This farm scene by Théodore Rousseau (French, 1812-1867), oil on canvas, 38 by 29 inches framed, achieved the sale’s highest price, $18,600.
Review by Carly Timpson
CANAAN, N.Y. — On April 21, Ralph Fontaine’s Heritage Auctions conducted its Super Spring Estate Auction, offering nearly 450 lots of furniture, paintings, clocks and jewelry from estates in Connecticut and Massachusetts and an Albany, N.Y., law firm. Ralph Fontaine categorized the sale as a great success, noting that it had a 95 percent sell-through rate.
Leading the sale was a signed Théodore Rousseau oil on canvas painting of a farm scene in what appeared to be its original gilt frame with an artist plaque. Measuring 38 by 29 inches, this landscape painting was sold to a Midwest estate for $18,600.
An Edwin White painting of George Washington at a burial scene, possibly titled “George Washington Reading The Eulogy For General Braddock,” which once hung in Mount Vernon, was claimed for $15,000. The museum-quality painting depicted Washington standing over a flag-covered body, surrounded by mourners. Last sold by Sotheby’s in 1985, the painting was restored by a conservator in 2000.
One of 16 sheets of uncut Nineteenth Century banknotes. This one was from The Iron Bank (Falls Village, Conn.) and had three $5 bills and a $10 bill. All 16 sheets sold together for $15,000.
Sixteen sheets of Nineteenth Century banknotes from The Iron Bank (Falls Village, Conn.), Norfolk Bank (Norfolk, Conn.) and Bank of New England at Goodspeed’s Landing (East Haddam, Conn.) sold together for a total of $15,000. The majority of these were uncut and denominations included $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20 and $50.
An antique cast iron fountain from J.W. Fiske & Company made $12,500. Standing just over 6 feet tall, the three-tiered fountain’s large bottom bowl was cast with turtles and frogs around the rim. The bottom pedestal had egrets around it and supported a smaller flower-form bowl with cast cherub faces and flowers. A cherub figure held the fountain’s smallest shell-form bowl.
This men’s wristwatch of 14-16K gold and with more than 460 diamonds found a buyer for $5,000.
A diamond-encrusted men’s date watch made of 14-16K gold went out for $5,000. The watch was in a yellow-gold tank-style case bordered by 58 diamonds. The watch’s silver-tone dial was further enhanced with nearly 140 round diamonds and beyond dazzling aesthetics, the seven jewel quartz movement was Swiss-made. This watch was accompanied by a 2019 appraisal from Harold Finkle Your Jeweler of Colonie, N.Y.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For further information, www.fontaineheritage.com or 518-781-3650.
