Knoxville (865) 558-3033 • Nashville (615) 812-6096 • info@caseantiques.com

Case Auctions
Live Auction

2022 Summer Fine Art & Antiques (Day 1)

Sat, Jul 9, 2022 09:00AM EDT
Lot 659

3 19th C Photographs, Tennessee and Virginia interest

Estimate: $350 - $500

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$3,000 $200
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000
1st item: Quarter plate ambrotype of young Catherine "Kate" Fulton Wilson (Lincoln County, Tennessee, 1851-1879), wearing a plaid dress and seated on a chair, with a doll and what appear to be miniature andirons on a cloth-covered table beside her, while a small dog sleeps at her feet. Housed in a decorated leather union case frame with gilt mat. 3 3/4" H x 4 3/4" W. Note: Kate Wilson was the youngest daughter of James Fulton and Mary Morgan Fulton. The Fulton family's Civil War letters are included in this auction. She was the grandmother of Mary Bright Wilson. 2nd item: Quarter-plate daguerreotype of an attractive dark-haired woman in full-skirted fringed dress, holding a feather-edged fan, her elbow resting on a table containing books. The subject is possibly Mary Crockett Bramlett (Giles County, Tennessee, c. 1829-c. 1888, wife of Lunsford Meredith Bramlett). House in a decorated leather union case frame with oval opening and gilt mat spandrels. Frame: 4 1/2" H x 3 1/2" W. Note: Mary Crockett Bramlett was the daughter of Frances Bland Dudley and Samuel Crockett. She married Dr. Charles Ordway following the death of her first husband Lunsford Meredith Bramlett, and was the great grandmother of Mary Bright Wilson. 3rd item: Ninth plate size Ambrotype photograph depicting a portrait miniature of a young man, identified on accompanying piece of paper as possibly John Randolph of Roanoke, Virginia, cousin to Thomas Jefferson and, as an adult, a U.S. Representative, Senator, and minister to Russia under Andrew Jackson. Image is housed within a gilt mat in an embossed case with velvet lining. Overall: 3 3/4" H x 3" W. Note: Flamboyant politician John Randolph (1773-1833) was the son of prosperous tobacco planter John Randolph and Frances Bland. He never married, but he was actively involved in the education and upbringing of his cousin Theodorick Bland Dudley, the son of Anna Bland and Guilford Dudley, in whose family this portrait and several other items in this auction have descended. Letters between Theodorick Dudley and John Randolph were later published in a book titled "Letters to a Young Relative." (Ref: William S. Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, p. 131).

Property of the Lincoln County Museum, Fayetteville, TN; Bequest of Mary Bright Wilson (1909-2004), formerly of Fayetteville, and descended in her family.

Condition

1st and 2nd items: Both photographs are housed in cases with missing opposite halves. Neither has been examined out of frame. Daguerreotype exhibits some clouding and spotting but is overall in good condition. Ambrotype is in very good condition. 3rd item: Wear to exterior of case and full separation at hinge. Image shows some losses/flakes affecting part of coat, hair, and background and clouding around mat.