Duane Merrill & Company sold a 31-by-41-inch pastel on paper, “The Painter’s Daughter Irene,” 1911, by Boris Kustodiev (Russian, 1878‱927) for $341,000 during its June 27 auction. The price appears to be a record for the artist in that medium, according to the auction house. Kustodiev painted his daughter at various ages and locations. This painting identified the sitter in pencil on the back of the work.
Discovered in a North Hero, Vt., home, the pastel was originally purchased by Fredrick Kingsbury, founder of the Waterbury Savings Bank, in 1850. Kingsbury married a Scoville (of Scoville Manufacturing). By 1887, he was president of the New England Telegraph Co. and director of the New York & New England Railway. His name is associated with the F.J. Kingsbury Elementary School and an endowment at Yale University. The painting descended through the family by marriage.
The majority of the sale was consigned from the estate of Theodore Church from Georgia, Vt. Church graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1947 and took over his family’s business, Superior Technical Ceramics. He became the firm’s president in 1967 and moved the business from New Jersey to St Albans, Vt.
An avid collector, historian and philanthropist, Church purchased works of art, furniture and silver from major auction houses in the Northeast and England. A select group of art collected by him is currently on display at the Shelburne Museum through late October.
Leading the accessories category in the sale was a French prisoner of war 120-gun bone ship model the Le Majestaeux. The ship model was originally purchased by Church in 2004 at Northeast Auctions for $22,000. At this sale, it brought $35,200. A 36-inch white marble sculpture of Paolina Borghese reclining on a yellow and black marble recamier sold for $6,600. A shell carved cherry Connecticut Chippendale four-drawer chest that was deaccessioned by the Connecticut Historical Society and pictured in the 1940s in the Magazine Antiques sold for $9,900. Church purchased the chest in the 1990s for $9,000.
There was a large grouping of art offered from the Church estate, ranging from Sixteenth Century European portraits to Hudson River School landscapes. A Charles Heyde (1822‱892) view of Otter Creek, Vt., sold for $9,900.
An oil on canvas painting of Lake Champlain by J. Bristol (1826‱909) realized $5,775. An oil on panel portrait of Lady Mennes, daughter of the Earl of Carrick, by Gerrit Honthorst (1590‱656) sold for $8,250. An oil on canvas scene depicting a Civil War battle attributed to James Hope (1818‱892) fetched $6,325.
A Nineteenth Century oil on canvas painting of Yosemite Valley initialed GWD and dated 1871 went out at $14,300.
Overall, the auction house said the sale was very well attended with more than 300 registered bidders from three continents. Prices reported include the ten percent buyer’s premium.
Part 2 of the Theodore Church collection, along with select additions, will be offered on Saturday, September 5 at Duane Merrill & Company’s gallery at 137 James Brown Road. It will feature a W. Prior oil on board portrait of a child holding a flower, a Nineteenth Century polychrome cigar store figure of Columbia and Hudson River School art, among other items.
For additional information, www.merrillsauction.com or 802-878-2625.
