$100,725
Carved and Painted Wood Ship's Figurehead, America, c. 1830, the figurehead reportedly depicting Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the U.S. Navy, original surface, ht. 22, wd. 15 1/2, dp. 14 1/2 in. Provenance: According to family lore, the figurehead, thought to be Commodore Perry, was purchased by Arthur Beane's father, Judge Beane, from a fisherman in the nineteen teens. The fisherman told the judge that the figurehead, from an earlier salvage, was found washed ashore at Monomoy Island. The island is southwest of Chatham, on Cape Cod, off the Massachusetts mainland. Literature: This figurehead is illustrated in The Index of American Design, by Erwin O. Christensen, The Macmillon Co., New York, 1950, p. 58. It is also pictured along with other figureheads on the cover of the May 1963 Reader's Digest, from an original illustration titled Antique U.S. Ship Decorations by Mary Nonnast. Original paint with scattered losses, several shrinkage cracks,
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2010-11-07
