Antique Associates At West Townsend

06/19/2026

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06/17/2026

Portrait of a Gentleman, Bad Hair Day Artist
Attributed to Otis Hovey (1788-1840)
Connecticut or New York State

Other portraits by the hand of this previously unknown, yet accomplished painter are found in the collections of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection in Colonial Williamsburg and in private collections. The artist who is now thought to be Otis Hovey (1788-1840) was born in Massachusetts, as a young child he moved to Oxford, New York. He showed talent for drawing and was then taken to New York City where he executed paintings done in oil. Hovey eventually returned to Oxford, NY where he painted portraits before disappearing. The artist combined his knowledge of Neoclassical American portrait painting, as it was practiced in Connecticut and New York by artists such as Trumbull and Vanderlyn, with vernacular traditions of itinerant New England and New York painters-such as Ammi Phillips during his Border Limner period-and a heavy dash of his own individuality. The result is an engaging and memorable eccentric portrait that has such a particular quality that his work can be attributed from collection to collection.

In addition, it is an early-American tonsorial masterpiece. Barbara Luck at the AARFAC has related three other male portraits to this example; see Gentleman Farmer, plate 202 on page 222 of Beatrix Rumford, American Folk Portraits. Also see the catalog by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, Early Arts of the Genesee Valley, 1974, plate 8, Gentleman with Ledger, oil on wood panel, dated 1823. There is a portrait of Ebenezer Mack of Ithaca, New York, which was published in the Maine Antiques Digest, May 1994, page 15-E; this is the best documented painting from the group having come directly from the Mack House in Ithaca. In addition to the preceding portraits, the portrait of John Lent, oil on canvas, probably from Leroy, New York, is illustrated on page 24 of Early Arts of the Genesee Valley. Otis Hovey’s “story” was published in the Oxford Gazette published by Chauncey Morgan, at Oxford, (Chenango County, N.Y.) January 14, 1814.

All these portraits are distinguished by unruly hair. The similarity of the five paintings [and their slight differences] suggest a single hand developing through time from a country limner to a somewhat more sophisticated painter.

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Attributed to Otis Hovey (1788-1840) Connecticut or New York State

06/15/2026

Rare Pair of Brass Ball-Topped Andirons Assigned to Newport, RI Tradition

Long assigned to Rhode Island, possibly Newport…seamed ball or k**b finials, cast seamed baluster uprights, billet bar attached to upright by bolt disguised by bosses on plinth, brass log stop mirrors the larger belted baluster and ball upright; flat cabriole legs terminated with large round “penny” type pad feet.

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Long assigned to Rhode Island, possibly Newport…seamed ball or k**b finials, cast seamed baluster uprights, billet bar attached to upright by bolt disguised by bosses on plinth, brass log stop mirrors the larger belted baluster and ball upright; flat cabriole legs terminated with large round “pe...

06/12/2026

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06/10/2026

Nootka Totem Pole in Fine Original Paint

Classic angular features featuring an eagle followed by a bear, and a frog at the base.

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Classic angular features featuring an eagle followed by a bear, and a frog at the base.

06/08/2026

Black Ball Liner, Clipper Ship in New York Harbor, Signed Lower Left: L.A. Brigg
Lucius A. Briggs (American, 1852–1931), known for marine watercolors

A ship of the Black Ball Line, shown leaving New York with the New Jersey shoreline in the background.

Lucius A. Briggs (1852-1931) Very little is known about this artist. He was born in Massachusetts and the family moved to Providence, Rhode Island shortly after. He is noted as listed in the Boston City Directories in 1894 – 1896 as an artist. He died of Pneumonia in 1931. Marine paintings appear to have been his focus; the artist displayed excellent handling and knowledge of the subject.

His work is in the Kendall Whaling Museum, Sharon, MA, the Mariners Museum, Newport News, VA, and the Peabody Museum, Salem, MA

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Lucius A. Briggs (American, 1852–1931), known for marine watercolors

06/01/2026

Ralph Simpson Staffordshire Royal Charger, Portrait of King William lll
Staffordshire, England

Boldly signed at bottom rim “Ralph Simpson”, cream ground decorated in dark and light brown slip decoration featuring trellis border and chain of linked ellipses centering portrait of a crowned King William III with royal accoutrements of orb and scepter.

Ralph Simpson (1651-1721) was one a family of the most prominent Burslem, Staffordshire potters of the late 17th century, known specifically for his masterful slipware chargers. His “King William III” chargers are highly prized museum-grade pieces that depict the monarch following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Simpson was a contemporary of the famous Thomas Toft, and his work followed the “Toft style” – large, lead-glazed earthenware dishes decorated with liquid clay (slip) trailed onto the surface.

Like this one, The King William III chargers typically feature a central portrait of the King, holding an orb and scepter. The rims are almost always decorated with a distinctive trellis border (a crosshatch pattern) and Simpson’s signature, “RALPH SIMPSON,” trailed in slip at the bottom. These were made as display pieces, not for dining.

There was probably two Ralph Simpsons, father and son, and it is thought that the one mentioned above who made these chargers is the son.

Related chargers by Ralph Simpson are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

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Staffordshire, England

05/29/2026

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05/27/2026

Fine and Rare Painted Étagère
New England

This stylish étagère may have been conceived as part of a bridal suite based on the rare use of a white painted background. As depicted, in original white paint featuring green trim, posts with beaded edges, shelves with molded edges and original brasses.

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New England

05/22/2026

Lemuel Eldred, Painting, Seascape, Signed and Dated – 1880
Lemuel D. Eldred (American, 1850-1921)

Marine painter and etcher Lemuel D. Eldred was born and raised in Fairhaven, Massachusetts near New Bedford’s whaling community. He studied for a short time at the Academie Julian in Paris (1880) and traveled throughout Europe (1883) but he claimed he was self-taught. He exhibited in Boston and at the National Academy in 1876. His work is represented in the Peabody Museum of Salem, MA, the Old Dartmouth Historical Society and the Kendall Whaling Museum. Little is known about Eldred’s life. In 1876 he moved to Boston where he established a studio and became a sought-after, popular marine painter.

Eldred painted realistic canvases in oil of Boston Harbor, the Maine Coast, New York and often in the seaport town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts where he painted outdoor scenes.

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Lemuel D. Eldred (American, 1850-1921)