American, circa 1840
Watercolor on paper thin ivory, with human hair, in original brass locket, 2 9/16 x 2 5/16 inches, oval
Please contact us for a full condition report
Though similar in quality and style to miniature portraits by Clarissa Peters (Mrs. Moses B. Russell), we attribute this likeness to another hand. This fine miniature portrait depicts a contented little girl with large brown eyes and flaxen hair, half-length, wearing a pink dress and holding a rose, seated in a brown-painted tablet back Windsor armchair. Woven flaxen colored hair from the sitter is preserved on the backside of the locket under glass.
Probably Massachusetts, circa 1840-1860
Opaque watercolor on paper, 12 5/8 x 17 5/8 inches
Cleaned and de-acidified, repair to vertical crease along right side from being previously folded; mounted to museum standards in a period frame.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
Provenance:
Found in Sunderland, MA; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Hammitt, Woodbury, CT; Private collection; Thomas R. Longacre, Marlborough, NH; Frank and Barbara Pollack, Highland Park, IL; David A. Schorsch and Eileen M. Smiles, Woodbury, CT, 2007; Private collection, 2007-2020.
Exhibited:
“American Folk Art from Connecticut Collections,” Newtown Historical Society, Newtown, CT, 1974.
“The Cat in American Folk Art,” The Museum of American Folk Art, New York, 1976.
Published:
Bruce Johnson, American Cat-alogue (New York, 1976), no. 28.
New York Region, Circa 1740
Maple, old or original brown paint, original split-seat, 49 x26 ½ x 17 inches
In a fine state of preservation; area of rewoven repair to original splint seat.
Please contact us for full condition report
This is a highly imaginative interpretation of a “Dutch” style armchair with dramatic throne-like proportions and elegantly executed details. Disc-turned finials with baluster-shaped stiles flank the arched crest. The whimsical champhered-edged splat incorporates the extremely rare feature of a pierced heart above a fylfot. The rollover arms of fine profile are elegantly champhered. The chair retains its original split seat, on stylized trumpet turned legs ending in ball-like pad frontal feet, ball-and-reel turned frontal stretcher, cylindrical turned rear legs. A related rush-seated armchair of similar proportions and turnings with a variant heart-pierced splat design is illustrated in an advertisement for Williams Antiques, Old Greenwich, Connecticut in The Magazine Antiques, May 1950, p. 333.
Provenance:
A pioneer Connecticut Americana collection; Lincoln and Jean Sander, Redding, CT; John Keith Russell, South Salem, NY; David A. Schorsch, Greenwich, CT, 1985; Private collection.
Literature:
David A. Schorsch, “Living with antiques, A collection of American folk art in the Midwest,” in The Magazine Antiques, October 1990, p.784, pl. XIII.
Federal Painted Tall-Case Clock
Concord, New Hampshire, circa 1810
Birch, white pine, brass works, painted iron face, original brass finials, with original red paint, 92 x 20 x 9 ½ inches
Saddle board stamped twice: “T.CHANDLER.”
Please contact us for full condition report
With its rare original paint and handsome form, this is the finest known examples of a red-painted country Federal tall clock with original works by Major Timothy Chandler, one of the most celebrated New Hampshire clockmakers. It was formerly in the collection of Charles S. Parsons, Jr., a noted scholar of New Hampshire decorative arts, best known for the book The Dunlaps & Their Furniture. In 1976 Parsons described this clock as: “Figure 17… in its original red paint. Although it does not carry quarter columns in the waist, the size of the door adds an attractive appearance of pleasing proportions. The details of construction also indicate an experienced cabinetmaker who added a scrolled skirt and delicate fretwork.”
Provenance:
Collection of Charles S. Parsons, Jr.
Published:
Charles S. Parsons, Jr. New Hampshire Clocks & Clockmakers (Exeter, NH, 1976), pp. 22-23.
Isaac Orr and Mary Johnson Orr
Corinth, Vermont, circa 1834
Each, watercolor and pencil on paper, 27 x 23 inches, mounted to museum standards in reproduction veneered frames
Please contact us for a full condition report.
This pair of portraits depicting Isaac Orr (1804-1873) and his wife, Mary Johnson Orr (1808-1870) of Corinth, Vermont rank among the most powerful and highly stylized known examples by Dr. Samuel A. Shute. Painted two years before his untimely death at age 33, these extraordinary portraits are notably flamboyant and freely painted in a style unique to Samuel Shute. They were part of a commission that also included a smaller watercolor portrait of their daughter, Atlantis Orr (1831-1860), 17 x 14 inches, inscribed on back: “April, 1834, Atlantis Orr 2 years 7 months” now in a private collection, illustrated in A Sampler of Recent Acquisitions II (David A. Schorsch, New York, 1992).
Watercolor portraits by Samuel A. Shute are rare when compared to the body of work done together with or individually painted by his wife, Ruth W. Shute (1803-1882). An unusual and distinguishing characteristic of Samuel Shute’s most highly stylized portraits are stark white-painted faces exemplified in the portrait of Mary Johnson Orr and “Woman with two canaries” in Jean Lipman and Tom Armstrong, Eds., American Folk Painters of Three Centuries (New York, 1980), p. 165. Additional watercolor portraits by Samuel A. Shute include “Dr. and Mrs. Charles Chandler” of 1829 in Lipman and Armstrong, p. 167; “Gentleman wearing a striped waistcoat and Woman wearing a bonnet with pink ribbons” in Stacy C. Hollander, Ed., American Radiance, The Ralph Esmerian gift to The American Folk Art Museum, p. 54, plate 25a-b, and “Lady with a colored belt” in Marna Anderson, A Loving Likeness, American Folk Portraits of The Nineteenth Century (Princeton, NJ, 1992), p. 38.
Provenance:
Found in St. Johnsbury, VT; Collection of Stephen Corrigan and Douglas Jackman, Rockingham, VT; Walters-Benisek, Northampton, MA; Private collection; Stephen Score, Boston, MA; David A. Schorsch and Eileen M. Smiles, Woodbury, CT; Private collection.
Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1760 Walnut, maple, white pine, with original brasses, 69 x 38 x 19 inches Please contact us for full condition report
This is a classic example of a flat-top Queen Anne high chest made in Salem, Massachusetts, having the signature attributes of a distinctively scalloped apron with central diamond cut-out, spurred knee returns, and elegantly shaped cabriole legs with pad feet. This particular apron design is one of the most beautiful made in colonial America and occurs on a small number of Salem high chests regarded as the best of kind.
Red haired little girl in a white dress Possibly Portland, Maine, dated 1832 Oil on artist board, 22 x 19 inches Inscribed in ink on verso: “W.M. Prior / 1832.” Cleaned and re-varnished, in a reproduction veneered frame. Please contact us for a full condition report.
This portrait of a red-haired little girl in a white dress wearing a coral necklace with heart-shaped pendant is signed and dated by William Matthew Prior (1806-1873), one of the most prominent and influential American folk painters of the nineteenth century. Beginning early in his career Prior cleverly adapted his portrait painting style to respond to the taste and budget of his clientele, that ranged from simple and inexpensive “flat” likenesses to highly polished “shaded” portraits in a nearly academic mode. The dramatic clouds in the background of this portrait anticipate the skies of landscapes that Prior painted in his later years
Provenance: Collection of Marjorie Wyman, St. Louis, MO; Private collection.
Rhode Island or Massachusetts, circa 1780 Maple, chestnut, white pine, with original hardware, 25 ½ x 30 x 14 ¾ inches Please contact us for full condition report
This is a finely miniaturized version of a classic New England tall chest, with split top drawers and bracket feet, and mellow color. The use of wooden-spring “Quaker” drawer locks and chestnut drawer linings are indicative of early case furniture made in Rhode Island and parts of southeastern Massachusetts. The original pierced Chippendale brasses of a rare design add an element of sophistication to this beautifully proportioned little gem.
New England, circa 1830
Hollow-cut watercolor on paper, 4 ½ x 3 ¾ inches, original basswood floral paint decorated frame with original glass and backboard.
Please contact us for full condition report.
The young gentleman in profile, with hollow-cut face, shirt and collar; the hair, shirt, and two-tone colored coat picked out in watercolor. The silhouette retaining its remarkable original paint decorated flat frame, with quarter round interior corners, and decorated with flowers and leaves, a stylized sun, pinwheels, and a basket of flowers in vibrant shades of red and green on a yellow background. The frame is carved from the solid with no joinery employed. In a superb state of preservation, in untouched condition, with original glass and backboard secured by original tiny wooden pins. This is a gem of the very finest quality.
Provenance:
Collection of Carolyn and Tom Porter, Delaware, OH.
Western Massachusetts, dated July 4, 1831
Watercolor and ink on maple with original resin-based finish, replaced bone escutcheon, 3 1/2 x 11 x 7 3/8 inches
Inscribed in ink with verse, “White” and “Green” and “July 4, 1831.” With a later ink inscription on underside: “Mrs. Belle B. Gibbs.”
In a fine state of preservation with original painted decoration.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
Executed in transparent watercolor and ink on a dovetailed maple box with original resin based finish having a warm golden brown patina. This box is remarkable for the clarity and vibrancy of its well preserved landscape decoration painted from life and print sources. The scenes of local New England landscapes include: mountains, red-roofed Federal houses, outbuildings, fences, gardens, and row boat. The vignettes taken from print sources depict pastoral scenes with stone thatched roof cottages, fences, trees, and a castle ruin. The front of the box with a diamond-shaped bone escutcheon and steel lock, is flanked by a poetic verse in tiny block lettering above the names of the artists “White” and Green” and the date “July 4, 1831” in ornamental calligraphic lettering. The underside of the lid is inscribed in script: “This work is trifling, yet my friend, Perhaps to you ’twill sometimes End / A memory of those days that’s past, When joy, and pleasure fleeted past.” It has been suggested that this box may honor President James Monroe who died on July 4 1831. Monroe was popular in his day, overwhelmingly elected president in 1816 and 1820, during a period of increased nationalism after the War of 1812 known as the “Era of Good Feelings” between 1815 and 1825.
Charles F. Montgomery observed that “A little before 1800, ornamental painting became a part of the curriculum in girls’ schools in the United States; and as early as 1812 this was extended to include the painting of tables and work boxes. In Reminiscences of a Nonagenarian, the author writing of Newburyport, comments that in 1812 “Miss Mary Ann Colman was a good teacher of water color painting; the fruit and flower pieces executed at her school were natural and well done. She also taught painting on wood; several work boxes and work-stands, painted under her instruction, are still to be seen in the residences of some of our older citizens.” (American Furniture, The Federal Period…, p. 462.) Dean A. Fales, Jr., noted that “fond parents often obtained from cabinetmakers boxes or tables on which their daughters could demonstrate their newly acquired proficiencies.” (American Painted Furniture…, p. 177). For references to this genre see Charles F. Montgomery, American Furniture, The Federal Period in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum (New York, 1969), figs 478-481; Dean A. Fales, Jr., American Painted Furniture 1660-1880 (New York, 1972), figs 284-286, 290-293; C. Kurt Dewhurst, Betty MacDowell and Marsha MacDowell, Artists in Aprons, Folk Art by American Women, (New York, 1979), figs 58-59; Nina Fletcher Little, Neat and Tidy: Boxes and Their Contents Used in Early American Households (New York, 1980), fig 70 and pl. 20; Cynthia V. A. Schaffner and Susan Klein, American Painted Furniture (New York, 1997), figs 1.37-1.43, and Stacy C. Hollander, Ed., American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (New York, 2001), figs 248 and 250.
Provenance:
Owned by Isabella B. Gibbs (1826-1902), a music teacher from Russell, Massachusetts, a town near Springfield; Nathan Liverant & Son, Colchester, CT.
Possibly Midwestern, circa 1870
Maple, brass nails, glass bead eyes, original painted decoration, 6 x 4 ½ x 2 ¼ inches
In a fine state of preservation with patina, wear and usage appropriate to age.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
This charming and sculptural pipe bowl is uniquely shaped and retains its original painted decoration. The pipe bowl is in the form of a wide-eyed gentleman in a feathered bicorn hat and smoking a cigar while striking an acrobatic pose. The figure’s hinged lower legs and hat lift to reveal the pipe bowl. The face is remarkably detailed with large eyes, mustache, and extended mutton chop side burns. The distinctive shape of this cocked hat is similar to those worn by the American navy during the 1820s and 1830s.
Provenance:
Hill Gallery, Birmingham, MI; Fred Giampietro, New Haven, CT; Collection of Stephen and Petra Levin, Stow, VT.
Probably Massachusetts, circa 1830
Sycamore and white pine, iron tacks and wooden pins, original painted decoration,1 ¾ x 5 x 4 inches, in a fine state of preservation, with minor in-paint to small areas of loss.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
With exceptionally fine floral, vine and striped decoration in shades of red and blue on a mustard yellow ground, this fine New England pantry box is elevated to the highest level of American folk decoration. It clearly evidences the hand of an accomplished ornamental painter. It is one of the very best examples of its type known to us.
Probably Pennsylvania, circa 1880-1900
Softwood, wire legs, original painted decoration, on a modern museum base, 6 x 14 x 2 inches
In a fine state of original preservation
This boldly carved and oversized bird carving has a dynamic and unusual form with unusually long tail feathers, and vibrant original painted decoration in a superb state of preservation. It belongs to a well established tradition of painted bird painted bird carvings made in southern eastern Pennsylvania during the last decades of the nineteenth century, see Richard S. and Rosemarie B. Machmer in Just For Nice, Carving and Whittling Magic of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Reading, Pennsylvania: Berks County Historical Society, 1991).
MINIATURE PORTRAIT OF A LITTLE GIRL IN PINK
American, circa 1840
MINIATURE PORTRAIT OF A LITTLE GIRL IN PINK
American, circa 1840 Watercolor on paper thin ivory, with human hair, in original brass locket, 2 9/16 x 2 5/16 inches, oval Please contact us for a full condition report Though similar in quality and style to miniature portraits by Clarissa Peters (Mrs. Moses B. Russell), we attribute this likeness to another hand. This fine miniature portrait depicts a contented little girl with large brown eyes and flaxen hair, half-length, wearing a pink dress and holding a rose, seated in a brown-painted tablet back Windsor armchair. Woven flaxen colored hair from the sitter is preserved on the backside of the locket under glass.ATTRIBUTED TO THE WORKSHOP OF COLONEL EBENEZER B. TRACY, SR. (1744-1803)
Pair of sack-back Windsor armchairs
New London County, Connecticut, circa 1785-1790
ATTRIBUTED TO THE WORKSHOP OF COLONEL EBENEZER B. TRACY, SR. (1744-1803)
Pair of sack-back Windsor armchairs
New London County, Connecticut, circa 1785-1790
Gray and white cat with mouse
Probably Massachusetts, circa 1840-1860
Gray and white cat with mouse
Probably Massachusetts, circa 1840-1860
Opaque watercolor on paper, 12 5/8 x 17 5/8 inches
Cleaned and de-acidified, repair to vertical crease along right side from being previously folded; mounted to museum standards in a period frame.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
Provenance:
Found in Sunderland, MA; Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Hammitt, Woodbury, CT; Private collection; Thomas R. Longacre, Marlborough, NH; Frank and Barbara Pollack, Highland Park, IL; David A. Schorsch and Eileen M. Smiles, Woodbury, CT, 2007; Private collection, 2007-2020.
Exhibited:
“American Folk Art from Connecticut Collections,” Newtown Historical Society, Newtown, CT, 1974.
“The Cat in American Folk Art,” The Museum of American Folk Art, New York, 1976.
Published:
Bruce Johnson, American Cat-alogue (New York, 1976), no. 28.
Policeman whirligig
American, possibly New York, circa 1890
Policeman whirligig
American, possibly New York, circa 1890
Painted Windsor continuous arm highchair
Probably New York City, circa 1790-1800
Painted Windsor continuous arm highchair
Probably New York City, circa 1790-1800
Queen Anne painted armchair
New York Region, Circa 1740
Queen Anne painted armchair
New York Region, Circa 1740
Maple, old or original brown paint, original split-seat, 49 x26 ½ x 17 inches
In a fine state of preservation; area of rewoven repair to original splint seat.
Please contact us for full condition report
This is a highly imaginative interpretation of a “Dutch” style armchair with dramatic throne-like proportions and elegantly executed details. Disc-turned finials with baluster-shaped stiles flank the arched crest. The whimsical champhered-edged splat incorporates the extremely rare feature of a pierced heart above a fylfot. The rollover arms of fine profile are elegantly champhered. The chair retains its original split seat, on stylized trumpet turned legs ending in ball-like pad frontal feet, ball-and-reel turned frontal stretcher, cylindrical turned rear legs. A related rush-seated armchair of similar proportions and turnings with a variant heart-pierced splat design is illustrated in an advertisement for Williams Antiques, Old Greenwich, Connecticut in The Magazine Antiques, May 1950, p. 333.
Provenance:
A pioneer Connecticut Americana collection; Lincoln and Jean Sander, Redding, CT; John Keith Russell, South Salem, NY; David A. Schorsch, Greenwich, CT, 1985; Private collection.
Literature:
David A. Schorsch, “Living with antiques, A collection of American folk art in the Midwest,” in The Magazine Antiques, October 1990, p.784, pl. XIII.
MAJOR TIMOTHY CHANDLER (1762-1848)
Federal Painted Tall-Case Clock
Concord, New Hampshire, circa 1810
MAJOR TIMOTHY CHANDLER (1762-1848)
Federal Painted Tall-Case Clock
Concord, New Hampshire, circa 1810
Birch, white pine, brass works, painted iron face, original brass finials, with original red paint, 92 x 20 x 9 ½ inches
Saddle board stamped twice: “T.CHANDLER.”
Please contact us for full condition report
With its rare original paint and handsome form, this is the finest known examples of a red-painted country Federal tall clock with original works by Major Timothy Chandler, one of the most celebrated New Hampshire clockmakers. It was formerly in the collection of Charles S. Parsons, Jr., a noted scholar of New Hampshire decorative arts, best known for the book The Dunlaps & Their Furniture. In 1976 Parsons described this clock as: “Figure 17… in its original red paint. Although it does not carry quarter columns in the waist, the size of the door adds an attractive appearance of pleasing proportions. The details of construction also indicate an experienced cabinetmaker who added a scrolled skirt and delicate fretwork.”
Provenance:
Collection of Charles S. Parsons, Jr.
Published:
Charles S. Parsons, Jr. New Hampshire Clocks & Clockmakers (Exeter, NH, 1976), pp. 22-23.
Chippendale shell-carved watch hutch
Rhode Island, circa 1770
Chippendale shell-carved watch hutch
Rhode Island, circa 1770
DR. SAMUEL A. SHUTE (1803-1836)
Isaac Orr and Mary Johnson Orr
Corinth, Vermont, circa 1834
DR. SAMUEL A. SHUTE (1803-1836)
Isaac Orr and Mary Johnson Orr
Corinth, Vermont, circa 1834
Each, watercolor and pencil on paper, 27 x 23 inches, mounted to museum standards in reproduction veneered frames
Please contact us for a full condition report.
This pair of portraits depicting Isaac Orr (1804-1873) and his wife, Mary Johnson Orr (1808-1870) of Corinth, Vermont rank among the most powerful and highly stylized known examples by Dr. Samuel A. Shute. Painted two years before his untimely death at age 33, these extraordinary portraits are notably flamboyant and freely painted in a style unique to Samuel Shute. They were part of a commission that also included a smaller watercolor portrait of their daughter, Atlantis Orr (1831-1860), 17 x 14 inches, inscribed on back: “April, 1834, Atlantis Orr 2 years 7 months” now in a private collection, illustrated in A Sampler of Recent Acquisitions II (David A. Schorsch, New York, 1992).
Watercolor portraits by Samuel A. Shute are rare when compared to the body of work done together with or individually painted by his wife, Ruth W. Shute (1803-1882). An unusual and distinguishing characteristic of Samuel Shute’s most highly stylized portraits are stark white-painted faces exemplified in the portrait of Mary Johnson Orr and “Woman with two canaries” in Jean Lipman and Tom Armstrong, Eds., American Folk Painters of Three Centuries (New York, 1980), p. 165. Additional watercolor portraits by Samuel A. Shute include “Dr. and Mrs. Charles Chandler” of 1829 in Lipman and Armstrong, p. 167; “Gentleman wearing a striped waistcoat and Woman wearing a bonnet with pink ribbons” in Stacy C. Hollander, Ed., American Radiance, The Ralph Esmerian gift to The American Folk Art Museum, p. 54, plate 25a-b, and “Lady with a colored belt” in Marna Anderson, A Loving Likeness, American Folk Portraits of The Nineteenth Century (Princeton, NJ, 1992), p. 38.
Provenance:
Found in St. Johnsbury, VT; Collection of Stephen Corrigan and Douglas Jackman, Rockingham, VT; Walters-Benisek, Northampton, MA; Private collection; Stephen Score, Boston, MA; David A. Schorsch and Eileen M. Smiles, Woodbury, CT; Private collection.
Queen Anne flat-top high chest
Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1760
Queen Anne flat-top high chest
Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1760
Walnut, maple, white pine, with original brasses, 69 x 38 x 19 inches
Please contact us for full condition report
This is a classic example of a flat-top Queen Anne high chest made in Salem, Massachusetts, having the signature attributes of a distinctively scalloped apron with central diamond cut-out, spurred knee returns, and elegantly shaped cabriole legs with pad feet. This particular apron design is one of the most beautiful made in colonial America and occurs on a small number of Salem high chests regarded as the best of kind.
Shaker painted oval box
Probably New Lebanon, NY, circa 1800-1820
Shaker painted oval box
Probably New Lebanon, NY, circa 1800-1820
WILLIAM MATTHEW PRIOR (1806-1873)
Red haired little girl in a white dress
Possibly Portland, Maine, dated 1832
WILLIAM MATTHEW PRIOR (1806-1873)
Red haired little girl in a white dress
Possibly Portland, Maine, dated 1832
Oil on artist board, 22 x 19 inches
Inscribed in ink on verso: “W.M. Prior / 1832.”
Cleaned and re-varnished, in a reproduction veneered frame.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
This portrait of a red-haired little girl in a white dress wearing a coral necklace with heart-shaped pendant is signed and dated by William Matthew Prior (1806-1873), one of the most prominent and influential American folk painters of the nineteenth century. Beginning early in his career Prior cleverly adapted his portrait painting style to respond to the taste and budget of his clientele, that ranged from simple and inexpensive “flat” likenesses to highly polished “shaded” portraits in a nearly academic mode. The dramatic clouds in the background of this portrait anticipate the skies of landscapes that Prior painted in his later years
Provenance:
Collection of Marjorie Wyman, St. Louis, MO; Private collection.
Diminutive country Chippendale chest of drawers
Rhode Island or Massachusetts, circa 1780
Diminutive country Chippendale chest of drawers
Rhode Island or Massachusetts, circa 1780
Maple, chestnut, white pine, with original hardware, 25 ½ x 30 x 14 ¾ inches
Please contact us for full condition report
This is a finely miniaturized version of a classic New England tall chest, with split top drawers and bracket feet, and mellow color. The use of wooden-spring “Quaker” drawer locks and chestnut drawer linings are indicative of early case furniture made in Rhode Island and parts of southeastern Massachusetts. The original pierced Chippendale brasses of a rare design add an element of sophistication to this beautifully proportioned little gem.
Miniature silhouette of a young gentlemen
New England, circa 1830
Miniature silhouette of a young gentlemen
New England, circa 1830
Hollow-cut watercolor on paper, 4 ½ x 3 ¾ inches, original basswood floral paint decorated frame with original glass and backboard.
Please contact us for full condition report.
The young gentleman in profile, with hollow-cut face, shirt and collar; the hair, shirt, and two-tone colored coat picked out in watercolor. The silhouette retaining its remarkable original paint decorated flat frame, with quarter round interior corners, and decorated with flowers and leaves, a stylized sun, pinwheels, and a basket of flowers in vibrant shades of red and green on a yellow background. The frame is carved from the solid with no joinery employed. In a superb state of preservation, in untouched condition, with original glass and backboard secured by original tiny wooden pins. This is a gem of the very finest quality.
Provenance:
Collection of Carolyn and Tom Porter, Delaware, OH.
Slide-lid box with school-girl painted decoration
Western Massachusetts, dated July 4, 1831
Slide-lid box with school-girl painted decoration
Western Massachusetts, dated July 4, 1831
Watercolor and ink on maple with original resin-based finish, replaced bone escutcheon, 3 1/2 x 11 x 7 3/8 inches
Inscribed in ink with verse, “White” and “Green” and “July 4, 1831.” With a later ink inscription on underside: “Mrs. Belle B. Gibbs.”
In a fine state of preservation with original painted decoration.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
Executed in transparent watercolor and ink on a dovetailed maple box with original resin based finish having a warm golden brown patina. This box is remarkable for the clarity and vibrancy of its well preserved landscape decoration painted from life and print sources. The scenes of local New England landscapes include: mountains, red-roofed Federal houses, outbuildings, fences, gardens, and row boat. The vignettes taken from print sources depict pastoral scenes with stone thatched roof cottages, fences, trees, and a castle ruin. The front of the box with a diamond-shaped bone escutcheon and steel lock, is flanked by a poetic verse in tiny block lettering above the names of the artists “White” and Green” and the date “July 4, 1831” in ornamental calligraphic lettering. The underside of the lid is inscribed in script: “This work is trifling, yet my friend, Perhaps to you ’twill sometimes End / A memory of those days that’s past, When joy, and pleasure fleeted past.” It has been suggested that this box may honor President James Monroe who died on July 4 1831. Monroe was popular in his day, overwhelmingly elected president in 1816 and 1820, during a period of increased nationalism after the War of 1812 known as the “Era of Good Feelings” between 1815 and 1825.
Charles F. Montgomery observed that “A little before 1800, ornamental painting became a part of the curriculum in girls’ schools in the United States; and as early as 1812 this was extended to include the painting of tables and work boxes. In Reminiscences of a Nonagenarian, the author writing of Newburyport, comments that in 1812 “Miss Mary Ann Colman was a good teacher of water color painting; the fruit and flower pieces executed at her school were natural and well done. She also taught painting on wood; several work boxes and work-stands, painted under her instruction, are still to be seen in the residences of some of our older citizens.” (American Furniture, The Federal Period…, p. 462.) Dean A. Fales, Jr., noted that “fond parents often obtained from cabinetmakers boxes or tables on which their daughters could demonstrate their newly acquired proficiencies.” (American Painted Furniture…, p. 177). For references to this genre see Charles F. Montgomery, American Furniture, The Federal Period in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum (New York, 1969), figs 478-481; Dean A. Fales, Jr., American Painted Furniture 1660-1880 (New York, 1972), figs 284-286, 290-293; C. Kurt Dewhurst, Betty MacDowell and Marsha MacDowell, Artists in Aprons, Folk Art by American Women, (New York, 1979), figs 58-59; Nina Fletcher Little, Neat and Tidy: Boxes and Their Contents Used in Early American Households (New York, 1980), fig 70 and pl. 20; Cynthia V. A. Schaffner and Susan Klein, American Painted Furniture (New York, 1997), figs 1.37-1.43, and Stacy C. Hollander, Ed., American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (New York, 2001), figs 248 and 250.
Provenance:
Owned by Isabella B. Gibbs (1826-1902), a music teacher from Russell, Massachusetts, a town near Springfield; Nathan Liverant & Son, Colchester, CT.
Figural Pipe Bowl
Possibly Midwestern, circa 1870
Figural Pipe Bowl
Possibly Midwestern, circa 1870
Maple, brass nails, glass bead eyes, original painted decoration, 6 x 4 ½ x 2 ¼ inches
In a fine state of preservation with patina, wear and usage appropriate to age.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
This charming and sculptural pipe bowl is uniquely shaped and retains its original painted decoration. The pipe bowl is in the form of a wide-eyed gentleman in a feathered bicorn hat and smoking a cigar while striking an acrobatic pose. The figure’s hinged lower legs and hat lift to reveal the pipe bowl. The face is remarkably detailed with large eyes, mustache, and extended mutton chop side burns. The distinctive shape of this cocked hat is similar to those worn by the American navy during the 1820s and 1830s.
Provenance:
Hill Gallery, Birmingham, MI; Fred Giampietro, New Haven, CT; Collection of Stephen and Petra Levin, Stow, VT.
Small Paint-Decorated Oval Box
Probably Massachusetts, circa 1830
Small Paint-Decorated Oval Box
Probably Massachusetts, circa 1830
Sycamore and white pine, iron tacks and wooden pins, original painted decoration,1 ¾ x 5 x 4 inches, in a fine state of preservation, with minor in-paint to small areas of loss.
Please contact us for a full condition report.
With exceptionally fine floral, vine and striped decoration in shades of red and blue on a mustard yellow ground, this fine New England pantry box is elevated to the highest level of American folk decoration. It clearly evidences the hand of an accomplished ornamental painter. It is one of the very best examples of its type known to us.
Exotic bird with long tail feathers
Probably Pennsylvania, circa 1880-1900
Exotic bird with long tail feathers
Probably Pennsylvania, circa 1880-1900
Softwood, wire legs, original painted decoration, on a modern museum base, 6 x 14 x 2 inches
In a fine state of original preservation
This boldly carved and oversized bird carving has a dynamic and unusual form with unusually long tail feathers, and vibrant original painted decoration in a superb state of preservation. It belongs to a well established tradition of painted bird painted bird carvings made in southern eastern Pennsylvania during the last decades of the nineteenth century, see Richard S. and Rosemarie B. Machmer in Just For Nice, Carving and Whittling Magic of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Reading, Pennsylvania: Berks County Historical Society, 1991).