Winter Associates Live Auction
October 3 at 5:30 pm
21 Cooke Street, Plainville, CT 06062
www.AuctionsAppraisers.com
860-793-0288

PLAINVILLE, CONN. — An offering of Connecticut furniture with ownership descending in the same family from the Eighteenth Century to the present owners will be presented in a live auction by Winter Associates on Monday, October 3, at 5:30 pm.

Included in the sale is a pair of rare matching Queen Anne high chest and dressing table, along with a Chapin School dropleaf dining table. From an estate in New Haven, Conn., that has been the source of a quilt collection comes an Erastus Salisbury Field oil on canvas. Additionally there is a wide variety of Americana, clocks, prints, Asian, tribal, jewelry, silver, the last part of Oriental rugs from a large Canton, Conn., home, and the third, and possibly largest, offering of quilts and textiles from a New Haven estate will go on the block.

An early Queen Anne flat top high chest and dressing table, circa 1740, with impeccable provenance, consists of the only matched pair in the region prior to 1750 that survives together, according to the Kugelmans that cataloged it in Connecticut Valley Furniture. They further state that the pieces imitate the Boston style but are made with locally sourced walnut veneer, and point out that the pair boasts well-articulated legs and feet of the same height. Additionally, it states that the high chest’s backboards are set in grooves cut in the underside of the top board, a technique distinctive of the Hartford area. Also documented in the publication is the history of the pieces, which have been continuously owned by the Talcott family of Hartford, beginning with Mabel Wyllys (1713-1775) and Samuel Talcott (1711-1797) and were likely part of her dowery when they married in 1739.

Another piece of Connecticut furniture, an Eliphalet Chapin School dropleaf dining table, is strikingly similar to the illustration Figure 3.5 in Kuglemans’ Connecticut Valley Furniture. As highlighted in the Kugelmans’ book, the table illustrates the preeminent cabinetmaker’s signature style of blending Philadelphia rococo and Connecticut Valley techniques, especially the unusually well-carved cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, as well as his signature “clean look,” which eliminated any exposed dovetails, nails and pegs to exposed areas. Also mentioned in the publication is the fact most Chapin examples come from Windsor and East Windsor families, as this example does, having passed down through the family for generations to the current descendent of an East Windsor Hill family. Chapin relocated from Philadelphia in 1771 to open a shop on Main Street, East Windsor (now East Windsor Hill in South Windsor).

From the same New Haven estate that has provided an important quilt collection comes a rare privately owned oil on canvas attributed to Erastus Salisbury Field (American, 1805-1900). Between 1865 and 1880, Erastus Salisbury Field created a series of paintings illustrating the Ten Plagues of Egypt intended as decoration for the walls of the North Congregational Church in North Amherst, Mass. The artist’s deep religious beliefs and strongly held anti-slavery views expressed in these and other biblical works were no doubt the result of his relationship since boyhood with this church. Known as unusually progressive, and with a commitment to biblical text, the church’s congregation included many members of the Amherst Anti-Slavery Society decades before the Civil War which, in 1830, had removed a clause that denied Blacks the privilege of a seat. Inspired by a mezzotint of the “Seventh Plague of Egypt” by the English artist John Martin, Field’s version of “Aaron in a Hailstorm” depicts a port city in a violent storm, viewed from a terrace above, with the figure of Aaron, arms upraised, pointing his staff at the panicked crowds below.

This previously unknown work came to light after the 1984 landmark Erastus Salisbury Field exhibition at the Springfield Museum in Massachusetts, when the painting was brought in for examination by painting conservator Emil G. Schnorr and the exhibition curator and art historian Mary Black, who determined the work to be by Field. It is not known how many examples from the artist’s “Plague Series” were actually produced by the artist. Any other examples currently appear to exist only in museums, so it’s arrival upon the auction block will be a rare occurrence.

Other offerings in the sale from the West Hartford home that held the high chest and dressing table pair are a Nineteenth Century gilt convex mirror and a collection of Nineteenth Century clocks. From the Canton and New Haven estates, a Pennsylvania bookcase and corner cupboard, circa 1780, four American painted blanket chests and more than 25 Oriental carpets will be offered.

Many Asian and tribal items from a Massachusetts collector include bronzes, temple carvings, Native American baskets, Grand Tour items, etc., also Wengenroth’s “Quiet Hour.” Beyond the 35-plus quilts from New Haven are Nineteenth Century clothing and flat textiles that will be sold. Twentieth Century designer accessories include three Louis Vuitton purses, Hermes and other silk scarves, an 18K Tiffany brooch along with other gold, diamond and pearl jewelry, silver, five guitars, German and French dolls, etc.

Previews are Friday, September 30, from noon to 4 pm; Sunday, October 2, from 2 to 4 pm; and on Monday, October 3, from noon to 5 pm. Previewers are welcome at other times by appointment.

Winter Associates is at 21 Cooke Street. For information, www.auctionsappraisers.com or 860-793-0288.

Previews:
Friday, Sept. 30th, 12-4 pm Sunday, Oct. 2nd, 2-4 pm Monday, Oct. 3rd, 12-5pm or by appointment.
Important Connecticut and other American Antiques; Clock Collection; Fine Art; Prints; Quilt Collection, Vintage Clothing and Textiles; Asian; American & African Tribal; Jewelry; Silver; Oriental Carpets & Rugs; Guitars, etc.
From Connecticut homes a Chapin school dropleaf table and a rare matching highboy and lowboy featured in Kugelman’s CT Valley Furniture, American painted blanket chests (4), c. 1780 Pennsylvania bookcase and corner cupboard,
19th C. gilt convex mirror, 19th C. chest on chest, etc.; Clock Collection (11) including Eli Terry, Ingraham, Seth Thomas, New Haven, Vulliamy style, etc.; Fine Art including Attr.to Erastus Salisbury Field from New Haven home, M. Macpherson, J. Streeter, and miniatures (10), etc.; Prints (17) including Wengenroth “Quiet Hour”, L. P. Debucourt, Key & Biddle, E. Gosselin,
C. Meryon, J. Webber, etc.; Textile Collection including quilts (35+), 19th & 20th C. clothing, accessories, etc.; Asian (30) including bronze, sculpture, pottery, robes, etc.; American & African Tribal (9) including a Maprik figure from New Guinea c. 1940 and Native American woven baskets; Jewelry (18) including 18K Tiffany & Co., other gold, diamonds & pearls, etc.; Silver; Oriental Carpets & Rugs (30) many from Canton home; French and German dolls; Guitars (5) including Washburn, Epiphone, Carvin Cobalt, National, and Guild Acoustic; etc.
19th C. Convex, 43” h.
Conn., c. 1740, rare matching pair, illustrated in Kugelman’s CT Valley Furniture #11 & 12
Vulliamy style
Eli Terry c. 1820
c. 1852
Conn. c. 1827
c. 1830
Likely William Will
Bronze 14”
90+ Textiles
Bronze, 27” h.
Russian, 20” h.
J. Streeter mixed media
19th C. leather folio
Chapin School, c. 1785, similar to Kugelman’s Connecticut Valley Furniture, fig. 3.5, current owner an East Windsor family descendent
Attr.to Erastus Salisbury Field, “Aaron in a Hailstorm”, oil, 21” h.
Stow Wengenroth “Quiet Hour”
Signature c. 1850, 35+ others
1 of 4 painted American chests
Attr. G. H. Hite
Native American
Chinese, late 19th/ early 20th C.
Persian, 12’ x 16’
Louis Vuitton; Hermes
18K Tiffany
Indo-Persian dhal
1 of 5
Penn. c. 1780
Persian Gabbeh, 8’ x 11’
M. Macpherson, oil, 16” h.
TERMS: IN-PERSON AUCTION AUDIENCE Auction begins at 5:30 PM. In addition to live bidding, Winter Associates will accept absentee and phone bids with a 23% Buyer’s Premium and live online bidding will be available on Invaluable.com and Liveauctioneers.com with a 28% Buyer’s Premium. A 3% discount is available to buyers with cash and approved checks. After the auction, pickup will be by appointment only, please email or call ahead and we will do our best to accommodate you.
LOCATION: 20 mins. west of Hartford, CT. Approx. 2 hours from NYC or Boston.