Philadelphia Antiques Show 2016_

✷ 132 ✷ FROM THE COLLECTION OF… FROM THE COLLECTION OF… GAIL & RICH MELLIN MELLIN’S ANTIQUES, REDDING, CT In 1995, we embarked on an adventure to Amsterdam in hopes of purchasing Chinese export porcelain with Canton decoration. e cargo was part of the “country” ship Diana that sank on March 4, 1817 in the Straits of Malacca traveling from Canton, China, to Madras, India. e contents of the ship, salvaged by Dorian Ball, were being auctioned at Christies. Even though the porcelain had been underwater water for 178 years, it was as pristine as the day it was manufactured. Unfortunately, we were not able to purchase anything at the auction because the prices far exceeded our budget. However, this wonderful Canton soup tureen with stand was purchased by the Hodro s, who had one of the most celebrated Chinese porcelain collections. We were reintroduced to this piece when it was part of the Winterthur exhibition featuring the Hodro ’s collection titled, Made In China at the Vero Beach Museum of Art in Florida. A few years later, we were able to acquire this superb piece. It is now a focal point of our collection and our story about the pursuit of the best Canton. ARTHUR LIVERANT NATHAN LIVERANT & SON ANTIQUES, COLCHESTER, CT e PF Bed Rug. Made by Patience Skinner Foote (1755–1790) of Colchester, CT, 1778–1780. Needlework Sampler by Harriet Atwood Brainerd (b. 1819), the granddaughter of Patience Skinner Foote. Colchester, Connecticut, dated 1832. About 1990, my father and I learned of an auction on a farm in Massachusetts, with the name of “Brainard,” an early family from the Colchester, Connecticut, area. We thought it was worth an inspection, but we left disappointed as only a red painted six board blanket chest seemed worth our consideration. e chest was full of blankets, pillows and various fabrics. When the auction company runners carried the red blanket chest out, it fell, distributing the fabrics all over the grass. ey unfolded the bed rug on the grass and let people walk on it, as they thought it was a rug. Eventually, the auctioneer sold the bed rug because it was in the way and people were tripping on it. Colleagues of ours purchased the bed rug, and after much thought sold it to us because it had a Colchester history, being made by Patience Skinner Foote, who married Nathaniel Foote in 1778. e bed rug had never left the family and was very well preserved in the original red blanket chest. e needlework sampler was wrought by Harriet Brainard, the granddaughter of Patience Skinner Foote.