AFA 18th Anniversary

2018 Antiques & Fine Art 157 Asa Ames (American, 1823–1851), Portrait of Nancy Ames Hogue, ca. 1849. Carved and painted pine. H. 35 inches. Jonathan and Karin Fielding Collection. Apart from figureheads on ships’ bows, carved full-length portraits in wood were extremely unusual in early America. This example by Asa Ames is all the more rare for its exquisite state of preservation. Little was known about Ames until the 1970s, when census records revealed that his occupation was “sculpting”; he resided in Erie County, New York, and died at age twenty-seven, probably from tuberculosis. Only thirteen works have been securely attributed to him. Many of them depict family members, like this portrait of his niece Nancy. The artist paid careful attention to such details as ears, eyelids, and hair texture—all of which are noticeable on this sculpture.. Stoneware, a form of opaque pottery impervious to liquid, was produced throughout early America—particularly in New York and Pennsylvania, colonies settled by the Dutch and Germans. One of the earliest known examples of intact colonial American stoneware, this vessel, found in New York State, features a distinctive checkerboard design relating to imported Westerwald stoneware produced during the period. The cobalt blue decoration suggests Chinese blue and white porcelain, which was extremely popular in Europe and America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The alternating blue incising across the surface can also be found on shards excavated at the Kemple Pottery of Ringoes, New Jersey, the Morgan Pottery of Cheesequake, New Jersey, as well as at the Remmey and Crolius potteries of Manhattan during the mid-eighteenth century. The lush blossoms emerging from the ornate flowerpot depicted on the surface of this vessel underscore its ties to Northern European design traditions. Jar, unknown maker, ca. 1750. Stoneware. H. 15, W. 14, D. 11 in. Jonathan and Karin Fielding collection.