November 4th, 2024 - Press Release
November 4th, 2024, Auction starting at 5:30
Game fish portrait “Eastern Brook Trout” by Samuel A. Kilbourne, a predominant figure in the world of natural history art and artist/publisher of “Game Fishes of the United States (1879)” was discovered in a western Connecticut home. Kilbourne’s highly detailed and lifelike renderings “elegantly convey the drama of sport fishing and highlights the exploration and celebration of nature in American art”[1]. A second Connecticut collector many fine paintings including three oils of Devil’s Hopyard near the Collector’s home, one by Margaret Miller Cooper and two by Harry Leslie Hoffman depicting waterfall vistas. From the same collection other New England landscapes "Housatonic Valley" by Louis Aston Knight, “North Rock, Noank” by Lars Thorsen, "The Marsh in Autumn” by Stapleton Kearns, "Stream in Autumn" by William Merrit Post and “Mystic, CT” by Marie Tiffany, as well as watercolors by Winfield Scott Clime, Yngve Soderberg, and Lou Bonamarte.
The owner of the Kilbourne trout furnished his home with Americana, many naïve portraits and landscapes, cobalt decorated stoneware & redware, two 18th C. linen presses from New London County, CT, other 18th C. pieces including two blanket chests and tall chest, painted cabinet and cupboard, whirligigs, clocks, scrimshaw, witch on broom weathervane, etc. Also to be sold, a hand-carved 18th C. Pennsylvania cradle from a New England Institution, illustrated in Wallace Nutting’s “Furniture Treasury” (no. 1568). Fine reproductions of early designs include an Eldred Wheeler highboy and queen-sized tester bed, as well as an unusual pair of oblong Margolis tea tables with baluster galleries.
Foreign silver has fine offerings including a Russian tankard, gilt silver enameled boxes, Asian Ganesha and Lakshmi figures, etc. Other silver ranges from the 19th C. to modern day like many other pieces in the sale, including a Tiffany & Co. Makers 14” h. Art Nouveau vase, a Georg Jensen no. 177 sauceboat, Tiffany & Co. silver and enamel clown figures and whimsical monkey sugar tongs, Gorham "Chantilly-Grand" 11” footed center bowl, Codman & Codman Art Nouveau repousse child’s bowl with charming vignettes, small collection of Russian gilt silver with enamel decoration, along with early American and other pieces by well known makers Ball, Black & Co., Gorham, Mauser, Kirk & Sons, etc.
Howard Finster, a 20th C. Outsider artist with a 6th grade education, will appeal to collectors of Folk Art. A self-proclaimed visionary, Finster painted primitive images of angels, figures and buildings interwoven with Biblical quotes or sermon snippets as a way for his congregation to remember the teachings[2]. His art gained the public’s attention and in 1984-85 Finster was commissioned by both R.E.M and Talking Heads to create custom art for their album covers. Other Modern art in the sale includes two acrylics of a New York City blizzard by Nina Maguire, an Impressionistic oil of mining landscape by Allen Tucker, oil still life by Elsie Manville, silver gelatin photograph "Photographie Aerienne" of post WWII Paris, Sister Mary Corita Kent 1967 “WET & WILD” screenprint, large abstracts by Nancy Van Deren and Roger Howrigan, a pair of Knoll armchairs, and contemporary Chinese oils.
Other attention-getting objects to be sold include a Paul Hankar 1894 advertising poster, a c. 1871 Presentation Phrenology skull, 40+ ceramic and glass inkwells, Hermes silk shawls, beaded purses, 100+ antique and vintage hatpins, bronze figures including several with Art Deco motifs, miniature portraits, clocks, flying witch weathervane, walking sticks, pietra dura, and other fine collectables.
This sale will be live at the Plainville CT gallery starting at 5:30pm on November 4th. Winter Associates’ auction catalog is available online at www.AuctionsAppraisers.com as of Friday, October 25th. Winter Associates, Inc. is located in central Connecticut at 21 Cooke Street in Plainville, CT. Previews are Friday, November 1st from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m.; Sunday, November 3rd from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.; and on Monday, November 4th from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. Previewers are welcome at other times, please call to schedule an appointment. (860) 793-0288.
Absentee bids can be submitted prior to the sale and bidders are welcome to actively bid during the sale online or by phone bid. Pickup will be by appointment only, please call the office and we will do our best to accommodate you.
[1] https://crystalbridges.org/exhibitions/fish-stories-early-images-of-american-game-fish/
[2] https://howardfinster.com/about/