Cape Ann Art Dominates, Furniture’s A Bargain At Blackwood March Sale

Essex, Mass.

:An even mix of dealers and retail buyers turned up for an opportunity to add to stock or to broaden a collection of Cape Ann art offered at the August 6 Blackwood March auction.

The highlight was a ship's portrait by Boston marine artist William Pierce Stubbs, the schooner Carrie A. Norton . The picture had some condition problems and was estimated conservatively, but dealers saw promise in it and drove it to $9,890. The oil on canvas, which depicted the vessel with the twin lights off Thacher Island, Gloucester, came from an Annisquam estate.

A winter mountain landscape with snow covered pastures by Aldro Thompson Hibbard inspired bidders and realized $8,050 from an area dealer who took several high lots.

A signed oil on canvas view of boats in Lane's Cove Harbor on Cape Ann by Carl W. Peters came from the artist's estate and sold for $4,485.

Work by W. Lester Stevens commanded attention. The oil on canvas view, "Vinalhaven Cove, Maine," depicted a fishing shack and boats and realized $4,600, while a colorful autumn landscape with a stream sold for $3,680.

Frederick Mulhaupt's misty Cape Ann harbor scene was inscribed "Mulhaupt to Grover — 1917" and sold for $5,750. It came from a Rockport estate. An eerie winter marsh landscape with a rising moon by Carl Nordstrom sold for $1,035. A seascape of a rocky shore by Charles P. Gruppe brought $2,530. An autumn farm scene with a red barn by Stanley Woodward went for $1,395

"Spring Reflections #7," an oil on Masonite by Wayne Morrell, earned $2,990, and a pretty view of Motif #1 in Rockport Harbor fetched $1,064.

Work by Cape Ann artist Otis Cook appealed: A logging scene fetched $2,990 and the oil on board "Vermont Hills" was $1,783. An autumnal farm scene drew $978.

"A Rockbound Coast," a view of cliffs along the shore by the Vermont-born artist George W. Picknell sold for $1,495. A floral still life with pink and white peonies by Maurice Compris in the original silver gilt frame elicited $2,990, while a Compris still life with pink and white hydrangeas realized $2,530.

"Lobster Trap Repairs" by Ken Gore, who arrived in Gloucester in the 1950s, sold for $1,208. "Low Tide" by Rockport modernist Thurston Marshall rose to $2,473. A view of a waterfront town, probably along the Massachusetts south coast, by Frank Shapleigh sold for $1,668.

A ten-panel Japanese screen with figures in a domestic landscape that came from an Essex house realized $1,438. A 22-inch marble bust of Cardinal Cushing of Boston by Carlo Menchini sold for $201, as did a 14-inch marble bust of Quan Yin.

An unsigned Anthony Thieme oil on canvas, "Mexicano," fetched $1,088, and another Thieme lot comprising a marine etching, a winter scene etching and a print making etching was $144. The Thieme etching of "Palm Trees" along a path was $460. A Thieme self portrait as a young man was quite badly damaged and realized $230. Thieme's copy of the 1910 book Frank Brangwyn and His Work by W.S. Sparrow with four pencil sketches by Thieme attracted a modest $85.

An oil on Masonite seascape with crashing surf was $489. A slightly surrealistic portrait of a seated woman by Raymond A. Whyte realized $1,725, and an Impressionistic landscape with a cow by Jean Charles Cazin was $1,380. Two old gilt picture frames attracted attention and sold for $403.

The auction comprised mostly paintings; only a few lots of furniture went across the block and they represented excellent values for their buyers. The highlight was a nice set of four rabbit ear Windsor chairs in yellow paint and stenciled decoration that realized $460. A wicker set comprising two rocking chairs and an armchair, all in black paint, was ready to go and sold for $345. A pretty little Victorian walnut and figured maple writing desk was a fine value at $115.

A pair of Nineteenth Century brass push-up beehive candlesticks fetched $98, and a copper sulky weathervane sold for $144. A pair of brass ball top andirons sold for $173.

A lot of pewter comprising a George IV tankard and an early lighting device fetched $115. A Nineteenth Century cane with an incised bone handle sold for $259, and a Victorian example with a silver handle sold for $87. A tribal prayer rug sold for $345.

A model of a whaling ship sold for $345, and a model of a whale boat with whaling tools sold to the same bidder for $202. There was plenty of life and money left in a lot of about 80 nautical photographs that sold for $81.

All prices quoted reflect the 15 percent buyer's premium. For information, 978-768-6943 or www.blackwoodauction.com .