 31 in. high, 24 in. wide, 13 in. deep This work table was previously owned by Robert W. de Forest who was a prominent New York lawyer, financier and philanthropist. He served on the board of trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1889 and was elected the museum’s fifth president in 1913. De Forest’s wife, Emily Johnston, was the daughter of the Museum’s first president, John Taylor Johnston. She shared de Forest’s passion for American decorative arts and together they conceived the idea of The American Wing. During the 1909 Hudson-Fulton celebration, de Forest served as Chairman, Committee on Arts Exhibits, giving him an integral role in the exhibition. This exhibition was held at the Metropolitan Museum to commemorate the tercentenary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River and the centenary of the first use of steam navigation on the Hudson River by Robert Fulton. This exhibition included American paintings and decorative arts from the colonial times to the time of Fulton’s death in 1815. It exposed many people to American decorative arts for the first time. For more information on de Forest and The Metropolitan Museum of Art see Alexsandr Gelfand, “This Weekend in Met History: October 20,” Now at The Met, 18 October, 2013, www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met. For a very similar work table with astragal ends, hinged writing flap and tray compartments attributed to Duncan Phyfe see Peter Kenny, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York (New York, 2011), pp. 172-173, pl. 9. This example, now in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also features an urn base, four splayed legs with acanthus leaf carving and reeding and carved paw feet. Literature: Henry Watson Kent and Florence N. Levy, The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: Catalogue of an Exhibition Held in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Volume II (New York, 1909), p. 74, no. 208. Charles Over Cornelius, Furniture Masterpieces of Duncan Phyfe (New York, 1923), pl. xxx. Mary Hubbard, "Edward V. Jones Lectures: Good Restoration Hard Work," Antique Monthly (November 1973), p. 11c. Exhibited: New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Hudson-Fulton Celebration, September - November 1909. Provenance: Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. de Forest, New York Estimate: $25,000-35,000 Price Realized: $212,500 | |
| LARGE CHINA TRADE OIL ON CANVAS VIEW OF WHAMPOA ANCHORAGE FROM THE SOUTH, CA. 1840, 29.5" x 44”. Condition: Old reline. Modern frame. 1" scratch bottom left. Very minor scattered small touch-ups mostly to craquelure along edges. Provenance: The Collection of Jean & Eugene Jacobson, Englewood, New Jersey. Provenance: The Collection of Jean & Eugene Jacobson, Englewood, New Jersey. Sold at Pook and Pook January 17, 2020. Estimate: $15,000-25,000 Price Realized: $34,160 | |
| MANNER OF MICHELE FELICE CORNE (American 1752-1845), OIL ON CANVAS THE LANDING OF THE FATHERS PLYMOUTH DEC. 22 1620, 18" x 24”. Condition:19th c. Relined. Scattered small touch ups mostly to sky. Appears to have a layer of varnish. Provenance: The Collection of Jean & Eugene Jacobson, Englewood, New Jersey. Sold at Pook and Pook January 17, 2020. Estimate: $2,000-3,000 Price Realized: $20,740 | |
| CHINESE EXPORT FAMILLE ROSE PORCELAIN VASE, MADE FOR THE EUROPEAN MARKET, 19TH C., with applied Dutch figures, 16.25" h. Condition: Size: 16.25" h., 12" w. (widest point), ~6.2" d., figures are 9.5" h. w/hats, opening at top is 1.75" diameter. Both figures with repairs to hat, hands, and legs. One figure lacking foot. Two faint 2" hairlines above figure in red jacket. No apparent cracks or damage to vase.. Provenance: The Collection of Jean & Eugene Jacobson, Englewood, New Jersey. Sold at Pook and Pook January 17, 2020. Estimate: $1,000-1,500 Price Realized: $329,400 | |
| RARE HISTORICAL BLUE STAFFORDSHIRE FOUR MEDALLION PLATTER, with Jefferson, Lafayette, Clinton, and Washington, over a view of Tunbridge Castle Surry and the Aqueduct bridge at Rochester, 11" l., 14.625" w. Provenance: Historical Staffordshire from a New York Collection. Condition: Very good condition. No apparent damages or repairs. Sold at Pook and Pook January 17, 2020. Estimate: $1,000-1,500 Price Realized: $20,740 | |
| NEW ENGLAND PAINTED PINE HUTCH TABLE, MID 18TH C., retaining an old red surface, 26" h., 41.25" w. Condition: Overall very good condition. Nice old surface. Lacking locking pin. Sold at Pook and Pook January 17, 2020. Estimate: $2,000-2,500 Price Realized: $11,590 | |
| | PENNSYLVANIA WILLIAM AND MARY SPICE CHEST, CA. 1750, the door with a herringbone border centering on a small inlaid scalloped circle within a larger herringbone surround, flanked by four lozenges in each corner with sprigs, with six berries rather than the usual three, enclosing an interior with nine drawers, supported by original bun feet, 19" h., 14" w. Condition: Top right molding is an old replacement. Bottom left molding is an old replacement. One small interior drawer is a 19th c. replacement. Lock and escutcheon probably of a later date. Small patch to lower corner of door. Hinges replaced. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $50,000-80,000 Price Realized: $58,560 |
| JOHANN CONRAD GILBERT, (SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH C.), CENTER COUNTY INK ON WATERCOLOR FRAKTUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE, for Samuel Stober b.1822, 11.75" x 15.5. Condition: Not laid down. Provenance: A central Pennsylvania collection. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $4,000-7,000 Price Realized: $15,860 | |
| DELAWARE PAINTED WOOD AND METAL TRADE SIGN FOR THE BRACKINVILLE INN, 46" x 33.5”. Provenance: A prominent Delaware collection. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $1,500-2,500 Price Realized: $10,370 | |
| RARE BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA PAINTED POPLAR TWO-PART DUTCH CUPBOARD, CA. 1830, retaining its original vibrant flame grained surface, 85" x 58”. Condition: Overpainted and cleaned down by Peter Dean. Outer element of side cornice replaced. Provenance: Olde Hope Antiques. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $19,520 | |
| JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA PAINTED SETTEE, CA. 1840, attributed to the Mifflintown Chairs Works, the crest decorated with rolling hills and spires in the distance, 35.5" h., 78" w. Illustrated in Zilla Lea The Ornamented Chair, fig. 5. A settee from the same shop was sold at Pook & Pook, Inc.; The Collection of Dr. Donald Shelley, 2007, lot 301. Condition: Minor wear. Losses to sides of two splats. Provenance: A Philadelphia Collection. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $14,640 | |
| IMPORTANT SOMERSET COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA PAINTED PINE CHEST OF DRAWERS, DATED 1871, inscribed by the maker John Sala and initialed LC, for Lydia Custer, 58" x 38". The chest, probably made by John Jr. and Joseph Sala was likely commissioned on the occasion of Lydia's marriage to Jonathan Yoder in 1872. Illustrated in Muller, Charles Soap Hollow The Furniture and its Makers, pg. 74. Provenance: descended in the family; Sold at auction near Harrisonville, Pennsylvania, May 29th, 1989; Collection of Joseph and Janet Shein, Merion, Pennsylvania; Olde Hope Antiques. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $25,000-35,000 Price Realized: $36,600 | |
| | HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT APPOINTMENT OF ANTHONY WAYNE TO MAJOR GENERAL OF THE LEGION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN, DATED THE 19TH DAY OF MARCH, 1793, signed by President George Washington in the lower center. Wayne's military exploits and fiery nickname"Mad Anthony Wayne", were earned in notable revolutionary War battles such as The Battle of the Brandywine, The Battle of Monmouth and The Battle of Stoney Point. The Legion is best known for its victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in the Northwest Indian Wars in August 1794. Following the 1795 Treaty of Greenville with the Western Confederacy of Native American nations and the Jay Treaty with Great Britain, the Legion was reduced in size and rechristened the Army of the United States in 1796. This document can arguably be considered as the birth of the United States Army. The document, though creased, is in excellent condition and the light brown signature of G. Washington (George Washington), first president of the United States is bold and 3.5 inches long, 20" x 17”. Provenance: A prominent Delaware family, originally purchased from Baldwin's Book Barn, mid 20th c. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $100,000-150,000 Price Realized: $122,000 |
| PETER DERR, (BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 1793-1868), RARE TIN COFFEE POT, with punched decoration by Jacob Shade, Peter's brother in law, dated 1848, above a large tulip and lower band of geometric devices. Illustrated in James Spears The House of Derr, plate 45 and 74. 1945; Sold Pennypacker Auction Center, October 26, 1963. Condition: Not signed. Good condition. No apparent damages or repairs. Provenance: purchased by author James Spears from the Derr family. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $4,000-8,000 Price Realized: $15,860 | |
| EXCEEDINGLY RARE DEEP SAPPHIRE BLUE GLASS COLUMBIA AND EAGLE PINT FLASK, marked Union Co Kensington, McKearin GI-117 or GI-117a, 7.375" h. Condition: A couple fleabites to lip. 1/2'' hole to lower corner. Sold at Pook and Pook January 18, 2020. Estimate: $2,000-4,000 Price Realized: $19,520 | |
| | ATTRIBUTED TO MARY B. WAY (1769-1833) PAIR OF MINIATURE PORTRAITS: MAJOR GENERAL JEDEDIAH AND MRS. ANN MOORE HUNTINGTON, WATERCOLOR AND INK ON CUT PAPER AND SILK APPLIQUES, mounted on black silk, New London or Norwich, Connecticut, circa 1790, 3.5 by 3 in. These delightful and meticulously crafted miniatures demonstrate the abilities of the self-taught artist Mary Way (1769-1833). Created with painted paper and applied fabrics, these "dressed" miniatures are among an easily recognizable group of thirty-seven known works made by a single individual who was both a painter and seamstress, which were attributed to Mary Way in 1991, after the discovery of a signed example of her cousin, Charles Holt. The daughter of Ebenezer Way (1728-1813) and his first wife, Mary Taber (1737-1771), Mary Way began making these miniatures while in her teens. Her portrait of Polly Carew dating to 1786 or 1787 is thought to be the earliest example and as the date on the Charles Holt portrait indicates, she was still making them in 1800. She first appears in the documentary record in 1809, when she established a school in New London for the teaching of "painting, tambour, embroidery, lace work on muslin, reading, writing, plain sewing, &c, &c." Many of the elite families of her hometown of New London, Connecticut, recognized her talent and commissioned portraits by her. Members from the Huntington, Saltonstall, Sage, Richards, and Coit families all sat for Mary in the late 18thand early 19thcenturies. The General Jedediah Huntington (1743-1818) was a prominent patriot in the American Revolutionary War, who grew up with Benedict Arnold in Connecticut and would later face him in battle, and later became a close friend of General Washington’s towards the end of the war. The Huntington family was one of the most affluent in colonial America. His father, Jabez Huntington, owned a fleet of ships trading between Norwich, Connecticut and the Caribbean. And so, it was only appropriate that Jedediah, the eldest son of such an elite family, would go on to marry Faith Trumbull, the daughter of Connecticut Governor, Jonathan Trumbull, in 1766. Before the war commenced in 1775, Jedediah quickly rose to the rank of colonel over the course of a decade, having first been a leader of the Sons of Liberty in Norwich, an ensign of the first Norwich militia company in 1769, a lieutenant in 1771, and a captain in 1774. As Commander of the 20th Regiment of militia in Norwich, he was alerted by Israel Bissell, who rode all the way from Boston after the battles of Lexington and Concord of the attack. Sadly, the war had a detrimental psychological effect on Huntington’s wife, Faith, who committed suicide in November of 1775. He faced several hardships during this time, including illness, but continued to fight in several battles. While one of Huntington’s regiments were encamped near Peekskill, New York in 1777, it is believed he met his second wife Ann Moore, daughter of Thomas Moore of New York City. In 1783, Ann asked her husband to return to Norwich in preparation for the winter months, in which Jedediah wrote to General Washington for dispatch. In appreciation, Washington appointed Huntington to be in charge of U.S. Customs at the port of New London. It is there where Jedediah and Ann carried out the rest of their lives and were likely portrayed by Mary B. Way in the last decade of the 18th century. Literature: William Lamson Warren, "Mary Way's Dressed Miniatures," Antiques, (October 1992), pp. 540-549; Ramsay MacMullen, Sister of the Brush: Their Family, Art, Life and Letters 1797-1833 (New Haven, Connecticut: Pastimes Press, 1997), p. 481; Brian Ehrlich, "Mary Way And Betsy Way Champlain: Evaluating The Shared Artistry,” Antiques & Fine Art, (Autumn 2014) 130-9. Provenance: Clark Bayley, Boston, Massachusetts; Private Collection; Sotheby's New York,The Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little Collection: Part I,January 29, 1994, sale 6526, lot 328; Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire,Property from the Collection of Geoffrey Paul,August 4, 2002, lot 682; Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $10,000-15,000 Price Realized: $22,500 |
| ATTRIBUTED TO MRS. MOSES B. RUSSELL (CLARISSA PETERS) (1809-1854) MINIATURE SELF-PORTRAIT OFCLARISSA PETERS WATERCOLOR IN GOUACHE ON IVORY, Boston, Massachusetts area circa 1840, 6.25 by 5 in., together with a fragment of 19th century paisley fabric matching the sitter's dress. Clarissa Peters was born in North Andover, Massachusetts in 1809. The fifth of twelve children, she grew up in a well-to-do family and seemingly lead a happy childhood, provided with ample opportunities for travel and education, presumably attending Franklin Academy, the first school to admit young women and that her younger sister, Emily, also attended. After spending a few years teaching and painting decorative vignettes in Blue Hill, Maine in the early 1830s, by 1835, Clarissa was in Boston and married the miniaturist, Moses B. Russell, who came from Woodstock, New Hampshire, in 1839. She and her husband were active in exhibiting at several Boston art fairs and were recognized for their talents. From 1840 to 1851, they shared a studio at 21 School Street and were very much part of artistic life in Boston. Clarissa was purportedly taught by her husband on the art of painting miniatures, but it is unknown where or when the couple first met. Nevertheless, it is certain that their careers as miniaturists were intertwined and that they likely worked together on the same portraits in many cases, which has complicated the process of artist attribution. In the following lots containing works by both husband and wife, his influence is palpable in her work; however, his portraits tend to have a certain solemnity and muted pallet whereas hers are imbued with greater adoration of her subjects and contain playful vibrancy and use of props. To add further confusion, Clarissa Peters’ work was also misattributed to folk portraitist Joseph Whiting Stock. While the two were contemporaries working in Massachusetts, and similarly employed vivid colors and props, Stock executed his miniatures in gouache with gum arabic highlights and on much darker backgrounds. Technical attributes aside, the following lots contain classic examples by Mrs. Moses B. Russell (Clarissa Peters) and a style that is indisputably her own. Condition: Please note that Sotheby's has obtained a license from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and is authorized to sell this item containing ivory. In overall very fine condition. Slight warp to the ivory which has caused the face of the sitter to come in direct contact with the glass before a later spacer was adhered to the glass. This contact has caused a lifting of the gum Arabic around the sitter's head that has resulted in a mat appearance. Possible retouching to the jawline. Very small accretion on the lip. Slight loss to the upper proper left and wear to the edges. Negligible scattered dark spots. Backing card removed. Provenance: Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, The Michael Schnall Collection of American Folk Art, August 2, 2008, lot 802. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $2,000-3,000 Price Realized: $68,750 | |
| VERY FINE AND RARE FEDERAL INLAID AND FIGURED MAHOGANY TALL CASE CLOCK, WORKS BY SIMON WILLARD, ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA1795, appears to retain its original surface, cast brass finials, pendulum, keys, and weights., Height 94 in. by Width 20.5 in. by Depth 9.75 in. This tall case clock survives in remarkable condition and retains its original surface, painted wood shaft pendulum rod, painted dial, dial glass, finials, painted tin can weights, saddle board, and winding key. The feet and fretwork are also original with very minor repairs. The clock displays a movement signed by Simon Willard (1753-1848), the highly-skilled and innovative clockmaker of Grafton and Roxbury, Massachusetts. Characteristic of his finest and most expensive tall-case clocks, this example has an eight-day movement with calendar and moon attachments set in an elaborate inlaid mahogany case surmounted by three cast-brass ball and spire finials. The painted dial is surrounded by a dial mat that is partially painted green and framed with original brass piping. These premium features are found on fewer than a dozen of the finest surviving Willard tall case clocks. Very few clocks of this period survive with original painted pendulum rods. This one was painted to match the dial mat. The latter detail is an extreme rarity and possibly unique. Born in Grafton in 1753, Simon trained with the English-born Grafton clockmaker John Morris before working locally for his older brother Benjamin. By 1784 he had his own shop in Roxbury, where he trained his sons Simon Jr. and Benjamin in the trade as well as Daniel Munroe Jr. and Levi and Abel Hutchins, among others, before retiring in 1839. Also an inventor, Simon received patents for the improved timepiece in 1802 and the lighthouse clock in 1819. In the last decade of the eighteenth century, he increased his production of tall case clocks to include not only “Common eight-day Clocks, with very elegant faces and mahogany cases, price from 50 to 60 dollars”, but also “clocks that will run one year with once winding up, with very elegant cases, price 100 dollars” and chime clocks playing six tunes priced at 120 dollars. He provided his clientele with instructions for running his clocks, as well as a written guarantee, a public statement of ownership on the dial, and personalized service. He recommended meeting with his clients to discuss customized features of their clocks and advised that at delivery, his workman stay overnight to ensure all was in working order. He purchased the opulent London-inspired cases for his clocks from Samuel (1769-1797) and William Fisk (1770-1844) or one of the other eight cabinetmakers working in the vicinity. As seen on the present clock, the cases were usually made of highly figured mahogany and fitted with an arched door, brass fluted quarter columns, pierced fretwork, three plinths surmounted by brass finials, and either ogee bracket or French feet. Attribution of the cases to a specific maker is difficult as Willard’s firm control over the case design resulted in standardized production for the form. Simon continued making tall-clocks until about 1815, when he dedicated more time to the manufacture of his banjo clock. A tall-case clock with a movement by Simon Willard and a case similar to this one is in the collection of Winterthur Museum and illustrated in William Distin and Robert Bishop, The American Clock, New York, 1983, fig. 89, p. 49. Another related example in the Old Sturbridge Village Collection is illustrated in Philip Zea and Robert Cheney, Clock Making in New England, 1725-1825 as fig. 2-27, p. 40. Condition: The clock survives in remarkable condition, with only the minor flaws expected in a 220 year old clock. The rarity of a clock from this period retaining an original painted wood pendulum bob, original dial glass, original finials and even a wonderful original winding key is noteworthy. The fretwork is original with very minor repairs. The dial is in excellent condition with some touch-up to the moon disc and minor wear to the signature. Proper left rear foot facing replaced.Other minor patches to feet. Provenance: Gary Sullivan Antiques, Inc., Canton, Massachusetts. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $68,750 | |
| JOHN BREWSTER JR. (1766-1854) PAIR OF PORTRAITS: JUNIA LORETTA BARTLETT AND LEVI STEVENS BARTLETT OF KINGSTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE OIL ON CANVAS, May 28, 1821, Each 24.75 by 21 in. The paintings are both signed and dated on the top stretcher in pencil, respectively John Brewster Jr. pinxt. May 28 1821/11 years oldand Painted May 16 1821/9 years 5 months 14 days old/JB. Jr.and on the side stretcher in a later hand. They arefurther inscribed in pencil on the side stretcher in another hand respectively Junia Loretta Bartlett, who married F.O.J. Smith, Portland Maine and Painted by John Brewster Jr. 1821.Both retain old jelly labels from Nina Fletcher Little. The tides of taste turned from full and three-quarter-length portraits to half and bust lengths during the early years of the nineteenth century. Around 1805, John Brewster, Jr., began replacing the older format with the simpler, more abbreviated one illustrated here. Junia Loretta Bartlett (1810-1849) and Levi Stevens Bartlett (1811-1865) were the daughter and son of Levi (1763-1828) and Abigail (Stevens) Bartlett of Kingston, New Hampshire. Levi and Abigail’s portraits are in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg (acc. nos. 1981.100.1 & 2). Levi was the son of Josiah Bartlett, a physician and the first Governor of New Hampshire as well as a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Levi succeeded his father in the practice of medicine, as did his own son, Levi Stevens. Juniamarried F.O.J. Smith while Levi Stevens married Caroline E. Sanborn in 1844. Brewster painted at least five Bartlett family members in 1821, all of which he left unvarnished. Although most painters applied varnish as a final protective coating, some artists and clients preferred the dry, matte appearance and somewhat higher (less reflective) visibility of an uncoated surface. Nina Little wrote in the Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin "In June of 1821 Brewster visited Kingston, New Hampshire, where he painted Dr. and Mrs. Levi Bartlett and two of their children. These sensitive, unassuming portraits bely the prominence of this illustrious family of which Dr. Levi was a famous physician and his father, the honorable Josiah Bartlett, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and first governor of the state of New Hampshire." Little further states that "These three Bartlett portraits are unvarnished in fine untouched condition and retain, to an unusual degree, the original clarity and character of Brewster's sensitive portraits." According to Lottie Bartlett Goodrich, granddaughter of Levi Bartlett, young Levi S. was given the orange included in his portrait to make him sit still while he was being painted. Condition: Her: In overall excellent condition with a superb dry finish. One small quarter-inch spot of inpainting on proper left collar bone. Very small secured tear proper lower right corner and light embedded dirt with evidence of slight exposure to moisture. Slight discoloration around the edges as the frame is not original. Canvas unlined. The bottom stretcher bar appears to be replaced, one replaced key. Him: In overall very fine condition with excellent finish and only two areas of inpainting, including a .5-inch area of inpainting on the boy's collar and old inpainting due to repair in jacket below center button. Some varnish drips and speckling with one pronounced varnish drip running the length of the canvas proper left side. A 1-inch and 4.5-inch abrasion proper left side and faint 3-inch abrasion proper right side. There is a pin-point hole in the boy's neck. The frame is not original, some missing keys. Lower support on stretcher replaced. Literature: Portrait of Junia: Nina Fletcher Little, "John Brewster Jr. 1766-1854 Deaf-Mute, Portrait Painter of Connecticut and Maine," Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 25, no. 4 (October 1960), pp. 110, 128, fig. 38. Portrait of Levi: The Decorative Arts of New Hampshire, (Manchester, NH: The Currier Gallery of Art, 1964), p. 73, no. 160 (not illustrated); John Cornforth, "The Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Bertram K. Little, Part II,"Country Life,June 21, 1984. Exhibited: Portrait of Junia: Hartford, Connecticut, The Connecticut Historical Society, "John Brewster Jr. 1766-1854," November 6-December 31, 1960; Manchester, New Hampshire, The Currier Art Gallery, "The Decorative Arts of New Hampshire," 1964. Portrait of Levi: Manchester, New Hampshire, The Currier Gallery of Art, "The Decorative Arts of New Hampshire," 1964. Provenance: Descended to a great-granddaughter of Levi and Abigail Bartlett, Mrs. Lottie M. Goodrich (nee Bartlett) of Epping, New Hampshire; Portrait of Junia: James Wilcoxen, Henniker, New Hampshire; Sotheby's New York,The Bertram K. Little and Nina Fletcher Little Collection,January 29, 1994, sale 6526, lot 129. Portrait of Levi: Sotheby's New York, The Bertram K. Little and Nina Fletcher Little Collection, January 29, 1994, sale 6526, lot 128. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $50,000-80,000 Price Realized: $106,250 | |
| IMPORTANT JOHN MASURY ADROIT FIRE CLUB LEATHER PAINT-DECORATED FIRE BUCKET, SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, 1820, inscribed Adroit Fire Club, Delay Not, John Masury, Height 19 in. Firefighting originated in America as a volunteer effort by predominantly men of the community. The members of fire clubs unsurprisingly received public praise and gratitude for their courage in the face of danger as well as admiration for their athleticism and manliness. As an added bonus, these clubs were also an outlet for fraternal organization, with clubs working in teams and competing against one another to be the first, fastest, and bravest. Leather painted fire buckets were a prized possession, serving many practical purposes in addition to carrying water to the site of the flames. The majority, decorated with the club’s logo and typically inscribed with the name of the club, the club’s motto, the owner’s name, and year, helped firemen easily identify their own fire bucket and return those that weremisplaced in a parade or at the scene of a fire to their proper owners. They were a badge of honor and gave members the opportunity to express their patriotism. Club logos and mottos often revolved around the theme of speed, depicting an image of a soaring eagle or leaping stag, for example, while others emphasized the fraternal bond and pledge to protect, as exemplified on the Union Fire Society buckets owned by Samuel Trask fire buckets that shows two hands shaking with a heart in between them and the motto Esto Perpetua (May You Endure Forever). This Adroit Fire Club bucket owned by John Masury and designed by S.H. Sheldon, dramatically depicts a three-story, yellow Federal-style building with red and orange flames consuming its upper floors as men in the foreground work diligently, swiftly, and in unison to extinguish the fire. The man holding the hose is half the height of the front door jamb, a ploy used by the artist to emphasize the magnitude of the task at hand. The Adroit Fire Club was established in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1806, with more than one depicting the image of the burning house surviving. Nevertheless, it is rare to see such a highly detailed, complete composition rendered on a bucket and lends a different perspective as to how the firefighter’s duty was viewed in the early nineteenth century. The Peabody Essex Museum has a related fire bucket from the Adroit Fire Club dated 1806 and inscribed Samuel Gray. Another closely related example is illustrated in American Antiques, Israel Sack Collection, Vol. 2, p. 296. Condition: In overall excellent condition retaining its original paint. The leather straps securing handle rings to bucket are replacements.The proper right side of handle slightly loose with loss of leather and stitching. Examination under UV light shows minimal scattered inpainting and aged varnish. Some paint loss to 1820 date on rim and banner below. Minor cracks and bowed shape commensurate with age and use. Exhibited: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Antiques Show, Folk Art on Fire, April 16-20, 2004. Provenance: F.O. Bailey, Portland, Maine; Joseph H. and Sue H. Keown, Rapid City, South Dakota; Northeast Auctions, Manchester, New Hampshire,Important Americana & Folk Art,August 2, 1992, lot 667; Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $40,000 | |
| ATTRIBUTED TO SARAH GARDNER (1799-1862) PORTRAIT OF A CHILD IN A BLUE DRESS LEANING ON A FANCY CHAIR, WITH BALL AND HORSE TOY, WATERCOLOR ON PAPER, probably Nantucket, Massachusetts, circa 1835, 7.5 by 6.5 in. Like many diminutive folk art watercolors of its kind, this portrait of a young boy wearing a blue dress and engine red shoes, with coral beads around his neck (thought to keep diseases at bay) while standing on a brightly patterned rug and holding onto a fancy chair with toys, is a visual feast of both color and pattern, and contains an equally healthy disrespect for the laws of scale and perspective, lending to its playfulness and charm. Nevertheless, this portrait extends beyond the usual delights of this artistic genre, as it introduces a complex concept of time that would later be emphasized in the development of photography. The boy, with delicately swept brown hair, grabs hold of the rush seat on the fancy chair for stability. Still clutching his ball in his left hand, he appears to be reaching for his toy horse resting on his own make-do table but is distracted by an event to his left that the viewer cannot see. The moment of stillness during a toddler's playtime is usually a fleeting one and is easily missed. Much like a candid photograph of a person in action, the capturing of this transitory pause suggests a before, during, and after storyline. His innocent, surprised expression displaying wide eyes and raised brows additionally evokes many questions, as the viewer ponders what the distraction could be, what the boy is thinking, or what will he do next. It is this snapshot of an intimate moment, which in turn reveals the boy's unique, human personality. An extremely similar portrait of Frances Coffin, attributed to the artist Sarah Gardner (1799-1862), is in the collection of Barbara L. Gordon. Condition: This painting is attributed to Sarah Gardner (1799-1862) of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The painting is in overall very fine condition. Negligible amount of foxing in the proper right mid-ground. Unframed and examined under UV light showed minor inpainting of the bottom of the front chair legs and a faint mark on the background below the crest of the fancy chair. This mark is not perceptible to the naked eye. Exhibited: The Farago Americana Collection,Catalogue, p. 76, fig. 76; The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb,A Loving Likeness, 1992. Literature: Maine Antique Digest, September 1981, p. 21-D "Egan Collection Bullish for Bourgeault," Antiques and the Arts Weekly, August 18, 2006, p. 43 Provenance: Stephen Score, Essex, Massachusetts; Sotheby's New York, American Folk Art and Furniture formerly in the Collection of Daphne Farago, February 2, 1991, sale 6133, lot 1215; Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, The Raymond and Susan Egan Collection, August 5, 2006, lot 72. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $15,000-25,000 Price Realized: $47,500 | |
| EXCEPTIONAL CHIPPENDALE CARVED CHERRYWOOD BONNET-TOP HIGH CHEST OF DRAWERS, COLCHESTER, CONNECTICUT, CIRCA 1775, Height 82.375 in. by Width 39.75 in. by Depth 21 in. Retaining its original final and brasses, this sophisticated high chest displays many details that follow the work of Calvin Willey (1769-post 1831), the cabinetmaker who was trained in Colchester, Connecticut and moved to Lenox, Massachusetts by 1791. He made a group of furnishings, including the signed Calvin Willey chest also offered in this sale, for Nathan (1748-1826) and Hannah Peirson (1757-1822) for their house, Peirson Place, in Richmond, Massachusetts. A high chest made by Willey for Peirson Place exhibits virtually identical rosettes, shells, and the use of a diagonal dovetailed brace across the top of the lower case. The rosettes are carved with a fylfot, punched dots, and a lightly incised leaf on a stem in the ground between the petals. The protruding end of the peg, used to attach the rosette, forms the center. The shells are of a type associated with the work of Samuel Loomis III (1748-1814) and have serpentine convex rays, incised midribs, and trailing tails that emanate from a raised bell into the recess below. Outlining the shell is a chain with pairs of dots inside each link. Likely the choice of the original owner, this chest represents a simpler model than the Peirson high chest in that it lacks side finials, finial plinths, dentil molding, a center plinth ornament, quarter columns and claw and ball feet. As with several other pieces of furniture in Singh Collection, it was included in the study of Connecticut Valley Furniture conducted by Thomas and Alice Kugelman with Robert Lionetti and published in Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800 (Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society Museum, 2005), cat. 111, p. 247. This chest exhibits the singular features of exposed drawer divider dovetails and large pad feet with a prominent ankle hock also seen in Colchester furniture made for Epaphras Lord, Jr. (1743-1819). The drawer sides are flat on top and have bottoms with frame-saw marks on the underside. It has drawer sides with dovetails pins present at the top and bottom as found on the signed Calvin Willey chest of drawers from the Peirson house offered in this sale (See ibid, cat. no. 108, p. 242-3). The partially legible chalk inscription “____ Wells” is written on the upper case backboard. The Kugelmans and Robert Lionetti note that it was probably added in the shop but does not correspond to the Colchester cabinetmaker, Amos Wells (1735-1801). This early history of this chest is not known. It was owned during the twentieth century by the Crounce family of Altamont, New York. It could have been made by Calvin Willey while he was working in Colchester, Lenox, or possibly Vermont, where he was living after 1795. Condition: Several drawers in upper case with minor drawer lip repair. Two hardware pulls on lower case replaced. Small one-inch by 5/8 inch vertical patch on proper left side of upper case. Appears to retain an early, if not original surface. Appears to retain its original carved finial and rosettes. Literature: Thomas P.Kugelman and Alice K. Kugelman with Robert Lionetti, Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800(Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society Museum, 2005) cat. no. 111, p. 247. Provenance: Crounce Family, Altamont, New York; Private Collection; Christie's New York,Important American Furniture, Silver, Folk Art and Decorative Arts,June 18, 1998, sale 8894, lot 137; Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $150,000-300,000 Price Realized: $200,000 | |
| EZRA WOOD, THE PUFFY SLEEVE ARTIST (ACTIVE 1830 - 1831) GROUP OF THREE SILHOUETTE PORTRAITS: GENTLEMAN WITH YELLOW VEST AND UMBRELLA; LADY IN GREEN DRESS WITH YELLOW FICHU AND SPRAY OF FLOWERS; FULL-LENGTH BABY IN RED DRESS WITH MINIATURE LOCKET AND SPRAY OF FLOWERS HOLLOW-CUT SILHOUETTES WITH WATERCOLOR ON PAPER MOUNTED OVER BLACK, circa 1830, Each 5.25 by 4.5 in., the baby inscribed on the reverse Clarisa Anna Munson, Brattleboro, VT, each set in a pressed brass frame In a ground breaking article "Unmistaken Identity," published inMagazine Antiques, July/August 2014, Michael R Payne, Suzanne Rudnick Payne and Samuel Herrup argue that the actual identity of the early 19th-century American folk portraitist nicknamed 'The Puffy Sleeve Silhouette Artist' was Ezra Wood of Buckland, Massachusetts. Wood was born in 1798 and likely learned the art of making silhouettes from his father-in-law, the silhouette artist Josiah Fuller. Literature: Lita Solis-Cohen, "Sotheby's Americana,"Maine Antique Digest,March 2011, p. 41-A. Provenance: Lillian and Jerry Grossman, New York; Sotheby's New York, Important Americana,January 22, 2011, sale 8710 lot 255. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $12,000-18,000 Price Realized: $47,500 | |
| ATTRIBUTED TO AMMI PHILLIPS (1788 - 1865) NANCY SMITH LAMPHEAR OIL ON CANVAS, CIRCA 1818-1820, 30 by 24.5 in. Wearing a red Empire waist dress with bright white ruffled collar and cuffs with a beautifully patterned shawl draped across her left hand and her necklace and drop earrings matching the color of her dress, this outstanding painting of Mrs. Lamphear is a tour-de-force within Ammi Phillips oeuvre. David R. Allaway has identified that Nancy Smith Lamphear was the daughter of Jane Daney Smith and lived in Troy, New York.Stacy Hollander noted in Revisiting Ammi Phillipsthat her mother's maiden name, Daney, appears in the 1820 Cobleskill, New York census. Condition: In overall very fine condition. Faint marks from contact with stretcher around the border of the canvas. Slight craquelure in the green drapery, sitter's neck and face, and in the white shawl. Minor light scattered inpainting. Some touch-ups to the necklace. Small half-inch abrasion proper left near sitter's shoulder. Canvas unlined. Literature: Stacy Hollander, Revisiting Ammi Phillips: Fifty Years of American Portraiture, (New York: Museum of American Folk Art, 1994), p. 33 and 51, illus. in color pl. XVII; Marguerite Riordan Advertisement, MagazineAntiques, November2002; David R. Allaway, My People: The Works of Ammi Phillips, (self published [https://issuu.com/n2xb/docs/ammi_phillips_-_abstract__thumbnail and https://issuu.com/n2xb/docs/ammi_phillips_-_analysis__indexed_], 2019), vol 1., p. 13 and 120, no. 318, vol 2., p. 29, 101, and 112. Provenance: Descended in Lamphear family to Constance Ledward Rollins, Hancock, New Hampshire and her husband Dr. John Rollins who donated it in 1981 to the Hancock Historical Society, Hancock, New Hampshire; Robert W. Skinner, Inc., Bolton, Mass., March 24, 1983, sale 899, lot 82; Felice A. Zweig, Salem, New York; Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $60,000-80,000 Price Realized: $75,000 | |
| VERY FINE AND RARE CHIPPENDALE INLAID CHERRYWOOD SCALLOP-TOP CHEST OF DRAWERS, CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY, CIRCA 1795, appears to retain its original surface, Height 34.25 in. by Width 41.5 in. by Depth 22.5in. In exceptional condition and retaining its original surface, this cherrywood chest of drawers is an important survival of Connecticut River Valley case furniture displaying four graduated inlaid drawers, fluted brass capped quarter columns, and a rare scalloped overhanging top. The ogee bracket feet were once fitted with casters likely installed early in its life to make it portable. Three small extant holes toward the rear of the top indicate it may have been originally fitted with a dressing mirror. A closely related chest by the same maker is in a private collection. Purchased by the current owners in White River Junction, Vermont, that chest similarly displays a scalloped overhanging top, fluted quarter columns with brass capitals and bases, and drawers within a beaded surround. It also has three small holes, now pinned, at the rear of the top and was formerly fitted for a dressing mirror. Condition: Appears to be in overall very fine condition with nicely aged surface. Light scuffing to the top, hardware replaced and lacking around the central locks. Inlay in general good condition with some small triangular pieces of inlay near corners of demilume-shaped corners on the drawers re-attached. The sides with some varnish blistering. Secondary wood: basswood. Provenance: Sotheby's, New York, Fine Americana and Silver, June 17, 1999, sale 7329, lot 164; Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $37,500 | |
| IMPORTANT PAIR OF CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY COMPASS SEAT SIDE CHAIRS, ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN TOWNSEND, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, CIRCA 1770, chair and seat frame both marked II and VII., Height 38 in. These side chairs and their accompanying seat frames are marked II and VII. They were formerly owned by John Howland Ricketson III (1902-1986) of Buzzard’s Bay, Massachusetts. Another chair appearing to stem from the set was sold at Sotheby Park Bernet, New York, November 18-20, 1976, lot 1004 [RIF2806]. One other formerly owned by Israel Sack, Inc. is illustrated by John Kirk in American Chairs: Queen Anne and Chippendale (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972), no. 175, p. 136, [RIF1177]. Displaying serpentine crest rails with scratch-carved diaper pattern pendants, interlaced openwork splats, balloon seats with wide rails, and front cabriole legs with rounded knees and claw and ball feet, these chairs closely follow the pattern of a set of side chairs made by the Newport cabinetmaker, John Townsend (1733-1809). Two chairs numbered III and X from the Townsend set descended directly in his family until they were sold at Christie’s, Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Silver, January 19, 2018, lot 161. Two other identical chairs descended from John Townsend to his daughter Mary (Townsend) Brinley and then to her niece, Ellen F. Townsend (see The Magazine Antiques (June 1937): fig. 3, p. 308). They are now in the collection of the Newport Restoration Foundation (inv. no. 1999.537.1-.2). Two other side chairs from this set are in a private collection and illustrated in a Leigh Keno American Antiques advertisement in The Magazine Antiques for September 1996. Similar crosshatching is found on a card table with John Townsend’s label currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985, cat. no. 100). The distinctive claw and ball feet with their elongated balls gripped by articulated talons devoid of webbing relate directly to those featured on the card table signed and dated by Townsend (see Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards, fig. 3.21, p. 109). Condition: The chair marked II in fine overall condition. Two small pieced areas and a crack in the upper section of the splat. The proper left section of the crest rail below the ear with a pieced area as well as a small pieced area in the center. One original corner block in front, the rest replaced. The chair marked VII in very fine overall condition. One original corner block in the back, the rest replaced. All knee returns on both chairs appear to be original and there are no apparent issues with the legs, feet, or stretchers. Both chairs with original slip seats. Literature: Rhode Island Furniture Archive no. 3699; Patricia E. Kane et al., Art and Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 1650–1830, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Art Gallery, 2016), p. 348 note 6. Provenance: Collection of John Howland Ricketson III; Northeast Auctions Manchester, New Hampshire, The Collection of John Howland Ricketson III: Buzzard's Bay - Massachusetts Bay Colony, May 29, 1993, lot 57; Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $52,500 | |
| EXCEPTIONAL GREEN FAMILY GREEN-PAINTED COMB-BACK WINDSOR HIGH CHAIR, PROBABLY WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS AREA, CIRCA 1800, appears to retain its original green paint, Height 37.5 in. The initial 180-acre Green family farmstead in Worcester, Massachusetts wasbought by Thomas Green in 1754, with his son, Thomas Jr., building the first house on the property three years later. In the mid-nineteenth century, descendant Andrew Haswell Green (1820-1903) expanded the farm into a gentleman's estate, which he dubbed "Green Hill." Andrew was a prominent New York City official, preservationist, and leader of the Central Park Commission, and he largely credited with the creation ofCentral Park, the New York Public Library, the Bronx Zoo, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Condition: In overall excellent condition with multiple campaigns of historic paint and no apparent structural issues. Some paint wear to the foot rest, hand holds, head rest, and stretcher commensurate with age and use. Woods: maple, poplar, hickory. Literature: R. Scudder Smith, "Snow and Colf for 57th Annual Show, But it Blows in with all its Class and Glory,” Antiques and the Arts Weekly, January 28, 2011, p. 53. Provenance: Descended in the Green family of Worcester, Massachusetts; Elliott & Grace Snyder Antiques, South Egremont, Massachusetts. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $5,000-7,000 Price Realized: $23,750 | |
| VERY FINE AND RARE QUEEN ANNE CARVED CHERRYWOOD DRESSING TABLE, WETHERSFIELD, CONNECTICUT, CIRCA 1760, Appears to retain its original red wash surface and cast brass hardware. Height 31.5 in. by Width 35.75 in. Depth 22.25 in. With its elegant design, fine craftsmanship and graceful proportions, this dressing table reflects the perfection attained by cabinetmakers working in the Wethersfield style. Made of cherrywood and birch, it survives with its original red wash and cast-brass hardware. The shell is typical of those found on Wethersfield style high chests and dressing tables produced throughout Hartford County in the second-half of the eighteenth century. It contains fifteen rays that converge on an uncarved semicircle, with an escutcheon above the shell and a recess below. Though most Wethersfield dressing tables with cabriole legs were made with knee returns, the lack of nail holes and shadow lines on this example suggest it may have been made without them, though they could have been lost early in its history. A related high chest of drawers made circa 1762 and owned by Elizabeth Hanmer (1733-1814) and Timothy Francis (1732-1807) of Wethersfield is in the collection of the Captain James Francis House in Wethersfield.1 It similarly displays a lower case with a long drawer over short drawers, carved shell above a recess that is narrower than the shell, a cyma-shaped apron centering small pendant semi-circles, and slender cabriole legs ending in bowl-shaped pad feet on a truncated cone supporting pad. It exhibits ogee-shaped canted knee returns applied under the apron, with one missing. It retains its original brasses which are identical in pattern to those on this dressing table. 1See Thomas Kugelman and Alice K. Kugelman with Robert Lionetti. Connecticut Valley Furniture: Eliphalet Chapin and His Contemporaries, 1750-1800. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Society Museum, 2005, cat. no. 22, p. 63. Condition: Appears to be in overall very fine condition. Two-board top construction with some shrinkage cracks and a repair on the proper right back edge of the top. Appears to retain its original red wash surface and cast brass hardware. Upon inspection by multiple experts, it appears that this piece never had knee returns. The cracks on the sides above where the knee returns would normally be appear to be original pieces. Literature: Antiques and the Arts Weekly, September 9, 2011, p. 13; R. Scudder Smith, "Northeast Auctions Conducts Its Annual Summer Americana Auction,” Maine Antique Digest, September 2011, p. 14; Provenance: Northeast Auctions, Manchester, New Hampshire,Annual Summer Americana Auction, August 7, 2011, lot 1269. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $25,000-50,000 Price Realized: $32,500 | |
| ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEPH WHITING STOCK (1815 - 1855) PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GIRL IN PINK DRESS WITH DOLL'S BASKET AND DOLL'S FRUIT BASKET, STANDING ON AN INGRAIN CARPET OIL ON CANVAS LAID ON BOARD, circa 1838, 36 by 29 in. This important American folk portrait of a girl is one of Stock's most compelling child portraits, having excellent composition, design and content. Condition: Appears to be in overall fine condition with nice dry finish. Light scattered inpainting in the background with two small specks of inpainting on the nose, lips and proper left cheek. More prominent areas of inpainting on sitter's proper right sleeve, bodice, and skirt. Small repaired tear on sitter's proper left pant leg. General fine network of craquelure. Frame does not appear to be original, wax-lined. Literature: Tillou Gallery, Where Liberty Dwells: Nineteenth Century Art by the American People, pl. 55; Juliette Tomlinson, The Painting and The Journal of Joseph Whiting Stock, (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1976), pl. 27; Antiques and the Arts Weekly, February 20, 2009, p. 34; Lita Solis-Cohen, "Sotheby's Americana Auction”, Maine Antique Digest, March 2009, p. 11-D. Exhibited: Massachusetts, Smith College, The Joseph Whiting Stock Exhibition, 1976; Williamsburg, Virginia, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, 1976. Provenance: Mr. and Mrs. Peter Tillou, Litchfield, Connecticut; Private collection; Sotheby's New York, Important Americana, January 24, 2009, sale 8512, lot 271. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $40,000-60,000 Price Realized: $50,000 | |
| ATTRIBUTED TO AMMI PHILLIPS (1788 - 1865) PAIR OF PORTRAITS: SAMUEL AND LETITIA SLOANE OIL ON CANVAS, Wallkill, Orange Co., New York, circa1825, Each 30 by 24 in. Brother and sister Samuel and Letitia Sloane were respectively born in 1801 and 1804 in Wallkill, New York. She married William Chapman in 1836 and their daughter Catherine, born in 1842, went on to marry John Cornell, the nephew of Ezra Cornell and founder of Cornell University. Both Samuel and Letitia are portrayed seated and shown in three-quarter length view, he seated on a painted chair holding a copy of Butler’s History and she on an upholstered sofa with Milton’s Works. Both furniture forms are present in other paintings by Phillips and the choice of literature they carry reveal their individual intellectual pursuits. The artist’s uncanny skill of portraying texture is evident, with Samuel wearing a black wool jacket with wrapped white crimped shirt stock and collar while Letitia wears a multi-layered white dress with diaphanous sleeves, embellished with lace trim and fan collar, the whole embroidered with hundreds of delicate white dots. The color red is used by Phillips to contrast and visually tie different sections of the painting, with her red earrings and rosy cheeks matching her red shall that wraps behind her white dress and hands. Condition: In excellent overall condition with negligible restoration. With modern frames and original strainers. Reportedly lightly cleaned at one point, though there is no evidence of this. Both with nice aged varnish and slight abrasion from the top of the strainer. Her: Light scattered inpainting around proper right eye. Him: inpainting to small round area on chin. Literature: Joan R. Brownstein and Bobbi Terkowitz, “A Brilliant Formula: Ammi Phillips’s Women in White,” Magazine Antiques, November 2007, 160-1, pl. X; David R. Allaway, My People: The Works of Ammi Phillips, (self published [https://issuu.com/n2xb/docs/ammi_phillips_-_abstract__thumbnail and https://issuu.com/n2xb/docs/ammi_phillips_-_analysis__indexed_], 2019), vol 1., p. 15 and 163, nos. 455, 456, vol 2., p. 39, 97. Provenance: Descended in the family of the sitters; William J. Jenack Auctioneers, Chester, New York, January 14, 1996, lot 359; Marguerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $50,000-80,000 Price Realized: $75,000 | |
| PRIOR-HAMBLEN SCHOOL, HARRIET WOODBURY OIL ON BOARD, circa 1851, 16.25 by 12 in., inscribed on the reverse Harriet Woodbury older sister of Emma Woodbury Rand Painted about 1851. Condition: In overall excellent condition with negligible inpainting and light coat of varnish. Small tear lower left corner and discoloration from the old frame along the lower edge. Frame not original. Literature: Frank & Barbara Pollack Advertisement, Antiques, January 2001. Provenance: Frank & Barbara Pollack American Antiques, Highland Park, Illinois. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $12,000-15,000 Price Realized: $45,000 | |
| RUTH HENSHAW BASCOM (1772 - 1848) PAIR OF PROFILE PORTRAITS PASTEL AND PENCIL ON PAPER, circa 1835, 18.125 by 13.25 in., the lady is on layered paper; both appear to retain their original frames. This exceptional pair of portrait is by the celebrated itinerant American artistRuth Henshaw Bascom (1772-1848). Bascom was a prolific portrait artist in Federal-era Massachusetts. Born in Leicester, Massachusetts, Ruth was the oldest daughter born to American patriot and Minutemen organizer William Henshaw (1735-1820) and his wife, Phebe Swan Henshaw (1753-1808). She was raised in Worcester, Massachusetts where she married Dartmouth College professor Asa Miles in 1804, who died shortly thereafter in 1806. Following the untimely death of her first husband, Ruth married Reverend Ezekiel Bascom, a prominent clergyman in Massachusetts who, along with his wife, traveled extensively through England and the United States. The artist's career is documented not only by her portraiture but also by her personal journals, which she meticulously maintained from 1789 to 1846. These exceptional records, housed today at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, provide extensive insight into the subjects of more than two hundred portraits completed by the artist. In order to create a realistic image, she first outlined a cast shadow of the sitter on her drawing paper, and then colored the picture using pastel crayons. For information onRuth Henshaw Bascom see Susanne M. Dawson and M. Susan Barger, "'Painted on Frances' Copy:' Profiles of Ruth Henshaw Bascom," Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, 120(8), 692-3, 706, 710; Roeber, A. Gregg, "A New England Woman's Perspective on Norfolk Virginia, 1801-1802: Excerpts from the Diary of Ruth Henshaw Bascom," PAAS, 88 (1978), 277-325; Mary Eileen Egan, Ruth Henshaw Bascom, New England Portraitist (Thesis, College of the Holy Cross, 1980); Mary Eileen Fouratt, "Ruth Henshaw Bascom, Itinerant Portraitist," Annual Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, 9 (1984) (Boston: 1986), 190-211; Lois Avigad, "Ruth Henshaw Bascom: A Youthful Viewpoint," Clarion 12 (Fall 1987): 35-41; "American Folk Art: Two Groups of Family Portraits by Ruth Henshaw Bascom and Erastus Salisbury Field," Worcester Art Museum Bulletin 5 (May 1976): 1-12; Allison Johnson, "The Journal of Ruth Henshaw Bascom, 1789-1796: Issues of Community and Change in the Lives of Young Women in the Early Republic" (master's thesis, University of New Hampshire, 1993); Ruth Henshaw Bascom, Journals, 1789-1846, American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. Literature: "Winter Antiques Show,” Antiques and the Arts Weekly, January 30, 2004, p. 34 Provenance: found in the Spofford, New Hampshire area; Private Collection, Rhode Island; Frank & Barbara Pollack American Antiques, Highland Park, Illinois. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $40,000-60,000 Price Realized: $62,500 | |
| A RARE AND IMPRESSIVE PANORAMIC VIEW OF MACAO, ATTRIBUTED TO SUNQUA, QING DYNASTY, CIRCA 1850 OIL ON CANVAS, depicting the view of Macao from Lappa Island with the Penha hill on the left extending through Fort Guia on the right, extending through Palacio, the Governor's Residence and Fort Monte, the foreground with a two-masted yacht flying the American flag among Chinese and western boats, with Chinese gilt and black-lacquered wood frame Height 16.25 in., 41.3 cm; width 55 in., 139.7 cm Sunqua (active 1830-70) painted with a distinctive style that has earned him the reputation of one of the most important Chinese painters for the European market of the 19th century. As described in Carl L. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Suffolk, 1991, p. 125, Sunqua's earliest works are identifiable by the distinctive use of free brushstrokes and a warm color overall. Sunqua was also known for the delicate treatment of details in his pictures. His later works, such as the current example, are not usually signed. His style became more in tune with the works of other contemporary artists, but his brushstroke remains fluid and the composition and coloring of his paintings becomes stronger. This exemplary painting demonstrates Sunqua's later style, and is discussed in Crossman, op. cit., pp. 130-131. Crossman mentions that this particular picture, along with a large view of Canton was acquired by the same person, Gideon Nye of New Bradford. He was a clipper ship owner and tea importer who went to China in the 1840s, and this painting passed downin the family through several generations. A virtually identical painting in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum is illustrated in M.V. and Dorothy Brewington, Marine Paintings and Drawings in the Peabody Musuem, Salem, MA, 1968, fig. 372. Condition: The painting presents well. The canvas is lined. Stable craquelure across the picture surface. With a few very minor pindot losses scattered throughout, with an approx. 1.4 in. horizontal loss in the water towards the lower right. Varnish fluoresces green unevenly. There is a line of vertical inpainting to the upper left of the sky and an approx. 4 in. area of inpainting to the sky at upper right, also with a few isolated small dots of retouching in the sky and near the right lower edge. With some brush-y inpainting to address abrasion at upper center edge. Literature: Carl L. Crossman, The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, Suffolk, 1991, p. 131 (not illustrated) M.V. and Dorothy Brewington, Marine Paintings and Drawings in the Peabody Museum, Salem, MA, 1968, p. 85 Provenance: The Collection of Gideon Nye, New Bedford, Massachusetts His daugher, Sylvia Parson Nye Her grandson, Edward Ogley, San Juan, Puerto Rico William Putnam, San Juan, Puerto Rico, until 1969 The Bertram K. Little and Nina Fletcher Little Collection Sotheby's, New York, January 29, 1994, lot 450 Margruerite Riordan, Stonington, Connecticut Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Triumphant Grace: Important Americana from the Collection of Barbara and Arun Singh, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $30,000-50,000 Price Realized: $112,500 | |
| THE WOLCOTT-COLTON-CORDIS FAMILY VERY RARE JOINED AND CARVED OAK CHEST, ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS BARBER SR. (1614-1662), WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT, CIRCA 1635-1655, with printed jelly label on till that states Belonged to Major Luther Colton [great] grandfather of T. Edw. Cordis; proper right rear leg and top replaced. Height 31 in. by Width 55.25 in. by Depth 23.33 in. The Wolcott-Colton-Cordisfamily chest is one of the earliest surviving pieces of Connecticut furnitureand was likely made by the Windsor, Connecticut joiner Thomas Barber, Sr. (1614-1662). A chest in the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association that first belonged to Nicholas Hoyt (1622-1655) is the closest cognate. The carving on the stiles and lower rail of the Hoyt chest relate directlyto the carvings on the Cordis chest. While the Cordis chest is made with a three-paneled back, also adopted by his son Thomas Barber, Jr. (1644-1711),thechest's refined joinery and carving quality and composition advocates for an attribution to Thomas Barber, Sr. For additional information on Thomas Barber, Sr. and the Windsor joinery tradition see Joshua W. Lane and Donald P. White III, "Fashioning Furniture and Framing Community: Woodworkers and the Rise of a Connecticut River Town," American Furniture 2005, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 2005), pp. 155-64 and Joshua W. Lane and Donald P. White III, The Woodworkers of Windsor: A Connecticut Community of Craftsmen and Their Work, 1635-1715, (Deerfield, MA: Historic Deerfield, Inc., 2003). This chest was likely made for Henry Wolcott (1578-1655) and Elizabeth Saunders (1584-1655) of Windsor, Connecticut. Henry and Elizabeth, originally from the village of Tolland in Somerset, England, initially landed in Nantasket, Massachusetts. He was an original settler of Dorchester, Massachusetts but relocated to Windsor in 1632. Their home in Windsor was at the south end of the town, south of the Farmington river on a tract of land called the ‘Island.’ Their granddaughter, Joanna Wolcott (1668-1755), married John Colton (1659-1727) and from their it descended to their son Simon Colton, who was one of Connecticut's earliest silversmiths. It continued to descend in the Colton and Cordis families until today, making the sale of this important chesta remarkable opportunity to acquire one of America’s earliest pieces of furniture. Condition: new top, water damage and fire damage to feet, proper right back foot replaced, the other back foot detached and in missing parts bag. Provenance: Henry Wolcott (1578-1655) m. Elizabeth Saunders (1584-1655), Windsor, Connecticut; Simon Wolcott (1624-1687) m. Marth Pitkin (1639-1719), Windsor, Connecticut; John Colton (1659-1727) m. Joanna Wolcott (1668-1755), Windsor, Connecticut; Simon Colton (1709-1796) m. Abigail Burt (1714-1760), Longmeadow, Massachusetts. They built the ‘Old Red House’ on the Longmeadow green in 1735; Major Luther Colton (1756-1803) m. Thankful Woolworth (1759-1797) and then m. Mehitable Deming (1763-1856), Longmeadow, Massachusetts; Simon Colton (1793-1877) m. Mary Bradford Flint (1807-1849); Thomas Francis Cordis (1843-1915) m. Annie Byrd (Bird) Colton (1845-1937). Thomas Cordis is a descendent of Cord Cordis (1709-1772), proprietor of the British Coffee House in Boston; Thomas Edward Cordis (1884-1936) m. Annie Marguerite Holden (1891-1975); Edward Colton Cordis (1913-2002) m. Mary Elizabeth Walcott Grabe (b. 1904), Litchfield, Connecticut; Mary Anne Cordis (1951-2018), Suffield, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $162,500 | |
| VERY FINE AND RARE CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY GAMES TABLE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1760, Height 27.375 in. by Width 20.375 in. by Depth 15,625 in. This card table is distinguished by its small size and fine carving to the knees and returns. A slightly larger, related card table features shell carved knees but offers single pendant husks (see Sotheby's, New York, Important American Furniture and Folk Art, October 14, 1989, sale 5905, lot 321). The carving to the returns, the rather straight cabriole legs, and the shape of the claw-and-ball feet also appear on a high chest of drawers (see Leigh Keno American Antiques advertisement, Magazine Antiques, May 1994, p. 619). The carved legs are similar to designs by the Boston carver John Welch, an artisan who carved numerous picture frames for John Singleton Copley and who had several important architectural carving commissions. For an example of Welch's carving, see Alan Miller "Roman Gusto in New England: An Eighteenth-Century Boston Furniture Designer and His Shop", American Furniture, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Hanover, NH, Chipstone Foundation, 1993), p. 170, figs. 11 and 12. Comparisons of the carving on this table and on Welsh's architectural work however do not warrant an attribution to Welsh for the present table. Provenance: Christie's New York, Important American Furniture, Silver, Prints, Folk Art and Decorative Arts, January 22, 1994, sale 7820, lot 288; Leigh Keno American Antiques, New York. Condition: Surface has been cleaned and a varnish applied. Drawer retains original brass knob. Hinges were once located under playing surface and have now been removed and patched. There are hinges visible on either side of the playing surface and by side hinges. The baize playing surface has been replaced. It originally has a teal blue leather covering. In the nineteenth century a piece of wood measuring 7.75" by 4.875” was applied to the interior surface of the facade to the left side of the drawer to stabilize shrinkage cracks. Piece broke out of rear right leg at knee juncture to skirt and repaired. Right rear side return replaced. Retains an accession number (1970.394) on underside of left rear rail. Another set of surface hinges were added at one time. The rear right leg broke out and has been re-glued. The top has been reset several times and has numerous glue blocks. The top of the back swing gate has been shaved. The top of the leg has lost ¼ inch in height. One glue block has been added to the bottom of the right front drawer runner, White pine secondary wood. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $20,000-30,000 Price Realized: $62,500 | |
| RARE AND IMPORTANT CANVASWORK PICTURE: A HUNTING SCENE WITH DOGS, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1748, afine Queen Anne needlework picture worked in a tent stitch with French and Colonial knots in polychrome wool yarns and silk threads on a linen ground depicting a rider on horse back with three dogs on hilly ground chasing a leaping stag, the group surrounded by flowers, strawberries, blossoming trees, geese and other fanciful birds, with a brick dwelling in the background; the reverse with old paper backing indistinctly inscribed in graphiteStodra,and what appears to be itsoriginal stretcher. 16.875 by 20.125 in. This needlework relates directly to a needlework that was wrought by Anna Woodbury (Swett) of Boston, Massachusetts (see Sotheby's New York, Important Americana, January 25, 2015, sale 9100, lot 241). For other related canvaswork pictures, see Betty Ring,Girlhood Embroidery American Samplers & Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850, Vol. I, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), pp 44-53. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $100,000-150,000 Price Realized: $100,000 | |
| ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY (1738 - 1815) PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MERCHANT OIL ON CANVAS, Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1760-1764, 36 by 28 in. Condition: In overall good condition retaining rich color, vibrancy, and detail. Some light craquelure, particularly to the dark background upper proper right area. A 2 by 2-inch T-shaped repair proper right of the sitter's shoulder and two repairs proper left of the sitter's chin and left shoulder, all three with inpainting. Light scattered inpainting on the face and lining the lips, and inpainting below the sitter's collar and on his sleeve proper right. Canvas has been lined, stretcher not original. Provenance: Christie’s New York, Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Decorative Arts, October 5, 2000, sale 9468, lot 51. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $12,000-18,000 Price Realized: $52,500 | |
| AMMI PHILLIPS (1788 - 1865) PORTRAIT OF A SEATED CHILD IN A PINK DRESS WITH A SPANIEL AND CORAL TEETHING RING OIL ON CANVAS, Columbia County, New York, circa 1835, 31 by 25 in., appears to retain its original stretcher and grain painted frame, canvas not relined. This portrait, categorized as number 797 under the ‘Late 1820’s to late 1830’s: The Children in Red Dresses’ group in Allaway’s comparative study, is cataloged as an “Unidentified Child / holding teething ring and dog.” Wearing a salmon frock with white undulating embroidery, the child holds a coral teething ring in left and the paw of the eager spaniel in right hand. The child in this portrait is perhaps one of the youngest in the entire ‘Red Dress’ group, making it difficult to resolutely assign gender. While one indication of gender being hair parting – boys being parted to the side and girls being parted in the middle – is obsolete given the thin hair of this child, most children that Phillips pairs with the spaniel are girls rather than boys. Additionally, the slightly exaggerated upturned features of the mouth, the wide-set placement of the eyes, and the small rounded shape of the nose are more inherently female attributes. The spaniel, featured in many of Phillips’ portraits, has actually been thought to be his own dog, trained to amuse the child during the mundane sitting process. It is interesting that this child, especially for being so young, has seemed to garner more affection from her canine companion than any other child rendered by Phillips. According to provenance, this girl was related to another Phillips' painting of a man resting his hand on the bible holding a quill from the 'Realistic period,' number 562, which was sold in these rooms on May 22, 2003, sale 7905, lot 765. Condition: original stretcher and frame, canvas not relined. Very minor retouch: a few scattered, pepper flake size specks on child's upper lip, nose, under lower lip, chest and dress bodice; several small specks around dog's head, and a few small scattered spots to background, a few small spots near l.l. edge and u.r. edge. Exhibited: Freehold, New Jersey, Monmouth County Historical Association, Masterpieces of American Folk Art, September 30 - November 29, 1975, illus. p. 92; Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, Newcomers Club, Bicentennial Survey, 1976; Loretto, Pennsylvania, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Selections from Private Collections of the Southern Alleghenies Region October 4 – November 30, 1980, illus. no. 80. Literature: Antiques Review, (March 1987); Leigh Rehner Jones and Shirley A. Mearns, "Ammi Phillips’s Portraits with Animals,"The Hudson Valley Regional Review,4:2 (September 1987), p. 74; Antiques and The Arts Weekly, January 15, 1988, p. 99; Lita Solis-Cohen, Maine Antique Digest, March 1988, p. 14-A; David R. Allaway, My People: The Works of Ammi Phillips, (self published [https://issuu.com/n2xb/docs/ammi_phillips_-_abstract__thumbnail and https://issuu.com/n2xb/docs/ammi_phillips_-_analysis__indexed_], 2019), vol 1., pp. 20, 248, no. 797, vol 2., pp. 71, 100. Provenance: L Dorothea and Dean Nelson, Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania; Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, Important American 18th, 19th and 20th Century Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, June 2, 1983, sale 5055, lot 13; Peter H. Tillou, Litchfield, Connecticut; Mr. & Mrs. Andy Williams, La Quinta, California; Skinner, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, American Furniture & Decorative Arts, March 3, 2013, sale 2640B, lot 14. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $200,000-300,000 Price Realized: $250,000 | |
| THE JOHN FORDHAM 'LIBERTY FOR AMERICA' REVOLUTIONARY WAR POWDER HORN, SAG HARBOR, NEW YORK, APRIL 12, 1776, inscribed LIBERTY FOR AMARICA/ MADE BY THE ONE RINF/ INF/ IOHN FORDHAMS HORN/ MADE APRIL 12 AD 1776and SAGG HARBOURon ring above; inscribed JR on butt plug. Length 12 in. John Nathan Fordham (1754-1808) carved this horn at the age of twenty-one while serving under Colonel Philip Van Courtlandt in New York's 2nd Regiment of the Line. He later served as sergeant major under Colonel Lewis Dubois in New York's 5th Regiment of the Lineand is buried in Sag Harbor's Old Burial Ground, along with several other Revolutionary War patriots. Condition: In overall fine condition. One large crack in upper half with the majority of brass band broken off. Appears to retain its original butt plate. Wooden plug and piece of broken off leather in spare parts bag. Accession number A8447 listed on rim near butt end. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $5,000-7,000 Price Realized: $47,500 | |
| WILLIAM MATTHEW PRIOR (1806-1873) BUST PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG BLACK GENTLEMAN OIL ON ARTIST BOARD, circa 1840, 14.125 by 10.125 in. The presence of African-American sitters in Prior’s work is expansivein comparison to other artists ofhis time, when racism in the United States flourished, even in the pro-Abolitionist city of Boston where Prior worked. Nevertheless, black sitters are still extremely rare and constitute less than one percent of the artist oeuvre. In some cases, Prior would sign his portraits of African-Americans both as an artistic statement and expression of his moral values. This portrait of a young black man is portrayed in Prior’s flat style, identical to the way in whichhe had portrayed white men (seen, for example, in the previous lot in this sale of the Bust Portrait of a Man with Sideburns). While the democratizing of portraiture was a result of the times, economy, and Prior's own religious and social convictions, it is evident that this portrait of the black gentleman was executed with equality in mind. Skin may differ; but affection dwells in white and black just the same. There is [no] justice in . . . slavery . . . being inconsistent with God's government and inconsistent with our declaration and constitution as a nation. -William Matthew Prior, Empyrean Canopy, 1868. Condition: In overall good condition. Some scattered inpainting above the sitter's head and to the proper left side, as well as the proper left side of his coat. Negligible areas of inpaint on his cheek and forehead. A heavy coat of varnish of a later date with general light craquelure. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $8,000-12,000 Price Realized: $112,500 | |
| IMPORTANT FRAKTUR BIRTH AND BAPTISMAL CERTIFICATE FOR DAVID CUSCHWA, WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND, CIRCA 1805, 11.375 by 15.25 in., sight This very rare and highly important southern fraktur begins with several lines of elaborate German text, which read in translation: "Whoever believes and is baptized should be saved, but those who don't believe will be damned." It then continues on to record the birth of David Cuschwa on September 10, 1804, in the "Provintz"or province of Maryland and his subsequent baptism by Pastor Rahauser on March 20, 1805. David’s parents are identified as Johannes and Catharina (Seibert) Cuschwa. In German script, a later hand added a notation at the bottom of the certificate stating that David died and was buried in the year 1831 at age 26 years, 4 months, and 15 days. Beneath the text, the fraktur artist has painted an extraordinary scene rife with symbolism of the American Revolution. At the left, a crowned figure stands in front of a castle, identified as George III in the German text underneath which is flanked by a recumbent lion symbolizing the British monarchy. At the right, a man on horseback bearing a raised sword is identified underneath as General George Washington and accompanied by a trumpeting solider and a shield-bearing eagle based on the Great Seal of the United States. Across the green field in between King George and Washington is a row of five soldiers, each holding a musket with fixed bayonet and wearing the distinctive tall, pointed headgear of Hessian soldiers—specialized mercenaries who served under the British command. About 30,000 German-speaking soldiers, mostly from the state of Hesse-Kassel, served in the American Revolution. Many remained in America after the war, settling in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and other areas with heavy concentrations of German-speaking people. The inclusion of Hessian soldiers on this Maryland fraktur may be particularly significant, as there was a so-called “Hessian Barracks” constructed in 1777 near Frederick, Maryland, by British and Hessian prisoners of war. It housed prisoners from the battles of Saratoga, Trenton, and Yorktown. Southern fraktur are far less common than examples from Pennsylvania. In addition to the birthplace of Maryland recorded on this certificate, several other clues link it more precisely to the Hagerstown area of Washington County, Maryland. First, the pastor who conducted the baptism can be securely identified as Jonathan Rahauser (1764–1817), a native of York County, Pennsylvania, who was ordained as a minster of the German Reformed Church in 1791. Rahauser led the Hagerstown area charge from 1782 until his death in 1817, serving numerous backcountry congregations along the Pennsylvania–Maryland including Besore’s, Greencastle, Conocococheague, Funkstown, and Troxel’s. Second, the Cuschwa/Cushwa family has deep roots in the vicinity of Clear Spring, located about 12 miles west of Hagerstown but still well within Washington County, Maryland. David Cuschwa, the recipient of this fraktur, is buried in a family cemetery located in Clear Spring along with his parents, grandparents, and numerous siblings. David’s grandfather, Johannes/John Cushwa Sr. (1731–1805), was a native of Berks County, Pennsylvania, who in 1754 assisted in the construction of Braddock’s Road in western Pennsylvania and later served in the American Revolution. Around 1760, John Cushwa settled in what is now Washington County, Maryland, in an area that became known as Cushwa’s Establishment. Condition: In overall good condition retaining rich color and detail. General foxing, yellowing, and crazing of the ink commensurate with age and medium. Two vertical and one horizontal crease. Diagonal crease to upper proper right corner. Some script added later. A patch in the lower proper right floral border, a patch in the foreground underneath the script "d. 3 ten," and a patch under the lion's tail replaced. Not examined out of frame. Provenance: Betty Sterling, Connecticut. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $10,000-15,000 Price Realized: $20,000 | |
| IMPORTANT CHIPPENDALE CARVED AND FIGURED MAHOGANY CHEST-ON-CHEST, THE CASE ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS AFFLECK (1740-1795), CARVING ATTRIBUTED TO HERCULES COURTENAY (1744-1784), PHILADELPHIA, CIRCA1770, appears to retain a majority of its original cartouche and cast brass hardware, Height 88 in. by Width 47.25 in. by Depth 22.75 in. Retaining its original urn-and-foliate carved cartouche and brass hardware, this chest-on-chest represents the collaborative effort of two of Philadelphia’s finest eighteenthcentury artisans. The design and construction follow the shop tradition of Thomas Affleck (1740-1795). Trained in Edinburgh and London, Affleck consistently produced high quality work comparable to leading English cabinetmakers at his shop on Second Street in Philadelphia. He was also one of the few cabinetmakers who owned a personal copy of Thomas Chippendale’s, The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker’s Director, which underscored and emphasized his interest in emulating high-style English furniture in the latest London fashion. The design for this chest-on-chest was based upon several “Library Bookcase” and “Desk & Bookcase” designs illustrated in the 1762 edition with the scroll pediment, urn-and-foliate cartouche, and dentil molding all taken from Chippendale’s patterns.1 The exceptional carving found on this chest relates to work attributed to Hercules Courtenay (1744-1784), the highly talented carver who apprenticed with the London designer and carver, Thomas Johnson, before moving to Philadelphia by 1765. He was working in Benjamin Randolph’s shopby 1766 and in 1769, he was working and advertising independently as a carver and gilder. A similar carving attributed to Courtenay is displayed on a chest-on-chest made by Affleck for Vincent Loockerman (1722-1785) of Dover, Delaware.2 Based on surviving examples, Affleck made several chest-on-chests of this type. In 1775, he made one for David Deshler that is documented by Deshler’s 'Receipt Book' for the years 1772-1796. The latter chest descended through the Roberts, Canby, and Rumford branches of the Deshler family until a descendant gave it to Colonial Williamsburg in 1983 (acc. no. 1983.292). Another chest-on-chest at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was presumably commissioned from Thomas Affleck by William Logan in 1772.3 One at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is pictured in Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art (Philadelphia, 1976), fig. 76, p. 96. Two others attributed to Affleck with a pitched pediment include one in the Hennage Collection and one with a history in the James family that sold in these rooms, January 19, 2008, lot 186.4 In 1935, this chest-on-chest was published as pl. 172 in Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture by William MacPherson Hornor. It was owned at the time by Robert Kennedy Wurts (1871-1944) of Philadelphia, although its owner is misidentified in the caption as Miss Elizabeth Cuthbert Thomas. Son of Charles S. Wurts (1830-1907) and Mary S. Wurts (born 1844) of Philadelphia, Robert Kennedy Wurts was a Princeton graduate who later worked as a banker in Philadelphia. He married Katherine Beach Newbold (1874-1907) on November 19, 1896 and they had three daughters. After Robert Wurts’s death in 1944, this chest remained in the possession of one of his daughters until 1991 when it was sold in these rooms. 1Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (London, 1762): plates XCI, XCII, and XCIII. 2See Christie’s, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. James L. Britton, January 16, 1999, sale 9068, lot 614. 3See Morrison Heckscher, American Furniture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, 1985), fig. 147, p. 227. 4Elizabeth Stillinger, American Antiques: The Hennage Collection (Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1990). Condition: With its original cartouche. The cartouche with upper tip replaced, slight losses to leafage, proper right rosette hatched on back side, and lacking central rose carving. Literature: William MacPherson Hornor, Jr., Horner's Blue Book, Philadelphia Furniture, plate 173 (caption reversed with plate 172). Provenance: Robert Kennedy Wurts (1871-1944) and his wife, Katherine Beach Newbold Wurts (1874-1927); Thence by descent to their daughter, who sold it at Sotheby’s, Fine Americana, October 26, 1991, sale 6227, lot 410; The Phillip B. Steer Collection of Americana; Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana: Silver, Porcelain, Prints, Folk Art and Furniture, January 22, 2000, Sale 7420, Lot 673; C.L. Prickett Antiques, Yardley, Pennsylvania. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $100,000-150,000 Price Realized: $112,500 | |
| FINE PAIR OF CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY SIDE CHAIRS, POSSIBLY FROM THE WORKSHOP OF THOMAS TUFFT (1740-1788), PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, CIRCA 1770, each retaining a dark rich historic surface. Height 38.5 in. Provenance: Mr. and Mrs. James Eric Butt, Malvern, Pennsylvania; Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana,January 17, 1997, sale 6957, lot 810; C.L. Prickett Antiques, Yardley, Pennsylvania. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $20,000-30,000 Price Realized: $47,500 | |
| PIE-CRUST TEA TABLE, PROBABLY LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, CIRCA1765, bearing a handwritten paper labelon underside of top, This stand was bought by Judge Jacob Rudisill & his wife for a bridal present to their niece, Elisebett Welsh... about the year of 1800. It came into my possession in 1845. / Agnes C Welsh Spangler 1901. Height 29 in. by Diameter 31 in. Johann Jacob Rudisill (1750-1810) was a judge in Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, who married Anna Eva Huppert in 1772 andservedas a first lieutenant in the 6th Battalion, 2nd Company of the York County Militia during the American Revolutionary War. Ironically after being elected as a York County coroner, Judge Rudisill died in a sleighing accident, which was covered by an article in theDecember 15, 1810 issue of the York Recorder. Condition: In overall fine condition with beautiful, even patina. The piecrust top with some light wear to the molded edge and shrinkage cracks commensurate with age and form, one crack with visible patch on underside of top. Wooden braces on underside of top with some later hardware. Key holding birdcage in place replaced. The standard and legs in very good condition with very light wear and no apparent breaks. Secondary Wood: Cherrywood. Provenance: John Walton Antiques, Jewitt City, Connecticut; Sotheby's, New York, Important American Furniture and Folk Art fromthe Estate ofAndrew D. Wolfe, January 20, 2001, sale 7591, lot 74; C.L. Prickett Antiques, Yardley, Pennsylvania. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $20,000-30,000 Price Realized: $35,000 | |
| IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE LEE FAMILY CHIPPENDALE CARVED MAHOGANY BEDSTEAD, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, CIRCA 1775, lacking knee returns. Approximate Height 7 ft. 10 in. by Width 5 ft. by Depth 6 ft. 8 in. With its shaped headboard, reeded posts, and four cabriole legs with acanthus-carved knees and claw feet, this bedstead is an extremely rare and sophisticated example of its form from Colonial Philadelphia, where it undoubtedly originated from one of the city’s finest cabinet shops. It has a history of ownership in the Lee family of Virginia until 1995, when a descendant gave it to the current owner. It has never been offered on the marketplace until today. According to family history, this bedstead was owned by Major-General Henry Lee III (1756-1818), the American patriot, Revolutionary War General and Governor of Virginia, and his second wife, Anne Hill Carter (1773-1829). Known as “Light Horse Harry” for his horsemanship, Major-General Lee commanded a mixed corps of cavalry and infantry knows as 'Lee’s Legion.' In 1794, at the request of President Washington, he commanded militiamen sent to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. He was appointed major general of the U. S. Army in 1798 and recommissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1808, when war with Great Britain was imminent. After serving as a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, Harry Lee served in the General Assembly and later in the United States House of Representatives. While eulogizing George Washington at his funeral in 1799, he famously described the first President as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” After he retired from public service in 1801, he lived with his family at Stratford Hall, the Lee family plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and later in Alexandria, Virginia. The bedstead descended to Harry and Anne’s son, Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), the Confederate soldier and commander of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War, and his wife Mary Anna Randolph Custis (1807-1873), the adopted great granddaughter of George Washington. He was born at Stratford Hall Plantation in 1807 and spent his early years there. After surrendering his army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in 1865, Lee became president of Washington College (later Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia, where he supported reconciliation between the North and South. He served in that capacity until his death in 1870. After his wife’s death in 1873, this bed remained in the Lee family and descended through several generations to Dr. Edward Stitt Fleming of Washington, D.C., a prominent psychiatrist who founded the Psychiatric Institutes of America. He gifted it to the current owner in 1995. A related Philadelphia bedstead with a shaped headboard, reeded posts, and cabriole legs with shell carved knees is illustrated by William MacPherson Hornor in Blue Book Philadelphia Furniture (1935, pl. 242) as the property of Mrs. Charles F. Williams. Condition: In overall fine condition with general wear and scuffs throughout commensurate with age and use. All feet with hairline cracks but no apparent replacements. The proper right back foot with the rear talon chipped. The proper front feet with missing outside laminates and a chip to the proper left talon. The end rail with lifted varnish. The headboard appears to be pieced. Missing knee returns and back proper right knee laminate missing. Bed posts shortened approximately an inch to two inches from the top. Please note that the headboard is possibly an early replacement and that the provenance should state that this bedstead descended in the family of Richard Bland Lee (1761-1827) rather than his brother Henry “Light Horse” Lee. The bedstead likely was originally owned by Henry Giles Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" in Prince William County, Virginia and Lucy Ludwell Grymes (1734–1792). The bedstead then descended to Richard Bland Lee of "Sully" in Fairfax County, Virginia and Elizabeth Collins (c.1768–1858); to their son, Richard Bland Lee, Jr. (1797-1875) and Julia Anne Marion Prosser (1805-1886), Alexandria, Virginia; to their daughter, Mary Elizabeth Lee (1827-1902) and Dr. Robert Fleming (1816-1871), Washington, DC; to their son Alfred Walton Fleming (1861-1957) and Gay Barnard Fleming (1866-1936), Washington, DC; to their son Richard Bland Lee Fleming (1900-1964), Washington, DC who placed it on loan to Stratford Hall Plantation from 1933 to 1974; Dr. Edward Stitt Fleming (1930-1997), Washington, DC; through marriage, to the current owner in 1995. Exhibited: Stratford Hall Plantation, Westmoreland County, Virginia. Provenance: The bedstead likely was originally owned by Henry Giles Lee II (1730–1787) of "Leesylvania" in Prince William County, Virginia and Lucy Ludwell Grymes (1734–1792). The bedstead then descended to Richard Bland Lee of “Sully” in Fairfax County, Virginia and Elizabeth Collins (c.1768–1858); to their son, Richard Bland Lee, Jr. (1797-1875) and Julia Anne Marion Prosser (1805-1886), Alexandria, Virginia; to their daughter, Mary Elizabeth Lee (1827-1902) and Dr. Robert Fleming (1816-1871), Washington, DC; to their son Alfred Walton Fleming (1861-1957) and Gay Barnard Fleming (1866-1936), Washington, DC; to their son Richard Bland Lee Fleming (1900-1964), Washington, DC who placed it on loan to Stratford Hall Plantation from 1933 to 1974; Dr. Edward Stitt Fleming (1930-1997), Washington, DC; through marriage, to the current owner in 1995. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $15,000-25,000 Price Realized: $43,750 | |
| JOHN JAMES AUDUBON (AFTER) AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN (PLATE CCCXI) Hand-colored aquatint, engraving and etching, 1836, by R. Havell, on wove paper with the J Whatman 1836 watermark, framed sheet: 982 by 657 mm 38.75 by 25.875 in Condition: With wide margins, the print is in good condition apart from faint discoloration in the margins and some mottled fox marks, primarily visible on verso. A 1 inch repaired tear in the lower margin at right. A 5 inch diagonal crease in the upper right corner, through the plate number but not extending into the image. A few faint scuffs in the background at right. (Nicks and stitch holes along the left disbound edge.) Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $90,000-120,000 Price Realized: $137,500 | |
| JOHN JAMES AUDUBON (AFTER) GREAT BLUE HERON (PLATE CCXI) Hand-colored aquatint, engraving, and etching, 1834, by R. Havell, on wove paper with the J Whatman 1836 watermark, framed sheet: 981 by 665 mm 38.625 by 26.125 in Condition: With margins, the print is in good condition apart from faint mat-stain, slightly darker at mat opening, and the colors are very slightly attenuated. Occasional minor creases, including a few soft diagonal creases near the subject's head, and a few spots of pale surface soiling. (Faint discoloration and a few pale mottled fox marks on the verso, showing through very slightly in the unprinted areas. A few remnants of paper tape at the sheet edges on the verso. The disbound edge uneven and with a few nicks and stitch holes.) Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $80,000-120,000 Price Realized: $118,750 | |
| AN AMERICAN SILVER PORRINGER, PAUL REVERE, JR., BOSTON, CIRCA 1780, the keyhole handle engraved with block initialsA*B marked in center of bowl REVERE in a rectangle (Kane mark B) 7 oz 10 dwt, 236 g, length 7.75 in., 19.7 cm Condition: The bowl with several small creases and dings and two larger dents. Otherwise, in good condition. Provenance: Reverend Ebenezer Dawes (1755-1822), Scituate, MA, and by descent. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, Important Americana, January 26, 2020. Estimate: $20,000-30,000 Price Realized: $52,500 | |
| EDWARD HICKS 1780 - 1849, PORTRAIT OF ANDREW JACKSON OIL IN CANVAS LAID ON BOARD, circa 1832, 21.5 by 19.75 in. Condition: In overall fine condition with a thin coat of nicely aged varnish and minimal craquelure. Scattered inpainting throughout, most of which appears to be old. The most prominent areas of inpainting include the sitter's forehead above the proper right eye, the proper left eyebrow and spectacle, the ear, and a thin line on the collar. This inpainting appears to have been performed by a professional restorer as it shows light handedness and does not diminish the integrity of the artwork. Literature: Leonardo L. Beans, The Life and Work of Edward Hicks (Trenton: L.L. Beans, 1951) p. 27; Alice Ford, Edward Hicks, His Life and Art(New York: Abbeville Press, 1985), p. 184-185; Alice Ford, Edward Hicks, The Painter of the Peaceable Kingdom(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1952) fig. 17, p. 146; Eleanore Price Mather and Dorothy Canning Miller, Edward Hicks, His Peaceable Kingdoms and Other Paintings(Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1983), p. 165; Carolyn J. Weekley, The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks(Williamsburg:Harry N. Abrams, 1999), fig. 163, pp. 163-164, 219. Exhibited: Newtown, Pennsylvania, Newtown 275th Anniversary, 1959; Williamsburg, Virginia, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, 1960; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art,Edwards Hicks, His Peaceable Kingdoms and Other Paintings; also traveled to Denver, Colorado, Denver Art Museum, and Williamsburg, Virginia, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, 1999-2000; Kansas City, Missouri, Nelson Atkins Museum, long-term loan 1989-2006. Provenance: By descent in the Hicks family; Christie's New York, Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver, Prints & Decoys, January 18, 2007, sale 1787, lot 280. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, A New Dimension in Tradition, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $20,000-30,000 Price Realized: $52,500 | |
| EXCEPTIONAL AND RARE MOLDED SHEET-COPPER AND ZINC FIRE PUMPER AND DOUBLE-HORSE WEATHERVANE, CUSHING & WHITE, WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, CIRCA 1870, Height 28 in. by Width 48 in. by Depth 10 in. Cushing & White made a number of these steam fire engine vanes for New England fire houses, several of which are still owned by the houses for which they were built. Their design was modeled on steam fire engines built by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester, New Hampshire, which sold more than 700 of their extremely well-built and technically advanced vehicles to fire companies around the country between 1859 and 1877. The boilers carried on these engines could throw a steady stream of water more than 150 feet into the air and changed the face of firefighting in the US and Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. The fearless horses that pulled these heavy machines were affectionately called “smoke-eaters” by the firemen who drove and rode on the wagons and depended on their speed, daring, obedience, and skill. Two Amoskeag fire engines arriving from Manchester, one of them the company’s first self-propelled model, helped fight the Great Fire in Boston on November 9-10, 1872, which burned sixty-five acres of the city’s downtown and destroyed 776 buildings. That fall, an equine influenza had sickened thousands of horses throughout the country. Most of the animals recovered, but Boston firefighters were so short of horse power that they were forced to pull equipment by hand. A nearly identical weathervane can be found in the collection of the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, and anothervane of this type was illustrated by Beverly Chichester for the Index of American Design (1943.8.7697) in 1937, nowowned by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Literature: Advertised by John Bihler and Henry Coger Antiques in The MagazineAntiques, June 1966; Robert Bishop, American Folk Sculpture (New York:E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1974), p. 265. Provenance: Possibly from a firehouse in Lowell, Massachusetts; John Bihler and Henry Coger Antiques, Ashley Falls, Massachusetts; Private Collection: James D. Julia Auction, Fairfield, Maine, February 27-28, 1999, lot 50; Stephen Score, Boston, Massachusetts. Sold at Sotheby’s Auction, A New Dimension in Tradition, January 25, 2020. Estimate: $100,000-150,000 Price Realized: $437,500 |
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