- Carved and Gilded Catamount Figural Tavern Sign, probably
Bennington County, Vermont, c. 1893, relief-carved figure with gilt over
gessoed wood, including black metal stand and a white painted wood
wall-mounted display shelf, (repairs to tail), ht. 25, wd. 4 1/2, lg. 5 ft. 2
in.
Provenance: According to notes kept by the consignors, the figure
reportedly was carved by a carousel figure carver for the 1893
Bennington, Vermont, Centennial Celebration. It was owned by a
gentleman whose Vermont grandparents were antique collectors in the
1920s, and the figure had been stored in their attic for many years.
Exhibitions: Vermont: Myths and Realities, Vermont Folk Life Center,
Middlebury College, and Bennington Museum.
Note: The eastern mountain lion or catamount (a variant of “cat of the
mountain”) was adopted by Vermonters as a symbol of their tenacity.
In the 18th century, a catamount grinning defiance at New York was
the sign and rallying symbol of the Green Mountain Boys before the
Revolutionary War at Jonas Fay’s Catamount Tavern in Bennington,
Vermont,
$12,000-15,
5.
Federal Inlaid Cherry Bombe Chest of Drawers, attributed to George
Stedman, Norwich, Vermont, c. 1800-20, inlaid with stringing along the
top edge and the drawer borders, on the base of flaring French feet
joined by a shaped skirt, old octagonal eagle-and-shield embossed
brasses, old surface, (imperfections), ht. 35, wd. 41, dp. 18 1/2 in.Provenance: 19th century descent in the West family of Royalton,
Vermont. An accompanying note about where the piece was found
reads in part: “In with ‘attic discards’ at Westlands, in South Royalton,
Vermont, the Farm owned by Frank S. and Ellen W. Ainsworth.
Rescued by their daughter, Ida Ainsworth Cole, in 1916...”Purchased by the consignors at James Dickerson Auction, Fermsburg,
Vermont, August 10, 1997.Literature: See Zogry, pp. 118-119, cat. no 69, for an analysis of
another example of this uniquely Vermont form. In the description,
Zogry implies that there are at least five additional examples known,
including one at the Bennington Museum, and another at Winterthur;
and see Charles Robinson, p. 99.
$15,000-25,4