Auction Highlights
Cincinnati Art Galleries ’ June 2-3 XVII Keramics and 2007 Art Glass auction produced another decorative-art bonanza for LiveAuctioneers bidders, one of whom paid $8,881.25 for an 1894 Martin Bros. dragon vase. The 7 3/8-inch vessel is decorated with the image of several fierce-looking dragons intertwined with thistles, and is incised with the mark of Martin Bros. of London & Southall.
An original Burt Ward “Robin” suit from the TV series Batman, complete with cape, tunic, gloves, shorts and a bonus signed photo of Adam “Batman” West, was a star attraction in Fame Bureau’s June 2 Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus auction. Estimated at $2,000-$3,000, it drew more than 1,000 online catalog hits before selling to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $9,600.
Chinese art continued its remarkable upward run in Cordier’s Two-Day Spring Antique & Fine Art Auction, held May 26-27. This 2½-inch Chinese glass snuff bottle estimated at $100-$150 became the object of an intense bidding war before selling to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for a hefty $17,250.
On May 17, Engel Auction Co. of Ennis, Mont., offered the extraordinary Lang Spraggins lifetime collection of Old West memorabilia. Within the collection was this superb gold pocket watch inscribed To my partner and friend John Joshua Webb, July 4, 1879, Las Vegas N.M. John H. Holliday. The unique timepiece that had been a gift from the legendary “Doc” Holliday reached the upper end of expectations, selling to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $41,650.
More than 48,000 catalog hits were recorded online prior to 333 Auctions’ Postwar Contemporary Art sale held May 19. A signed and dated (2005) Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977) mixed media on paper study of an African-American man, titled Joseph of Egypt, flew past its $4,000-$6,000 estimate to garner $24,500 through LiveAuctioneers.
