Nadeau's Auction Gallery

Lot 104: Mahogany stacking 4 section bookcase with 4
I own a stacking bookcase like this one. I have enjoyed its use for years because it keeps dust and insects from my collection of rare books that are fragile. It also lessens the shock of rapid thermal and relative humidity changes while at the same time, providing a nice decorative accent to my office.

Lot 129: Bert Wright watercolor tall ships at tower
Here is a complex subject nicely painted in watercolor. If you like tall ships and ships in general there are some other paintings worth considering in this sale. For example, see lots # 128 and 192.

Lot 200: "Pair of cannonball top Federal brass andirons
Winter is not over in New England. Strange it is that this week I've been polishing a pair of andirons very much like this pair that we have in our parlor fireplace. I believe that ours were made in early to mid nineteenth century coastal Massachusetts.

Lot 218: Set of 6 Sheraton rush seat side chairs.
This set of chairs could provide much pleasure for one who needs to accent a country setting or kitchen breakfast table with strongly pattered attractive seating. Once purchased, I would tie knife edge cushions on each chair to protect the rush seats and make the chairs more comfortable with a little foam padding within the cushions.

Lot 241: "Attributed to Helen Dumond 6 oil on boards
Two lots of small paintings attributed to Helen Dumond seem to offer an opportunity to acquire a little gallery of pictures of merit. See also Lot 417. Acquire both for landscapes as well as portraits. These works seem to be fresh, quick studies or sketches.

Swann Auction Galleries

Lot 1: CHARLES ETHAN PORTER (1847 - 1923) Untitled (Apple Still Life).
The deep, somber coloring of this painting appeals to me. The artist,Charles Ethan Porter (1847-1923), painted this oil on canvas c. 1870-1880 before he moved to Paris in 1881. It is an early example of his noteworthy career as an American still life and floral painter of the 19th century. He was a friend of Mark Twain who gave Porter support for his studies abroad. Porter returned to Connecticut in 1884. He has works in the collections of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford and the Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y.

Lot 16: WILLIAM EDOUARD SCOTT (1884 - 1964) Untitled (Haitian Fishermen at Daw...
Small but powerful is the design of this oil on wood painting made by William Edouard Scott (1884-1964) c. 1931. The patterns of the Haitian Fishermen dockside at dawn are strong. The coloring of the sky is beautiful!

Lot 19: META VAUX WARRICK FULLER (1877 - 1968) Silence and Repose.
What an opportunity this lot presents. Rarely are works by Meta Vaux Fuller (Phila., 1877; d. Framingham, MA, 1968) available at auction. Her career as an American sculptor of African descent is important in the history of American art. She studied in the Pennsylvania Museum School from 1893 to 1899. Then she studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Academie Colarossi in Paris. She exhibited frequently at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and received a gold medal for her fifteen pieces sculpture for the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition in 1907. She worked with Rodin who described her as a "born sculptor". The famous American sculptor, Saint- Gaudens, invited her to work in his studio. W.E.B. Dubois suggested that Meta introduce African themes into her art. He commissioned her to make a monumental group of life size figures to celebrate the Emancipation of Slavery. The figures surround and are attached to a tree trunk to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. That handsome work remained in plaster until fairly recently when I arranged with the Henderson Foundation of Boston and through Barry Gather, Director/Curator of the Museum of the National Center of Artists of Afro-American Descent in Roxbury, MA. to have Skylight Studios retouch it and cast it into bronze and placed at Tubman Square, Boston. This monument is dynamically composed with another splendid monument to Harriet Tubman by a living American sculptor, Fern Cunningham, of Afro-American descent, who also built her heroic monument to Harriet Tubman in Skylight Studios, Woburn. Visit Tubman Square and reflect on the meanings of these two beautiful and emotionally charged bronze groups. Also, be certain to not miss this opportunity to acquire a pair of beautiful plaster heads made by Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller.

Lot 38: AARON DOUGLAS (1899 - 1979) Building More Stately Mansions.
Here is an important discovery of a painting by Aaron Douglas of 1944. It is a smaller version of his most famous painting "Building More Stately Pavilions" that is currently on tour from Fisk University. Read the auction entry for an excellent analysis of works by Douglas and of this work in particular.

Lot 41: ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915 - ) Head.
This work by Elizabeth Catlett (1915-) and two others (Lots 96 and 150) are all museum-quality sculpture. All three reveal powerful influences from Pre-Columbian American sculpture. Read the entries for all three lots and make your own choices. These three examples of Catlett's work show a decided range in her sculpture.

Lot 42: ALLAN ROHAN CRITE (1910 - 2007) The Story of Christ.
The artist Allan Rohan Crite (1910-2007), Dean of New England African-American Artists, passed away at age 97 in September, 2007. He was an artistic fixture in Boston for many years seen sketching in neighborhoods -- a real gentleman in all respects. In 1986 the intersection of Columbus Ave and West Canton Street was named Allan Rohan Crite Square. He was a devout Episcopalian and liked to call himself "a liturgical artist." Race and religion are intertwined in his works in which blacks are often shown in inner-city neighborhoods. Here is a group of three woodcuts Crite made c. 1947 involving religious themes -- and signed by the artist in pencil. This is an extraordinary opportunity to acquire scarce, large set of woodcuts by Crite.

Joseph DuMouchelle

Lot 14: Loose 3.45ct Emerald Cut Diamond
This emerald cut diamond of 3.45 cts. caught my eye as a gem worth taking to your favorite jewelry designer for setting in a special gold mount.

Lot 17: Platinum, Diamond and Blue Sapphire Lady's Ring
Two pear shaped blue sapphires total wt 3.03 ct. flank a pear shaped diamond of 2.7 cts mounted on a custom made ring by Trabert & Hoeffer. Very handsome, indeed!

Lot 45: Platinum and Diamond Lady's Ring
Wow! Here is a mighty 5.27 ct. central round brilliant diamond on a platinum lady's ring. Its grand simplicity, size, color and clarity are outstanding. This one is sure to please!

Lot 46: Platinum and Diamond Lady's Ring
Not everyone can manage the cost of the ring in Lot 45. So here is a handsome simple ring with a brilliant diamond about 2.02 cts. The central stone is flanked by two straight baguette cut diamonds. Oh, this one will please indeed!

Lot 47: 14kt White Gold and Diamond Lady's Ring
Should you not be successful acquiring Lot 46 then here is another beautiful round cut brilliant diamond of 1.76 cts. It looks good to me and I suspect will look wonderful on the ring finger of your friend or spouse.

Lot 56: Loose .76ct Radiant Cut Fancy Intense Yellow Dia
This radiant cut intense yellow diamond of .76 ct merits the attention of a fine jewelry designer to make just what you desire. It is a handsome stone.

Lot 5: (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION--MANUSCRIPT.) REEVE, JUDGE TAPPING ET AL. Agree...
This document appears to me to be of historical importance. It is dated 3rd February 1790. It is an agreement respecting the importance of obtaining a judicial determination of the illegality of holding a Negro in slavery in Massachusetts.

Lot 16: (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) ALBERT, OCTAVIA V. ROGERS. House of Bondage, ...
I do not know this book that was printed in New York in 1891. The subject and its illustrations must be intriguing. Read the entry for Octavia V. Rogers Albert's "House of Bondage, or Charlotte Brooks and Other Slaves."

Lot 19: (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION.) (BOURNE, GEORGE.) Picture of Slavery in the U...
Eleven wood engravings depicting Slavery in the U.S. were published in this book of 227 pages printed in Boston in 1838. This book by George Bourne advocates the abolition of slavery in graphic terms well understood even by non readers.

Lot 64: (SLAVERY AND ABOLITION--TUBMAN, HARRIET.) BRADFORD, SARAH H. Scenes in...
Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave who settled in Massachusetts and helped thousands of other slaves escape. See my previous comments on the Tubman monument at Tubman Square in Boston. This book is a scarce first edition and it contains in its frontispiece a portrait of Tubman -- considered a Moses to her people.

Lot 187: DU BOIS, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk.
Here is a classic book by W.E.B. Du Bois, "The Souls of Black Folk", Chicago: McClurg, 1903. Its photo of DuBois is signed by the author.

Freeman's

Lot 1: STANLEY ANDERSON R.A. R.E. (BRITISH 1884-1966)
Here is a visual lesson in how hedges are formed with weaving of saplings into a living fence. This is an age old tradition in England's rural countryside. I like the drama and dynamic design of this print which comes with an essay by the the British artist, Stanley Anderson, R.A. R.E (1884-1966) about "Hedge-Laying."

Lot 2: JOHN TAYLOR ARMS (AMERICAN 1887-1953)
Famed for his technical virtuosity as a draftsman, artist, etcher and printmaker, John Taylor Arms (American 1887-1953) tackled complex subjects like medieval architecture that display intricate detail. Only 100 of these prints were made in 1929. It is signed and dated in pencil in the margin.

Lot 75: ADRIAEN JANSZ VAN OSTADE (DUTCH 1610-1685) MAN
I find it difficult to pass up the genre etchings picturing ordinary peasant folks in Holland by Adriaen Jansz Van Ostade (Dutch 1610-1685). This etching is cited to have been made c. 1675. I especially like what can be learned about seventeenth century clothing in his etchings.

Lot 89: REMBRANDT HARMENSZ VAN RIJN (DUTCH 1606-1669)
Remarkable for its emotional use of light to suggest the miracle of the Raising of Lazarus, this print made c.1632 is a Rembrandt etching, engraving and drypoint. Reference sources cited are important to study to learn more about this, The Larger Plate, listed as Usticke's ninth state of ten.

Lot 121: PAUL SANDBY (BRITISH 1725-1809) FIGURES
Paul Sandby (British 1725-1809) is considered the father of the 18th and 19th century school of British water color art. This is a watercolor on laid paper showing figures before a ruined manor. The image is not large, but it is rather romantic.

Lot 299: WALTER STUEMPFIG JR (AMERICAN 1914-1970) YOUNG
Walter Stuempfig, Jr. I much admired in the late 1950s when I took criticism from him at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. This is an unusual work for Stuempfig as he usually painted figures in the distance in urban settings. But his intense use of light and emotional power is here well expressed. Stuempfig represents his subject from table top height and keeps the person at the table mysterious with high contrast of light and shadow-- with the face swallowed in deep shadow suggestive of intense concentration.

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

Lot 12: Henry Moore, RA, (British, 1831-1895), Oyster Boats in the Canal
I admire the masterful painting of sea and sky in this oil on canvas by the British artist Henry Moore, RA (1831-1895). The image might look simple, but it is not. Look at the multiple tonalities in the water and the subtle gradation of warm to cool tones in the clouds.

Lot 21: Jean Joseph Benjamin Constant, (French, 1845-1902), Empress Theodora S...
What a mysterious and architectural image of Empress Theodora Seated on Her Throne is presented in this oil on canvas by Jean Joseph Benjamin Constant (French, 1845-1902).

Lot 133: After John James Audubon, (American, 1785-1851), The Mocking Bird (Pla...
The Mocking bird and a nest attack by a rattle snake dramatically depicted by John James Audubon is here offered in an hand colored aquatint/etching/engraving from his elephant folio -- Plate 21 from "The Birds of America." One can look on this print for hours and wonder which species will win the battle. The snake is ready to bite one mocking bird. Another bird is attempting to peck out the snake's eye. This is an remarkable image of life size creatures clustered around a nest. A memorable situation beautifully executed. Lot 134 offers another print from the same series -- but it is appropriately more sedate as it represents Ground Doves in a tree branch. The two prints would look wonderful together.

Lot 135: Gustave Baumann, (German/American, 1881-1971), Cordova Plaza, 1943
Gustave Baumann's wood cut prints are masterpieces representing the printmaker-artist's ingenuity and tonal sensitivity. This one is entitled "Cordova Plaza" That must mean Cordova New Mexico (not Spain) for Baumann was famous for his images made in the American South West.

Greg Martin Auctions

Lot 6: Rare American Bowie Knife by H. Huber
Cited as "possibly the first 'clip-point' Bowie knife ever manufactured." -- Here is a serious knife collector's dreamed-of treasure. This knife is marked H. Huber/Steel. Huber had a shop during 1832 near that of the Bowie brothers. Read the entry to learn the full significance of this proximity.

Lot 7: Large Unmarked "Texas Toothpick" Bowie K
This large unmarked "Texas Toothpick" or Bowie knife with a 12 inch tapered blade is definitely not something to attempt carrying aboard a plane. You would surely lose it to the gate inspectors. There is no scabbard present but it must have once had one. It is a real frontiersman's tool for survival in the wilds.

Lot 19: Unique and Historic Dated 1841 Bowie
Well documented pedigree comes with this 1841 historic fighting knife which bears a mark on the blade "Cast Steel/Bowie Knife" as well as the name "Samuel 'C' Wragg No. 25/Furnace Hill Sheffield" Read the entry for much more information that cites ownership and other significant and intriguing facts.

Lot 38: Fine Crookes & Slater Bowie Knife
Here is a beautifully preserved Crookes & Slater Bowie Knife with etched owner's name (William Johnson) and a cowboy scene. The blade is 18 1/8" long and at is widest measures 1 1/2". There are many ornamental features on this knife and its sheath including gold-tooled leather sheath, German silver crossguard embossed in acanthus leaf motifs, etc. Read the entry for this impressive knife and admire its elegance in the photo.

Lot 173: Scarce Hardware or Cutlery Store Sample Case
What a remarkable collection of 98 pocket knives are offered here from a hardware or cutlery store presented in a sample case with matching hand-lettered wooden sign "A. Burkinshaw, Pepperell, Mass." Knife collectors take note for this lot ranks among the rarest of rare artifacts pertaining to knife collecting. Read the entry text for more information.

William Bunch

Lot 667: Walnut Chester County Chippendale slant front
This walnut desk made in Chester County c. 1760-80, has a pedigree from the Reynolds family of Rising Sun/Zion. The desk comes from the Octoraro region. It is solid and appealing in its design. The lot description notes that the lid is likely a later replacement. On the whole, the color looks good for this substantial piece of cabinet work.

Lot 788: Leeds pearlware blue featheredge butter tub
I like the use of a contented cow finial to top this Leeds pearlware blue featheredge butter tub. Several other appealing examples of Leeds pottery are offered in this auction.

Lot 813: Pennsylvania redware slip decorated script
This is a lively example of Pennsylvania slip decorated redware. It is 11.25 inches in diameter (not quite the size of a charger). Boldly is the script "St. Augustin" spread in yellow slip across the plate.

Lot 860: Chinese export porcelain cylindrical teapot
Several examples of superb Chinese export porcelain are offered in this sale. I especially like this cylindrical teapot with its intertwined strap handles. Also, look at Lots 864 and 872 for other examples of Chinese export.

Lot 986: Thomas Jeckyll pair Arts & Crafts andirons c
This pair of arts and crafts andirons c. 1878-84 is a wonderful set of cast and wrought iron workmanship. Read the entry. I am almost certain that I've seem this design somewhere in addition to the V&A Museum in London. The andirons deserve further research, but there is a good start with the names cited in the entry.