September 30th, 2024, Auction starting at 5:30

From Estates and fine households throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island the auction will include a mix of 19th & 20th C. paintings and prints, American antique and fine reproduction furniture including Nathan Margolis, Wallace Nutting etc., a two-owner collections, one of Historical Blue Staffordshire and one of antique firearms; also Americana stoneware, treenware, early glass, bronzes, daguerreotypes, etc., iron garden furniture, coins, etc.

From a Vernon CT estate a Nathan Margolis highboy custom made for Robert Butler of Hartford in the 1930’s after an 18th C. Eliphalet Chapin original that Butler once owned and later donated to the Wadsworth Atheneum in 1964 . The original piece is an important part of the American furniture collection and is illustrated in the catalog “Connecticut Furniture, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” No. 93, also illustrated in Kugelman “Connecticut valley Furniture” No. 63, and MacMillan’s “Furniture Treasury” No. 370.  The finely crafted copy to be auctioned off boasts Chapin’s unusual carved cartouche finial true to the original as well as a custom made Margolis alternative to accommodate a lessened ceiling height.  Margolis’s original sketch of the replacement finial and an impressive collection of provenance is available to the successful bidder.  Other Margolis pieces in the sale include a four drawer chest, a chest on chest and a pair of Queen Anne form candlestands. Period furniture includes an 18th C. slant lid desk and a similar rosewood diminutive desk version, a sewing table, corner cabinet, an early 19th C. girandole mirror, etc.

Two Charles Ethan Porter oils will cross the block on Monday, the larger "Snipsic Lake, Rockville, CT (aka Shenipsit Lake)", depicts a view from the artist’s hometown and is from the same estate as the highboy above. From another home a smaller floral still life, a frequent subject done in the manner the artist is known for. Porter, the first African American to attend the Academy of Design in New York City and later studied in Paris, continued to paint and teach in the Hartford area until his death in 1923.  Another Connecticut artist’s work is Aaron Draper Shattuck, also an alumni of the Academy of Design, painted regularly at his farm in Granby, CT as well as nearby Farmington and Simsbury. Seascapes, like the one to cross the block in the upcoming auction, are less common and often depict the stormy strength of the sea.  Other notable artists in the sale include Carleton Wiggins, Clark Voorhees, Robert Owen, Betram Bruestle, Wayne Morrell, as well as works by Georges Robin, Edward Seago, Paul Saling.

The Historical Blue Staffordshire Collection from a Vernon, CT estate is extensive and sure to excite collectors of early 19th C. British transferware. Ironically many pieces were created celebrating American victories and heroes to recover the market lost during the Revolutionary War and again in the War of 1812, and “after their dual defeat, the British desire for commerce won out over national pride”[1],  and English potters appealed  to American patriotism to sell their wares.  Still consistently popular with Americans, patterns to be sold include “America & Independence”, “The Landing of Lafayette”, ”Layfayette at Franklin’s Tomb”, “Lafayette at Washington’s Tomb”, “Washington Standing by His Own Tomb”, “Landing of the Father’s at Plymouth” and others, with many being larger pieces such as platters, teapots, sugar dishes and tureens, etc.  An example of this genre’s popularity is a recent exhibit by the Connecticut’s State House and Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, "General Lafayette: The Hero" which displayed historical Staffordshire and more from June 4th - September 16th, 2024.

Other attention-getting objects to be sold include an early 19th C. American copper weathervane of jockey on running horse, 30” l., with separately cast head and uniquely rendered body and reins.  Also a single-owner collection of antique firearms and weapons, a pair of monumental hardstone bonsai trees in cloisonné pots measuring 55” in height, cast iron pair of urns, garden benches and chairs, a coin collection, sterling silver holloware, flatware and jewelry along with many gold wearables, glazed stoneware, five Villareal bronze dancers along with a number of classical figures, etc.

This sale will be live at the Plainville CT gallery starting at 5:30pm on September 30th. Winter Associates’ auction catalog is available online at www.AuctionsAppraisers.com as of Friday, September 20th. Winter Associates, Inc. is located in central Connecticut at 21 Cooke Street in Plainville, CT. Previews are Friday, September 27th from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m.; Sunday, September 29th from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.; and on Monday, September 30th 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://newengland.com/yankee/historical-staffordshire-antiques/