90 / 217
22-B Maine Antique Digest, March 2015
- AUCTION -
Animal forms by Minnie Adkins are easily recognizable whether
in carved wood or on these two signed paint-on-cotton quilt tops.
Foxes (left) sold for $240, and the horses (right) sold for $360.
Every Slotin folk art auction
begins with a wide selection
of folk pottery primarily
from the South. This preview
presentation included just
part of the selection.
Felipe Archuleta is known for his large carved and
painted animals. Here two variations, both with
wool attached; his 1978
Black and White Sheep
reached $2640 and his 1982
Ram
with actual ram
horns sold for $2760.
Jimmy Lee Sudduth continually paints figures, build-
ings, animals, and his dog, Toto, sometimes in combi-
nation. Here are eight of the more than 30 paintings
offered. Clockwise, from the top left,
Alabama State
Capital
($540),
Self Portrait on Black
($300),
Cityscape
with Blue Border
($2160),
Chief with Headdress
($540),
Woman in Tight Sweater
($240),
Toto
($1320),
Woman
($240), and
Southern Mansion in Autumn
($360). All
except
Toto
are made of Sudduth’s signature mud and
paint mixture on board.
Soda Fountain
by S.L. Jones has a history of appear-
ing on covers. It graced the sale catalog, the Rosenaks’
Contemporary American Folk Art: A Collector’s Guide
,
and
Contemporary American Folk Art: The Balsley Col-
lection
. It brought a strong $15,600. Slotin photo.
Large S.L. Jones busts
are seen in many Slotin
sales. His
Man with Red
Bow Tie
, at 18" tall, spoke
to the winning bidder for
$10,560. Slotin photo.
The diversity of pottery offered is shown by (left to right)
Clint Alderman’s early unglazed face pitcher ($210), Marie
Rogers’s
Girl with Pig Tail Braids
figural bust with mixed
glazes ($450), and, by Michael and Melvin Crocker, a salt-
glazed
White Face
jug ($270).
Wood carver Horacio Valdez of
New Mexico joined the ranks of
artists with high winning bids in
this sale at $9600 for
San Ysidro
,
who
watches over a farmer
plowing the field. Slotin photo.
Wood carver Edgar Tolson is
noted for natural wood creations
with minimally painted high-
lights. This
Adam and Eve with
Snake in Apple Tree
is the third
example Tolson ever made and
tempted an on-line bidder to
$12,600. Slotin photo.
Not your everyday carved and painted wood
folk rooster, this example, attributed by style,
technique, and finish, is an example by Wil-
helm Schimmel, 19th century, Pennsylvania.
Only 6½" tall and with minor wear to paint,
it brought $9000. Slotin photo.
Elijah Pierce creates carved wood plaques of scenes usually painted
and enhanced with glitter. Titled
Couple with Stubborn Mules
(spot-
ted?), it tugged a top bid of $10,800. Slotin photo.
The sale kicked off with a
wide variety of southern
pottery. Clockwise from
top left, Carl Block’s
Blue
Face Jug
($330), his
Six
Face Jug
($210), one of a
two-pot lot by Ben Owens
III, an Oriental-form vase
with moss green glaze
($180), two of the six grad-
uated bean pots by scarce
Georgia potter W.J. Gordy
($1320), and by Karen
LaBarge,
Three Devil Jug
Totem
($210).