AFA Autumn 2019

Autumn 72 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com Trained as a lithographer, Lane favored geographic accuracy in his early seacoast paintings. This midcareer work expresses his interest in abandoning strict accuracy for artistic effect. Harbor Cove, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, was a vista he revisited often for local customers. Captured in the days of the waning fish trade, the only structures Lane clearly articulated within the Gloucester townscape are the Gothic tower of the Unitarian Church and the taller spire of Trinity Congregationalist Church, neither of which survives today. Originally owned by the successful Manhattan dry goods merchant James W. Beekman, this pair of card tables is among the most sophisticated examples of eighteenth-century New York rococo furniture. The fine carving on the knees of the front legs incorporates asymmetrical C-scrolls with acanthus leaves. The unidentified maker has created a powerful sense of movement using the S-curve for the shape of the shallow skirt and elegant legs with finely carved ball-and-claw feet. Fitz Henry Lane (1804–1865) View of Gloucester Harbor, 1858. Oil on canvas, 18 x 30 inches. Carolyn and Peter Lynch Collection. Pair of card tables, 1760–80, New York. Mahogany. H. 28, W. 35½, D. 18½ in. Carolyn and Peter Lynch Collection.