Nantucket, MA, USA, July 28, 2021 -- A Civil War document signed by then-President Abraham Lincoln and a rare 1775 American Revolutionary War Muster Roll are just a couple of the expected star lots in Rafael Osona Auctions' annual, two-day online auction slated for the weekend of August 7th and 8th, at 9:30 am Eastern time both days. Over 700 lots will be sold.
The auction will be headlined by the Gail and Rich Mellin collection of Chinese export porcelain of Canton design, American furniture, fine arts and d©cor. The Mellins are esteemed antiques dealers in Canton and export porcelains and are offering Part 1 of their collection from their recently sold Connecticut residence; property from the descendants of Francis Elias Spinner, U.S. Treasurer appointed by Lincoln; and fine antique rugs, China Trade art, and export porcelains from the Marie and Rick Wackenhut collection from the Starbuck East Brick mansion in Nantucket.
The Day 1 auction on Saturday, August 7th, is titled Americana, Fine Art, Pacific Trade & D©cor.
The Lincoln signed document with others will be part of the Day 1 offerings, which total more than 500 lots. The Lincoln lot is a signed presidential appointment, naming Francis E. Spinner as U.S. Treasurer, a post he held until 1875. The document, which also has the signature of Secretary of State William H. Seward, plus the Presidential seal, should bring $4,000-$6,000. Two Rembrandt etchings, titled Self-Portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill and The Windmill, descended in the Spinner collection.
An exceptional offering of six original paintings by the noted Nantucket artist Anne Ramsdell Congdon (1873-1958) will come up for bid, an example being an oil on board titled View from Mill Hill, and measuring 14 ¼ inches by 18 ½ inches (sight, less frame). The work depicts a figure, presumably Ruth Haviland Sutton, with Nantucket harbor off in the distance (estimate: $30,000-$50,000). It is a rare event for Osona Auctions to offer six works by this esteemed artist and the offerings happen to coincide with the Nantucket Historical Association's major exhibit of over 40 works by Congdon titled Anne Ramsdell Congdon's Nantucket Renaissance.
A featured lot from the Mellin collection is a rare late 18th century Canton fish bowl, 27 inches in diameter, the interior painted with a hills and stream landscape design encircled by multiple borders. It should reach $3,000-$5,000, while an equally scarce, 19th century Canton covered beefsteak platter with hot water reservoir (one of three known), 23 inches long, has an estimate of $5,000-$6,000.
Also from the Mellin collection are two China Trade fans. One, circa 1850, is very fine gouache on paper with carved bone sticks depicting an early view panel of an important seaport. The other, very fine gouache on paper with carved mother of pearl sticks, shows the ports of Macao, Canton and Hong Kong. The reverse of both is a figural Mandarin scene with applied bone painted faces and fabric clothing (each estimate: $7,000-$10,000).
A significant number of Chinese Export porcelains (from a private Nantucket collection) are sprinkled throughout the auction. One standout lot is a gorgeous pair of underglaze blue baluster vases with covers, circa 18th century, both 21 inches tall, with ten cartouche-shaped on versa pieces reserved from a chicken skin ground, applied leopard handles, a foo lion finial and gilt detailing (estimate: $25,000-$35,000).
Internet bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Bidsquare.com. Phone and absentee bids will be accepted (for more on this, visit www.RafaelOsonaAuctions.com). A live four-day exhibition preview will be held August 3rd thru 6th, from 10 am to 5 pm Eastern time, in the American Legion Hall located at 21 Washington Street on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.
To learn more about Rafael Osona Auctions and the two-day auction (Americana, Fine Art, Pacific Trade & D©cor on Aug. 7, Marine Auction on Aug. 8), visit www.RafaelOsonaAuctions.com.
