Gustave J. S. White Rhode Island Estates Auction
July 20 at 10 am
Newport County Auction Gallery: 1676 East Main Road (Rte 138) Portsmouth, RI
401-841-5780
401-662-1284

Inspection: Tuesday, July 19 from 1 to 4 PM and one hour before sale on Wednesday
Gustave White is a traditional company selling antiques at auction since 1926. In all that time we have never sold what is called “Mid-Century Modern” so before taking on the consignment from “Merrillton”, Newport’s oldest “summer cottage”, which is furnished principally in “Mid-Century Modern”, we sent four White staff members to the mansion for a look. They returned using the following words: “bizarre”, “out there”, “funky”, and “repulsive”. An assessment like that by persons with no axe to grind was discouraging. We needed a professional opinion and got it from R & R Design, a respected interior decorating firm. They returned from the house ecstatic. “ You people had better start getting with it. That’s some of the greatest “Mid-Century Modern” we’ve ever seen.
It’s all terrific and “ATTRACTIVE”. So now “attractive” has taken on a broader meaning for us, although we still think the most valuable piece in the auction is a tallcase clock from a different estate. What makes it so valuable? It was made in 1770 and has a name plate reading “Samuel Rockwell, Providence”.
“ Merrillton”
Watercolor, “Portuguese Band”, 15” x 17 1⁄2” Francis Smith
o/c 40” x 30”, “Evening Storm”, D. Hamilton Fraser
Anatolian grain bag
Dial reads: Samuel Rockwell,
Providence
Eastern Turkish Mafrash (bedding bag)
Height: 40”
o/c Anna c. Freeland
H: 42”
Wooly
o/c 14” x 24”, A. Glendening
Life-size