This 19th-century bronze Chinese incense burner stands 10 inches high. It has a $1,000-$1,500 estimate. Image courtesy Pook and Pook Inc.DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. – Five museums and numerous estates have contributed antiques and art to Pook and Pook’s Variety Sale on Sept. 10 and 11. The auction will feature more than 1,200 lots. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the auction, which will begin at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday and continue at 9 a.m. Friday.
Furniture will include American and Continental in both country and formal styles. Pieces made by Nutting, Madox, Kargas, McMartin and Hitchcock will be featured.
The auction will feature a full range of accessories. Steuben, Lalique and Tiffany glass will be offered. Ceramics will include Royal Doulton, Rosenthal, Belleek, Dresden, Staffordshire, Gaudy Dutch, Flow Blue, spatterware, stoneware and Chinese export. Also included will be textiles, metalware, lighting, clocks, books, baskets and jewelry.
Art will include paintings, drawings, engravings, lithographs, fraktur and sculptures.
The auction will be conducted at Pook and Pook’s auction facility at 463 E. Lancaster Ave. in Dowingtown. For details call 610-269-4040.
View the fully illustrated catalogs and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Hand-carved around the turn of the 20th century, this carousel horse has recent repaint. It carries an $800-$1,200 estimate. Image courtesy Pook and Pook Inc. With replaced feet and brasses, this Pennsylvania Chippendale walnut tall chest has a modest $1,000-$1,500 estimate. Image courtesy Pook and Pook Inc. Constructed in two parts makes this Pennsylvania pine corner cupboard easier to handle. The 78-inch-tall cupboard has an $800-$1,200 estimate. Image courtesy Pook and Pook Inc. Made in England by Asprey, this five-piece sterling silver tea service dates to the 1920s or 1930s. It has an $800-$1,200 estimate.
Steven Lundberg magnum vase titled Vincent’s Vision, 11 inches, estimate $7,500-$10,200. Image courtesy L.H. Selman Ltd.
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – How does the team at L.H. Selman Ltd., specialists in art-glass paperweights, define its upcoming Market Square Auction? Ask them and they’ll head straight for the collectors’ dictionary:
Pronunciation: \mär-kət-skwer\ \ok-shən\. Function: noun. Definition: 1) a fun, assortment of the eclectic, the rare and the not so rare, 2) a way to find just the right piece you didn’t know you wanted for your collection.
L.H. Selman is lightening its load as its staff commences with plans for a future move to Chicago’s Fine Arts Building, located on Michigan Avenue across from the Art Institute and the Rubloff Collection. That means great buying opportunities lie ahead this weekend for collectors, who can participate in L.H. Selman’s Sept. 12 auction absentee or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.com.
For more than 35 years, L. H. Selman Ltd. has amassed a treasure trove of wonderful glass art designs in its archive. These designs range from the very best in antique French, English, Russian and American paperweights to a deep and rich assortment of all the finest contemporary and modern glass artists’ work from around the world. From Ayotte to Ysart, it’s likely to be found in Selman’s inventory.
Ben Clark, co-owner of L.H. Selman, said that in preparing for the Sept. 12 sale, the company’s floor-to-ceiling storage cabinets, whose drawers were bursting with paperweights, were opened and emptied to create a dazzling auction offering. Ben calls it “a fun, light-hearted selection of some of our best and some of our ‘not-so-best’ pieces.” In short, it’s a sale for all collector levels.
“It’s a truly eclectic mix of antique and contemporary paperweights, along with wonderful glass art, glass-related jewelry and a number of glass vases from two extensive collections, including works from the Orient & Flume archive collection.”
Leading the paperweights is a 1993 Paul Stankard design. Comprised of a cloistered botanical paperweight with a honeybee theme, it features vines, flowers and leaves and two bees crawling across sections of honeycomb. It is expected to make $14,250-$18,750 at auction.
A Debbie Tarsitano “Metaform” collage paperweight exhibits an abstract design with lampwork lace and millefiori. An accomplished design, it is estimated at $4,500-$6,000.
A Paul Ysart floral and latticinio paperweight with pink and coral clematis on a bed of leaves and small flowers may realize $750-$950, while a 1971 Baccarat close-packed millefiori paperweight inspired by the antique Baccarat “church weight” includes 12 different zodiac silhouette canes and a date cane. It is entered in the sale with a $325-$425 estimate.
A stunning Rick Ayotte “Sunflower” faceted-crystal scent bottle with stopper measures 9¾ inches in height and was crafted by master glassblower Dave McDermott. The auction estimate is $1,300-$1,700.
Undeniably, one of the auction’s highlights is a Steven Lundberg magnum vase title “Vincent’s Vision.” The homage to van Gogh’s painting Starry Night stands 11 inches tall and could sell for $7,500-$10,200.
The auction will start at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 800-538-0766 or 831-427-1177. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
About L.H. Selman Ltd.
After 40 years of involvement with paperweights, Larry and Marti Selman decided it was time to “pass the torch,” and sold their respected gallery and associated business, L. H. Selman Ltd., to brothers Ben and Mitch Clark. After signing on the dotted line and assuming ownership, the Clark brothers made the decision that they would move Selman’s base of operations to Chicago’s Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue by the end of this year.
No one could be more capable of assuming the reins of L.H. Selman and The Glass Gallery than Ben and Mitch, who grew up in a paperweight-collecting family. The siblings bring business and art experience to the table, as well as great enthusiasm and energy for beautiful glass paperweights.
In their new venture, the Clarks are joined by Alexis Magaro, who has been part of the European arts community for many years and is fluent in English, French, Italian and German.
Auction Central News and LiveAuctioneers.com wish the Clarks every success as they assume the helm at L.H. Selman Ltd. and The Glass Gallery. Visit them online at www.selman.com.
Sarah Campbell Drury, newly appointed VP for Decorative Arts, Case Antiques Inc., Auctions & Appraisals. Image courtesy Sarah Campbell Drury.
NASHVILLE – Case Antiques Inc., Auctions & Appraisals of Knoxville, Tenn., has announced the opening of a branch office in Nashville. The new office will operate under the direction of Sarah Campbell Drury, who has been hired as Vice President for Decorative Arts.
Drury was formerly president of Campbell-Drury, LLC, an art and antiques appraisal firm in Nashville, and was a contributing writer to several art and antiques publications. She is a graduate of David Lipscomb University and an accredited member of the International Society of Appraisers.
“Since our company’s inception, we’ve had a significant number of buyers and consignments from the Middle Tennessee area and conducted a very successful auction there, the Glen Leven Plantation auction,” said company president John Case. “While we will not be opening a second gallery immediately, we do foresee having some future sales in Nashville. More importantly, a physical presence in Middle Tennessee advances our overall strategy to be a strong regional player in the fine art and antiques market. It allows us to build our buyer and consignor base, work more closely with estate attorneys, trust officers and institutions, and to provide better and more convenient customer service, which is our company’s hallmark.’
“Sarah has worked with us in a consulting role on several past auctions,” Case continued. “We know she has a well-deserved reputation for her broad knowledge base of art and antiques, her communications and marketing skills, and her commitment to integrity and customer care. We’re excited being able to offer her services to our auction and appraisal clients through our Nashville office.”
Drury said she became acquainted with Case’s operations when they helped one of her appraisal clients in handling a large esate. She said she was impressed by the highly successful sales results and exceptional personal attention shown to the consignor.
“Nashville is fortunate to have several landmark antique shows and some top-notch stores, but there has been a great need here for an auction house which can market art and antiques on an international level,” Drury said. “I’m honored to be a part of Case’s expansion into Nashville.”
Case’s Fall Art and Antique Auction is scheduled for September 26 in Knoxville. Internet live bidding will be provided by www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
To contact Case, call 865-558-3033 in Knoxville or 615-812-6096 in Nashville. Visit their Web site at www.caseantiques.com.
Beneath this study painting of the Wyeth family is a painting by N.C. Wyeth that was used as a magazine illustration in 1919. Image courtesy Brandywine Museum.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Just beneath the surface of a painting of one of America’s best-known artistic families lies a dark tale that had been hidden for decades. Thanks to a colossal X-ray machine, a magazine illustration by N.C. Wyeth has been reproduced in living color more than 80 years after the artist covered it with another work.
“It’s really an exciting development in the study of objects of art,” said Jennifer Mass, a scientist and art conservator at the Winterthur museum in Delaware. She and several colleagues presented their results at a conference last month of the American Chemical Society.
The soft-toned painting of Wyeth’s family doesn’t include much detail; it was meant only as a study for a living room mural the artist had once planned to paint in their suburban Pennsylvania home. Under the serene Study for Wyeth Family Mural, however, lies an earlier composition that’s menacing and dramatic.
The 1919 illustration was done for a periodical called Everybody’s Magazine. In a short story, a love triangle ends in the death of the villain, whom Wyeth depicts with clenched fists and an evil scowl as he charges his rival.
Wyeth turned the canvas upside down and painted his mural study around 1927. Included is his young son Andrew, who went on to become one of the most prominent American artists of the 20th century before his death earlier this year.
“Publishers sometimes returned the canvases after the magazine was published, so you can imagine they started to stack up after a while,” said Christine Podmaniczky, associate curator for the N.C. Wyeth collections at the Brandywine Museum in Chadds Ford. “It wasn’t uncommon for him to reuse canvases.”
A partial label stuck to the back of the canvas provided enough information to offer a clue of the under-image, Podmaniczky said. A basic X-ray in 1997 confirmed, albeit in fuzzy black and white, the hunch that it was the long-lost magazine illustration.
“What we didn’t know was whether it had been painted in black and white or color,” Podmaniczky said. “The image (in the magazine) was black and white, and N.C. Wyeth, for a time, did paint in black and white as well as color.”
Enter the synchrotron, Cornell University’s high-intensity X-ray. Housed in a circular underground tunnel that’s a half mile in circumference, the device creates X-rays with up to a million times the intensity of what dentists use.
When the thin beam hits part of a painting, it creates a phenomenon called fluorescence. Naturally occurring elements both have unique fluorescence fingerprints and correspond to certain paint colors: white contains zinc or titanium, green contains cadmium, blue contains cobalt, and so on.
In essence, the X-ray peers under the top paint layer and – millimeter by millimeter – identifies the chemical composition underneath. From there, experts can begin to map out the colors of the hidden painting.
The beam is as fine as a human hair, so it took scientists a week to move it around N.C. Wyeth’s canvas and “read” the elements across the surface.
There are prototypes that could potentially speed up that process “by a factor of 100,” said Sol Gruner, Cornell physics professor and director of the synchrotron facility.
“That could make it possible to look at paintings more routinely,” he said. Today, the synchotron more commonly is used in the bioscience, medical research and pharmacological fields.
Mass, the Winterthur scientist, hopes the Wyeth project will be the first of many.
“There are a few paintings we have our eye on, including a Caravaggio and a Van Gogh,” she said. “It’s thought that 20 percent of (fine art) paintings have another painting underneath … there’s great potential to study many more works.”
Actor/director Michael Imperioli in a picture taken on June 10, 2007. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
NEW YORK (AP) – Michael Imperioli, who played Tony Soprano’s nephew Christopher Moltisanti on the TV series The Sopranos, has taken on a new role: first-time film director.
His new movie, The Hungry Ghosts, premieres Sept. 15 in Manhattan.
The evening will be something of a cast reunion for actors from The Sopranos. Steve Schirripa and Sharon Angela star in Imperioli’s film, and Vince Curatola and Lorraine Bracco are expected to attend the screening. The hit HBO series ended in 2007.
Ticket sales for the screening at the Rubin Museum will benefit Tibetan refugees and elderly Buddhist monks led by the Dalai Lama.
Imperioli says Buddhism is an antidote to the torments of the movie’s characters, who float like ghosts through life, wrestling with drugs, alcohol and sex in search of something spiritual.
____
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hummel bisque figurine known as The Merry Wanderer, 1975, 30 3/4 inches high, sold July 10, 2005 for $6,000 by DuMouchelles. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and DuMouchelles.
ROEDENTAL, Germany (AP) – Ceramics craftsman Udo Troeger labors on a porcelain figurine at the M.I. Hummel factory, working alone under low-hanging fluorescent lights. A blaring radio fills the silence amid rows of empty desks.
That Troeger, or anyone, remains at work represents progress for Hummel. The 74-year-old line of sentimental porcelain figures popular with collectors is trying to make a go of it under new owners, having been shut down from October 2008 to late February as a consequence of the economic downturn and the bankruptcy of its parent company.
Hummel is rehiring dozens of its artists and new management is cautiously upbeat, mindful of the troubles that put former owner Goebel Porcelain Factory in bankruptcy in 2006.
“We’ve had a good start,” said Dagmar Treuner, product manager for the newly created firm Manufaktur Roedental GmbH. “We’ve had to hire more workers to keep up with demand.”
Now, the plant has 111 staff. But the hundreds of layoffs are hard to forget when vacant, bright-green painting stations fill entire rooms at the plant in Roedental, a small town amid patches of forest and farm fields 120 miles (200 kilometers) east of Frankfurt.
As parent Goebel reorganized, it decided to shutter the Hummel factory and let go all 230 employees – so that it could focus on producing its glass and porcelain accessories.
Employees and collectors reacted to the news with disbelief, given that Goebel had been making the figurines since 1935.
“It was a difficult time for everyone,” said Troeger as he worked. “The emotion from collectors was unbelievable.”
“The decision was basically from one day to the next – everyone was completely caught off guard,” said William Nelson, an American who has spent more than 20 years managing the M.I. Hummel Club in Ebersdorf by Coburg. The fan club counts more than 13,000 members worldwide. “People were shocked, disappointed, disbelieving and many said the interest was too great for Hummel to cease forever.”
Joerg Koester, the director of Hoechst Porcelain near Frankfurt, stepped in, founding Manufaktur Roedental, which acquired Hummel’s copyrights and production facilities. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Goebel had tried to maximize revenue from M.I. Hummel by increasing production, manufacturing up to hundreds of thousands of figurines a year. It didn’t work.
“The old strategy was, in part: how many figurines do we have to produce to employ all these people?” Koester said.
The strategy backfired – figurines collected in warehouses and on retailers’ shelves faster than they were purchased, deflating prices as supply outstripped demand.
“Instead, you need to realize it’s a specialty market and limit production, growing slowly and carefully… We don’t want to reach those levels again,” Koester said. “We’ll be manufacturing a fifth of that.”
The recession has been hard on several other venerable hobby and collectible firms. Goeppingen, Germany-based model railroad specialist Maerklin Holding GmbH is operating under bankruptcy protection from creditors after it failed to secure new credit from banks. Ireland’s Waterford Wedgwood PLC, battered by the global economic slowdown, has filed for bankruptcy protection after failed attempts at a restructure or a sale.
At Hummel, Koester, is relying on longtime employees such as Troeger, 55, who has 40 years of experience molding, casting and assembling the delicate pieces that make up each figurine.
The appeal of the porcelain figurines – such as the best-selling “Merry Wanderer,” a walking boy carrying an umbrella and bag, or “Goose Girl,” a bonneted girl with a pair of pet geese – is a combination of childhood nostalgia and the urge to collect. After all, they don’t come cheap – prices begin at around $145 and can go up steeply from there.
“Forever Friends,” which features two sisters staring at a swan and her chicks, and made in 2006, went for $1,650 recently on eBay.
The figurines are inspired by drawings of children done by a Franciscan nun, Sister Maria Innocentia, born Berta Hummel, which were published as cards and in books and caught the eye of Franz Goebel in 1934. Goebel was granted rights to produce look-alike figurines, and after her death in 1946, her convent created an artistic board to supervise and advise the manufacturing process.
Everything is done by hand – from the various casting molds to the drawn-on faces – and one figurine takes anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks to produce.
The nun’s nephew, Alfred Hummel, who runs the Berta Hummel Museum in the small Bavarian village of Massing where she was born, remains an adviser.
“There’s a lot of heart and soul involved,” Hummel said. “It’s not like selling cars.”
Manufaktur Roedental is hoping this year’s additional significance – the 100th anniversary of Sister Maria Innocentia’s birth, marked by a multi-figure special edition piece depicting a parade of Bavarian children – will help to spark just that. Employees, though, are as cautious with their hopes as they are with the delicate porcelain.
“It would be nice just to keep working,” Troeger said as he assembled a palm-sized ceramic wagon for the anniversary figurine. “And, at the moment, it looks as though we can continue.” ___ Associated Press Writer Caroline Winter in Berlin contributed to this report. ___ On the Net: http://www.mihummel.de/ http://www.mihummel.com/ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP-WS-09-07-09 0952EDT
‘Mr. Bighead’ is a Japanese celluloid toy made before World War II. He is said to represent an American, while the insect on his head represents Japan. His eyes and mouth move. The mint in-the-box toy sold at Keith Spurgeon’s Mosby & Co. Auctions in Frederick, Md., for $3,191.
Celluloid toys were made in many European countries, Japan and the United States from the late 1800s into the 1950s, when plastic became popular. Although celluloid is flammable and dents, cracks and splits easily, it was used to make dolls and other toys because it was inexpensive and could be decorated with bright colors and molded into complicated shapes. One of the most popular celluloid toys in the United States was the “Boopie,” also called a “carnival doll.” She had a pot-belly, large, round eyes and wavy hair, and looked a little like a Kewpie and a little like Betty Boop. These dolls, made in Japan, originally sold for a few cents apiece. They often were given as prizes at amusement parks, carnivals and fairs. Today, a single doll can sell for $10 to $50. Collectors prefer rare, odd-looking dolls – dolls that look like cartoon characters, exotic animals or Santa Claus. These sell for $100 or more if in very good condition. Repairs are difficult if not impossible.
Q: I have a matte-green pitcher with an impressed mark that says “J.S.T. & Co., Keene, N.H.” Who is the maker?
A: The mark on your pitcher is among those used by Hampshire Pottery. The pottery was founded in Keene, N.H., by James Scollay Taft in 1871. Pieces are marked with a printed or impressed mark that includes the founder’s initials or the name “Hampshire Pottery.” In 1916, Taft sold the pottery to George Morton, who had worked at Grueby Pottery in Boston. Hampshire Pottery closed in 1917, reopened a couple of years later and closed permanently in 1923.
Q: Could you tell me when the practice of using metal staples to repair china was discontinued?
A: Most repairers today use modern glues and cements, but – believe it or not – there still are repairers who use metal rivets (they’re not really staples) to repair ceramics. A hole is drilled in each broken part, and a rivet is inserted and then cemented in place to hold the parts together. The practice was in general use in China by the 17th century, but most riveted pieces collectors come across today were repaired in Europe or the United States during the Victorian era. Making rivet repairs takes a lot of skill. While most collectors consider the repairs unsightly and unnecessary, some collect riveted pieces as oddities.
Q: I have a chifforobe made by the Joseph Peters Furniture Co. of St. Louis. What can you tell me about this company?
A: Joseph Peters, an immigrant from Prussia, founded his furniture company in St. Louis in 1855. At first he specialized in making bureaus and cabinets, but the business thrived, and by 1908 the company was operating 50 factories and employed more than 7,000 people. It remained in business at least into the 1930s.
Q: Does anyone remember the game Peter Coddles Goes to Town? It consisted of a printed story with open spaces for new words or phrases to finish a sentence. A player would read the story, and players would add words or phrases to the story from their individual cards. The random sentence combinations were hilarious, and it was a great reading experience for younger kids.
A: Peter Coddle is based on a “literary puzzle” game in the book Jessie; Or, Trying to Be Somebody, published by Gould & Lincoln in 1858. In the story, Peter was supposed to be an 18-year-old, but he usually is pictured on game boxes as an older country bumpkin visiting a big city. Several different Peter Coddle games were made in the late 1800s until at least the 1930s. One of the most popular is Peter Coddle’s Trip to New York, which was made in various versions by, among others, Parker Brothers in 1888, McLoughlin Brothers and J.H. Singer in the 1890s and Milton Bradley in 1925. Most are “fill-in-the-blank” card games like yours, but there also is a board-game version. The title may spell Peter’s last name “Coddle” or “Coddles.” Some makers used several different boxes with completely different pictures of Peter. Occasionally these games show up on the Internet or in a group of games at an auction. Value depends on age, condition and box cover. Most games sell for less than $100. Newer versions sell for $25-$50.
Tip: Check the supports on wall-hung shelves once a year. Eventually a heavy load will cause “creep”: the metal brackets will bend and the shelf will fall.
Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
Need more information about collectibles? Find it at Kovels.com, our Web site for collectors. Check prices there, too. More than 700,000 are listed, and viewing them is free. You can also sign up to read our weekly “Kovels Komments.” It includes the latest news, tips and questions, and is delivered by e-mail, free, if you register. Kovels.com offers lots of collecting information and lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques and much more. You can also subscribe to “Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles,” our monthly newsletter filled with prices, facts and color photos. Kovels.com adds to the information in our newspaper column and helps you find useful sources needed by collectors.
CURRENT PRICES
Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.
Porgy & Bess sheet music, I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin, Dorothy Dandridge, Sidney Poitier and Sammy Davis Jr. on cover, 1959, 12 x 9 inches, $40.
Missouri state highway sign, figural, die-cut enameled steel, white ground, black letters and border, 14 x 14 inches, $110.
Overshot coverlet, Lover’s Knot design, wool and linen, light green, mauve and dark brown, three panels, Georgia, 19th century, 90 x 71 inches, $300.
1901 Dr. Daniels’ Veterinary Medicines advertising calendar, bands top and bottom, scene of fashionable ladies and gentlemen, 20 x 14 inches, $390.
Weller Pottery pillow vase, Dresden Ware, four stubby legs, turquoise-and-blue scene of Holland on both sides, 10 inches, $510.
Ash burl bowl, single-reeded edge, circa 1800, 12 x 4 1/4 inches, $950.
Walnut bed, scalloped headboard, geometrically carved footboard, turned posts and feet, Georgia, circa 1840, 55 1/2 inches, $1,130.
Martin Brothers double-face stoneware jug, brown glaze, inscribed “A peace that had never been broken, and he trusted and believed, never would be,” 9 inches, $4,955.
French Bru Jne doll, No. 6, bisque head and shoulders, brown paperweight eyes, pierced ears, closed mouth, human hair, kid body, silk dress, circa 1880, 19 inches, $7,475.
Just published. The new full-color “Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2010,” 42nd edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and 47,000 up-to-date prices for more than 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You’ll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks, and a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available at your bookstore; online at Kovels.com; by phone at 800-571-1555; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
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