Neal Auction Louisiana Purchase 2015

167. Richard Clague (French/Louisiana, 1816‑1878) , “Streetcar Tracks”, oil on canvas, signed lower left, canvas stencil en verso, 24 in. x 34 in., original gilt frame. $120000/180000 Provenance: Property of an Uptown New Orleans Lady. Exh.: Tulane University President’s House, No. 2 Audubon Place, 2002‑2015. Note: This important painting by French-born artist Richard Clague depicts his distinctive technique and painting style, which defined the Louisiana landscape school of painting, and portrays a unique glimpse into life in New Orleans at an exciting time when streetcars were becoming a prominent form of transportation. In 1860, New Orleans was home to the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Company, which ran horse or mule-drawn streetcars along four routes throughout the area in the “American” Quarter above Canal Street. Before the implementation of the street railway system, the people of New Orleans relied on the omnibus lines (a horse-drawn carriage system) to traverse the city. The population rise in the 1850s soon led to the need for a more efficient way to transport a growing community. Between 1861 and 1873, the number of New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Company street railways increased from four lines to nine lines; over one hundred street cars ran along these tracks. By the early 1870s, experimentation with steam power had begun in order to provide an even faster streetcar that did not rely upon horses and mules for power, and in 1890, the last remaining mule car line was shut down as the electrification of the streetcar lines began. While Richard Clague is known for his Louisiana landscape scenes, particularly in the post-Civil War years, this significant painting, which can be dated to approximately 1870 due to the more rural location of the streetcar tracks and the mule-drawn streetcar far at the end of the tracks near the vanishing point of the composition, depicts a rare look into the everyday life of New Orleans. The addition of streetcar tracks in rural areas would have afforded people a more expedient way to get to the center of the city, providing them with opportunities for jobs and an efficient way to travel. Clague’s Barbizon-influenced painting style captures the beauty of the Louisiana landscape, including the traditional elements of oak trees with moss against a flawless blue sky, while adding more modern elements of houses, fences, and tracks, making this painting one of the most interesting and exceptional works in his oeuvre. Ref.: Hennick, Louis C. and E. Harper Charlton. Louisiana: Its Street and Interurban Railways , Vol. I. Shreveport: Journal Printing Company, 1962. Hennick, Louis C. and E. Harper Charlton. The Streetcars of New Orleans. Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 1975. 36 166. American Classical Bronze Mounted Rosewood Pier Table , early 19th c., New York, Egyptian marble top with rounded corners, conforming brass banded frieze, canted scrolled supports with classical mounts, tapered pilasters flanking mirror plate to the rear, incurvate plinth, cylindrical feet, h. 37 in., w. 46 5/8 in., d. 20 in. $4000/6000