American Furniture & Decorative Arts

621.

American School, 19th Century

Pair of Portraits of Thomaston, Maine, Shipbuilder Rufus Counce

and His Wife Lucy. Inscribed “Painted by A.G.H. 1834” on the verso,

both sitters identified in inscriptions on the stretchers. Oil on canvas, 28

1/4 x 23 in., in period molded giltwood frames. Condition: Very good.

Literature: See History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South

Thomaston, Maine, by Cyrus Baton, Hallowell: Masters, 1865, p. 188.

Rufus C. Counce was born June 8, 1795. He married Lucy Healy

Spear on June 5, 1820, and his occupation was shipbuilder.

$400-600

622.

Solon Francis Monticello Badger (Charlestown, Massachusetts, ac.

1882-1913)

Portrait of the Schooner Young Brothers. Signed and dated “SFM

Badger ‘96” l.l. and verso, the four-masted vessel identified on the bow,

stern, and pennant, sailing with a lighthouse off its starboard bow. Oil

on canvas, 26 x 42 in., in a period frame. Condition: Tear u.r. with

associated paint loss, varnish inconsistencies.

Note: The Young Brothers was built in Belfast, Maine, in 1890. Her

original owner was David Talving of Providence, Rhode Island. Her

captain and share owner was George Snow of South Falmouth,

Massachusetts. She was destroyed by fire on the Penobscot River at

Bath, Maine.

$10,000-15,000

126 additional information and photos at http://www.skinnerinc.com

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