Giddings Hyde Ballou Sold at Auction Prices

ATTRIBUTED TO GIDDINGS HYDE BALLOU, American, 1820-1886, Bust portrait of Freeman Cobb., Oil on canvas, 29½" x 24½". Framed.

ATTRIBUTED TO GIDDINGS HYDE BALLOU American, 1820-1886 Bust portrait of Freeman Cobb. Provenance: Descended in the Cobb family. Freeman Cobb, born in Brewster in 1830, established the Cobb & Co. stagecoach company in 1853 in Melbourne, Australia, which operated the routes to and from the gold fields of Victoria. Although he sold his company and left Australia after just three years, he had become a legendary businessman and his name was synonymous in Australia for the word coach. He returned to Brewster, married, fathered two children, and served as the state senator for Barnstable County in 1864-65. He later moved to South Africa, helping to form Cobb & Co. Ltd., a coach service for the diamond fields. He died in South Africa in 1878 and his family returned to Brewster shortly thereafter. Oil on canvas, 29 1/2" x 24 1/2". Framed.