Estate Sale Next At Fairfield Auction

Fairfield Auction of Newtown will feature items from several local estates during its next sale, scheduled for Saturday, October 18. Areas of interest include American and European furniture, paintings, silver, rare books, clocks and folk art. The sale will begin at 6 pm.

The sale will include more than 300 lots culled from local estates, including a Baroque period Italian book printed in the Vatican in 1638, Historia del Testamento Vecchio, with 51 engraved illustrations by Annibale Carracci. Remarkably, the book is in excellent condition with vellum binding.

Other books of interest include first editions by H.G. Wells, The Door in the Wall; E.B. White, Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web (both in fine condition); and several additional children’s books with illustrations by Rackham, Parrish and N.C. Wyeth.

Artworks include a pair of 24 by 20-inch pastels by Louis Kronberg, famous for his ballerina images. These each depict two dancers and retain an excellent untouched original frame.

Two landscapes by Connecticut artist Hamilton Hamilton will be offered – a 20- by 24-inch oil on canvas and a smaller watercolor. A large Impressionist oil on panel signed Sisley should attract interest as a possible attribution to Alfred Sisley, the famed French Impressionist.

Paintings also include works by Robert de Postel, Henry Mosler, Ollin Howland, E.D. Ward, a study by Homer Dodge Martin and Carlton T. Chapman. Etchings and engravings by Louis Icart, J.M. Whistler, Salvador Dali, Gustave Lehuetre, Peter Hurd, Howard E. Smith, and several Maxfield Parrish prints will also be on the block.

Furniture offerings range from an 18th Century Italian or Portuguese settee to a vintage Eames rosewood lounge and Noguchi coffee table. A selection of American furniture includes a tailor’s work counter that may be Shaker, a maple Chippendale graduated chest, a diminutive Queen Anne tiger maple country tea table and a large and impressive Victorian secretary, circa 1860.

American folk art including several old sheet metal weathervanes and a 19th Century scrimshaw swordfish bill sword should garner attention. Of particular note is a 48-inch whirligig or weathervane consisting of a carved eagle head followed by a series of Calder-like disks attached to rods, which rotate in front of a sheet metal dog and black cat. The unusual untouched piece was found in a Connecticut barn and dates to about 1930.

Also of interest is a three-carat diamond ring from a local estate, a Gorham “Versailles” pattern sterling flatware set, a collection of American and French clocks, estate carpets, including a palace-size Bidjar, circa 1910, and a group of autographed photos of musical conductors, circa 1930. A small Ming dynasty giltwood horse with documentation will also be sold.

Preview will take place Saturday, October 18, from 1 to 6 pm, or by appointment during auction week. Fairfield Auction is at 53 Church Hill Road.

For information call 364-1555 or visit                                                        www.FairfieldAuction.com.