Impressive large-scale Black Forest carved armchair in walnut with all over carved decoration of bark, branches, leaves and berries. Swiss. Circa 1870-1880. * Provenance: Anniee McCarthy, Newport, RI and NYC (label). Minor loss to tips of leaves on crestrail, caned seat was once over upholstered.

*See “History of Black Forest Furniture”

Height: 39.5”
Width: 25”
Depth: 24”

Henry Perlee Parker (1795-1873)

“On the qui vive” (The Smuggler)

Oil on canvas , titled, signed and dated on the reverse

"QUI VIVE" (A French phrase meaning long live who? (a sentry’s challenge), used to mean a state of alertness or watchfulness.)

Painting: 30" x 25"
Frame: 36.5" x 31.5"

One of the best-known painters working in north-east England during the early nineteenth century Henry Perlee Parker specialized in pictures of marine subjects and smugglers and came to be known as "Smuggler" Parker. He was a leading artist in Newcastle in the 1820s and 1830s, a member of the Northumberland Institution, and a co-founder (with T.M. Richardson) of the ill-fated Northern Academy of Arts. He died penniless in Shepherd's Bush in 1873. There was an exhibition of his work at the Laing Art Gallery, 1969-1970.

See Wiikpedia entry for a more complete biography