Catalog: Sold Items (421)

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (American, 1880 to 1980), Playdays: A Fountain, modeled 1925, bronze with greenish brown patina. Signed and dated on base: HARRIET W FRISHMUTH 1925. Foundry mark: GORHAM CO FOUNDERS QFED. 25 inches tall. An Exquisite piece.

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth was born on September 17, 1880 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A student of such renowned artists as Auguste Rodin and Gutzon Borglum, Frishmuth's reputation and career grew steadily throughout the first several decades of the twentieth century, with exhibitions at the National Academy of Design, the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the Salon in Paris, the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940) and the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. Her favorite models were dancers, especially Desha Delteil - immortalized in Frishmuth's most famous work, The Vine - a model particularly popular with artists for her ability to hold difficult poses for long periods of time. The final exhibits of Frishmuth's work took place in New York City in 1929, but she remained active in the art world for many years following. Frishmuth passed away in 1980 at the age of 99. A proponent of the Beaux Arts style - Frishmuth was exceptionally critical of modern art, often calling it "spiritless" - her works can now be seen in some of the world's leading museums and collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Dallas Museum of Art, and Ohio University's Kennedy Museum of Art.

A beautiful oil on board by Harold Christopher Davies of a a California impressionist landscape from his early days before he became a abstract modernist. Provenance the estate of the artist and Hoover Gallery of San Francisco. Measuring approx. 10 x 7 inches framed in a quality gallery frame overall size 9.5 x 12.5 inches. A fine example of this artists work. Harold Christopher Davies was a painter with whom art came first and commercialism last. Though he was a remarkably passionate and somewhat prolific artist, he resisted gallery representation until the age of eighty-four, just one year before his death. Davies began his formal art education at the age of fourteen, enrolling in the Corcoran Art Institute in Washington, D.C. Later he continued his studies at the San Francisco Institute of Art. An abstract expressionist, his style was directly influenced by Cezanne, Gorky and de Kooning. Being a man of intense dedication to his art, he kept extensive notebooks and sketchbooks in which he developed his own artistic and aesthetic philosophy, often through his candid critiques of other artist’s works. Painting, for Davies, was not a means of earning his living. Though he exhibited frequently at various local colleges and museums, he never sought public recognition of his talent. He believed fame compromised the integrity of an artist’s work. Davies earned his living as a businessman, eventually owning and operating his own chemical company. He lived a life of balancing his monetary obligations with the true love of his life: painting. After living in a variety of cities around the United States, Davies moved to Inverness, California in 1969 where he was free to devote all his time to his art. MEMBER: Oakland Art League San Francisco Art Association Huntsville (Ala.) Art Association EXHIBITED: San Francisco Art Association, 1921-1931 Oakland Art Gallery, 1931 Birmingham Museum, 1951 Southampton Museum, 1959 University of Long Island Museum, 1964 Parrish Art Museum, 1964, 1966, 1967 Hoover Gallery (San Francisco), 1975 Fresno Art Center, 1976 (Solo) Haggin Museum 1982 Huntsville Museum, 1982

A beautiful example with hand painted motif of gold fish Tong Zhi period 1862 1874 with date mark on bottom. Provenance: the Sunn collection with fitted silk box and certificate of authenticity.

Emille Galle art nouveau art glass miniature vase circa 1890s. A frosted clear glass with a lavender color etched and wheel cut floral motif signed Galle. In excellent condition no chips or cracks some residue in interior. Measuring approx. 2.5 inches tall a fine addition to any collection.

Antique gold gilt Thailand amulet exqusite ancient Buddha. Provenance purchased from and English ambassador to Thailand from his personal collection. Measuring 3" x 1.5" or 8cm x 4cm. In all original antique condition.

Beautiful rare Quianlong 18th century porcelain large bowl or charger exquisite Floral motif in soft enamels. Measuring approx. 14 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. In excellent condition no chips or cracks with wear to the enamels. A fine early example would be a fine addition to any collection.

Oil painting of a Venice canal with children. Signed lower left by Robert Ward Van Boskerck (1855-1932), an Impressionist landscape painter. Boskerck was elected to the National Academy of Design in New York City as an associate in 1897, and an Academician in 1907. He exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, and other major museums. Work by this artist is held by the New York City in the Union League, Lotus Club, and Fencers Club, and the Layton Art Gallery. Image 30"L x 20"W. overall framed size 40" x 30".

A fine antique Chinese rosewood jewelry box with white jade inlayed plaques. Opens to a group of silk lined drawers for jewelry. Measuring approx. 12.5 x 8 x 6 inches. In very good antique condition.

An exquisite antique Burmese Mandalay style gilt bronze Buddha c. 18th century. measuring approx. 13 inches or 33 cm. tall . A fine example would in good antique condition some losses and wear.

A Beautiful and rare Song Dynasty 960-1279 A.D. Celadon tea bowl of very delicate form featuring intricate designs of dancing boys and vines. Measuring Approx. 4.5 inches by 2 inches 12 x 5 cm. in very fine condition to chips or cracks. A museum quality example.

An original Portrait of a Cavalier or noble man oil on canvas signed lower right and dated 1911. Measuring 10 x 12 inches in a fine antique frame overall 16 x 18. in excellent condition a fine example of this important American artists portrait work.

Biography

Born in Ogdenburg, Germany, Henry Raschen became one of America's leading painters of Indian portraits and figures in the 19th and early 20th centuries and was the first California artist to be committed to Indian themes. He also painted still lifes and landscapes, the latter with skillful play of light and shadow. In 1868, he and his family emigrated to Fort Ross, California where they spent one year and then settled in San Francisco. He took early art lessons at the San Francisco Art Association under Charles Nahl and Virgil Williams and also studied with noted figure painter of altar pieces, Joseph Harrington. Feeling the need for more extensive training, he went to Munich in the late 1870s and became part of the numerous California artists then studying in Munich at that time. There he became friends and a painting companion of William Merritt Chase, and he also traveled in Italy and France. In 1883, he settled in San Francisco and for the next eight years went with landscape painter Carl Von Perbandt on excursions among Indian tribes of California and the Southwest, and he gained much attention for the life-like quality of his paintings. From 1890 to 1894, he lived and had his studio in Munich where he was a successful painter and teacher, and after returning to San Francisco, won the gold medal at the Munich Exposition of 1898. He went on an expedition with Army General Nelson A. Miles when Miles and his troops captured Apache Chief Geronimo at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, 30 miles northeast of Douglas. Many years later in Oklahoma, Raschen sketched Geronimo whom he visited in prison at Fort Sill. In the early 20th century, a key person in establishing Raschen as a major artist in San Francisco was Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, mother of publisher William Randolph Hearst. In 1906, damage from the earthquake and fire caused him to move across the bay to Oakland where he painted until his death in 1937. Source: Edan Hughes,

A fine antique carved Ivory figure of a fisherman with pole and a pipe in excellent condition measuring approx. 10 inches tall without stand.

Charles Harmon California impressionist redwoods. A bold impressionist painting of California redwood country titled Gateway to Glendale Humbolt County. Oil on canvas board signed lower right. In excellent condition measuring approx. 10x12 inches. A fine example would be a nice addition to any collection.

Biography

Charles Henry Harmon (1859-1936) was born on December 23, 1859 in Mansfield, Ohio. He moved to San Jose, California with his family in 1874 and at an early age was apprenticed to local portrait painter Louis Lussier. He later spent one year working in a local photography studio re-touching negatives. His youth was spent visiting the art galleries of San Francisco and, with no formal training, he began sketching and painting in 1883 in the beautiful Santa Clara Valley. He painted many landscapes of that area and made trips to the remotest parts of the Sierra and the Monterey Peninsula where he painted many coastal scenes. He began exhibiting in San Jose in the 1880s. By the turn of the century, his works were handled exclusively by Gump's and he was recognized as one of California's foremost painters. In 1905 he established a studio in Denver and for seven years concentrated on the rugged landscape of the Rocky Mountains. While there, the Santa Fe, Western Pacific, and Colorado Midland railroads commissioned him to paint scenes along their routes. After his time in Colorado, he returned to San Jose where he remained for the rest of his life. Harmon died there on October 14, 1936 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Exhibited: Mark Hopkins Institute, 1897-98; Gump's (San Francisco), 1899; Berkeley League of Fine Arts; California Artists, Golden Gate Park Museum, 1915; Stanford Art Gallery, 1923; Rosicrucian Art Gallery, 1949 and Triton Museum, 1971 (retrospectives). Works held: San Jose Civic Auditorium; Clarke Museum (Eureka); California State Library; Denver Public Library; Santa Fe Railway. Source : Edan Hughes Artists in California.

Antique Tibetan painted box made of wood covered with yak leather and exquisitely painted and decorated with traditional Tibetan design elements in gilt lacquer. Measuring approx. 16x10x8 inches in excellent antique condition a fine decorative accent piece.

Engravings of annual jousting contest on river Seine in Paris by Jacques Callot in 1630. On the left, the Nesles tower. On the right, the Louvre and the tour du Bois. Etching Dimensions: unframed: 6 1/2 x 13 3/8" (16.51 x 33.97 cm.)

A fine figural nude bronze by Hans Dietzsch-Sachsenhausen signed and dated 1921. measuring 17 inches tall in excellent condition. Sachsenhausen (1810-1926) a noted German sculpture with many important public statuary in city centers in Germany and other Countries.

A fine Chinese carved Ivory dragon pendant of the finese quality carving mounted on a silver frame with loop for chain. In good vintage condition some minor age cracking. Measuring approx 3.5 x 3 inches or 10 x 8 cm. A fine design of the finest quality would enhance any collection.

Claude Buck self portrait of the artist c.1940 oil on board 16 x 20 inches. Provenance: the wife of the artist Leslie Buck. Biography. A leading member of the avant-garde Symbolism* artists movement in Chicago, Claude Buck moved there from his birth place of New York City in 1919. He was known for his "fantastic, sometimes disturbing images with allegorical and literary themes" (Kennedy 97) drawn from writings of Edgar Allen Poe, operas by Richard Wagner, classical mythology and "New Testament" writings from the Bible. Some of these early paintings had nude figures rendered in Classical* style to express abstract themes developed through dream-like landscapes and disregard of relative scale or relatedness between the figures. These paintings had Luminist* elements achieved with light-toned paints worked with transparent glazes. In the 1920s to earn money by gaining public favor and also expressing his increasing disdain for modernism, Buck did a number of hyperrealist* portraits, figures and still lifes. These proved popular and aligned him with the opponents of abstraction and their Society for Sanity in Art* movement whose headquarters were in Chicago. Buck taught drawing and painting at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art from 1921 to 1926, and at the Art Institute, where he took over classes of George Bellows. In New York City before coming to Chicago, Buck had a reputation as a radical artist. He took his first art training from his father, William R. Buck, from the time he was ages three to fourteen, and then until he was twenty-two, he studied at the National Academy of Design* where he was nicknamed "Kid Hassam" because his painting reminded viewers of that of Claude Hassam. Buck worked as a scene painter in the theatre and at the Willet Stained Glass company, and in 1914 began portrait commissions to earn money. In New York, he founded a group named the Introspectives, which reflected his own problems with melancholy during that period. Members, holding their first exhibition at the Whitney Studio in 1917, were artists who expressed their personal feelings and experiences and included Raymond Jonson and Emil Armin. In this phase of his career, Buck was focused on Old World styles of Leonardo da Vinci, Ralph Blakelock and Albert Pinkham Ryder. In 1929, the Arts Council of New York voted him one of the top one-hundred painters in the United States.