ASHEVILLE, NC.- Following on the heels of their successful $1.3 million auction of deaccessions from the Brooklyn Museum, Brunk Auctions presents more museum deaccessions and outstanding works in its May American, Southern, British and Continental Premier auctions, May 20-21.

A rare and exceptional portrait of Maryland Revolutionary War patriot Colonel Nicholas Rogers by Charles Willson Peale is one of the stars of the American and Southern sale on May 20. The artist handsomely depicts Rogers in his full aide-de-camp military regalia, complete with gold buttons, braid, sash and epaulets ($80,000-120,000). Peale is one of the most important figures of 18th century American painting having painted George Washington from life more than any other artist. Rogers was related to Martha Custis Washington by marriage, the Aide-de-Camp to General DuCoudray and General de Kalb and the builder of Baltimore’s historic home, Druid Hill. The painting descended in the Custis family until the present day.


Important MESDA Documented North Carolina Federal figured walnut sideboard ($5,000-10,000)

A dozen lots of early American furniture are deaccessioned from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, including a MESDA-documented Virginia Queen Anne walnut tea table ($3,000-5,000) and a Southern Chippendale walnut desk and bookcase attributed to Virginia ($2,000-3,000). A rare Southern six-board yellow pine chest attributed to Tidewater Virginia and dated to 1690-1720 ($2,000-4,000) was once in the collections of MESDA and Old Salem. It comes to auction from a private collection, as does a Federal figure walnut sideboard from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina ($5,000-10,000).

Two dozen lots owned by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation but recently determined to have no connection with either Jefferson or Monticello are also being deaccessioned. Both American and Continental furniture and decorative arts are offered, led by a Federal inlaid figured mahogany Pembroke table from Virginia ($3,000-5,000) and a pair of French Louis XVI paint and gilt decorated fauteuils that the Thomas Jefferson Foundation had purchased from the Philadelphia Museum of Art ($2,000-4,000).


John Frederick Kensett, Waterfall in New England ($80,000-120,000)

A strong selection of 19th and 20th century American landscapes is another prominent category in the May 20 sale. Among these, John Frederick Kensett’s Waterfall in New England ($80,000-120,000), The Old Bridge, Late Summer by Jasper Cropsey ($60,000-90,000), as well as Cropsey’s Sunset on the Lake ($30,000-50,000), along with William Bradford’s summer scene of Labrador ($12,000-18,000). For collectors of 20th century landscapes, Wolf Kahn’s Railroad Bridge New Hindale, New Hampshire (No. 87) ($24,000-28,000) and Barn Along The Leyden Road (No.73) ($18,000-24,000) are not to be overlooked.

Southern art is led by Maria Howard Weeden’s watercolor on card Woman with Bandana ($8,000-10,000) and a Florida Highwayman painting titled Landscape of the Indian River by Alfred Hair ($4,000-6,000). Additional views of Florida include works by William R. Davis, Reynolds Beal, Jon Corbino and others.

Included as well are two views of Pawley’s Island by Peter Gentling, Strong Man by Collette Pope Heldner, several works by Benson Bond Moore and a Civil War portrait of Confederate Brigadier General Archibald Gracie III attributed to William Garl (Brown) Browne, Jr., deaccessioned from the Virginia Historical Society ($3,000-5,000).

A large group of Folk and Outsider art, from Hattie Brunner to Mose Tolliver, features additional works by John “Cornbread” Anderson, Roy and Howard Finster, Richard Burnside, JL Nipper, Chris Clark, Sulton Rogers, LaVon Williams, Jr., Michael Banks, Missionary Mary Proctor and several pieces each by Jimmy Lee Sudduth and Beverly Buchanan.


Queen Anne carved maple chest on chest attributed to the Dunlap Family ($7,000-10,000)

A small group of 17th and 18th century New England letters, bills of sale and a dated 1696 indentured servitude contract will appeal to collectors of historic manuscripts and documents.

Fans of early 20th century literature will like a large collection of books, including more than 50 by Archibald Rutledge, two dozen of which are signed and/or inscribed, including some scarce titles ($5,000-7,000).


Tiffany Studios Daffodil table Lamp with water lily base ($20,000-30,000)

A Tiffany Studios Daffodil table lamp with water lily base ($20,000-30,000) leads decorative arts on the first day, followed by Tiffany & Co. porcelain, 30 Castleton Studios plates commissioned for a World War II-era Naval patrolcraft later purchased and converted to the yacht Wild Goose by actor John Wayne ($800-1,200), four George Ohr earthenware vases, bowls and candlesticks, Staffordshire and English Delft, sterling silver flatware by Gorham including 166 pieces of Golden Crown Baroque ($8,000-9,000), Georg Jensen, Lunt, Schofield and Shiebler, and a pair of ceramic figural candlesticks made for the Rowfant Club by RC Cowan in 1925 ($1,000-1,500).


Pair of George II English silver strawberry dishes by Paul de Lamerie, arms of Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745), Britain's first Prime Minister ($25,000-35,000)

The second day of the sale, which focuses on British and Continental fine and decorative arts, starts with silver and objets d’art including lots by some of the most prestigious and desirable silversmiths: Paul de Lamerie, Paul Storr, Georg Jensen and more. From de Lamerie, an exceptional pair of George II English silver strawberry dishes bearing the arms of Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745), Britain's first Prime Minister ($25,000-35,000) and a pair of George II English silver salts ($4,000-8,000). By Storr, a 72-piece George III English silver flatware service for 12 ($15,000 $20,000), a pair of George II English silver sauce tureens ($4,000-8,000), and four lots of flatware and serving utensils. Also of prominence are two pairs of early English silver candlesticks: one dated 1706 and bearing the marks of Anthony Nelme ($7,000-9,000) and another pair by Matthew Cooper, 1715 ($6,000-8,000).

A standout among Continental silver offerings is a pair of Art Nouveau German silver Night and Day figural candlesticks that demonstrates exceptional modeling and was last on the market in 1999, when the pair sold for £11,500 ($4,000-8,000).


62-piece set of Flora Danica gilt silver mounted flatware ($20,000-30,000)

Speaking to the season is an exquisite 62-piece set of Flora Danica gilt silver mounted flatware with botanical-themed handles ($20,000-30,000).


Wolf Kahn, Railroad Bridge New Hindale, New Hampshire (No. 87) ($24,000-28,000)

An extensive collection of decorative arts from the Lake Lure, North Carolina, collection of Steve Stewart will be sold over several sales and the May 21 sale will see the first round of offerings. A strength of the British & Continental sale, the Stewart collection features 70 lots including porcelain by Meissen, Jacob Petit, Nymphenburg, Sevres and Derby; Limoges and Viennese enamels; figural bronzes, Black Forest and marble carvings, and much more.

Brunk Auctions’ last British and Continental Premier sale in late March featured a group of tea caddies and boxes from a private collection that saw particularly strong results; a second round of similar objects from the same seller is also included in the May 21 auction.


Jacques Martin-Ferrieres (French, 1893-1972) Collioure, oil on linen triptych ($15,000-25,000)

A triptych by Jacques Martin-Ferrieres (French, 1893-1972) shows the busy port of Collioure and relates to a similar composition that sold at Christie’s Paris in 2011 for €21,250 ($15,000-25,000); it leads a selection of fine art that includes a Pre Raphaelite painting by Philip Hermogenes Calderon ($5,000-7,000), Hugues Claude Pissarro’s Le Jardin de Barnsley House ($4,000-6,000), La lecture de la lettre sur une terrasse by Adolphe Bonny ($4,000-6,000), two animal paintings by William Skilling, and numerous landscapes, portraits and still life paintings by British and Continental painters.


Jasper Cropsey, The Old Bridge, Late Summer ($60,000-90,000)

Brunk Auctions is at 117 Tunnel Road. For information, 828-254-6846, info@brunkauctions.com or www.brunkauctions.com.