PROBABLY DIEPPE, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

The end of the 19th century marked the rise of the great American industrial fortunes and essentially ushered in the 'Gilded Age' in its full glory. Although the elite businessmen of the time were referred to as 'Robber Barons' for their sometimes unscrupulous business practices, it is largely for their philanthropy that America's early captains of industry are remembered. Few art collections rivaled those of Henry Clay Frick, William Randolph Hearst and Cornelius Vanderbilt, among others, and even fewer works of art remain in private hands recalling the lavish tastes of the opulent era. The treasure trove of ivory works of art offered here, represent a fraction of the thousands of works formerly in the collection of New York dry goods merchant George A. Hearn (d. 1913). In 1908, Hearn self-published a catalogue of his accumulated lode, entitled The George A. Hearn Collection of Carved Ivories, which was a lavishly photographed compendium produced at an exorbitant cost. Much of his collection, including works by Winslow Homer, Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent and Whistler, were donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art following his death. The remainder of his collection, totaling over 2000 pieces, was dispersed through a week-long public auction held by the American Art Association, New York, from 25 February through 4 March 1918.

The purchase of this group of ivories at the 1918 sale by Frank Clayton Ball (d. 1943) contributes to its impeccable provenance. F.C. Ball established the Ball Brothers Corporation with his four brothers in 1880 and developed a remarkably successful business out of their home canning jar factories. Upon Ball's death in 1943, his extensive fine and decorative collection were taken over by The Ball Brothers Foundation and subsequently gifted to the David Owsley Museum at Ball State University in 1995.