Foster Rings in the New Year

January 1st, 2016

Robert Foster, Newcastle, Maine

Robert Foster always packs in a huge crowd for his larger auctions in New-castle, Maine. I previewed the January 1 sale a day earlier, so by the time I arrived about an hour before the start on New Year’s Day, I had a healthy walk from the far end of the vast but packed parking lot where a steady stream of cars were still pouring in. And if you think you’re going to get a reserved seat for Foster’s 2023 sale, you better get it now. You can be sure it will be a standing-room-only affair.

Numerous items sold in the thousands of dollars, but only one made it to five figures. The rock star of the sale was a pair of Plains Indian beaded leggings. The soft leather and fringes appeared to be virtually intact, as did the blue and white beading with the exception of a little separation between the lines of beads, and the threads all appeared to be sinew. About eight phone bidders slugged it out, chasing it from a $3000 opener to a big $18,700 finish (includes buyer’s premium).


These Plains Indian fringed leggings with blue and white beadwork in excellent condition brought $18,700.

We all know that historic guns can bring huge money. But what about empty gun cases? Robert Adams (1809-1880) was a London gunsmith who produced the first successful double-action revolver in 1851. The “double-action” refers to a weapon in which the hammer can be cocked and then released with a pull of the trigger. At some time during or after the Civil War, Union General George McClellan was probably presented with just such a weapon by Adams, as recorded on the brass label affixed to the top lid of a velvet-lined revolver case. The gilt-trimmed interior of the lid reads, “R. ADAMS / PATENTEE OF THE REVOLVER / 76 KING WILLIAM ST. / LONDON E. C.” The box and the gun had long since parted company, but the case alone brought a remarkable $8470.

Another gun case contained its gun. According to auction manager Andre Drolet, Waldoboro gunsmith Ephraim White (1833-1943) made only four .22-caliber single-shot pistols with a detachable shoulder stock. This one came in a case with a brass tag reading, “MADE 1895 / BY / EPHRIAM [sic] R. WHITE / WALDOBORO ME.” In the case were a second detached barrel and several bullets. It previously had sold at a Bruce Gamage auction in 2007 for $1760. At that auction there was some speculation that it had actually been made by White’s son, as White himself is not known to have signed any of the approximately 11 weapons attributed to him. Here it brought the identical price of $1760.


Gunsmith Ephraim White of Waldoboro, Maine, was said to have produced only four of these single-shot .22-caliber pistols and perhaps fewer than a dozen pistols altogether. This one appeared at auction in 2007. At that auction and this one it brought $1760.


Robert Adams brass-bound revolver case, sans revolver, memorializing the dedication of the gun to Union General George McClellan, $8470. Foster photo.

Maine and Massachusetts artist Dwight Blaney (1869-1944) has the distinction among New England artists of having two species of mollusks, the Tonicella blaneyi (a lined chiton) and the Oenopota blaneyi (a sea snail), named for him. Blaney trained as an architect and draftsman but soon turned to painting in a style heavily influenced by the Impressionists. Among his broad range of interests was collecting early American antiques and Native American artifacts. He also identified a total of 149 species of mollusks around his summer home on Frenchman Bay. His guest book at the home included such notable registrants as Prince Rainier of Monaco, Childe Hassam, and John Singer Sargent, with whom he painted aboard his yacht Irona. Here a 25½" x 32½" oil on canvas painting of Canada geese on a shore, signed lower right, rang out at $3080.


This oil on canvas by artist, architect, collector, and marine biologist Dwight Blaney (1869-1944) of Canada geese on a shoreline headed out for $3080.

And here’s another rare gem—a buy-in rate of 0%. Start to finish, everything sold, with no reserves and no passes. That’s a rarity worth noting.

For more information, visit (www.fosterauctions.com) or call (207) 563-8110.


These round papier-mâché snuff boxes bear the images of American presidents and other historical figures. One has a full-color image ringed with the title  “ZACH.  TAYLOR, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.” The other is a box with four figures in black on a yellow ground, identified as “MARTIN VAN BUREN ANDREW JACKSON. DANIEL WEBSTER. HENRY CLAY.” Each of the black boxes has some roughness and craquelure, but they brought in $1210 on competing book bids for the pair.


Waldo Peirce (1884-1970), one of Maine’s favorite artists, has gotten big play at Maine auctions in the last few years. I couldn’t find a record of an earlier sale on this 13½" x 20¾" oil on masonite of a fisherman casting his line into a babbling brook, but it brought $1155.


The majority of the body of work of Maine and Illinois artist Vernon Broe (1930-2011) consists of portraits of racing yachts and small pleasure sailing vessels. According to auctioneer Foster, the roughly half a dozen Broe oils in the sale came from a variety of sources. The gold-framed 13½" x 17½" portrait of a small yacht under full sail leaving port (top left) sold for $880. The gold-framed oil on board Luminist work of a catboat in a quiet harbor (top right) sold for $1452. The larger, 17½" x 23½" oil on board portrayal of two racing boats (bottom left) brought $1045. Broe also created a number of summer beach scenes, including this 17½" x 23½" work, probably of a Cape Cod shore, that sold for $1705.


New York and Ohio painter John Henry Dolph (1835-1903) struggled with marketing his farm genre scenes and portraits but finally found his groove in painting cute dogs and kittens. Last year, Foster sold a 15½" x 21½" cat and dog scene by Dolph for $1320. This one is about a quarter of that size at 7½" x 11½", but it fetched more than twice the price at $2750.


Originally published in the March 2016 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2016 Maine Antique Digest

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