John Brewster portrait tripled its high estimate at New England Auctions

John Brewster, portrait of a young girl in a white dress, $120,000 ($153,600 with buyer’s premium) at New England Auction.

BRANFORD, Conn. – A John Brewster portrait of a young girl in a white dress sold for more than triple its high estimate at New England Auctions January 10. The 460-lot Fine Americana, Folk Art & Native American sale’s results can be viewed at LiveAuctioneers.

The undated oil-on-panel portrait of a young girl in a white dress, painted by the itinerant American artist John Brewster, Jr. (1766-1854), hammered for $120,000 and sold for $153,600 with buyer’s premium after a protracted bidding war. The sale represented the portrait’s first appearance at auction since it was offered at Christie’s in December 1969, when it realized $43,700.

Brewster was born deaf to a Connecticut family descended from William Brewster, who came to America on the Mayflower and rose to lead the fledgling Puritan community. Brewster made the most of the hand that was dealt to him: his family’s reputation allowed him to move with ease among the elites of New England and offer his portraiture services, while his deafness might have sharpened his artistic skills. On an American Folk Art Museum web page on a past exhibit of Brewster’s work, the writer suggests ‘He was especially sensitive to the sitter’s face, emphasizing his or her direct gaze – as a deaf artist, eye contact became a moment of engagement and communication.’

The Prior-Hamblin School refers to paintings that resemble the works of William Matthew Prior, Sturtevant Hamblin, and other artists who were active in the mid-19th century. This Prior-Hamblin School portrait of a child is an oil on artist panel and came from Maine circa 1840. It includes its original paint-decorated frame and had been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston in 2001. Estimated at $8,000-$15,000, it hammered for $26,000 ($33,280 with buyer’s premium).

Attributed to J. L. Mott Iron Works of New York, New Jersey and Chicago (1820-circa 1920), this large American Indian archer weathervane caught the right breeze with bidders. Made of molded and sheet copper, it was described as being in ‘fine condition with a fine gilded surface.’ Estimated at $15,000-$30,000, it sold for $55,000 ($70,400 with buyer’s premium).

Originally from the collection of famed New England antiques dealer Jay Turomsha, this American Parcheesi gameboard dates to the late 19th century and is exceptionally large – 22in square – and colorful, with strong design patterns in each quadrant and a central star. It sold for $18,000 ($23,040 with buyer’s premium) against a presale estimate of $2,500-$5,000.

An 1808 needlework sampler created by 12-year-old Rachel Morgan (1793-1864) had the most amazing result when contrasted with its presale estimate. Rachel Morgan was the daughter of Zacquill Morgan, the founder of Morgantown, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), who was likely the first white settler in the region. The silk-on-linen sampler had been professionally conserved and framed and was considered an early example of the desirable Monongalia County samplers. Estimated at only $400-$800, the sampler saw more than three dozen bids trade off between the floor and LiveAuctioneers buyers, landing finally at $36,000 ($46,080 with buyer’s premium).

Venetian Old Master painting estimated at $600-$900, commands $96K at Clarke

Venetian Old Master painting of Saint Roch attributed to the circle of Tiepolo, which sold for $75,000 ($96,000 with buyer's premium) at Clarke Auction Gallery.

LARCHMONT, N.Y. – A Venetian Old Master painting of Saint Roch attributed to the circle of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) awoke from the slumber of a $600-$900 estimate to hammer for $75,000 ($96,000 with buyer’s premium) in Westchester County. The 18 by 13in oil on paper laid on canvas was the surprise top-selling lot at Clarke Auction Gallery on January 14.

Tiepolo did paint many small-scale pictures of Saint Roch, or Rocco, for private devotion in his native Venice. A port city that often fell victim to disease, Saint Roch was venerated there as a protector against the plague, with the Scuola di San Rocco, a Venetian confraternity, dedicated to the saint.

According to hagiography, the medieval French nobleman had miraculously healed plague victims while a pilgrim in Italy. After sacrificing his own health in the service of others, he is shown in this painting lifting his robe to reveal a plague sore on his thigh. Beside him is the dog that would aid his recovery after a selfless retreat to the wilderness.

Some clues to the earlier provenance of this painting, which was consigned from a Ridgefield, Connecticut estate, may be provided by the old inscription on the verso reading Brauer Tiepolo. It may be a reference to Godefroy Brauer (1857-1923), the influential Paris dealer whose many wealthy American clients in the early 20th century included the financier John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913). The successful purchaser of the lot tendered their bid online via LiveAuctioneers.

This was one of several ‘attributed to’ Old Master paintings that performed well in the Clarke sale. A small Dutch Golden Age winter landscape on panel carried an estimate of $800-$1,200 and hammered for $26,000 ($33,280 with buyer’s premium). Measuring 9 by 12in, it depicts skaters and kolf players on a frozen lake and is signed at the lower right with the monogram of Pieter Wouwerman (1623-1682). Labels on the verso included one for a loan exhibition of Old Masters held at the Municipal Art Gallery, Leeds, England in 1889-90. It was consigned from a collection in the Bronx in grimy condition with several surface scratches and traces of old restoration under the varnish.

From the same source was an Orthodox icon depicting the curious Old Testament story of Tobias and the Angel. It was cataloged as 19th-century Russian, but was possibly an earlier work from Greece or the Balkans. The Archangel Raphael is shown guiding the boy to the water where he will catch the fish that can drive out demons and heal his father’s blindness. Measuring 8 by 9in and housed in a period carved giltwood frame, it sold for $22,000 ($28,160 with buyer’s premium) against an estimate of $600-$900.

Among the most contested objects in the sale was a 13in-high 32oz Chinese Export silver cup and cover. Typical of the pieces admired by Westerners resident in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Canton in the late 19th century, it has dragon-form handles, a base of leafy bamboo stalks, and marine motifs of fish, shells, and crabs. Stamped to the underside with Chinese characters signifying silver and an unidentified maker’s mark of ‘CC,’ it was consigned from a Larchmont, N.Y. estate. Modestly estimated at $1,000-$1,500, it took $15,000 ($19,200 with buyer’s premium).

Vintage American railroad artifacts steamed well beyond estimates at Rail & Road

Dickson Manufacturing Company locomotive builders plate, which sold for $5,000 ($6,100 with buyer’s premium) at Rail & Road.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Rail & Road‘s two-day American rail ephemera sale kicked off 2024 in a big way, with a number of key lots soaring well above their presale estimates, indicating the ongoing strength of railroadiana with contemporary collectors. Complete results for January 4 and January 5 are available at LiveAuctioneers.

The sale’s top lot came on Day 2, as anticipated. Literally rolled out on the passenger platform for travelers embarking or disembarking, a 70 by 76in section of carpet for The New York Central’s famed passenger service the 20th Century Limited dates to the 1920s or 1930s, and features an Art Deco logo design. The fast passenger service ran between Grand Central Terminal in New York to LaSalle Street Station in Chicago. The carpet more than doubled its estimate, hammering for $7,900 ($9,638 with buyer’s premium).

The Dickson Manufacturing Company of Scranton / Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania was an early builder of steam locomotives, as well as stationary steam engines and blast furnaces. The company was founded in 1855 and was absorbed in the grand merger of 1901 forming the American Locomotive Company, better known as ALCO. Of more than 1,300 locomotives built, only two remain, one in operation in Louisiana on a plantation and another on display in Costa Rica. This 12.5in diameter builder plate for serial number 799 is a rare surviving Dickson example, and bidders responded accordingly, sending the plate above its high estimate to hammer at $5,000 ($6,100 with buyer’s premium).

Apparently a prototype example, this Baltimore & Ohio carpet measures 27 by 48in and still carries the tag of its manufacturer, Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company of Thompsonville, Connecticut, where its original mill building still stands. The Bigelow company would merge with competitor Sanford in 1934. The rug’s tag is dated June 15, 1936 and features the distinctive B&O Capitol Building logo. Estimated at $1,000-$1,500, it sold for $3,100 ($3,782 with buyer’s premium).

Founded in 1923, the Scammell China Company of Trenton, New Jersey was only four years old when it created this Baltimore & Ohio porcelain ball water pitcher to mark the railroad’s centennial in 1927. Marked as ‘Lamberton’ (Scammell’s brand associated with its Lamberton works) and having zero chips or cracks, the pitcher poured it on, hammering for $2,100 ($2,562 with buyer’s premium) against a $500-$1,000 estimate.

Founded in 1847 in Virginia, the Richmond and Danville Railroad played an important role in the Confederate States of America, transporting troops, munitions and supplies for the war effort against the Union Army. This distinctive heart-shape padlock would have been used to lock switch stands to prevent sabotage by turning the points to cause a derailment. Stamped Close the lock to get key out, bidders knew the $700-$1,000 estimate was far shy of its real value. It sold for $2,600 ($3,172 with buyer’s premium).