Lot 354: Abbie Zuill (American, 1856-1921), Still Life with Peach and Grapes, Signed "A.L. Zuill" l.r., Condition: Lined, minor retouch. N.B. Ac

Abbie Zuill (American, 1856-1921)

Still Life with Peach and Grapes
Signed "A.L. Zuill" l.r.
Oil on canvas, 5 1/2 x 7 3/4 in. (13.9 x 19.6 cm), framed.
Condition: Lined, minor retouch.

N.B. Accompanied by a letter from William Gerdts, dated 1977, to William Young regarding the possibility that Zuill had completed and signed a painting by Robert Spear Dunning. Zuill was a student of Dunning's and cleaned up his studio after his death. In the letter Gerdts states "...I think your little picture is probably a Dunning...That is, it may be that this is a picture that Dunning had almost completed (and thus still unsigned by him) and that she [Zuill] did some minimal amount with it (such as reflections in the table top or such) that did not remove all the Dunning quality and characteristics but gave a rationale and justified in her own mind affixing her signature." He goes on to state, "the suggestion of this being an unfinished as well as unsigned Dunning seems strengthened by the fact that the background division between rear edge of tabletop and the wall is not as demarcated as I think Dunning would have rendered it."