- Royal Brewster Smith (Maine, 1801-1855)
Portrait of Abner Chase Stockin, Age Three, of Monmouth, Maine,
c. 1834. Unsigned, the sitter and artist identified in inscriptions on the
reverse. Oil on canvas, depicting the boy seated in a painted chair,
holding a book, 33 x 26 3/4 in., in a later molded giltwood frame.
Condition: Relined, retouch.
Provenance: Family descent.
Exhibitions: Collector’s View, March 15–April 20, 1986, Loch Haven Art
Center, Orange County, Florida, exhibition label affixed to the back.
Note: A note written by Nina Fletcher Little identifying the artist as
Royal Brewster Smith is affixed to the reverse.
Abner Chase Stockin was born August 30, 1831, the son of Thomas
Blossom Stockin and Lydia Ann Chase. He graduated from Bowdoin
College in 1857, was a teacher for twelve years, and later an
educational publisher for thirty years. He married Helen Medora Towle
(b. July 6, 1832) on August 3, 1858. They had at least one child, a son,
Edwin Stockin (b. January 22, 1862, at Monmouth, Maine), who later
became the publisher of the Youth’s Companion of Boston. Abner died
on January 11, 1901, at the age of seventy.
$4,000-6,000
- Burlwood Bowl, America, early 19th century, round turned bowl with
integral carved handles, (imperfections), ht. 5 3/4, dia. 16 in.
$4,000-6,000
82.
Folk Art Whirligig Tavern Sign, Connecticut, c. 1870s, carved
laminated wood in the form of a woman wearing a broad-brimmed hat,
a narrow-waisted dress with full skirt, puffy sleeves, with wide paddle
hands, the dress and hat painted tan, with red wavy-line borders, and
red bowknots on the sleeves, faceted black glass eyes, relief carved
nose and ears, painted mouth, (imperfections), ht. 29 in.Literature: This whirligig reportedly stood at the “Halfway House,” a
tavern and inn halfway between the towns of Darien and Stamford,
Connecticut, established in 1876. Photographs of the inn are pictured
in Stamford Connecticut: Journey Through Time, by Carl Lobozza,
historian, Stamford Historical Society Inc., p. 29.Illustrated in the Architectural Digest magazine article “Antiques: In the
American Spirit,” December 1983, p. 109. A photocopy of the article
and the magazine accompany the lot.
$8,000-12,00032 additional information and photos at http://www.skinnerinc.com
8280