Miller & Miller Will Hold An Online-only Canadiana & Folk Art Auction On Saturday, February 12th

By Author: Ethan Miller
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Original oil paintings by Franz Johnston and Alexander Young Jackson, both founding members of Canada’s “Group of Seven”, plus a one-piece Adam-style corner cupboard from an estate near Orono, Ontario are expected top lots in an online-only Canadiana & Folk Art auction slated for Saturday, Feb. 12th, by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd.

The 376-lot auction has a start time of 9 am Eastern time, with Internet bidding available on the Miller & Miller website (www.MillerandMillerAuctions.com), as well as LiveAuctioneers.com. Telephone and absentee bids will also be accepted. The categories include folk art, furniture, art, tools, Canadiana, architectural items, vintage toys, pottery and stoneware, and beautiful textiles.

The oil on board rendering by Franz Johnston (1888-1949), titled The Battlement, Lake of the Woods, measures 13 inches by 10 ½ inches and is expected to climb to $22,000-$30,000. It is a vibrant and rare example, with strong brush strokes and content that’s typical of ‘The Group Impressionism’. Johnston resigned from the Group in 1924 as his style became more “realistic”.

The ...
... oil on panel by Alexander Young Jackson (1882-1974) is titled St. Lawrence South Shore Village (circa 1945) and measures 10 ½ inches by 13 ½ inches (estimate: $18,000-$28,000). It shows wonderful color and detail and has gallery labels on back for Klinkhoff, Montreal and Thielsen, London. Jackson was key in bringing together the artists of Montreal and Toronto.

The one-piece Adam-style corner cupboard, made in Canada around 1835, features a fluted frieze on the cornice and astragal glazing on the upper doors. Each upper door has 13 panes of glass, while the lower section has two flat paneled doors above a bracket base. The cupboard, in untouched condition, is 84 inches tall by 50 inches wide and is expected to hit $8,000-$12,000.

Also featured will be Part 2 of the many collections of Marty Osler. Part 1, held in April 2021, was led by a select offering of decoys, fishing reels and rods, many by Hardy Bros. of England. The decoy collection was primarily Canadian and included examples by Carl O. Rankin, Frank Dolsen, Billy Ellis and Ken Anger. Part 2 will focus on select Canadiana and decorative arts.

All prices in this report are in Canadian dollars and include an 18 percent buyer’s premium.

“We are very excited about this second sale of select Canadiana and decorative arts from Marty Osler’s personal collection,” said Peter Baker, who Miller & Miller engaged to serve as an advisor for the sale. “Marty collected exceptional and unusual pieces, including painted country furniture and classic folk art that are the backbone of this sale, but we are also pleased to offer works by prominent artists such as Robert Pilot, Manly Macdonald, A.F. Loemans, Goodridge Roberts, Horatio Walker, and Jackson and Johnston.”

“In addition,” Mr. Baker continued, “we have the imaginative folk art of Edmond Chatigny, George Cockayne and Ewald Rentz and, rarely seen in Canada, pieces by noted outsider artists Purvis Young, R.A. Miller, Steve Sutch, Howard Finster and Jim Sudduth.”

Baker concluded, “Traditional collectors will find North American beadwork, stoneware, weathervanes, cast-iron toys and several book pieces of Canadiana in the sale. This promises to be a truly memorable auction with many pieces having not seen the ‘light-of-day for decades.”

Two oil on canvas paintings by another renowned “Group of Seven” artist – Manly Edward MacDonald (1889-1971) – will come up for bid: Log House, signed lower left (estimate: $4,000-$5,000); and The First Snow, an earlier painting considering the wooden wedge construction (estimate: $2,000-$3,000). Both works are housed in their original frames, which is significant, as he had a Scottish carpenter who created hand-carved frames that added value to his paintings.

A watercolor on paper of a Quebec Village by Marc-Aurèle Fortin (1888-1970), diminutive at just 10 inches by 12 inches (sight), was painted circa 1925, showing a double-spired church with the Quebec hills in the background (estimate: $2,000-$3,500). Also, an oil on canvas Forest Landscape by Goodridge Roberts (1904-1974), 15 ½ inches by 19 ½ inches (sight), of a forest landscape with a brilliant blue sky (possibly a Georgian Bay view) should fetch $2,500-$3,000.

Canadian-made furniture pieces will be offered in abundance and will include the following:

- A standing two-piece pine secretary (Ontario, circa 1850-1860), in an untouched grain-painted surface, with a scalloped flat cornice, the upper section having two double-paneled doors, two drawers and adjustable interior shelves (estimate: $3,000-$5,000).

- A Western Canadian Ukrainian step-back cupboard painted in yellow, cream and green, circa 1900, 79 inches tall by 44 inches wide, from the Yorktown area of Saskatchewan, with original metal hardware on the drawers and upper door (estimate: $2,000-$4,000).

- An early 20th century Canadian dining table from the Peryhitka family (Hubbard, Saskatchewan), with a deep scalloped skirt on all sides and having a scrub top with the base in light brown paint over the original dark reddish brown (estimate: $2,000-$3,000).

Sculptures by Edmond Chatigny (1895-1992) will include a rare and large Bird Sculpture, made in Quebec circa 1970, depicting a bird in brown paint with white and green splotches, mounted on a square stool base, 30 inches tall (estimate: $3,500-$5,000); and a Farm Scene sculpture, also made in Quebec circa 1970, showing a farmer in a plumed hat plowing with a pair of oxen, while multiple birds and flowers line the field, mounted on a platform base (estimate: $2,500-$3,500).

Wonderful decorative accessories will be plentiful. Just a few highlight examples are as follows:

- A late 18th century Pennsylvania bride’s box, 18 ¼ inches by 11 ½ inches, of pegged construction, a large oval band box with stitched joints and a marvelous painted surface, the lid showing a man serenading a woman with his mandolin (estimate: $2,500-$3,500).

- An important, large and joyful ship whirligig in tin of a white ship on blue seas by Quebec artist Ernest Joly, circa 1970, with a ship that rocks back and forth when the propeller turns, a captain at the helm, 36 inches by 57 inches (estimate: $2,500-$3,000).

- A fretwork panel with religious scenes marked “Elohim” (God of Israel in the Bible’s Old Testament), made in Ontario circa 1970, 37 ½ inches by 48 ½ inches, exhibiting great colors and superb detail, mounted on a pine backboard (estimate: $2,000-$3,000).

To learn more about Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. and the auction on February 12th, please visit http://www.millerandmillerauctions.com.