Lot 241
  • 241

Attributed to Isaac Nuttman (1801-1872)

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Isaac Nuttman
  • Still Life of Fruit with a Bird and Butterfly
  • Oil on panel
  • 14 by 22 1/2 in.

Condition

A paper label states: "This painting on wood... from the home of Henrietta Clay Stevens of Troy Hills, Parsippany. She was born Feb. 13, 1829 in Newark, N.J. and married Monroe Howell of Parsippany. Their home still stands on Beverwyck Road, Parsippany". Cleaned, small in-paint in leaf at left, scattered in background. Horizontal shrinkage crack in background.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Isaac W. Nuttman was born March 16, 1801, the eldest son of Aaron Nuttman and Eliza Crane, a descendant of Benjamin Crane (1630-1691) who was an early settler and extensive landowner in Wethersfield, Connecticut.1  In the 1839 Newark Directory, Isaac Nuttman is listed as a fancy painter residing at 241 Broad.  He appears again in the New Jersey State Business Directory for...Talbott and Blood, Publishers and Compilers (1923) amongst a group of painters, listing him at 8 Coe's Place in Newark.

An example of Isaac Nuttman's work, a still life of fruit, was exhibited at the Museum of American Folk Art (May 15-June 24, 1979) from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Wiltshire III.  That example is illustrated in Richard B. Woodward's article "American Folk Painting: The Wiltshire Collection," Magazine Antiques (September 1978, 114:3, p. 566, pl. XIII), and it appears again in The Clarion, Spring 1979 article of similar title, p. 17.  For another work by the artist, see William H. Gerdts, Painters of the Humble Truth: Masterpieces of American Still Life, 1801-1939, (University of Missouri Press, 1981), p. 78, pl. 4.

1Ellery Bicknell Crane, Genealogy of the Crane Family, Vol. II, (Worcester, Massachusetts: Press of Charles Hamilton, 1900), pp. 9, 390.