The highest price of the sale — $70,400 — went to Anne Ramsdell Congdon’s (American, 1873-1958) oil on canvas titled “Island Service Wharf, Nantucket, 1935,” 23 by 27 inches framed ($30/50,000).

Review by Kiersten Busch

NANTUCKET, MASS. — Rafael Osona Auctions started off the month of August with two days of auction action. On August 2, the firm conducted its Americana, Fine Arts and Décor Auction, and on August 3 was The Marine Auction. Comprising 1,033 lots and closing with an 83 percent sell-through rate, the sale featured marine art, scrimshaw, marine gear and ship models, among others.

Leading the first day was Anne Ramsdell Congdon’s (American, 1873-1958) “Island Service Wharf, Nantucket, 1935,” an oil on canvas that surpassed its $30/50,000 estimate to achieve $70,400. Signed “Anne Congdon” to the lower left, the painting was in a molded wood gilt frame with a gilt liner and was the highest-earning of three paintings by the artist, all of which secured the top three highest prices of the sale.

Congdon’s two other paintings both finished at $57,600. The oil on Masonite “Island Service Wharf, Scene with Vessels, Nantucket, 1941” was housed in a silver-tone molded wood frame and was signed and dated to the lower right; it far surpassed its $25/35,000 estimate. Also raised past its $30/50,000 estimate was “Trawler Snowflake Nantucket, 1937,” also an oil on Masonite. A dedication inscription on its reverse read “…For My Good Friend Earnest… I hold him in happy memory, Anne Congdon.” The work was also signed “Anne Congdon ‘37” to the lower left and was in a period molded gilt frame.

“Portrait of the Clipper Ship Flying Fish” by J. Franklin Wright (1924-2022), oil on canvas, 31 by 43 inches framed, doubled the low end of its $2/2,500 estimate at $4,096.

Another well-represented painter was Robert Stark, Jr (1933-2014), whose four paintings netted just under $45,000 total. The highest price was earned by “Nantucket Foggy Landscape,” a signed oil on canvas in an ebonized gilt molded frame. “Calm Seascape Where Sky and Water Meet” ($12,800), “Swan On The Road” ($7,680) and “Polpis Swans” ($4,480) will also travel to new homes.

Landscapes proved popular with bidders, as Alfred Thompson Bricher’s “Clearing Skies off Newport” flew past its $15/25,000 estimate to achieve $30,720. The oil on canvas coastal landscape was signed “AT Bricher,” with the artist’s initials in monogram. Marked with a label that read “Tilden Thurber, Providence, Rhode Island,” the work’s frame expanded its measurements to 25 by 42 inches. “Cranberry Pickers in the Bog” was another landscape with fine results. Noted in the catalog as a possible study of Eastman Johnson’s (1824-1906) work, the oil on door panel almost tripled the high end of its $2/4,000 estimate for a $15,360 finish.

“Combat,” a circa 1953 gouache on board painting of two men fighting on a bridge, more than doubled its estimates to achieve $16,640. The artist behind the painting, Fulco Di Verdura, was the textile designer for Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, and later the head designer for Chanel jewelry.

Painted by former head designer of Chanel jewelry Fulco Di Verdura (Italian, 1898-1978), “Combat,” circa 1953, gouache on board, signed “Fulco ‘53” lower left, 5¼ by 6 inches framed, struck down a $16,640 finish ($4/6,000).

Turning away from fine art, several Nantucket friendship baskets were offered, with all but one, a circa 1966 example by Stephen Gibbs, finding new homes. The group of seven was led by a collaboration basket between Jose Formoso Reyes and Charlie Sayle, Sr, which featured a carved whale by Sayle in the center of its oval ebony top. It was signed upon its base “Made in Nantucket, Jose Formoso Reyes,” and included a pencil outline of Nantucket Island. Offered with a $3/4,000 estimate, the basket did better, bringing $15,360. Another Reyes basket, this one made circa 1960 with a wooden top, was secured for $4,480.

Another basket weaver with multiple friendship baskets on offer was Sherwin Boyer (1907-1964). A 7-inch-high example of his also contained a carved whale by Sayle, along with the remains of a paper label poem: “I was made on Nantucket Island, I am strong and stout, don’t lose me or burn me, I’ll never wear out”; the basket made $4,160. Another example by Boyer, made circa 1960s, was bid to $2,560.

A collection of 10 British Regency era tortoiseshell storage boxes went to new homes, with prices ranging from $448 for a stamp box made in the Nineteenth Century to $12,160 for a pagoda-style compartment tea caddy made circa 1820.

Made by Captain George Grant, this Nantucket miniature folk art whirligig study, 9 inches high by 7¾ inches wide, sold for $3,840 ($1/1,500).

Woolies, a type of maritime folk art needlework created by British sailors, were not in abundance, but all six that were offered sold, led by a British Man-O-War example from the Nineteenth Century, which sailed away for $12,160. The work depicted the five-masted British ship Frederick, with the much smaller steam paddle Edity in the foreground. While five of the six woolies sold were of British origin, one example was worked by an American sailor. Cataloged as “rare,” the Nineteenth Century piece depicted a three-masted US Navy frigate warship flying the American flag at full sail, “surrounded by swag of international flags and floral vines.” It navigated past its $1,5/2,500 estimate to dock at $7,680.

The Marine Auction saw more naval portraits excel, with “Bark Haydn Brown of Boston Leaving Boston Light August 1876” leading the charge at $16,640. The oil on canvas, done by William Pierce Stubbs, depicted the Haydn Brown in full sail with flying colors; a legend was incorporated at the bottom of the canvas, and it was signed “W.P. Stubbs” lower left.

Other ship portraits of note were J. Franklin Wright’s “Portrait of the Clipper Ship Flying Fish” ($4,096), an oil on canvas with provenance to the Marine Arts Gallery in 1992, and “Steam Trawler at Sea” by Jack L. Gray ($3,840).

The dynamic “Stove Boat Whaling Scene” by Brian Coole (British, b 1939), oil on panel, signed lower right, 11½ by 20 inches framed, fought to $7,040 ($1/1,500).

Contemporary British artist Brian Coole was represented by an oil on panel titled “Stove Boat Whaling Scene” ($7,040). Another work, “American Whalers and the Catch” ($640), was attributed to him.

Robert Charles Gruppe also had two works on offer, including “Gloucester Harbor at Sunrise,” an oil on canvas bid to $4,160, and the oil on canvas “Portrait of a Schooner,” which made $1,280.

Seven lots of nautical folk art also made a splash, with prices ranging from $128 for a figural copper mermaid cutout made in the Twentieth Century, to $3,840 for a Nantucket miniature whirligig study. Cataloged as “rare,” the 9-inch-tall whirligig was made by Captain George Grant and depicted four small whales that would rotate underneath a larger carved and painted whale. Another carved whale folk art piece, this one modeled after the famous literary sperm whale Moby Dick, measured 13 inches high and 45 inches long. Made by Byron Bruffee and signed on its reverse with his carved “B” mark, the whale swam to $1,280 against a $600/800 estimate.

Three of the folk art pieces depicted ships in differing manners, including a watercolor on paper of a sailing American vessel rounding a coastline with a fortress in the foreground ($832), a 1930s handmade catboat weathervane with a painted wooden hull and copper and brass mast and sail ($512) and an all wood whaling barque model which measured 22 inches long ($512).

The Rafael Osona Late Summer Auction, featuring 740 lots of fine and decorative art and modern and antique furnishings, will take place on August 23. Prices quoted include buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, 508-228-3942 or www.rafaelosonaauction.com.