Early 19th Century Folk Art

In the midst of the 18th century, in the enchanting land of Burma during the Shan period, a magnificent masterpiece of spiritual artistry was born—an extraordinary Seated Burmese wo...

This American portrait descended through same family from 1830s until July 2012, when I acquired it from executor in Oregon. Early family had lived in New England. It is unusual to h...

An interested continental pewter and lead glass tanker, dated 1817 with the initials "I B" incised in the lid. The tanker is heavily Sgraffitoed with a Latin Verso, cartouches and...

Navajo rugs and blankets are textiles produced by Navajo people of the four corners area of the United States. Navajo textiles are highly regarded and have been sought after as trade items for over 150 years. Commercial production of handwoven blankets and rugs has been an important element of the Navajo economy. As one expert expresses it, "Classic Navajo serapes...

A very early 19th century chemist display carboy, circa 1820 possibly earlier The bulbous center sits on a stepped base with a swan like neck and a fine cut glass oversized stopp...

Set of kitchen treen with 2 hourglasses, one candlestick holder and pepper mill. All 19th century French.

A sensational early 19th century French Chapeau De Gendarme - officer's hat box in leather. Such a nostalgic shape!! A great accent piece for any b...

Most unusual early 19th century Scottish carved Folk Art tea caddy, the lid with foliate carving and knob finial, the body taking its design from the more hi style sarcophagus form b...

Early 19th century Scottish glove stretcher with a tartan McPherson colors. Tartan also called plaid which refers to Scottish clan colors. This is a rare piece from a private collect...

Beautiful American, windsor, arrow-back high chair in original surface. Circa 1820, this chair is in excellent condition with an incredible surface history. The splayed legs are much...

English Pottery Pearlware Sailor Figures, Circa 1820. A lovely pair of English pottery pearlware figure groups each depicting a sailor resting on his sea trunk...

A spectacular and fine, painted and stenciled, pine documentbox. The original blue paint having turned a dark green over time with the varnished finish, typical of Boston pieces. Yo...

This beautifully aged iron nutcracker dates to around 1800 and most likely originates from Germany. It is a wonderful example of early utilitarian craf...

The picture retains its original gilt frame. The image is rendered in a mixture of silkwork and hand painted decoration and depicts the injured traveler on the roadside being aided by the Samaritan while the Levite and the Priest are seen in the distance. This parable is told by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.' Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?" This work is vastly bigger than 19th century silkwork pictures...

This antique English toleware tea caddy dates to circa 1820 and done in the period Regency style. This tea caddy is constructed of tin with a cast i...

The puzzle jug consisting of a handle with pierced yellow painted decoration above and below the band of three spouts, floral painting on each side with int...

An early 19th century British/Irish provincial school oil on canvas painting Three Quarter Length Portrait of a Naval Officer, possibly Lieutenant Henry Anderson, housed within a gi...

A wonderfully detailed and intricately decorated early 19th century shell work figure. Depicting a traditionally dressed Chinese gent, with his wispy beard, hat and holding his bask...

A haunting and unusual American carved marble building marker, probable New England origin circa 1813. The names inscribed are H. Missemer & S. Missemer. It...

Beautiful solid brass yacht binnacle from John Bliss of New York with gimbaled compass mounted to a varnished wood base. The compass bezel is engraved J...

A wonderful folk art hand penned and coloured portrait of the Brighton Match Maker 1828. Housed in its original frame with a decorative perforated border and wee verse that reads ...

Very stylish folk art carving of an urn with flame. Likely from a hears of the mid nineteenth century. This sculpture is hand carved from pine and retains the original painted and gi...

Early 19th century sea captain's tea caddy, circa 1830, made of coramandel wood gathered in the Spice Islands China Trade, with sailor's grommet-spliced rope becket handles. The inte...

19th century fruitwood mortar and pestle. Remnants of oxblood red and silver blue banded paint. Original pestle included. Origin: Eastern, United States Period: First half of the 19...

Monumental early 19th century clock on a polychrome panel with clock-hands in golden metal, fixed on a tin sheet. The hands are attached to the back of the panel with a clock system,...

A wonderful American folk art pen and watercolor self portrait of John Taylor, Albany, NY, circa 1805-6. Taylor has drawn himself as a fashionable, industrious young man seated at hi...

19th Century Welsh Folk art Column Form Really quite extraordinary piece of Welsh folk art, "The Marquess of Angleseys Column" dating mid to late 19th Century. Constructed from carv...

19th century maple swift with expandable arms to help yarn workers wind yarn. Arms expand to 30".

A exceptional pair of hand embroidered silk animals (leopard & elephant), housed in faux rosewood frames and original marble paper backings. Very much in the naive, folk art aesth...

This is a very beautiful , highly detailed and well executed portrait of a woman. Created in the early nineteenth century with graphite on paper. The sitter can be seen with a book in her hand and a ring on her finger. She is sitting in a painted fancy chair by the window with the drape pulled back...

A busy oil on canvas interior scene showing an exaggerated early 19th century social scene in the naïve self taught style. A military/naval officer is showing off his wooden leg ...

A carved and painted wood 'TURKOMANIA' sculpture of an ottoman soldier French or Dutch Turkomania, early 19th century Depicted in standing position, with a sword in one hand and a club in the raised other, with a fur hat, long moustache and long coat, on a square base. Measures: H. 58 cm Note: During the Dutch War of Independence from 1568 till 1648, the Dutch and Turks were allies against Roman Catholic Spain and the slogan of the Dutch was “liever Turks dan Paaps” (rather Muslim than Roman Catholic). In 1612 the first Dutch ambassador arrived in Istanbul. Nevertheless, in Holland, there was also the image of the cruel and heretic Turk stemming from the frequent violent clashes between Dutch ships and the pirates from Algiers, usually called the “Turkish pirates”. When the Ottoman armies advanced against Vienna, in the eyes of many Europeans the Islam bent on destroying Christianity. Later in the early 19th century, although the Turkish threat to Europe was long gone, the image of the Turks deteriorated again because of the Greek uprising. The Sultan Mahmud II understood that Turkey had to modernize along West European lines and among other things in 1808 he replaced the “picturesque” oriental clothing...

Royal House Antiques Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this wonderfully primitive fruitwood hemp cutting machine circa 1800 Please note the delivery fee listed is...

A William IV policeman’s truncheon. A great piece of social history, the baton has a slightly shaped grip handle, the lower part is painted in Red and the upper part has a blue ba...

Late 19th century hand-forged iron shoe, likely a Conblers sample.    

Native center opening creel made of split willow. We assume sold to a fisherman, he painted. Measures: 9" x 13" x 8" H. Period: 19th century Origin: Northeast Size: 9" x 13" x 8" ...

Feast your eyes on our Bone Inlaid Pattern Wall Art in Blue Resin. This isn't just art; it's a mesmerizing blend of tradition and contemporary design. Imagine multiple Celtic dragons...

3 Dimensional Terracotta Statue Khmer or Cambodian Priest This superb piece has a very dark patina he has one hand open to hold a staff, we do not have the staff and the other hand ...

Wooden gingerbread mold (man with feathers in hat and umbrella), signed.

19th Century North African cooking pot, Brutalist log basket. Stud and Riveted Cooking Pot from North Africa, the vessel is made in hand forged ...

Ancient Asian grain scoop bowl A tactile and lovely looking piece the bowl has a handle, it is made from a single piece of wood, it has flat bottom, a s...

Chinese carved rock crystal figure of Buddha, Qing Dynasty, seated in meditation, incised crescent moon mark to lower edge at front, Measures: 5" H...

This demilune flower pot or bough pot for forcing springtime bulbs, is adorned with three landscape panels. Each panel, painted in pink lustre, depicts the same cottage in a pastoral setting from three different vantage points. Moulded into the top and bottom rims are acanthus leaves. Pieces in this shape, color and style have been attributed to the Hackwood company, and usually pieces like these, are not marked. William Hackwood & Son was an earthenware factory in Shelton, England, from 1818 until 1853. In addition to lustre ware...

19th century fruitwood mortar and pestle. Lathe work, remnants of paint or dark stain. Original pestle included. Period: First half of the 19th century Origin: Eastern, US Size: 5" ...

Feast your eyes on our Bone Inlaid Pattern Wall Art in Blue Resin. This isn't just art; it's a mesmerizing blend of tradition and contemporary design. Imagine multiple Celtic dragons...

Tribal African Currency.

A spectacular and fine, dovetailed poplar, rosewood grain painted and ebonized document box. The gold stenciling is of a very fine quality. Retains the original fire gilded steel bai...

EXTRAORDINARILY EARLY (1806) PRINTED LINEN KERCHIEF GLORIFYING GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRINT WORKS, GERMANTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA Printed in blue ink on coarse, white linen, this patriotic kerchief shows a standing portrait of George Washington, above which is a swag valance and the words “The Effect of Principle, Behold the Man”. The portrait is based on a mezzotint after Gilbert Stuart’s very famous painting of Washington in his later years, most often referred to as the Landsdowne portrait. Stuart painted three versions of it in oil on canvas, one of which was completed in 1796 for a wealthy merchant by the name of William Constable, who commissioned the work for Alexander Hamilton. The kerchief is interesting because it is both American-made and documented. This is exceptionally unusual for any printed textile of the 19th century or prior and the earlier the time period the more unlikely an object is to be identified. This kerchief and a companion piece entitled “The Love of Truth Mark the Boy” (also glorifying Washington, through the fabled story of the cherry tree), were made circa 1806 by Germantown Print Works in Germantown, Pennsylvania. To the left of Washington's image is a portion of his infamous farewell address to his troops at the end of the Revolutionary War. To the right is a short excerpt from his eulogy. Below these are three images. In the center is a square-rigged tall ship with “Commercial Union” above it, flanked by the American eagle on the left and the British lion on the right. It is reasonable to assume that the textile may have been produced in demonstration of the maker's desire, and/or that of others, to advance trade with England. Commercial printers were very influential in early America, as they possessed the means by which to disseminate information. This kerchief and its companion piece are documented in Threads of History, Americana Recorded on Cloth, 1775 - the Present, by Herbert Ridgeway Collins (1979, Smithsonian Press), p. 63, items 38 & 39.* The two pieces pictured are in the collection of Cornell University, but the Collins text also cites an uncut pair to be present in the collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, OH. The name "Germantown Print Works" is printed on the Western Reserve examples. Another example of the textile in question is documented in "Running for President, The Candidates and Their Images, 1789-1896" by Schlesinger, Israel, and Frendt, (1994, Simon & Schuster), p. 15. I have seen three different color variations of this textile, including sepia, mulberry red, and blue. This particular example has a hand-sewn binding along the top, lower, and left edges. Mounting: The textile was mounted and framed within our own conservation department, which is led by expert staff. We take great care in the mounting and preservation of flags and have framed thousands of examples. The gilded molding has a rippled profile and dates to the period between 1825 and 1850.The background is 100% cotton twill, black in color. The glazing is U.V. protective plexiglass. Feel free to contact us for more details. Condition: There is an all-over golden oxidation of the white fabric and there is very minor staining. There are tiny tack holes in each corner and there are minor nicks around the perimeter. * Collins relates that Germantown Printworks was operated by the Hewsons. In doing so he cites one of Worthington Chauncey Ford's books on George Washington, but it isn't clear which one (there are many) and no page numbers are given. John Hewson was an Englishman who came to America and opened his printing business on the advice of Benjamin Franklin. He was one of the first “calico printers” and is the earliest documented to have advertised printed kerchiefs. His ads for bandanas appear as early as June 20th, 1774. He is suspected of having produced the very first American kerchief that pictured an American president, which is documented in Collins as item 1 on page 48. Linda Eaton, curator at Winterthur, in 2012, is currently doing in depth research on the three printers of fabrics that were operating in Germantown in early America. She discovered that the owner and/or operator of Germantown Print Works, while not currently known, was not John Hewson. This information is not yet published. She also noted that Winterthur possessed examples of the two George Washington textiles...