Ex-Levine Collection - A 19th Century American Antique Folk Art Carved Figure of a Georgian Gentleman Colonist

A most engaging carved and painted folk art figure of a gentleman in mid-Georgian dress, standing erect with his arms at his sides, wearing a dark blue frock coat with yellow-painted buttons and turned cuffs over a matching waistcoat, white stock and shirt, grey breeches with yellow knee buckles, stockings, and black buckled shoes. His long dark hair is crisply carved in flowing locks, framing a solemn, rosy-cheeked face of wonderful naive character, and he retains his separately carved and removable black tricorn hat — a delightful and rarely surviving feature. The figure stands on its original turned circular base with old duck-egg blue paint.

The carving was previously catalogued by Bonhams Skinner in 2023 as American, late 19th century, depicting a man in British colonial dress; the costume and manner would sit equally comfortably in an English vernacular context, and the sober dress invites comparison with portrait figures of clergymen and schoolmasters of the period. Whichever side of the Atlantic produced him, he is a first-rate example of naive portrait carving with an unbroken and well-documented collecting history.

Provenance: James Julia Auction, Fairfield, Maine; the Lang Collection; the Robert and Anne Levine Folk Art Collection; Bonhams Skinner, American History in Wood: The Levine Folk Art Collection, 22 February 2023, lot 21.

Literature: Published/illustrated: Robert and Anne Levine, American History in Wood: The Levine Folk Art Collection, 2017, p. 22.

Condition: In good original condition, with old painted surface throughout showing wear, rubbing and minor losses commensurate with age. Old shrinkage line on the coat. The removable tricorn hat is intact.

Dimensions: Height: 11½ in (27 cm) · Width: 4 in (10 cm) · Depth: 4 in (10 cm)