Over 750 lots of rare American and European antiques and fine art will be sold June 30-July 14 in an Internet and catalog auction by Litchfield County Auctions (www.LitchfieldCountyAuctions.com). It is the third major sale of the year for the firm and will include property deaccessioned from Connecticut College, plus important estates and collections.
Online bidding will be facilitated by iGavelAuctions.com. An exhibition will be open to the public at the Litchfield County Auctions gallery, located at 425 Bantam Road in Litchfield, from July 9-13, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A tag sale has also been scheduled. In addition, there will also be a free appraisal day at the gallery facility, on July 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The items from the Connecticut College collection had been on exhibition at The Henry Whitfield House in Guilford, Conn., and include rare 17th century English furniture pieces. The sale will also feature The Collection of Rose and Stanley Rich of Fairfield, Conn. (mostly period furniture and decorations, plus pewter and silver) and a collection of rare vintage firemen’s gear.
Early English furniture pieces include a 17th century English James I draw table with rectangular mitered top and draw-ends and scalloped apron; a 17th century Charles I oak wainscot open armchair with later elements; a circa 1700 English William & Mary two-section oak court cupboard; and a Jacobean oak bench with molded edge plank seat, molded rails and turned legs.
Later English furniture pieces will feature a late 18th century Regency mahogany slant-lid desk, English, opening to a divided interior with faux-front drawers; and a late 18th century 7-piece George III mahogany breakfront bookcase with a central section and two wings.
American period furniture will be no less impressive. Examples include a late 18th century Chippendale maple slant-lid desk, probably New Hampshire; an early 19th century classical mahogany three-part dining table with rounded ends; a circa 1790-1810 Federal inlaid mahogany fold-over card table, possibly Philadelphia area; and a late 18th century cherrywood Chippendale tall chest of drawers, probably New England or Pennsylvania, stamped “H. Ford.”
Fine art will be offered in abundance, much of it by noted, listed artists. Included will be several prints and posters by Henri de Toulouse Lautrec (Fr., 1864-1901), such as the colored and monogrammed lithograph Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender, en Buste, and the pencil-signed lithograph Guy et Mealy, dans Paris qui Marche. Both of the works are matted and framed.
Fans of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) will be delighted to learn that two watercolors by the iconic French artist will be offered. One, titled Kneeling Nude, is a watercolor and pencil drawing, pencil signed lower right by Rodin and matted and framed. The other, Nude With Foot Resting on Chair, is also a watercolor and pencil drawing, pencil signed lower right by Rodin.
Other important artwork will include an aquatint engraving after Karl Bodner (Swiss, 1809-1893), titled Assiniboine Indians; a barnyard scene with rooster and chickens by Walter Hunt (Br., 1861-1941); an oil on canvas by Reginald E.E. Arnold (1853-1938), titled On the Ice – Holland; and a work titled Lille, Belgium Canal Scene by George Gregory (Br., 1849-1838).
Continuing in the category, also sold will be a Continental School oil on panel work titled Still Life With Fruit and Flowers (circa 18th or 19th century); a drypoint etching by Paul Cesar Helleu (Fr., 1859-1927), titled Portrait of a Young Gazing Lady; and an oil on canvas painting in a carved gilt wood frame by Karl Heller (Germ., 1849-1925), titled River Landscape With Boats.
American artists will be well-represented, too. Lots will include a pair of works attributed to Georges M. Bruestle (1872-1939), titled Dog and Cow and Lake’s Edge (both done in 1931 and both oil on cardboard); an American School oil on canvas titled Lake Landscape With Boats; and a James J. Audubon print of an American black wolf, hand-colored by J.T. Bowen (1845).
Other American artwork will include an oil on canvas figural rendering by Francis William Edmonds (N.Y., 1806-1863), titled A Sly Expression; an oil on canvas painting by Ogden Minton Pleissner (1905-1983), titled Remembrance (probably circa 1940-1945); and a 19th century oil on canvas work by J.W. Nunns, titled Landscape With Cows at a River (1875).
Bidders will be dazzled by the wide array of sterling silver. Featured will be a Tiffany & Co. gold vermeil flatware service for eight in the “Shell and Thread” pattern (American, circa 1905, 66 troy ounces); a partial Sheffield flatware set in the “Kings” pattern (1901-1902, 177.78 troy oz.); and a silver and parcel gilt beaker bearing the marks of Strassburg and dated 1612.
Additional sterling silver will include an early 20th century flatware service for 20 by the Manchester Silver Co. (224 troy oz.); a partial flatware service by Gorham in the “Versailles” pattern (late 19th century, 135 troy oz.); an assembled Dominick & Haff partial flatware set in the “King” pattern (161 troy oz.); and a Ball Black & Co. sterling hot water urn, early 20th century.
Bronze pieces will feature a group of five Grand Tour (19th century) obelisks/monuments, including Napoleon’s Column, Columna Traina, Obeliscus Flaminus, a Roman column and L’Arc de Triomphe; and a bronze work by Malvina Cornell Hoffman (1887-1966), titled La Gavotte inscribed on the base by the artist and inscribed “Roman Bronze Works New York” on the base.
Pewter pieces from the Rich collection will include a late 18th or early 19th century beaker with the mark of Ebenezer Southmayd (Castleton, Vt., and Middletown, Conn.), tapering form with incised bands and molded foot; and an early 18th century beaker with the marks of Robert Bonnynge (or Robert Bonning; Boston, Mass.), with a flaring rim and molded base.
The rare and unusual collection of 19th and early 20th century firemen’s gear will be highlighted by a fireman’s pressed felt parade hat, made in the mid-19th century by the Bethol Company, plus a fireman’s helmet, a bucket, framed documents and a parade torch. Also sold will be a Federal period eglomise banjo clock hand-crafted by Isaac Wyman of Boston, Mass.
Litchfield County Auctions is Connecticut’s premier estate auction house, featuring sales of Modernism, Jewelry & Couture, Antiquities, Asian & Ethnographic Art, American Paintings, Folk Art, Furniture & Decorations and European Antiques & Fine Art. The firm’s 10,000-square-foot gallery is located a mile south of The Green in Litchfield. Sales are held every two months and feature fresh-to-the-market property from Connecticut, New York and other estates and collections.
Litchfield County Auctions is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, you may call them at (860) 567-4661; or, you can e-mail them at [email protected]. Their address is 425 Bantam Rd. (Rte. 202), Litchfield, CT 06759.
For more info about Litchfield County Auctions, log on to www.LitchfieldCountyAuctions.com