Peter Tillou Collection Highlights Litchfield Auctions’ 25th Anniversary

Litchfield, CT – Litchfield Auctions is proud to celebrate 25 years in the auction business with a noteworthy sale featuring property from the collection of antique collector, dealer and connoisseur Peter Tillou.

Known by many as on one of the great American art and antique dealers and collectors of our time, Tillou is a wealth of knowledge with a warm personality and defined character. With an eclectic taste and seamless eye for quality, Tillou’s passion for antiques has been something that has followed him for a lifetime, having carved away half a century as an expert in the field. Litchfield Auctions is proud to collaborate with Peter Tillou in deaccessioning portions of his collection. 

Litchfield Auctions, having secured themselves as a prominent fixture in the antique and auction community, has continually adapted with market changes and offered quality estates and property for a quarter century. Stemming from the early days of Weston Thorn Antiques in Bantam, CT, they held their first auction in 1994. Live auctions were a mainstay for nearly 10 years until the age of the internet auction gained momentum and they held their first online sale in 2003. Stepping off the podium and into online bidding, Litchfield was now broadcasting their sales to a worldwide audience. Auctions throughout the years have consisted ofrecord-breaking sales and they have handled countless prominent estates and collections. 

Lot 383, Gilbert Stuart and Studio, American, active in England, 1755 - 1828; Estimate $15,000-$25,000

Their 2-day auction on October 19 and 20 will feature part I from the important collection of Peter Tillou. The cover lot is a striking Gilbert Stuart portrait of Thomas Taylour, c.1790/91. The sitter was the First Earl of Bective who is depicted wearing the star and sash of the order of St. Patrick ($15,000/25,000).

Additional fine art highlights form the Tillou collection include an interior genre scene “Die Feier” (The Celebration) by Johannes Kleinschmidt, German, 1858-1905 ($3,000/5,000); and a pair of landscape paintings by Joachim Franz Beich, German, 1665-1748 ($3,000/5,000). Other portraiture features an 1899 portrait of a beauty by Sir William Samuel Henry Llewellen, P.R.A., Welsh, 1858-1941 ($2,000/3,000); an 18th century portrait of a seated nobleman ($2,000/3,000); an 18th century portrait of a lady in blue dress with white bodice, attributed to Godfrey Kneller ($2,000/3,000); and an American school painting of a black boy resting with a cigar, 1886, in the manner of John George Brown ($800/1,200).

With a diversified adoration of objects from around the world, the Tillou collection will also include fine Asian arts and antiques. An oversized marble Dali Dreamstone landscape with Chinese calligraphy, hailing from the Yaan region of the Sichuan province ($5,000/7,000); a Chinese Han terracotta Fang Hu ($1,800/2,400); two Chinese Han vessels ($1,400/2,000); a Chinese Han Lifan swirling eye vessel ($1,200/1,800); Tang tomb guardian and gentleman ($800/1,200); and pair of Song style funerary urns ($800/1,200).

Lot 331, J F Browne New York Gothic Revival Harp c. 1850; Estimate $2,500-$3,500

Traditional furniture and decorative arts from Tillou include a late 18th c. Pennsylvania two-part mahogany secretary ($4,000/6,000); a 1750’s Thomas Stretch Philadelphia tall case clock ($3,000/5,000); an 1850’s J. F. Browne & Company gothic revival harp with gilt, maple and hand-painted foliate decoration ($2,500/3,500); an early George III mahogany slant front bookcase ($1,500/2,500); 18th century George III figured mahogany dining table ($1,000/2,000); and a mid-19th century German baroque style grain painted shrank ($1,000/2,000). The collection also features clocks, natural specimens and fossils, and a nice selection of American blown glass.

The two-day auction also includes a fine selection of other property, featuring a strong Asian arts section that begins the sale. Several highlights include a 19th c. Chinese Mangpao heavily embellished silk nine dragon robe ($9,000/12,000); a rare 5th/6th century Six Dynasties Yueyao jar ($8,000/15,000); a remarkable Warring States period (475-221 BCE) Fanghu form vessel with lid ($5,000/8,000); and an inscribed Cizhou Jin/Yuan Dynasty (13th-14th century) black glazed vase ($4,000-8,000). 

Day two of the sale will consist of antique furniture, fine art and decorations, and includes property from the collection of American television personality and comedian Dick Cavett and his wife, author and strategist, Martha Rogers. Their collection contains Georgian, Federal and Louis XV style furniture and decorative arts. 

Fine art highlights include a 16th century painting of the “Adoration of the Magi” by Damianus van der Goude ($25,000/35,000); an oil painting of a pawnbroker’s family by George Luks, 1867-1933 ($3,000/$5,000); and a watercolor by Thomas Rowlandson, English, 1756-1827, titled "Pidcock, Dealer in Birds and Beasts, Rats Destroyed, Dogs Broke In" ($2,000/3,000).

Lot 456, Sam'l Kirk 7-Pc. Sterling Repousse Tea Set c.1910; Estimate $4,000-$6,000

A quality selection of American, and specifically Baltimore, MD silver stands out, including a quartet of four late 19th century Samuel Kirk & Son sterling silver hand-repoussed floral candlesticks ($4,000/6,000); a Samuel Kirk seven-piece repousse tea set, c.1910 ($4,000/6,000); and an assembled c.1900 Baltimore sterling silver flatware service for twelve ($3,000/5,000).