August H. O. Rolle (American 1875-1941)

Rock Creek Park

Oil-on-canvas, signed lower left.

Painting: 16” x 20”
Frame: 23” x 26 ½”

August Herman Olson Rolle, painter, printmaker and graphic artist, dabbled in many activities before turning his focus to art. Born in Sibley County, MN, in 1875, his first path toward adulthood led him to Red Wing Seminary. Service in the Spanish-American War, eventually lead him to Washington, DC where he became a forestry expert for the Census Bureau.
Once in Washington, Rolle studied at the Corcoran School of Art under Messer, Brooke and Moser beginning in 1905. His specialties were landscapes and seascapes in oil and watercolor, but he also executed dryprints, woodblock prints, monotypes and etchings.
Following the tradition of his day, Rolle was active in many art societies. In addition to helping found the Landscape Club of Washington in 1915, he served as its president for many years. That was just one among a number of affiliations which also included the Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington, the American Federation of Arts, and the Arts Club of Washington.
Rolle also exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the old National Gallery, the Maryland Institute and at the Greater Washington Independent Exhibition of 1935. He had a joint exhibition of prints with fellow artist Benson B. Moore at Venable's Gallery in 1924.
Rolle died in Washington, DC in 1941. Today, his work is represented at the Corcoran Gallery, the Historical Society of Washington, DC, and the Arts Club of Washington. A retrospective of his work was held at the Corcoran's 1982 "Washington on the Potomac" and at the National Museum of American Art's 1984 show "The Capitol Image."

Sources:
Consentino, Andrew and Glassie, Henry. "The Capital Image, Painters in Washington, 1800-1915"
Falk, Peter, ed. "Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975"
McMahan, Virgil. "The Artists of Washington, D.C. 1796-1996"

** For other paintings by artists from Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC or North Carolina, click on the “Regional Artists” button on our Homepage.

Set of Four Hammered and Silvered Bronze Arts and Crafts Candlesticks, Early 20th Century, Unmarked. 13" high.

FinePair of Italian Grand Tour Bronze Candlesticks with nicely detailed foliate decoration and with good patina and fine castings. Having a removable ormolu drip pan above a bronze candle cup and supported by a turned and foliate decorated column with a tripartite scrolling ormolu base and mounted on a tripartite bronze plinth. These would have been brought home as a souvenir by someone who had made the Grand Tour. Italy, circa 1870. Height: 11.25"

Antique Dutch Turned Mahogany Peat Bucket having tapering staved sides with molded and ring turnings and with brass liner and carrying handle. Holland, circa 1820 Height to Rim: 12.5" Diameter: 12.5"

Joseph Pennell (American 1857-1926)

The Inauguration Steps, 1912

Lithograph on ivory laid paper

17 x 22 (image); 19 x 24.5 (sheet); 17.75" x 22.25" (sight); 24" x 30" (frame)

Wuerth 265

Washington D.C. series. Edition of 25. Signed on stone and in pencil and inscribed: " #2 The Inauguration Portico"

This is from a series of six lithographs made for the Century Magazine entitled "The Capitol at Washington” and described as the "East Front of the Capitol" Another example is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Joseph Pennell was widely recognized for his illustrations and etchings, a process he began in the late 1870s.  The son of Philadelphia Quaker parents, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia where his instructor, James Claghorn recognized and encouraged Pennell's etching talent.

From 1884 to 1917, Pennell lived primarily in Europe.  There he made scenery prints in many parts of the Continent, working in a variety of graphic media.  He also returned to America long enough to travel in the American West, and in 1912 and 1915, did scenes of San Francisco, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, which along with twenty-three lithographs he did of the Panama Canal were purchased by the Italian government and are in the Uffizi Gallery.

Pennell completed over 1800 etchings and lithographs.   His style was strongly influenced by James Whistler, and his technique was influenced by drawings of Charles Reinhardt.  He also wrote and illustrated nearly a hundred books including a biography of Whistler.

Sources:
Falk, Peter, ed. Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975
Hughes, Edan Milton. Artists in California 1786-1940

James Pollard (British 1792-1867)

The London to Oxford Coaches at Mile Marker 24

Oil-on-canvas, signed lower right

Painting: 17” x 32”
Frame: 23 ½” x 38 1/4”

Pollard was an engraver and sporting artist noted for his coaching, fox hunting and equine scenes. As the son of Robert Pollard, a painter, engraver and publisher, James was encouraged to become a painter of horses. He was also tutored by his father’s friend, the engraver Thomas Bewick. Growing up in Islington, Pollard lived on a main coaching route which undoubtedly influenced his choice of coaching scenes as his primary subject matter. In 1821 he exhibited a large work at the Royal Academy “North Country Mails at the Peacock, Islington” and by 1825 he was successful enough to leave his father, marry and set up his own studio. He prospered with numerous commissions. With the demise of the mail coaches in the 1840‘s, Pollard expanded his subject matter to include racing, hunting, shooting and angling scenes. Pollard is also known to have collaborated with John Frederick Herring Senior on several racing pictures in which he painted the backgrounds and crowd scenes and Herring painted the horses.

Pollard exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1821-1839, the British Institution in 1824 and 1844, and at the Suffolk Street Galleries. Many of his works were reproduced in prints which were engraved by himself, his father and others.

Pollard’s work is noted for its historical accuracy, attention to detail and in evoking the spirit of the coaching age.

Sources:
Mitchell, Sally. The Dictionary of Equestrian Artists
Wingfield, Mary Anne. A Dictionary of Sporting Artists, 1650-1990
Wood, Christopher. Dictionary of British Art. Vol. IV, Victorian Painters

Exceptional Pair of Italian Bronze and Ormolu Candlesticks with nicely detailed foliate decoration and with good patina and fine castings. Having a removable ormolu drip pan above a bronze candle cup and supported by a turned and foliate decorated column with a tripartite scrolling ormolu base and mounted on a tripartite bronze plinth. These would have been brought home as a souvenir by someone who had made the Grand Tour. Italy, circa 1870. 5" x 5" x 13"tall

Carved Wooden Top Hat

(Early 20th C., some scratches

12.25” x 10” x 6.75” tall

Johannes Marinus Ten Kate (Dutch, 1859-1896)

Working the Field

Oil on canvas. signed lower right

Painting17" x 24 3/4"
Frame: 28" x 35 1/4"

Ten Kate was known for his landscapes, beach scenes and genre paintings. Born in Amsterdam, he was the son of Johannes Mari ten Kate, under whom he most likely studied. He lived and worked in the Hague and was a member of the Hague Artists’ Society and the Pulchri Studio (latin:"for the study of beauty"), a Dutch art society, art institution and art studio based in the Hague. The countryside around the coastal town of the Hague provided a rural environment and an unspoiled landscape which attracted many young artists of the nineteenth century eager to escape the strictures of academic art guilds.

Harriette F A Sutcliffe (British, fl.1881 - 1922)

Beauty and the Beast

Oil on canvas, signed with monogram and titled on the reverse

Exhibited: The Royal Academy, 1899

Miss Suitcliff was a Hampstead painter of genre and portraits who exhibited at the royal academy from 1881-1899 and elsewhere.

Source:

Christopher Wood, The Dictionary of Victorian Painters

Painting Size: 16" x 20" Frame Size: 24" x 28"

An unusual and dramatic firescreen abattant. It reminds me of some of the smaller, New York classical parlor furniture I've seen in Southern house tours with late Federal drawing and music rooms furnished with pieces imported by successful merchants - almost, but not quite, over the top in their design yet direct in their function. So an argument could be made for high, New York city style. And the inlaid oval in the center, with pie crimped edge, is reminiscent of some New England work. The passive function is that of a firescreen and explains the distress to the side with inlay which likely faced the fireplace (rather than the upholstered side.) The "surprise" is the enclosed work area with the hinged top dropping to provide a writing surface (abattant [fr], "put horizontal") below the interior fitted with letter or document slots (only the back one of three dividing slats remaining - evidence of two more, and three segments which would have divided at least one of two lateral slots into three sections.) Perhaps because of the narrow profile, there appears to be no secondary wood under or behind any of the solid mahogany. Condition is quite good considering the likely heat exposure as a firescreen and probable stress to the hinged top which relies upon the case as a counter-stop. We had distress to the inlaid surface evened out, filled and finished - disturbing old finish as less as possible - to make it presentable for the decorator yet acceptable to the collector. We left the old upholstery (possibly original) alone for the next steward to decide. Our restorer (specializing in period furniture) had also never before encountered this design. Our photographs illustrate the character of the old, now serviceable inlaid surface. Ca 1800 - 1810. Height, about 42 3/4 inches. Width, about 21 5/8 inches (about 22 1/4 inches wide at the trestle base).

This firescreen abattant may be inspected at The Antique Center at Historic Savage Mill, Maryland

Exceptional pair of antique French Gilt Bronze Fireplace Chenet in the form of Dionysian children seated on a plinth and eating grapes, and with foliate and cyma curved decoration. 18th/19th Century. Each Approx.: 12.5" x 12.5" x 5.5 deep

August H.O. Rolle (American 1875-1941)

River Birches

Oil on Canvas, Signed lower right and titled and signed on reverse

Painting: 20" x 24"
Frame: 24" x 28"

** For other paintings by artists from Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC or North Carolina, click on the “Regional Artists” button on our Homepage.

August Herman Olson Rolle, painter, printmaker and graphic artist, dabbled in many activities before turning his focus to art. Born in Sibley County, MN, in 1875, his first path toward adulthood led him to Red Wing Seminary. Service in the Spanish-American War, eventually lead him to Washington, DC where he became a forestry expert for the Census Bureau.

Once in Washington, Rolle studied at the Corcoran School of Art under Messer, Brooke and Moser beginning in 1905. His specialties were landscapes and seascapes in oil and watercolor, but he also executed dryprints, woodblock prints, monotypes and etchings.

Following the tradition of his day, Rolle was active in many art societies. In addition to helping found the Landscape Club of Washington in 1915, he served as its president for many years. That was just one among a number of affiliations which also included the Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington, the American Federation of Arts, and the Arts Club of Washington.

Rolle also exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the old National Gallery, the Maryland Institute and at the Greater Washington Independent Exhibition of 1935. He had a joint exhibition of prints with fellow artist Benson B. Moore at Venable's Gallery in 1924.

Rolle died in Washington, DC in 1941. Today, his work is represented at the Corcoran Gallery, the Historical Society of Washington, DC, and the Arts Club of Washington. A retrospective of his work was held at the Corcoran's 1982 "Washington on the Potomac" and at the National Museum of American Art's 1984 show "The Capitol Image."

Sources:
Consentino, Andrew and Glassie, Henry. "The Capital Image, Painters in Washington, 1800-1915"
Falk, Peter, ed. "Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975"
McMahan, Virgil. "The Artists of Washington, D.C. 1796-1996"

Richard Redgrave (British, 1804-1888)

Resting Deer in a Forest Landscape

Oil on canvas

Provenance: Thomas McLean Gallery, London (retaining the original label on the back).

Painting: 20.75" x 36"
Frame: 30" x 45"

Redgrave was a genre and landscape painter. For a time he worked with his father who was an engraver before entering the Royal Academy in 1825. He began by painting historical genre in 18th century costume but in the 1840s he was among the first to depict contemporary social subjects in contemporary clothing (“The Seamstress”, “Bad News from the Sea”, “The Governess”). In 1836 he finally gained wider audience with his painting of “Gulliver on the Farmer’s Table”.

Redgrave was involved with the organization of the Government School of Design (1847) as well as the first keeper of paintings at the South Kensington Museum (now known as the Victoria and Albert museum). He was Inspector of the Queen’s Pictures and co-author with his brother Samuel of “A Century of Painters of the English School”, still a valuable book on English art.

Redgrave exhibited some 175 works at the Royal Academy from 1824-1883, the British Institution, the Society of British Artists and others. Several of his paintings are in the Victoria and Albert museum, the National Portrait Gallery (London) and the Shipley Art Gallery (Gateshead).

Retiring from his many offices in 1880 due to ill health, Redgrave’s later work was mostly painted while summering at his country house, primarily landscapes painted in a pre-Raphaelite style.

Sources:
Benezit, E. "Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs"
Johnson, J. and A Greutzner. "The Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940"
Wood, Christopher. "Dictionary of British Art. Vol. IV, Victorian Painters"

Manuel Robbe (French, 1872-1936)

Nocturne (ou Le Flirt)
[Merrill Chase, no. 63]*

Aquatint with etching in colors, circa 1906, on wove paper, signed in pencil in the image lower left. From the edition of about 100, with minor staining in the margins, not examined out of the frame.

Image Size: 13.5" x 17.5"
Frame Size: 24" x 27.5"

Robbe was a painter of genre scenes, a watercolorist, pastellist, engraver, designer and illustrator. He studied both at the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux Arts in Paris where he was mentored in etching and aquatint methods by Eugene Delâtre. He exhibited in Paris regularly at the Salon des Artistes Français and was awarded a bronze medal in 1900 at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Leaving that salon in 1905, Robbe became a member of the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He chiefly worked in the medium of colored aquatint engravings in which he had become quite accomplished. He was an innovator of the experimental “à la poupée” process of printing many colors from a single plate which gave his prints a startling subtlety, each print having its own uniqueness. Robbe’s favorite themes were of scenes of Paris life, scenes of streets animated by young parisiennes of the Belle Époque and young women and children engaging in the social activities of the day. His prints were designed to be framed and hung on the wall just like oil paintings.

Source:
Benezit, E. "Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs"

*Manuel Robbe's works are catalogued and described by a series of soft covered books published by Merrill Chase Galleries in 1978, 1979, and 1980. These books serve as the recognized catalogue raisonné for Robbe.

Alfred Wordsworth Thompson (American 1840-1896)

Lake Scene in Western Maryland

Oil-on-canvas, signed lower right and dated “1861”

Painting Size: 8 ½”” x 16”
Frame Size: 12.5” x 20”

Thompson was a landscape, historical and portrait painter, born in Baltimore where he studied law with his father. In 1859 Thompson decided to become and artist and opened a studio in Baltimore. During the first year of the Civil War (1860) he worked as a combat artist for Harper’s Weekly and the Illustrated London News, primarily illustrating battles in Virginia. In 1861, the year this painting is dated, he left to study in Paris at the École des Beaux Arts with Gleyre, Lambinet and Pasini. He also traveled to Italy and Germany before establishing his studio in New York City in 1868. He made several return trips to France, Spain, North Africa and the Mediterranean. In addition to his travel landscapes, many of his exhibited works were of colonial revolutionary subjects.

Thompson was a founding member of the Society of American Artists and a member of the National Academy of Design. He exhibited extensively including at the Paris Salon, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Paris Expo of 1878 and the National Academy of Design.

Sources:
Falk, Peter, ed. Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975
Wright, R. Lewis. Artists in Virginia Before 1900

** For other paintings by artists from Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC or North Carolina, click on the “Regional Artists” button on our Homepage.

Peter Paul Duggan (Irish/American 1810 ? -1861)

Macbeth

Oil on artist board

Provenance: Sycamore Farm, Portsmouth, VA (Estate of Robert Vick and Charles Sibley)

Note: Listed in "The National Academy of Design Exhibition Record 1861-1900" page 249, number 482.

Painting Size: 6 ½” x 6 ½”
Frame Size: 10” x 10”

Born in Ireland, Duggan was brought to the United States as a young child, probably around 1810. He was a student at the National Academy of Design from approximately 1842-1849. He was a frequent exhibitor at the National Academy as well as at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.

Duggan was known to have exhibited works at the Academy (1844-51) which were religious and historical in nature although he was admired by his contemporaries as a portraitist in charcoal and crayon - undoubtedly the source of his livelihood. Later works exhibited (1855-56) were portraits only. He also sculpted several medals for distribution by the American Art-Union. In the late 1840’s Duggan was a professor of drawing at the Free Academy of New York (later the City College of New York).

Duggan suffered from tuberculosis and retired in 1856 at which time he went to live in London with relatives. In the spring of 1861 he went to Paris for what was intended to be an extended stay but was there only until October when he succumbed to his illness.

Sources:
Falk, Peter, ed. Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975
Groce & Wallace, Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564-1860
Mallett, Daniel Trowbridge. Index of Artists

Georges Brasseur (Belgian, 1880-1950)

Morning Light

Oil-on-canvas, signed lower left

Painting Size: 19.75” x 25.5”
Frame Size: 24 ” x 30”

Brasseur was a painter and designer who specialized in religious art as well as genre scenes, portraits and nudes.He was a student at the Saint-Luc School in Schaerbeek where he spent his last year as a scene painter. He adopted a Neo-Gothic style, typical of that school. Brasseur also produced copperplate engravings and stained glass windows. Among others, he worked with the Beyaert firm of Bruges and with the stained glass artist J. Osterrath.

Sources:
Benezit, E. "Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs"
"Le Dictionnaire des Peintres Belges du XIV Sicle du XIV Siècle à Nos Jours"
Piron, Paul , "De Belgische Beeldende Kunstenaars uit de 19de en 20ste eeuw"