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OBJECTS / SCULPTURE:
Here in the Objects / Sculpture Gallery you will find select examples of American folk art coupled with exceptional, but more traditional Americana. We strive to go beyond the "garden variety" and only offer unique examples that bridge antiques and art.
Please review our Portfolio / Recently Sold page to see the extent of the offerings we have handled.NOW ONLINE
Shut The Door And Listen From OutsideOur new catalog, Shut The Door And Listen From Outside, is now online...check it out.
This 88-page catalog features recent finds in the genres of Outsider and Self-Taught Art with a few additions of related American Folk Art.
"Shut The Door And Listen From Outside" is a statement from Oblique Strategies, which is a set of cards each with a suggestion, directive, or constraint created by the artists Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt to encourage lateral thinking and to break creative blocks.Important Folk Art Carving - Lion & Snake
Mansfield, PA
Circa: 1860-80
Size: 8" (w) x 7" (h) x 2 1/2" (d)Not many folk art carvings display this much drama and dynamic tension. A masterpiece carving attributed to "The Mansfield Carver," Mansfield, PA. The subject is from Aesop's Fables and has been a subject in sculpture for centuries.
Carved from the solid, a spotted snake is coiled around a lion and is shown at the point before striking. A true tour-de-force of carving and a masterpiece of 19thC vernacular carving.Exuberantly Painted Maine Folk Art Wall Box
Maine
Circa: 1820-30
Size: 12 3/4" (h) x 11 1/4 (w) x 6" (d)An exuberantly painted Folk Art pine wall box. Found in Maine and sold at the landmark Huntington Sale in Mount Vernon, Maine, 1974 (lot 77). Exceptional paint history and wear to the putty green paint and black squiggles. Unusual in that it was painted on all sides including the back.
Box with wrought (on the bottom) and thin cut nails (on the sides).Rare Carved & Painted Folk Art Ball & Ring Toss Game
Circa: 1930s
Size: 33” (h) x 17 1/2”(w) x 27" (d)A rare, large-sized American Folk Art carnival ball and ring toss figure with cage. The figure with extended left arm and a bread-board like chest painted as a white shirt with a big red tie—his head surmounted atop a blue painted cage.
The game is all original and maintains a great, complex, worn painted surface. The color and wear to the painted tie is just fantastic!
Though fairly large the entire object can be hung on a wall (it is wired for hanging) or put on the floor or a pedestal and viewed in the round.Southern Folk Art Limestone Carving of a Kissing Couple
Prestonsburg, Floyd County, Kentucky (found)
Circa: 1930-40
Size: 8” x 8” x 9” (h)A dynamic carving of a nude male and female embraced in a kiss with the man’s hand on her upper thigh. She is not resisting, but her slight push may be a signal to slow it down a bit.
Carvings as such in limestone are quite rare in that this small sculpture packs a lot of life into the stone. The work is carved in-the-round, and the figures have remarkable tension between them.
Though the work has elements not found on the carvings of William Edmondson, it certainly has some stylistic similarities.Unusual Folk Art Sculpture of A Naked Man Seated on a Snake
Circa: late 19th century
Size: 15 (h)" x 4 1/2" (w) x 4 1/2" (d)An unusual piece of American Folk Art - have not seen a similar precedent. A carved and painted naked man wearing a top hat sits upon a coiled green snake on top of a pedestal which when hooked up to a water source would stream water through the snakes mouth and the man’s hat! Must have been something to see. Scattered paint losses to original surface.
May Wilson (1905-1986) - Wrapped Baby Doll
Circa: 1970
Size: 12" (h) x 5 1/2" (w) x 4" (d)Wilson was an American artist and figure in the 1960s to 1990s New York City avant-garde art world. A pioneer of the feminist and mail art movement, she is best known for her Surrealist junk assemblages and her "Ridiculous Portrait" photocollages.
Rare Aluminum Salesman Sample Pig Feed Model
Circa: 1924
Size: 9 1/2 (h)" x 15 1/2" (l)A rare and great example of a cast aluminum and enamel salesman sample for the Moorman feed company. This example is all original (not repainted as some are) and is in excellent condition.
Japanese Lacquer Workers Chest
Circa: 1900-1920
Size: 14 1/2" (w) x 12" (h) x 16" (deep)A remarkable object that was created without the intention of becoming an art object. The chest is a Japanese lacquer workers "toolbox" a place to keep tools of the trade for making fine lacquer wares. However from daily use, over weeks, months, years the box itself became more a work of art than the individual objects created from it. The surface is rich and complex with layers and layers of black and red lacquer. A dramatic drip is formed over time like an icicle off of a roofline.
SOLD
Rare Iron & Stone Pounder for Japanese Inoko festival
Circa: 19th century
Size: 9 (w)" x 8" (h) x 8" (d)A rare Japanese stone pounder for an Inoko festival, which is an autumn festival celebrating the young boar. Children would tie strings to the iron rings and in unison lift the heavy stone and pound it to the ground. They would go home to home and pound the floor near the entrance while singing the Inoko song.
The stone is a beautifully carved pellet-like form with the iron band set into a recessed channel carved in the stone so it is flush with the body of the stone. Though fairly small, the sculpture weighs 34 pounds.American Folk Art Monkeys Cane
Circa: 1910-1920
Size: 35" (oal) x 2" (w)"There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired." — Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby.
An atypical vernacular cane carving, in that the carving of the cane and the figures are not characteristic of the language of other folk art cane carvers—this carving is very much it's own. The monkeys are more anthropomorphic than monkeys usually are and have tension within their interaction. Great piece.A Fine Gogotte - The Big Sleep
Fontainbleu France
Oligocene epoch (33.9 million to 23 million years old)
Size: 22" (l) / 11" (h) / 5" (d)A beautiful gogotte with a nice linear flow. Both sides present nicely - I see a figure lying in a bed with arms under their head - but like clouds you may see something different - my base maker saw an abstracted raven as depicted in Northwest Coast art.
A gogotte is a millions years old naturally shaped mineral concretion formed of tiny quartz fragments held together by calcium carbonate. Principally found in Fontainebleau, France, these mother-nature made sculptures have inspired artists from Jean Arp, Henry Moore and Louise Bourgeois. Louis XIV favored them and the have been exhibited at Versailles since the late 17thC.Folk Art Root Snake Den
Circa: 1900-1920
Size: 16" (l) x 11 1/4" (h)A wonderful twisty burl mass resembling a writhing snake den. One snake is carved from a branch growing through the burl mass, while others have nail eyes upon their suggestive heads.
Folk Art Sewer Tile Head - Ex Hemphill
Circa: 1910-1920
Size: 5 1/8” (h)Unusual and strange Folk Art Sewer Tile Head of a Woman. Provenance: Herbert Hemphill; Barbara Kristina Johnson; Peter Brams.
SOLD
Gentlemen's Club Bikini Dancers Sign
Circa: 1940-50s
Size: 25" (h) x 18" (w)A super, cut and painted aluminum sign that came from a gentlemen's club in Pennsylvania. The carefully spray-painted figures have a bit of iridescence to them from the aluminum substrate coming through.
Vintage EEG Training Aid
Circa: 1940-50s
Size: Life sized head / electrode box is 5 1/2" x 5"Super cool and rare Electroencephalography (EEG) training aid. Made from a stock mannequin head that has been painted and has had the contacts glued in place. Futuristic look.
Bird Family
James W. Washington, Jr. (American 1909-2000)
Dated: 1973
Size: 12 1/4" L x 8 1/8" D x 7 1/2" HBird Family is a large work of a mother bird protecting and feeding three nestlings under her wing. The solid black granite metaphorically reinforces the strength of the matriarch, while Washington's sensitive carving conveys a certain intimacy and the fragility of life.
Rare Redware Sculpture - Drunkard Astride A Keg
Circa: Mid-Late 19thC
Size: 9 1/2" (h)" x 7" (w)" x 8" (l)This is an intriguing piece of ceramic sculpture! A drunkard armed with a bottle and a big mug sits astride a large brandy keg of spirits (àla Slim Pickens riding the bomb in Dr. Strangelove). His exaggerated and distorted face is detailed with slip decoration to his teeth and eyes (as well as his hands, and square rig cap).
Folk Art Carved Turned-Head Yellowlegs
Lombard Jones; Sandwich, MA
Circa: 1916
Size: 7" (l) x 5" (h) (not including driftwood base)With it's head sharply turned almost ninety degrees this decoy was made by Lombard Jones for his uncle, Dr. Lombard Jones. Influenced by the Chipman family's hollow turned-head shorebirds that were also gunned in Sandwich's Old Harbor. Jones is known to have made yellowlegs and several peeps.
Rare Redware Serpent & Figural Jug - Leonard Kopp
Lineboro, MD or Black Rock, PA
Circa: 1875
Size: 1860-1880Kopp was a known production potter in the Maryland area and all his known pieces are stamped—this is the only known with freehand script signature and by far the finest example of his documented work. Redware with a beautiful mottled manganese glaze. Snake handle with a portrait bust spout (possibly a nod to his German heritage - reminds me of the face on a Bellarmine jug).
Signed on bottom in incised script “L. Kopp.”Woodchuck Hatching
James W. Washington, Jr. (American 1909-2000)
Dated: 1977
Size: 12" L x 7" D x 6 1/2" HThough Woodchucks do not hatch from eggs, Washington successfully reminds us that all animal life begins with an egg. Regarding a similar work, a patron who upon seeing a recent work of Washington's in which a rabbit was hatching from an egg, exclaimed, "A rabbit does not come from an egg!" Washington replied, "Doctor, all life comes from an egg."
A Rare Mechanical Black-Bellied Plover Decoy
Boston, MA
Circa: 1868
Size: 11 3/4" (l) x 8" (w) x 5" (h)A Rare Mechanical Black-Bellied Plover Decoy by Nathaniel Wales & Snow, Boston, MA, circa: 1868. Based on the Wales patent of 1868, the wings are fabricated from cardboard and canvas and a cord weaves through the wood carved body. Stamped “WALES & SNOW PATENT.”
Provenance: Stephen O’Brien Jr. Fine Arts, Peter Brams Collection.Bare Naked Beach Bingo
Low fired ceramic and glazes, yarn and synthetic hair
Circa: 1960s
Sizes range from: 4" (h) - 11 1/2" (h)A group of thirteen erotic “Barbie” figures each hand-modeled and painted and some with applied hair to the genitals. The standing figure in the center in the primitive red bikini is likely modeled after Raquel Welch and her fur bikini from One Million Years BC.
Maine Duck Guide Sign
Circa: 1900
Size: 36" (l) x 17" (h)Here's a cool well weathered and worn sign. Constructed from the top of an old blanket chest (ghost marks from big strap hinges visible) and a duck decoy (cut in half), this sign served as marker for an old duck hunting guide. Old losses as visible in the photo with a great crazed paint surface.
Cast Iron "Columbia" Architectural Element
Circa: 1900
Size: 14" (h) x 12" (w) x 3" (deep)A really great, well cast, iron face of Columbia (the historical name used to describe the Americas and the New World).
A Group of Fine Gogottes (offered individually)
Fontainbleu France
Oligocene epoch (33.9 million to 23 million years old)
Size: 9 1/2" (h) / 9" (h) / 13" (h)A gogotte is a millions years old naturally shaped mineral concretion formed of tiny quartz fragments held together by calcium carbonate. Principally found in Fontainebleau, France, these mother-nature made sculptures have inspired artists from Jean Arp, Henry Moore and Louise Bourgeois. Louis XIV favored them and the have been exhibited at Versailles since the late 17thC.
Large Folk Art Carved Woman in a Bikini
Maine
Circa: 1950-1960
Size: 19 3 /8" (h) x 7 3/4" (w) x 5 5/8" (d)A really great, fairly large scale folk art carving of a woman standing in a bikini. She is carved in the round and is a looker from any angle—it's exceptionally well carved.
Charles A. Loughman Jeweler & Optician Sign
Circa: 1890-1900
Size: 22" (w) x 22 1/2" (h)An atypical optician’s sign...looks to be made from shipping crates...the line quality of the eye-glasses and face is quite smooth and confident. McKees Rocks, PA (outside of Pittsburgh).
Large Coco de Mer
Circa: late 19thC
Size: 10" x 13"First rate example with a nice "thigh gap." Interior nut still intact (not hollowed out).
Sailors would find these floating in the ocean and had no idea where they originated from. They were carved and collected for their “femaleness.”Bronze Bird's Nest
Circa: mid 20thC
Size: 11” (d) x 7 1/2" (h)Modernist sculpture with great textures from the intertwined bronze nest, the faux tree stump and the square eggs.
STEVEN S. POWERS • 109 3RD PL #2 • BROOKLYN, NY 11231 • 718-625-1715 • email: steve@stevenspowers.com • © all rights reserved
