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6-B Maine Antique Digest, December 2016
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AUCTION -
6-B
William Trost Richards (1833-1905) was represented by five
works in this sale (three shown). Above left is a 22" x 36"
watercolor of a small fleet of vessels with russet-colored sails,
titled
Fishing Boats at St. Ives, Cornwall, England
, signed
lower left, circa 1880, when Richards is known to have visited
Great Britain and the Channel Islands. With a $25,000/35,000
estimate, it ended at $20,475. Above right, a 47" x 34½" oil on
canvas, signed and dated 1889, devoid of boats and flotsam
but full of radiant sky and rolling surf, titled
Sand, Sea and
Sky
, closed at $52,650 (est. $60,000/80,000). The 24" x 35" oil
on canvas (right) of a wind-swept rocky headland towered
over all of them. The labeled frame indicated the location
as Conanicut Island near Newport, Rhode Island, where
Richards painted until the end of his life. It easily passed the
$50,000/70,000 estimate to close at $117,000.
This small (28" tall) well-painted
figurehead, listed as a “bawdy
woman,” has certain attractions.
The much-crackled and darkened
paint plus the appropriate apparel
gave her the appearance of good
age commensurate with the 1820s
origin. The small size suggested that
it came from a private yacht, and she
headed out for $21,060. Thomaston
Place photo.
“We’d go nuts to get one Buttersworth,” Thomaston vice president John Bottero said with a smile.
“Now we’ve got four of them!” All in gilt frames, these relined oils on canvas with gallery labels
on the back are, clockwise from upper left,
The National Line’s Steamer “ITALY” & Sailing Packet
“MERCURY
,” 29" x 45", which brought $40,950;
The American Steam-Sail Ship
“
STAR OF THE
SOUTH
,” 33" x 43", $40,950;
The Start of the 1866 Great Transatlantic Yacht Race
, 33" x 41",
$117,000; and
Fetching the Mark
, 22" x 28", $73,125. All four sold over their estimates.
Thomaston Place photo.