Miller & Miller Auctions Canadiana & Folk Art
October 8, 2022
59 Webster Street
New Hamburg, Ontario | N3A1W8
millerandmillerauctions.com

NEW HAMBURG, ONTARIO, CANADA — A painting by Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis (1903-1980) titled “Winter Sleigh Ride,” a mixed media diorama by Adelard Brousseau of Quebec titled “Maple Sugar Time” (circa 1930) and an acrylic on paper by Canadian Woodland artist Norval Morrisseau (1932-2007) titled “Ancestral Visitors” are a couple of the expected top lots in Miller & Miller Auctions’ online-only Canadiana and folk art auction Saturday, October 8.

The 346-lot auction, beginning at 9 am Eastern time, features an offering of Canadiana and folk art representing some of the oldest collections in the county. The backbone of the sale is built on the collection of the Honorable Jim Fleming, the former Canadian broadcaster and member of the House of Commons (1972-1984).

Fleming’s search for Canada’s best folk art began in the 1970s. Much of what he offers is fully documented and his collection consists of world-class walking sticks and folk art carvings. Also offered will be Canadiana and folk art from Marty Osler, including Outsider art and items from the collection of Susan Murray, to include the Adelard Brousseau diorama.

There are 11 Maud Lewis paintings in the auction, with “Winter Sleigh Ride” an expected top earner ($15,000/18,500). The circa 1955 mixed media on beaverboard is an early Christmas season scene, similar to a later image used for a series of Canadian postage stamps. The 9-by-11-inch board (less frame) is signed and dated.

Brousseau’s “Maple Sugar Time” is a rendition of a traditional Quebec rural scene ($13,000/18,500). Brousseau achieved the diorama by meticulously carving, one by one, the figures, the tools and animals in the scene. Brousseau was an accomplished artist, jeweler, stone carver and contractor.

Morrisseau’s “Ancestral Visitors” (1998) brings together many elements — such as spirits — a continuance of life in the body of one animal while showing a connection to other life and spirit forms. The work is signed lower right and measures 22 by 30 inches (sight, less frame) ($9/11,000).
Carved wooden walking sticks from the Fleming collection will be led by a circa 1920s lady’s example attributed to Willard MacKenzie (Nova Scotia), with a compressed ball top and two well-carved painted bathers carrying what looks to be a basket below; and a second half Nineteenth Century Iroquois/Christian walking stick (Quebec) with a stylized carving of a beaver for a handle (both $3/4,000).

A late Nineteenth/early Twentieth Century watercolor on paper coastline portrait by Maurice Galbraith Cullen (Canadian, 1866-1934), an example of the artist’s Impressionist style, measures 7 by 8¼ inches ($2,600/3.700); while a house paint on plywood “Portrait of a Man” by the American Outsider artist Purvis Young (1943-2010), signed upper right and 47½ by 24 inches, should hit $2,200/3,000.
An exuberantly decorated pine shelf in red, black and cream paint (Quebec, circa 1920), 15 by 25½ inches, with crosshatched carving, scalloping and painted decoration, should reach $2,600/3,700. Also, an 1854 Vaughan Township (Ontario) pine, basswood, paint and stain country Sheraton signed and dated chest of drawers with original locks and wooden pulls, retaining its historic finish, 58 inches tall, has an estimate of $2,200/3,000.

A mid-Twentieth Century working model of MacPherson’s Fingal Separator thresher (grain separator) by Walter Stansell (Canadian, b 1884), whose work has been featured at the Ontario Science Centre and in museums across North America, should realize $2,200/3,600. Also, a circa 1900 painted sign for the Maple Leaf Grocery, originating from a Guelph, Ontario firm, features gold lettering against a textured smaltz black ground ($1,500/2,600).

A circa 1840 Prince Edward Island painted toy box made of pine, ash and tin, decorated with a heart-shaped escutcheon and the initials “JA” and the name “Newman” incised into the front, should fetch $1,500/1,900; while a circa 1885 documented folk art carved shelf (Hamilton, Ontario), commemorating Canada’s famous oarsman, Ned Hanlan, with his name carved in a banner above an image of the rower, is expected to hit $1,100/1,500.

Rounding out this short list of expected top lots is a surefire conversation starter: a late Nineteenth Century carved hardwood crooked knife with a steel blade, wire wrapping and a scrolled handle, relief carved with a “naughty” fisherman’s naked torso ($300/400).

Prices quoted are in US Dollars and have been converted based on the exchange rate at press time.
For additional information, www.millerandmillerauctions.com or 519-573-3710.

Featuring the Collections of Jim Fleming,
Marty Osler, and Susan Murray
Jim Fleming is a former Canadian Broadcaster and Member of the House of
Commons whose search for Canada’s best folk art began in the 1970s. Much of
what he offers in this sale is fully documented.
Beloved Toronto Optometrist Marty Osler could easily be considered Canadiana’s
poster child. Osler’s contributions to this sale come from deep within his mineshaft of trappings. Ranging from forged weathervanes to outsider art, they will delight and surprise collectors.
Since Susan Murray’s 2007 Canadian/US tour of The Beaverbrook Art Gallery,
her Collection and name were immortalized. Finally, collectors have an opportunity to discover and own what she cherished including the 1930s masterpiece diorama “Maple Sugar Time” by Quebec folk artist Adelaird Brousseau. With a line-up of artists ranging from Maud Lewis, Norval Morriseau, Maurice Galbraith Cullen, Purvis Young and Moses Tolliver, as well as documented folk art
from the great collections mentioned, this is not a sale to be missed.
Miller & Miller Auctions is Canada’s trusted seller of high value collections. Specializing in fine art, antiques, wristwatches and high value collectibles.
Conducting catalogued auctions accessible
worldwide at www.millerandmillerauctions.com.
1-833-662-4800 |