Steven S. Powers: Antiques in Manchester Teaser

A R TW O R K S O F& a n t i q u e s

360 Court Street #28, Brooklyn, NY 11231 | 718.625.1715 or 917.518.0809 | stevenspowers.com | member: ADA

S T E V E N S . P OW E R S



NHADA SHOW

A.I.MSHOW

Beat the dog days of summer. Americana Week in NH is one of my favorite times of year–it is New York inJanuary except with more green and less winter. Lots of great art and antiques to be seen, touched, boughtand sold.

Antiques in Manchester is generating a lot of buzz with a sensational exhibitor list—it is also less than a mileaway from the venerable NHADA Show. The show will open Wednesday afternoon (after the Midweek inManchester show in Concord, NH) and then resume Thursday morning and stay open until 6:00pm—whichwill allow visitors enough time to visit the nearby NHADA show and return to Antiques in Manchester.

Following are a few select objects that I tucked away and plan to bring to the show—however, please notethat objects will become available upon the release of this teaser. Enjoy!

SHOW LOCATIONJFK Memorial Coliseum303 Beech St.Manchester, NH 03193

SHOW DATES AND HOURS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8 | 3–7PMTHURSDAY, AUGUST 9 | 11–6PM



Exceptional Folk Art DogCirca: 1890Medium: Wood, paint and sawdustSize: 25" L x 9" H x 4" D

This important inventive piece of American folk art hung in thewindow of a Southeastern Michigan store. The dachshund isplayfully portrayed with artful whimsey and a loop-de-loopwhich leaves an indelible impression.

The body is constructed of wood blocks glued end-to-end, whilethe legs, tail and face are carved pieces joined to the body. Thewhole is covered with a textured mix of paint and sawdust—giving it the look of redware.

Large Folk Art Figure of Young Manwith Hands in PocketsCirca: 1890Medium: Wood, paintSize: 24 1/2" H

Carved from the solid, this large folk artcarving is well executed with an expressiveface and clothing details—the artist capturesa slight sense of movement with a bend tothe knees and the figure’s hands going intohis pockets.

Found in Kentucky.

John Samuel Blunt (1798-1835)Lake WinnipesaukeeSigned lower left: ‘J.S. Blunt Pinx 1822’Oil on canvasDated: 1822Size: 21" H x 26" L (sight)

Exceptional rendering of the bucolic NewHampshire lake from the Portsmouth, NHpainter. Though Blunt painted portraits forcommission, his true skill and passion comesthrough in these hard to find landscapes.

ohn Samuel Blunt (1798-1835), aka as John Sherburne Blunt, J. S.Blunt and The Borden Limner, was an accomplished painter of landscapes, marine subjects, and commissioned portraits who livedand worked mainly in Portsmouth, NH in the first quarter of the

19th century. Though a respectable body of his work has been identified, details of his short life and full oeuvre are limited.

The first critical examination of Blunt’s work was by Nina Fletcher Little, who published “J. S. Blunt, New England Landscape Painter,” TheMagazine Antiques, September 1948. Little, through a small body ofsigned and dated works revealed Blunt as an enlightening landscapepainter. Little also traced Blunt’s early American pedigree to include Edmund March Blunt, author of Coast Pilot and to Captain John Blunt,who is credited with steering Washington across the Delaware on December 25, 1776.

Robert C. H. Bishop in his 1975 book, “The Borden Limner and HisContemporaries,” took a large and growing body of unsigned portraitsattributed to an artist dubbed “The Borden Limner,” and made a strongcase that John Samuel Blunt was the unidentified artist of these relatedworks.

In 2007, Deborah M. Child authored the first monograph on Blunt,which principally focused on two sketchbooks that had recently beenuncovered. Child builds on the work of Little and Bishop and rounds outhis biography and puts the sketchbooks in context of his landscape andmarine paintings.

Central to the mystery surrounding John Samuel Blunt and The Borden Limner story is the curious fact that though Blunt took pridein signing his landscape and marine paintings, there is not one signed portrait by Blunt. The case for Blunt being The Borden Limnerhangs on studies in graphology, overlapping accounts in his daybooks and stylistic approaches and execution of the paintings themselves. I see this disparate approach as a sign that Blunt took seriously the work of a fine artist and not as much that of a painterfor hire (ornamental work for trade signs, fire buckets, masonic aprons, etc. and commissioned portraits). From an early age the precocious Blunt was exposed to both the fine art of painting and the practical side of commercial painting. Blunt in his early twenties

often signed his paintings with his name followed by“pinx” (Latin for pinxit - “he painted this”)—the markof someone serious, if not a little pretentious abouttheir work. Blunt was practical however and advertised in the local Portsmouth papers that he was available for ornamental works and portraits. Though,in separate advertisements Blunt promoted his finerachievements in gallery like exhibitions—he does notoverlap the two. Blunt may not have signed his commissioned works, simply to not muddy his body offine art.

Blunt was ahead of the curve in the American landscape tradition of the Hudson River School andWhite Mountain School, which came into vogue justafter his death in 1835. Portraits attributed to Bluntgreatly outnumber his signed landscapes and marineworks (which are seldom available).

Paintings by John Samuel Blunt are in many fine private and public collections, including the AmericanFolk Art Museum, New York; the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, Williamsburg, Virginia; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; NewBedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA; and theStrawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH.

fig a: Announcement from The Portsmouth Journal, November 8, 1828. Note the mention of “a View ofLake Winnipissiogee [sic]” (possibly the work herein).

fig b: Lake Winnipesaukee (Center Harbor), 1838, engraved by WilliamHenry Bartlett. Very similar composition to the view herein.

J

Folk Art Carved and Painted PortraitCirca: 1860-80Size: 5 1/2" H x 5" D x 2 5/8" W

Goateed man with a sunburned head(top of head is noticeably redder thanskin tones of the face and neck), sen-sitively carved with great attention todetail (proportions, nose and adam'sapple). Pegged into original base.Early collection number on top, baseback "74."

Exceptional Ash Burl MortarCirca: 1780Size: 6 3/4" D x 6 1/2" H

This exceptionally large mortar escapes expectations of the form—Great sculpture!

Best of category.

Illustrated and discussed: Powers,Steven S. North American Burl Treen,Brooklyn, NY, 2005, p. 78

New England Candle Box with Large Scalloped Back Circa: 1780Size: 13 3/4" H x 11 1/4" W x 7" D

Great early covered wall box with alarge scalloped backboard. Pine withan early, thin Spanish brown finish. Alloriginal including snipe hinges.

English Horn Beaker by Nathaniel SpilmanCirca: 1784Size: 5" H

Spilman is regarded as the best horn artist and this is regarded as his finest beaker. The Society of UniversalGoodwill was a friendly society founded by Dr. John Murray of Norwich. It was originally called the Scots Society and was funded to aid distressed families of Scottishorigin, however in 1784 they changed the name and charterto be inclusive of all.

The armorial on the front displays a sheep (representativeof Europe), an elephant (Asia), an ostrich (Africa) and abeaver (America). The back illustrates a man consoling awidow in a room.

English Horn Beaker by Nathaniel SpilmanDated: August 11, 1788Size: 5 1/4" H

The front with a view of the Newcastle Exchange Spire, thereverse with barber scene, inscribed "Ino [John] Cubitt,HairDresser, No. 25 London Lane, Norwich, Aug.t 111788, N. Spilman, Fecit." The hairdressing scene is wonderful and quite unexpected.

Other horn beakers by Spilman are in the National Maritime Museum, London, U.K., and the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton,U.K.

Cast Iron Boston Bull TerrierCirca: 1900-1920Size: 12" H x 9 1/4" W

Great cast iron Boston bull terrier withoriginal paint and surface. Mountedon metal base.

Momento MoriCirca: 1860-1880Size: 2 1/2" H x 1 1/4" W x 3/4" D

Tintype of a woman housed in a smallsingle carved block of wood fashionedinto a pendant. Paired with a wovenhair chain. Very cool and unique object.



SHOW LOCATIONJFK Memorial Coliseum303 Beech St.Manchester, NH 03193

SHOW DATES AND HOURS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8 | 3–7PMTHURSDAY, AUGUST 9 | 11–6PM

NHADA SHOW

A.I.MSHOW


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Steven S. Powers: Antiques in Manchester Teaser