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Maine Antique Digest, April 2015 37-C
- SHOW -
The mother and three baby skunks sculpture was carved in cherry
by a folk artist by the name of Martin of Murphy, North Carolina.
It dated to 1900-15 and came with a photo of Allen Hendershott
Eaton (1878-1962) holding the skunks; it was once in his collection.
Eaton is the author of
Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands
, pub-
lished in 1937. A Bird in Hand Antiques asked $1500.
A Bird in Hand Antiques,
Florham Park, New Jersey,
asked $8500 for the sleek
sculpture of a hand carved
out of granite. It dated from
the first quarter of the 19th
century. Ron Bassin said,
“For a first-time show, we
did far better than I thought
we would. We brought some
good stuff and had some great
sales.” He added that they
sold 28 pieces. Would they go
back? “You bet,” said Bassin.
The flying bufflehead drake was by South Portland, Maine, decoy
artist Gus Wilson (1864-1950). A Bird in Hand Antiques asked
$5800 for the one-of-a-kind piece by Wilson in original paint.
This rusted sheet-metal cat, circa 1960, was $2800
from Brennan & Mouilleseaux, Northfield, Connecti-
cut. It sold. “We were pleased with the response to
flaky folk art,” Tim Brennan said. “It seemed that
across the board, mid-century modern and folk art
were the most sought after…. Debbie Turi did an out-
standing job. She knocked it out of the park.”
The charming, albeit
one-armed, folk carving
depicting Charlie Chap-
lin, early 20th century,
with original surface,
was $5600 from Brennan
& Mouilleseaux. It sold.
Bruce Emond of Village Braider, Plymouth, Massachusetts, had
a booth full of work by newly discovered artist George Jay Rog-
ers, who was born in Yonkers on June 9, 1926. During the Great
Depression, he was sent to a home for boys in New York City
and later attended the School of Industrial Art. After serving in
the army, he utilized the GI Bill and enrolled in the Art Students
League of New York City in October 1948, studying under Rob-
ert Brackman, Morris Kantor, Louis Bouche, Harry Sternberg,
and Robert Beverly Hale. In the late 1950s,
Rogers painted in the surreal style. In the
early ’60s his style evolved to futuristic city-
scapes, ritualistic paintings, exotic women,
and nudes. Rogers hoarded his life works,
and when he moved to Brooksville, Florida,
around 1990, all his works came with him,
and they were put into storage. Emond dis-
covered some in a local auction and bought
the entire lot. The paintings were priced at
around $5000 each.
The large armillary sphere wasn’t old. Wells,
Maine, artist Gary Hume had made it out of
found objects, including old wagon wheels
and a wagon hub. It was $5800 in the booth
of Bob Withington, whose business is now
located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The
spheres all rotated independently of each
other.
The painted French trumeau
mirror with carved gilt dec-
oration was $3950 from Bob
Withington.
The American walnut Renais-
sance Revival table with an
inlaid marble top, 1860s, was
$2950 from Bob Withington.
Saint Francis Attended by
Three Angels
by Jacopo
Negretti, also called Palma il
Giovane, pen, brown ink, and
wash, heightened with white,
over traces of black chalk, was
$22,500 from Découvert Fine
Art, Rockport, Massachu-
setts. It was only the second
show ever for Découvert Fine
Art, and Steven Law said, “I
thought the show was terrific.
We liked it from many differ-
ent points of view. The orga-
nizers did such a great job to
get the word out. There was a
steady flow of customers, and
we made great sales. More
importantly, we made con-
nections with people, design-
ers, and collectors.”
Janice Paull of Portu-
gal offered a selection of
Mason’s ironstone. The
circa 1815 carp or fish
bowl (lower left) with rare
fox handles, 25" diameter,
was $8800; the vase stand-
ing in the carp bowl was
$1200.
The 1877 edition of
The Adventures of
Baron Munchau-
sen
with inlaid
binding was $2500
from
Imperial
Fine Books, New
York City.
The large (27½" x 21½") steel pen
calligraphy on paper, “In Memo-
riam/ General Grant,” by William
Erickson was $2800 from Kevin
Garvey Rita of West Hartford,
Connecticut.
The
north-
ern
European
1 6 t h - c e n t u r y
carving of Saint
Donatus
was
$8800; he is the
patron saint of
lightning strikes.
At his feet is a
church with a
lightning bolt.
The breche marble lions, early 19th century, were
$1280 from Framont, Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Gustav Klimt signature—“Much is permitted to
the poet, the painter, and the fool.”—was $18,000 from
Claudia Strauss-Schulson of Millburn, New Jersey. Her
business is called Schulson Autographs, Ltd.