NEW HAMBURG, Ontario – A Canadiana, Pottery & Folk Art auction featuring the collection of the late Don Pero – a passionate collector of primitives, from pottery to furniture to folk art – will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8 by Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.“Don Pero had an appetite for the items he collected, all of which were authentic and important,” said Ethan Miller of Miller & Miller Auctions. “Everything he collected had flair. For decades he was a patron of one of Canada’s most renowned dealers, Ron O’Hara. Don quietly absorbed some of Canada’s rarest historic objects. Now, these many objects will be sold without reserve.”
Also offered will be the lifetime collections of John Wine and Jim Fleming, pioneer collectors of pottery and folk art, respectively. The 640 curated lots of historic artifacts in the sale include primitive and fine furniture, early pottery, fine art, folk art, historic objects (to include advertising and ephemera, military items and toys) and decorative arts (to include lamps and lighting, bronzes and statues).
Nearly all the lots in the auction carry a strong Canadian theme. An expected top lot is a large wood carving by the inventor and Canadian artist Yosef Drenters (1931-1983). Titled Mother and Child, the figural wood carving is 6 feet tall and has an estimate of $12,000-$15,000. It was gifted by Drenters to the current owner in 1973. (All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars; $1 Canadian= $0.76U.S.
A circa 1940 CBC Radio Canada sign, depicting the original logo for CBC Radio Canada from 1940-1958 and designed by Ecole des Beaux Arts student Hortense Binette, 61 inches by 48 inches, has an estimate of $1,500-$2,500.
A rare, signed Canadian Wagner Ginger Beer stoneware bottle, stamped “Jos Wagner Maker Berlin Ont” just above the lower edge, 8½ inches tall, is expected to hammer for $5,000-$7,000. The same estimate has been assigned to a handleless cup and saucer attributed to the William Eby Pottery (Conestoga, Ontario, 1855-1907), featuring a blue and green slip decoration over a lead glaze.
An iconic Canadian “Fat Man” wool and burlap hooked mat dated 1916, quite possibly Ontario’s most recognizable hooked rug, with strong colors and imposing stature of the “Fat Man,” 40 inches by 29 inches, should bring $4,000-$6,000.
A lovely Waterloo County painted corner cupboard made in Preston, Ontario, in the second half of the 19th century and retaining its red and mustard grained painted finish, 40 inches tall by 81 inches wide, has a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Also, a decorated utility bowl attributed to the Pottery of Adam Biernstihl (Bridgeport, Ontario, 1867-1900), an earthenware bowl with a decoration of a bird, in green slip over a buff base, should bring $1,500-$2,000.
The original artwork category is plentiful and will be led by an oil on canvas painting of a horse by the Canadian photographer and painter J. J. Kenyon (Oxford County, 1862-1937), 23½ inches by 17½ inches (sight) (est. $4,000-$6,000); and a well-documented, two-sided oil on canvas folk art rendering of a young girl and her spaniel dog with a mother and child (verso), nicely housed in a wood frame and painted by an unidentified Canadian artist sometime in the 1850s, 18½ inches by 21 inches (sight) (est. $3,500-$5,000).
An oil on canvas painting by Canadian artist Manly MacDonald (1889-1971), titled Spring Willows by a Mill, signed in the lower left corner and measuring 19 inches by 25 inches (sight) is expected to change hands for $3,500-$5,000; while an oil on canvas by Homer Watson (Canadian, 1855-1936), probably painted around 1910 near Kaufman Flats, Doon and titled Cattle by Stream in Woods, 16 inches by 12 inches (sight) has an estimate of $2,500-$3,500.
A late 19th century Swiss cylinder cabinet music box featuring an intricately inlaid case and fitted to a custom 20th century quartersawn oak base, including original songbook and three cylinders (eight songs per cylinder) should reach $3,000-$4,000. Also, an R. Woodruff Burford U.C. tall case clock, made in Canada in the 1830s, 81½ inches tall, with a painted dial, 30-hour wooden movement and original grain painted finish to the pine case, is expected to make $2,000-$2,500.
A T. Ketland Co. flintlock rifle with Indian trade token, stamped “Ketland” with Birmingham markings on the barrel and lock plate, restored, with some minor pieced-in repair to the trigger, the barrel length 36 ¼ inches, has an estimate of $2,000-$3,000; while a figural earthenware chamberstick from the 19th century, probably Canadian, depicting two mice climbing up a candlestick, 11½ inches tall, possibly made by an Ontario potter, should rise to $1,500-$2,000.
For details contact Miller & Miller Auctions at 519-573-3710 or 519-716-5606 or info@millerandmillerauctions.com.
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