15th Anniversary Preview

15th Anniversary 16 www.antiquesandfineart.com DISCO V E R I E S Billetheads are a sub-group of carved ship figureheads that saw their peak in America during the second half of the eighteenth century. According to Richard Hunter, a leading figurehead historian based in England, Billetheads often feature “elaborately carved forms, springing from a large forward scroll, from this forward scroll a number of smaller secondary scrolls emulate from its spiral, while a variety of acanthus and other forms of leaves and foliage, radiate and flow down to the base of the carving, each one unique.” These three carved Billetheads, which were never mounted on a vessel and still hold their original buff-colored primer paint, were found in an old cottage on Cape Cod ’s Gre at Isla nd i n We st Yarmouth, Massachusetts. In 1914, the approximately 550-acre island had been purchased by Malcolm Chace, the proprietor of a successful textile mill. The Billetheads descended in the Chace family for decades and remained on the island until they were sold in 2014. According to Hunter, “In the three Billetheads in question we see carvings of the very highest quality, and complexity, each one a tour de force of the ship carver’s art, dating from around the last quarter of the eighteenth century. For carvings of this quality we must look to the workshop of the Skillin brothers of Boston, Massachusetts: John (1745– 1800) and Simeon Jr. (1756–1806).” Active at various times in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, the Skillin family dominated the ship carving market for more than forty years. Based on the condition of the Billetheads, Hunter notes the carvings likely came directly from the workshop and possibly served as an example of the workshop’s output. He explains, “It was necessary for craftsmen to be able to show prospective clients examples of the workshop’s work, while at the same time being available for sale. As a stock item and likely carved while business was slow, they offered the carver the freedom of design without the restraints of a commission. In all three Billetheads we see a process of design and craftsmanship second to none.” Two similar Billetheads were owned by Bartram K. and Nina Fletcher Little and sold in part one of their private sale at Sotheby’s in 1994 (lot 214). This related pair was inherited by Simeon Skillin III (1766–1830). Billetheads were stock-in- trade of most ship carvers and few can now be traced to their original carvers, but, because of the similarity of the petite examples shown here with those that descended in the Skillin family, their manner of carving, and similar primer paint, the likelihood is that they were all carved in the Skillin shop. Collection of Three Carved Billetheads Attributed to the Skillin Shop Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1795 Approximate dimensions for each Billethead: H. 28, D. 13, L. 32 inches Courtesy, Hyland Granby Antiques, Hyannis Port, Mass. Expert Insight contributed by Richard Hunter Provenance: Family of Malcolm Chace