Nantucket, MA ~ Americana, Fine Art, Marine Auction

On August 3, 2019 Rafael Osona Auctions will conduct its Annual Americana Fine Art & Marine Auction.

The live auction begins Saturday, August 3 at 9:30am EST in their Nantucket Gallery as well as online at Bidsquare.com. The Preview Gallery is open Thursday & Friday, August 1 - 2 from 10am to 5pm at American Legion Hall, 21 Washington Street Nantucket, MA.

Lot 284, Joan Miró, Le Beluga, Aquatint and Carborundum in Colors on Wove Paper; Estimate $40,000-$50,000

“Le Beluga” A rare and fine etching by Joan Miró tops off Fine Art which includes Modern, Classical, Marine and Nantucket Art; Including an alluring portrait of Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame’s “Esmeralda with her Goat, Djali“ by Joseph Henri François van Lerius. There’s an exuberantly colored, "The Day's Catch" by Howard Logan Hilderbrandt, Marine Paintings by James E. Buttersworth, Antonio Jacobsen, and Thomas Willis, Nantucket subjects by Anne Ramsdell Congdon, Robert Stark Jr., Derek George Montague Gardner and Ralph Eugene Cahoon.

19th Century Scrimshaw from The Thomas A. Gray Collection headlines the sale. Thomas Gray, a true Southern Gentleman, astute collector and Walpole focused his keen eye on the utilitarian, homemaker and decorative arts of the whaling era. He co-founded the Old Salem Toy Museum with his mother Anne Pepper Gray and served as the director of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem (MESDA). 

Lot 151, James E. Buttersworth, Portrait of the Yacht America Racing Off Sandy Hook, With Deck Hands Changing the Sails, August 1870, Oil on canvas; Estimate $30,000-$40,000

Also featured is the Estate Collection of Anne and Herb Keck as well as numerous Private Collectors of 19th c. scrimshaw. The offerings feature a signed William Lewis Roderick Tooth, (Roderick was a Welsh physician who served as ship's surgeon on three London South Sea whaling voyages on the bark Adventureduring 1847-56, and is considered to be one of the finest scrimshaw artisans of the day).

Another exceptional tooth is attributed to The Ceres A Artisan - William A. Gilpin. There’s also a fine Whaleman-made Ivory and Tortoiseshell Watch Hutch, circa 1830. (This property is akin to a watch hutch by the same maker in the permanent collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.) 

Lot 141, Collection of Eighteen English Watercolors on 'Super Fine London Board', "Studies of Butterflies"; Estimate $5,000-$7,000

There’s no shortage of commemorative or quite simply put-to-good-purpose Coconuts, whale ivory Pie Crimpers, panbone and ivory swifts, Spinning Jennies, Fids, Clothes pins and Toys  – even a singular Whalebone Paper Dispenser that would make Charmin proud.

Among a number of singular walking sticks, A Most Excellent and Masterpiece of Maritime Inlaid Work; and from the Barbara Johnson Collection a Whaler Made Whale Ivory, Whalebone, Mother-of Pearl, Abalone and Baleen Walking Stick, circa 1860-1870.

Lot 53, Chippendale Mahogany Reverse Serpentine Slant-Front Desk, Circa 1775; Estimate $7,000-$10,000

There’s a back story about a wholly significant Mahogany Chippendale Slant-front desk, whose attributed Salem, Massachusetts maker was scarcely honorable. Three known pieces that bear his name are exceptionally highly regarded, if their maker’s conscience is not.

The center of attention in our Americana Department will be an exceptional collection of true-to-scale 18th & 19th c. objects and furnishings; contents of a meticulously restored 1790 Siasconset cottage known as The Corners, includes A Rare American Maple Splay-Leg Tray Top Tea Table, a brilliant circa 1800-1830 American Reflective Candle Sconce, early lighting devices, a New England Chippendale Mahogany Oxbow Chest of Drawers, a Joshua Wilder Mirror Clock and an Oliver Bracket Dwarf Shelf Clock.

Additional properties include Sailor's Valentines, Quilts, China Trade, Chinese Export Porcelains, American, European and Asian Antique Furnishings & Décor, plus luxury designers Rolex, Omega, Buccellati, Christofle, Tiffany and more. 

Offered at auction exclusively on the online bidding platform, Bidsquare and live in the Osona Galleryat 21 Washington Street, Nantucket, MA 02554. Absentee and phone bids are accepted.