Rafael Osona Two-Day Americana, Fine Art, Pacific Trade, Marine Auction
Saturday & Sunday, August 7-8, 9:30 am
21 Washington Street
Nantucket Island
508-228-3942
www.RafaelOsonaAuctions.com
info@RafaelOsonaAuctions.com

NANTUCKET, MASS. — Rafael Osona’s signature August sale is well regarded for its exceptional offerings from far-reaching corners. The two-day event, August 7 and 8, presents choice properties that range from Rembrandt etchings to Abraham Lincoln and Civil War US Treasury “redbacks,” from leading “Nantucket Renaissance” painter Anne Ramsdell Congdon and modernist Vladimir Kagan to furnishings and décor from the Starbuck East Brick mansion and a from two single-owner collections of Canton and Chinese export porcelains.

Pacific Trade collectors — and regulars at the annual Nantucket Antiques Show — will recognize Gail and Rich Mellin’s meticulously curated Canton Collection — the couple are distinguished experts and authors in the field. Properties offered on August 7 preview the excitement to be expected among Osona’s future Mellin sales, and share the spotlight with furnishings from Nantucket’s iconic Starbuck East Brick mansion, completed in 1839 during the Island’s “whaling capital of the world” heyday. The East Brick collection was assembled by Marie & Rick Wackenhut, during their residence in the splendid mansion.

A Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn self-portrait, the etching signed and dated on the print; and Rembrandt’s windmill, this etching signed and dated in the plate are offered among 23 properties directly descended in the family of former Congressman, the Hon. Major General Francis Elias Spinner, Treasurer of the United States, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln

Spinner served as US Treasurer during the Civil War and thereafter, under three presidents and six secretaries of the Treasury. Aside from Lincoln himself, Spinner was among the most respected and recognized government officials of his day. Properties descended in his family include documents and commendation awards, including a President Abraham Lincoln signed proclamation for Spinner’s appointment to U.S. Treasurer as well as a framed lithographed federal shield bearing 39 fractional currency notes, including 50-cent “redbacks” of the third issue, dignified by Spinner’s portrait and his famously flamboyant signature.

There’s rare opportunity in an important group of six paintings by Anne Ramsdell Congdon; four of the six gifted to a relative by the artist, those four descended in the family to the present time. The paintings being offered coincide with a recently opened feature exhibition, “Anne Ramsdell Congdon’s Nantucket Renaissance” presented by the Nantucket Historical Association. Congdon was active on Nantucket from 1926 through the late forties.

Significant among the Mellin Collection is rare Canton covered game/beefsteak platter with hot water reservoir, circa 1810-20; only three known to exist and a similarly rare Canton fish basin. The two are offered among various Canton forms — those made for bathing and personal care, dining room service, lighting, kitchen storage, trays and tiles, umbrella stands, even spittoons. The Mellin properties also include notable Nanking, as well as clobbered Mandarin, famille rose and famille verte.

On Day 2, the marine auction features a Joseph Clapp (1825-1909) Nantucket whalebone, cherry wood and whale ivory birdcage. A strikingly similar birdcage, also made by Clapp is in the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.

Don’t miss a fine Dutch painting of two frigates by a follower of Abraham Storck, early Eighteenth Century, provenanced by Christie’s, Amsterdam, 1983 and by Sotheby’s, Olympia, 2003 nor should be missed a one-of-a-kind whaler-made nursing rocker of naïve construction, a small baleen whale skull serves as back splat with whale ivory diamond inlays, circa 1850.

Leading the scrimshaw category, a historically relevant pair of sperm whale teeth, circa 1846: one depicts a 28-star America flag above a portrait of George Washington — presumably commemorating the annexation of Texas to the Republic. The companion tooth is engraved with a courting couple, the reverses showing American and French Barks, circa 1846. There are three large scrimshaw sperm whale teeth attributed to the Britannia Engraver, first quarter of the Nineteenth Century — one depicts a British ship engaged in battle, with an enemy ship billowing smoke. The reverse depicts a ship coming over a large swell, sails furled and initialed “LR” and “HA.”

For additional information, www.rafaelosonaauction.com or 508-228-3942.

4-Day Preview August 3, 4, 5, 6 from 10 am to 5 pm

Bid Online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com, www.Bidsquare.com and www.Invaluable.com

Absentee and Telephone bids
Lic. 366
Ralph Cahoon
Ralph Cahoon
Anne Congdon Anne Congdon
Antonio Jacobsen
Rembrandt Etching ìSelf Portrait
Leaning on a Stone Sillî
Rembrandt Etching ìThe Windmillî
Chinese Export
Cumshing
Silver Hardware
Canton
Fish Basin
Rolex
Abraham Lincoln Signed Document
Serapi
Britannia Engraver
Tiffany Studios
Life-size
Philadelphia
Eagle
18th c.
Music Box
Joseph Clapp
Nantucket Bird Cage