November 7, 2010 Auction Highlights

PERIOD FURNITURE, PAINTINGS, MINIATURE IVORY PORTRAITS, SILVER, 20TH CENTURY & MORE

OFFERED AT WHITE’S AUCTIONS

MIDDLEBORO, MA: On November 7th, White’s Auctions will offer a fine selection of antiques and fine art for dealers, collectors, art galleries and decorators, with some 20th century “bling” included for good measure.

SOLD $920

Period furniture pieces to be offered include a finely carved Chippendale side chair, a 73” tall English bow front chest on chest with inlayed decoration, a diminutive blanket chest, two American tall case clocks, an inlayed Regency Canterbury, a pair of high quality carved Victorian parlor chairs with tufted black leather upholstery and a Pennsylvania step back cupboard, among other pieces. Other early pieces include a finely executed early 1800’s portrait of a gentleman in a large gilt frame, early Continental “picket” candlesticks, a signed Sherwin P. Boyer Nantucket basket and an impressive 54” carved gold gilt Pilot House eagle. An important late addition to the sale is a two finger oval Shaker pantry box in original dark green paint and stenciled initials, dated 1833.

SOLD $1,495

SOLD $2,645

SOLD $891

Lamps include a Sandwich Glass oil lamp with an etched pink shade, a Pairpoint table lamp with a matching white opalescent shade and a 19th c Alfred F. Genton ship’s lantern with a blue globe.

An outstanding hand wrought bronze and iron garden gate with applied urns and flowers stands out as an unusual piece. The gate originates from a large, several acre Massachusetts country estate in the early 1900’s. Of additional note is a rare, unusual Oriental carpet, approximately 15’ square with an overall directional pattern of flower pots and urns on a black ground. Other Oriental rugs will also be sold.

A French carriage clock, T. Gaunt, with its original leather carrying case, a carved oak mantle clock and two nautical Chelsea clocks—a brass Ship’s Bell clock in a ship’s steering wheel design and a mahogany mantle clock with an inlayed insert of the Mayflower ship, add to the selection of clocks.

The Chelsea Clock Company began in 1886 as the Eastman Clock Company, then became the Boston Clock Company and after being purchased by Charles Pearson in 1897, it became the Chelsea Clock Company and remains so today. The company’s dedication to producing only the finest quality clocks is unsurpassed. The Ship’s Bell clock was one of the first developments of the company and remains one its most popular. In addition to home use, the clocks have operated hydroelectric instruments around the world.

Paintings are well represented in this sale with several listed artists and genres. In addition to oils and watercolors, several finely executed miniature portraits on ivory will cross the block. The collection includes French, Italian and American pieces. All are in original frames, one being a full figure seated woman in an ivory frame. Portrait miniatures date to the 16th century in Europe and were originally executed on vellum and copper. By the 18th and 19th centuries, miniatures were primarily painted in watercolor on ivory. They were originally a means of introducing people to each other or to carry with one’s self as a memento in the loved one’s absence. By the mid 1800’s these little gems began to decline with the introduction of daguerreotypes and other early photography. They remain, however, very desirable to collectors today.

Massachusetts artists’ works include a harbor scene titled E. Gloucester by Leander Churback and a harbor scene watercolor by John C. Hare. Hare was known for his harbor scenes and seascapes particularly of Cape Cod, Gloucester and Florida. He also lived in Amherst, Massachusetts. He died in 1978 in Palm Beach, Florida. Churback is a local artist born in Wareham, Massachusetts in 1861. He remained active in Massachusetts and died in 1940. For sale is a street scene watercolor by Phillip Butler. Butler was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts in 1830. He lived in Auburndale and also in California and painted scenes in both areas. He exhibited extensively in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in Boston and Chicago.

A wonderful detailed oil on canvas stands out in this sale. It is a large painting with an ornate gilt frame. The painting depicts a lively carnival scene with men, women and a dog dancing in the street, dressed in elaborate period costume. It is signed and titled with a plaque “A La Fare”, T. Congelet, Exhibited, Paris, 1898”.

A colorful oil, titled “The Castle, Antilles” by German born artist Ernest D. Roth will be offered. Roth was born in 1879 in Germany and lived and worked primarily in New York. He lived in America and Europe and exhibited extensively all over the United States. He is best known for landscape paintings with structures and etchings. Roth died in 1964 in Connecticut.

British artist Eric Kennington’s (1888-1960) spans extensive array of styles, genres and values. An oil on board landscape with a gristmill is included in this sale. The painting is marked on the back England 1900-1905.  This painting comes to the auction through a direct descendant of the artist.

There are additional paintings by John F. Enser and 20th century artist John Austin Taylor of New York. Taylor is known for his ship portraits and a fine example titled “Sands of Time” by Taylor will be sold. Born in Texas in 1898, John Enser spent most of his life in New England. He is known primarily for New England landscapes and still life, as well as etchings. His oil on board titled “October Morning” is offered in this sale. Enser died in New Hampshire in 1968.

A fine Western landscape by American artist Cadwallader Lincoln Washburn will also be sold. Washburn was born in Minneapolis in 1866. He received a BA degree from Gallaudet College in Washington and also a degree in architecture from MIT. He travelled extensively in America and Europe and studied such under well known artists in Spain and Paris as Jaoquin Sorolla and Albert Besnard and Henry Mowbray and William Merritt Chase in New York .

Rounding out the paintings category are two character portraits by 20th century artist William Weintraub, one of a peasant woman with a head scarf and one of a bearded man. Weintraub was born in America in 1900, graduated from the Maryland Institute of Art and studied under Jacques Moroger. He settled in Tel Aviv in 1955. He was a volunteer in the US Merchant Marines in 1944, participated in the War of Liberation in Palestine and also spent time in the Israeli Merchant Navy.  Today Weinraub is one of Israel’s best known painters of Israeli people. In addition to his moving portraits of ordinary people, his works include portraits of Golda Maier and David Ben-Gurion.

20th Century pieces include a vintage Harry Bertoia “Bird Chair and Ottoman” by Knoll, designed in 1952, with original red fabric scrim covers. This Italian born, award winning sculptor and furniture designer came to America as a child, his family settling in Michigan. He studied at the Detroit School of Arts and Crafts and Cranbrook Academy of Art. Bertoia was an inventor and experimented with bending metal rods to produce practical and innovative seating and design icons. Bertoia describes his chairs as …”mainly made of air, like sculpture. Space passes right through them.” Mr. Bertoia also worked with Charles Eames in his development of his signature molded plywood chairs. Two of these Eames molded plywood LCM chairs are in this sale as well.

Additional 20th  century  contemporary art paintings will be sold, as well as, a signed Joan Miro stone lithograph, ca 1973. Miro, an influential 20th century sculpture, painted, ceramicist and printmaker was born near Barcelona, Spain in 1893. His influences run the gamut from Cezanne and Van Gogh to Fauvism and Picasso’s Cubism. The frustrations of business school and accounting jobs (of his parent’s choosing) led to a near nervous breakdown. In light of his serious illness, he was finally allowed to do what he desired—his art. 

White’s November 7th sale offers more than furniture and paintings. There is a good selection of sterling silver and jewelry including a Francis 1st (Reed & Barton) sterling repousse bowl, Gorham Buttercup flatware set, Towle Silver Flutes flatware set, Austrian, English and American sterling hollowware, 20th Chinese sterling and enamel figures, 18kt gold pocket watch,

a miniature Pietra dura jewelry chest, a walrus tusk tri pod pocket watch holder. Other jewelry and silver lots include a gold and diamond bracelet, 18kt gold man’s or woman’s bracelet, an ivory silver and smokey topaz bangle bracelet, large cameo with a gold mount, Georg Jensen Cactus oyster set and another sterling tea set by International Silver. Included as well is a signed Steuben “Cluthra” vase, a tall finely hand painted scenic and portrait Minton vase,

a 12” Swedish Somerso glass vase, a Sandwich Glass 15” covered compote, antique Staffordshire spaniels, two Mat Ortiz Pottery pieces (black on black) and Minton oyster plates. A selection of Chinese Export porcelain will be offered as well.

Other items of interest include World War II American and German pieces such as German Bakelite field telephones, “Coconut” canteen, swords and bayonets. There are two American foot lockers with uniforms and other contents and field medical kits. Other interesting lots include Lakes Power Boat trophy with a large photo and cap, painted Hessian Soldier andirons, ivory wax stamps and several lots of vintage tin lithograph toys, antique A.M. and Heubach dolls and a carved duck decoy signed P L Holmes.  

The auction to be held on Sunday November 7, 2010 at the Middleboro Lodge of Elks, 24 High Street, Middleboro, MA at 3:00 pm. On site preview from 1:30 pm to auction start. Please call John White, Auctioneer (508-947-9281) or Kathryn Black (508-269-9275) with any questions or suggestions. Please arrange your absentee and phone bid requests with Kathryn (508) 269-9275. Visit www.whitesauctions.com and www.auctionzip.com (ID#7546) for photos and updates. Also visit us on facebook and twitter (links on our website).