We began collecting consignments for this auction in the Niagara area then proceeded over the next few weeks west to Stratford and St. Jacobs, then jumped across the GTA to Whitby, Cobourg, Croydon, then finished in Quebec. We had the pleasure and privilege to deal with many old friends who were both dealers and collectors. The resulting interesting and varied objects listed in our auction range from furniture and furnishings, folk art and Indigenous art works.
There is a mix of furniture in the auction. For the purist collector, there are a few early 19th C tables, chairs, and desks in untouched surface. One special highlight is the worktable with its vine and berry decorated top and apron decorated with swags, ex Michael Rowan. Swag decoration is often found on New England furniture but rarely on Ontario pieces. Perhaps an itinerant artist like a house painter decorated this table to compliment the house interior he was stencilling (see lot 117}.
Extra effort went into the design of two practical, but beautiful plant stands. One stand in original green paint has an elaborate backboard and cut-out triangles on the side rails which are uncommon features for plant stands (see lot 98). The other is a plant stand in original turquoise (see lot 47). Its shaped rails separate it from the more basic examples.
Every farmhouse had a quilt rack or towel rack. The red painted quilt rack with arched foot, hand carved finials, and tenoned rails is possibly the best one we have seen (lot 167).
There are a number of pieces of very well refinished furniture from cupboards to tables to chairs. Refinished perhaps twenty to thirty years ago these antiques are still as good as new. All ready to go into your home. As well, one ingenious craftsman has taken old components, from hardware to drawers to table bases to tabletop boards and has created excellent copies of early furniture. He constructed an apothecary cupboard, worktable, and storage cupboard. With the support of his wife, who provided the painted decoration, they furnished their home with these pieces.
Collectors and dealers provided us with a variety of works of folk art from their private collections. The folk artists came from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario, many of whom have their work in permanent collections in museums across Canada.
Folk art gives us the chance to have a brief glimpse into the artists’ lives, to see how and where they live, their families, their everyday chores, their hopes and fears. Some folk artists aim for a nostalgic look at their lives, while some try for humorous or fantastic creations. Take for example the humour behind the work of Peter Rafuse who created brightly coloured hens wearing elegant pearl drop earrings (see lot 213). Or how about the happiest and friendliest shark created by Sid Howard (see lot 261)? Other artists wished to create a nostalgic look at everyday life. M. L. McGibbon tries to show the happy times on a farm with children, horses, dogs, cows, chickens, flowers along the seashore all in one bucolic scene (see lot 156).
What creates or inspires someone to become a folk artist? Many folk artists’ careers began because of their optimism and resilience in the face of adversity. We all have heard of the life lead by Maud Lewis. Joe Sleep started painting in the Halifax Infirmary after he no longer could do manual labour for the Bill Lynch circus because of his heart condition. Joe Norris was plagued by pleurisy his entire life but turned to painting full-time when a heart attack forced him to retire from fishing. A very recently discovered artist Giles Matte owned a business cleaning indoor carpet. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer basically as a result of the chemicals he used. He turned his workshop into his sanctuary and began carving. This auction has works by many folk artists including major works by Joe Sleep, and carvings by Sid Howard and Giles Matte.
There are also several examples of art created by Indigenous people from across Canada. There is a unique collection of corn husk masks made on the Six Nations reserve in Brantford (see lot 102). Corn husk masks or Bushy Heads are significant sacred Iroquois objects associated with bountiful harvests and are considered messengers of the Three Sisters – corn, beans and squash which are the core crops.
From the Northwest coast comes a carved red cedar and rafia raven mask. The raven has deep significance in the Northwest coast culture symbolizing both creation and knowledge as well as being the keeper of secrets. He is also known as the trickster who stole the light of the sun, moon and stars from an old chief but placed them in the sky for all to enjoy. The Raven mask (lot 268) has an articulated jaw which when closed makes a clacking sound imitating the sound of the mythical raven.
Please enjoy the auction and the stories and meaning behind the objects we have for sale.
Call Barry at 519-803-3945 to make an appointment if you would like to preview this auction.
