Auction Highlights
The largest lot in Randy Inman's June 9-10 sale was this 1917 Philadelphia & Reading Railroad mascot train comprised of cast iron and pressed steel with a copper and brass engine, tender, three cars and one mile of track. It chugged off to a new owner who bid $33,350 via LiveAuctioneers.
Cincinnati Art Galleries' June 3-4 Rookwood XVI – Keramics auction attracted very strong prices on not only Rookwood, but also Newcomb College and Weller pottery. This rare Weller scenic vase with depictions of buildings and boats in Florence, Italy, which was expertly painted by artist Mae Hudson, carries excellent markings and a foil label from the Zanesville (Ohio) Art Center’s 2004 exhibition of rare Weller pieces. It attracted 13 bids before selling through LiveAuctioneers for $32,400.
In Pook & Pook’s May 12-13 auction of Period Furniture & Accessories this charming 23” by 17” painted tin trade sign for Ghirardelli Chocolate with the image of a little girl and her doll having a hot cocoa party sold through LiveAuctioneers for $10,980 against a $1,500-2,500 estimate.
Among the many beautiful antique toys acquired through LiveAuctioneers in Noel Barrett's May 12-13 Spectacular Auction Event was this 6½” Gunthermann painted tin, clockwork magician. When the magician strikes a large “die” with his wand, the lid of the die changes and reveals the head of a blackamoor. Coveted by collectors of European tin toys, it finished online at $7,200 against a $1,500-2,000 estimate.
In Cowan's May 10-12 Spring Historic Americana sale, a Civil War cartes-de-visite album of Union officer casualties from Chesapeake Fortress Monroe, amassed from August to November 1864 by a contract surgeon, Dr. Charles J. Russell, dashed its $8,000-10,000 estimate to sell online for $28,200.
A Tiffany Studios lamp with a handsome Grueby pottery base topped the Internet purchases in Treadway's May 7 sale of 20th Century Art & Design. Its signed, green leaded-glass shade and correct Grueby base with carved, applied vertical leaves under a green matte glaze attracted many bidders, who chased it to $18,375, solidly within its estimate range.
Asian art has been on fire, and collectors have been using LiveAuctioneers to bid on top-quality items in sales around the world. In Cheffins’ April 26 sale, a LiveAuctioneers bidder claimed this pair of late 19th century blue-and-white vases, their ovoid bodies painted with images of ladies on a terrace watching a man ride a dragon. Estimated at $1,200-1,700, the lot soared to a closing price of $12,650.
