Category: Connecticut Travel

On Sunday April 24th at 11am, Schwenke Auctioneers held their Connecticut Fine Estates Auction featuring estate property from several estates and consignors. The auction comprised an eclectic and diverse offering of over 400 lots consigned from several separate estates and consignors from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

The sale included several fine groups of Asian decorative arts from three estates, Mid-Century Modern decorative arts, American, English and Continental decorative arts from a Stamford estate, folk art and American country furniture from Stamford and Woodbury estates, English & other sterling silver, a large selection of estate costume jewelry, fine art, miscellaneous decorative arts, musical instruments, a group of ethnic art from a West 93rd Street NYC estate, two fine groups of English formal furniture and decorative arts from Middlebury and Harwinton collections, and many fine Persian and Caucasian estate carpets.

Top lot of the sale was a magnificent French Empire gilt bronze and malachite three piece clock garniture, the central figure depicting “Time” flanked by a pair of angel five-light candelabra. The work, measuring 27 1/4″ high, 19″ wide to 27 1/2″ high, 9″ wide, was claimed by an internet bidder at $18,750, winning out against other internet bidders and two phone bidders.

Second top lot was a fine room size Persian Serapi carpet, 14′ 9″ long, 12′ wide, also selling to an internet bidder at $8,750. Other rugs sold well, with the second top rug lot being a medium sized room size Persian Heriz carpet, 6′ 8″ long, 9′ 7″ wide, selling at $2,040 to a phone bidder.
Fine art performed well, with a large Jean Duquoc (French, B. 1937), “Le Soleil Jeut” oil on canvas, signed lower left “Jean Duquoc” and signed, inscribed and dated 1990 on verso, sight size 51 1/4″ high, 77″ wide, selling also to an internet bidder at $6,250. Also of interest was a work by Theo Hios (Greek/American, 1910-1999) entitled “Byzantine 1966-67 42”, oil on canvas, signed, dated on verso “Hios ’67”, sight size 48″ high, 36″ wide, which sold to an absentee bidder for $1,475. Decorative arts standouts included a Marcel Macken (Belgian, 1913-1977) bronze standing figure with mask, signed at rear of base “Mark Macken”, and mounted on a black marble base, measuring overall 29 1/2″ high, 8″ wide, 7″ deep, which sold well above estimate at $1,500 to yet another internet bidder.
Several Asian lots sold well above estimate, including a Sino-Tibetan Qing thangka depicting a Shakyamuni Buddha teaching dharma, Qing Dynasty, pigments on fabric, measuring 32 1/4″ high, 22″ wide, which brought $3050 from a phone bidder; a Chinese gilt bronze Amitayus Buddha, signed on verso, sized 8″ high, 4 5/8″ wide, which fetched $6,700 from an internet bidder; a Khmer polished sandstone figure of goddess Uma, Angkor Wat Style, 12th century wearing a striated sarong, central sash with beading and leaf-shaped pendants, large frontal overfold covering wide belt with oblong jewels, upper arms with beaded quatrefoil armlets, chest with broad foliate ornamented collar, 19 3/4″ high, 7 3/4″ wide, which hammered at $2,950 to a phone bidder; a Tibetan Bronze Tara Deity, 6 7/8″ high, 4 1/2″ wide, selling to the internet for $2,125; a Tibetan thangka depicting a seated deity and attendants, pigments on fabric, 26” high, 18 1/4″ wide, selling to an in-house absentee bidder at $3,660; a Tibetan thangka depicting Jetsun Milarepa, pigments and gilt on fabric, 28 3/4″ high, 18 1/2″ wide, knocked down to another internet bidder at $4,685; a Tibetan thangka depicting Green Tara, pigments and gilt on fabric, 30 1/2″ high, 19 1/4″ wide, also selling to a phone bidder at $3,660; and a Tibetan thangka depicting Padmasambhava, pigments and gilt on fabric, sight size 16 1/8″ high, 11 1/4″ wide, selling to the internet for $3,125.

English and Continental formal furniture was featured in the sale, consigned from three different estate collections.
A Louis XV rosewood, kingwood and ormolu mounted serpentine commode, stamped “F. Moreau JME”, with serpentine marble top overhanging a conforming case veneered in rosewood with kingwood panels having two drawers and embellished with ormolu mounts and hardware, 31″ high, 39″ wide, 19 1/2″ deep, sold for $2,400 to an internet bidder. Selling at $2,685 was a fine George I carved giltwood mirror, the scrolling foliate carved frame enclosing a shaped rectangular beveled plate and measuring 50″ high, 33″ wide.

The catalog for the sale was posted on Live Auctioneers and Invaluable. Please watch the company’s website www.woodburyauction.com for information regarding the next catalog auction, scheduled for Sunday, June 26th at 11:00 am. Consignments are being accepted and please send photos or call 203-266-0323 to discuss consigning to upcoming sales.

For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com Please like our facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/LitchfieldHills.FairfieldCounty.CT/

The Mattatuck Museum is presenting a Lithuanian Folk Art workshop that is being led by Senior Museum Educator, Valerie Rodgers, on Wednesday, May 4 at 11:00 a.m. Located on the green in Waterbury, CT at 144 West Main Street, the museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Convenient, free parking is located behind the museum in the lots on Park Place.

This workshop celebrates the rich cultural legacy of this Baltic country. Margučiai is the Lithuanian art of egg decorating which uses a wax-resist method to reveal intricate designs on colored eggs. Participants will learn the art of creating these beautiful eggs. The workshop doesn’t require any prior experience and best of all,everything that you need to create the eggs will be provided by the museum.

The cost for this workshop is $5 for Museum Members and $10 for Non-Members and there is no charge for B.R.A.S.S. members. Registration is greatly appreciated by contacting the museum at (203) 753-0381 x 130.

For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com

The new exhibition at The Bruce Museum located on One Museum Drive in Greenwich is hosting a show celebrating Connecticut’s Mianus River Gorge from March 12 through May 29, 2016.
In 2013, in order to commemorate the 60th anniversary of its founding, the Mianus River Gorge organization gave renowned photographer William Abranowicz unrestricted access to the Gorge over the course of a year. This exhibition features selected photos from the book published to mark that anniversary. In his photographs, Abranowicz has captured the profound beauty and myriad faces of this primeval forest in our midst.

Only forty miles from New York City, the Mianus River Gorge is a 1000-acre island of forest and fields in suburban Westchester and Fairfield Counties, a rare, surviving remnant of this original, primeval forest found by colonial explorers. Steeped in history, the Mianus River Gorge or “the Gorge,” is the first land project of the Nature Conservancy. It is also the nation’s first registered Natural Landmark, as designated by the Federal Government in 1964.
Founded in 1953, Mianus River Gorge, Inc. is an independent, not-for-profit organization, whose mission is to preserve, protect and promote appreciation of the natural heritage of the Mianus River watershed through land acquisition and conservation, scientific research and public education throughout the region.
Mr. Abranowicz’s photographs enable viewers who are already familiar with the Gorge a chance to see it year round, including when it is closed to the public for the winter season — when the frozen trails crunch underfoot and the ice-covered river meanders through the deep hemlock valley. They also give viewers who have never visited the Gorge a real sense of what it is like to walk in this protected place, a place of rushing water, abundant wildlife and, of course, ancient trees.

About William Abranowicz

William Abranowicz has been a photographer for nearly 40 years.
His work is included in public, corporate, and private collections throughout the world, including The National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum, The National Portrait Gallery in London, The Getty Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Menil Collection Library, Bibliothèque Nationale, The International Center of Photography, The Museum of Art at RISD, The Newark Museum, The Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, and the Goulandris Museum in Greece.

His exhibitions include: Bonni Benrubi Gallery (NY), The Witkin Gallery (NY), Photographer’s Gallery (LA), Afterimage (Dallas), The Thessaloniki Museum of Photography (Greece), The Skopelos Center for Photography (Greece), Batagianni Gallery (Greece), and Camerawork (Berlin).

He has been a contributing photographer to Condé Nast Traveler for 25 years, and his work has appeared in nearly every major publication in the United States, Europe, and Asia including The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Elle Décor, Architectural Digest, Vogue, Town and Country, Bon Appetit, Martha Stewart Living, and Gourmet.
A graduate of The School of Visual Arts in New York, early in his career he assisted famed photographers Horst P. Horst and George Tice. As a master printer, Abranowicz printed the work of Edward Steichen, Horst, George Hoyningen-Huene, and Michael Disfarmer. He taught photography at Parsons School of Design and The New School, and was an artist-in-residence at Peters Valley in Layton, New Jersey.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Get ready to party from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Norwalk’s Ultimate Block Party that is being hosted by the Stepping Stones Museum for Children on Thursday, May 5 in Mathews Park located on 303 West Street.

The museum in partnership with Norwalk ACTS and the Ultimate Block Party, Norwalk’s Ultimate Block Party is a FREE outdoor event just outside the museum in Mathews Park featuring games, live music, animals, educational activities and fun for the entire family!

To help establish the link between play and learning, each visitor will receive a “PlayBook” which will help guide families through playful learning activities at home, as well as a printed map of Mathews Park to use as a guide to the activities.

Norwalk’s historic Mathews Park will be transformed into a celebration of the power of play and the important role that summer learning experiences have in preventing summer learning loss. This free, action-packed evening will feature outdoor games, interactive demonstrations, engaging educational activities and live musical and theatrical performances.

For more area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Flanders Nature Center located on Church Hill Road in Woodbury is offering springtime wildflower walks on their botany trail on three Sunday afternoons, April 24, May 1 and May 8 beginning at 2 p.m. Stroll along this award winning botany trail with members of the Pomperaug Valley Garden Club that will be on hand to point out the beautiful flowers that line the trail.

The Botany Trail at Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust was developed and is maintained by the Pomperaug Valley Garden Club since 1965. The trail is a refuge for wildflowers and native plants that have been rescued from area development. The trail is approximately one mile in length and features gentle terrain suitable for any age level. Since its inception, this Botany Trail had taken many awards and has delighted wild flowers enthusiasts. Flanders Botany Trail meanders through woodlands and fields and features more than 250 species of native perennials, trees, shrubs and ferns. It is at one of its loveliest times in the spring when there are over 150 wildflowers on the trail blooming at different times.
The walks are offered free of charge to the public but donations are welcomed. The group will meet in the Flanders Sugar House parking lot, which is located off Church Hill Road, approximately 1/4 mile from the intersection of Flanders and Church Hill Roads in Woodbury. In the event of rain that day’s walk will be cancelled. For further information, call Flanders at 203-263-3711, ext. 10 or at www.flandersnaturecenter.org. For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com

About Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust
Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that focuses on environmental education, and on the acquisition, conservation, and stewardship of open space. Through its land trust initiatives, Flanders actively works to protect important natural sites and the area’s landscape character and quality of life. Flanders manages over 2,100 acres of preserved land in Woodbury and neighboring towns. Educational programs for children and adults are offered at the Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary, Flanders’ main campus in Woodbury. Trails at its major nature preserves are open to the public at no charge from dawn to dusk. Flanders’ Welcome Center is located at the corner of Church Hill and Flanders Roads in Woodbury. For more information, call 203-263-3711 or flandersnaturecenter.org

The Hickory Stick Bookshop located on 2 Green Hill Road in Washington Depot will join over 420 other independent bookshops across the nation to celebrate the second annual Independent Bookstore Day on April 30th, 2016.

The Hickory Stick Bookshop will sell exclusive merchandise created especially for Independent Bookstore Day by major publishers and authors. There will be in-store activities throughout the day featuring a table of prizes to win, a dance party and much, much more! Additional activities will include:

A Literary Costume Contest – ALL AGES – Don your favorite bookish character or author costume and join us for a parade around the bookstore and prizes awarded to crowd favorites at 4pm!

TWO Storytimes: At 11am and 3pm, The Hickory Stick Bookshop welcomes all children to come and enjoy a Duck and Goose and Curious George storytime!

Rad American Women Dance Party- Join us for a dance party featuring the Rad American Women vinyl album (an exclusive Independent Bookstore Day item) at 5pm right here in the store! Even if you are not a Rad American Woman, you are welcome to this party!

A Bookish Scavenger Hunt! – Think you know books? Challenge yourself with our literary scavenger hunt through the bookshop and enter to win prizes!

Make Your Own Bookmarks – ALL AGES – We have the supplies, you just need your imagination!

SO MANY PRIZES!! – All day long (until 4:30pm) you can earn tickets to enter to win one of their many prize packages. For every book purchased in our store on Independent Bookstore Day, you earn 1 ticket. Buying an Independent Bookstore Day exclusive item? You get two tickets! Drawings will be held at 4:30pm.
This event is free and open to the public. For further information about this event please visit www.hickorystickbookshop.com or email books@hickorystickbookshop.com. For more area information www.litchfieldhills.com