October 19, 2009 - Auction Central News

Modern design masters to shape Sollo Rago Auction, Oct. 24-25

A collector bought this Campo & Graffi laminated bentwood lounge chair in Italy in1982. It has a $20,000-$40,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Sollo Rago Modern Auctions.

LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – Wharton Esherick, Wendell Castle, Gio Ponti, Campo & Graffi, Richard Blow, Phil Powell, George Nakashima, Jacques Adnet, Ron Arad and Albert Paley are just some of the modern masters whose furniture is offered in Sollo Rago’s much anticipated October Modern Auction Weekend.

John Sollo and David Rago will present these in a sale of approximately 960 lots of Modern design that also includes silver, contemporary ceramics, glass, jewelry, lighting and textiles. The auction will be conducted Oct. 24-25 at 11 a.m. Eastern. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

“This is a strong selection that takes buyers from Frank Lloyd Wright to Gio Ponti to Ron Arad” said John Sollo. “I expect the exceptional work here from Wharton Esherick, Albert Paley, Campo & Graffi and Phillip Lloyd Powell, Norman Cherner and Richard Blow to get a lot of attention. It certainly merits it.”

Studio furniture figures significantly in the sale, including one of the finest pieces to come to market, a Wharton Esherick buffet with a sculpted walnut top on a curved base with drawers and doors, estimated at $280,000-$380,000.

Also on the block is the carved and painted entry door from Phillip Lloyd Powell’s 1970s residence, which has been razed. The door and surround, with multiple layers of carving, shows the influence Powell’s trips to India. It is estimated at $45,000-$65,000.

Sollo Rago’s always showcases the studio work of George Nakashima. Among the least expected of the pieces in this sale is a rare chessboard in dark rosewood with holly insets, made in 1979 and estimated at $30,000-$50,000. Another Nakashima highlight is an exceptional walnut double chest with eight drawers and freeform, free-edge top, estimated at $20,000-$40,000

The sale contains four tables that are some of the best work by Albert Paley that Rago’s specialists have seen. Lot 487, one of the four, is a pedestal dining table of formed and fabricated steel with bevel-edged plate glass top from 1996, estimated at $25,000-$45,000.

Richard Blow and his workshop, Montici Marbles, revived the art of pietra dura, transforming the ancient art of inlaid images created in stone into a modernist one. The sale has eight of these unique works. Six are hanging plaques. Two are rare tables, notably lot 8, a coffee table with decorative hardstone inlays in granular black marble top. The table is estimated at $9,000-$14,000.

Designer-made furniture is included, as well, including a Mesa freeform coffee table by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb, estimated at $20,000-$40,000; a nine-drawer dresser by Tommi Parzinger with etched brass drop pulls and black lacquer finish, estimated at $12,000-$18,000; and an exceptional sculpted walnut dining table by Vladimir Kagan for Dreyfuss, its boat-shaped top inset with glass tile panel surrounded by bronze trim, estimated at $10,000-$20,000.

European/Scandinavian offerings include a Jaques Adnet two-door cabinet with stitched black leather covering and brass hardware on faux bamboo legs, estimated at $10,000-$20,000; is a set of four Standard chairs by Jean Prouve, estimated at $10,000-$20,000; and a Papa Bear chair and matching ottoman in teak with burgundy leather upholstery by Hans Wegner, estimated at $6,000-$9,000.

Other furniture highlights include a classic rosewood Thin Edge three-drawer chest from George Nelson for Herman Miller, estimated at $3,000-$5,000; a rare and possibly unique pair of continuous plywood lounge chairs with faux-cowhide upholstery by Norman Cherner for Plycraft, estimated at $8,000-$12,000; and an Edward Wormley for Dunbar walnut pedestal side table inset with Tiffany Favrile tiles, estimated at $8,000-$12,000.

Sollo Rago is located at 333 N. Main St. with Annex Gallery at 204 N. Union Street in Lambertbvuille. For details call 609-397-9374.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

Click here to view Rago Arts and Auction Center’s complete catalog.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

This Wharton Esherick buffet is signed 'W.E. 1969.' The sculpted walnut top is 117 inches long. This rare piece has a $280,000-$380,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Sollo Rago Modern Auctions. — This Wharton Esherick buffet is signed ‘W.E. 1969.’ The sculpted walnut top is 117 inches long. This rare piece has a $280,000-$380,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Sollo Rago Modern Auctions.

An unusual cantilevered corkscrew base steadies Wendell Castle's 1980 walnut coffee table. The top is 53 inches long. The estimate is $40,000-$60,000. Image courtesy of Sollo Rago Modern Auctions. — An unusual cantilevered corkscrew base steadies Wendell Castle’s 1980 walnut coffee table. The top is 53 inches long. The estimate is $40,000-$60,000. Image courtesy of Sollo Rago Modern Auctions.

Walter Dorwin Teague, one of America's foremost industrial designers, created the face of the Sparton Bluebird radio. This scarce radio has a $6,000-$9,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Sollo Rago Modern Auctions. — Walter Dorwin Teague, one of America’s foremost industrial designers, created the face of the Sparton Bluebird radio. This scarce radio has a $6,000-$9,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Sollo Rago Modern Auctions.

Gio Ponti designed this unique prototype in the development of the AP 1025 model writing desk circa 1953. It has a $20,000-$40,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Sollo Rago Modern Auctions.

Native Alaskan community reclaims Alutiiq masks

The new book 'Giinaquq' tells the story of the reunion of native ceremonial masks with ancestors of the people who carved them. Image courtesy of University of Alaska Press.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – For more than a hundred years, over 70 Alutiiq ceremonial masks were housed in a museum in France, honored as art yet completely cut off from their original cultural context.

Thousands of miles away in Kodiak lived the only people with the knowledge to unlock the masks’ history and significance – the descendants of the Alutiiq artists who made them, and who, until recently, had no idea that such an amazing physical display of their ancestors’ work even existed.

The book Giinaquq (Like A Face)‘ describes how these two distinct pieces of the same story were woven back together, enriching both cultures in the process.

The story of the masks’ displacement begins with a lone Frenchman paddling a kayak through the waters around Kodiak Island. This French anthropologist, named Alphonse Pinart, visited Kodiak and the surrounding villages in 1871 and 1872, gathering knowledge – and objects – as he went. It was a time of transition for many communities; Alaska had recently been purchased from the Russians, in 1867, but the transformative influence of American missionaries, which would soon silence many aspects of traditional Native culture, had not yet taken hold. Thus Pinart was able to witness some of the last traditional Alutiiq ceremonies and practices of that time.

A careful scholar, Pinart took copious notes about the things he saw and heard – winter festivals, songs and stories – and about the masks he took with him.

“He was an interesting fellow because he didn’t stay in the population centers,” said one of the editors of Giinaquq, Amy Steffian. “He went to some remote places.”

His methods of acquisition remain unclear, Steffian said, but it’s possible that he took the masks with permission, or that their absence was not noticed. Alutiiq ceremonial masks were used to tell stories or to ensure a successful hunt, Steffian said, and to call spirits into a ceremony. Because of their role as spiritual communicators, in many cases they were stored away from people, and were not kept as art objects.

“Masks are one of those religious objects that people didn’t necessarily preserve,” Steffian said. “They were considered powerful intermediaries between the spirit world and the corporal world.”

It’s also possible that the Alutiiqs already had begun to turn away from traditional practices, Steffian said, and had started to put such ceremonial objects aside, leaving them free for Pinart to take.

The fact that the masks were not often preserved and the timing of his visit makes Pinart’s collection very unusual, Steffian said, and one that has major historic significance in preserving an aspect of the Alutiiq culture that had been largely lost by the turn of the century.

After gathering more than 70 masks from various Alutiiq villages, Pinart then went back to France and donated the whole collection to a museum, the Chateau-Musee de Boulogne-sur-Mer, near Calais.

And that, for a long time, was that.

“The Native community didn’t realize (this collection) was there,” Steffian said.

More than 125 years later, the story was taken up again, this time by scholars and anthropologists – among them a French graduate student studying at the University of Alaska under anthropology professor Lydia Black. Soon Sven Haakanson, executive director of the Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak and a member of the Old Harbor Alutiiq tribe, heard of the collection and quickly grasped that this was something he needed to pursue.

“He knew pretty quickly that this was an amazing treasure,” Steffian said.

Once Haakanson had decided that the masks needed to be reconnected to the Alutiiq culture in some way, he set about trying to make that happen. Unfortunately, the French were reluctant to cooperate, Steffian said, because they were worried Americans would try to take the collection. Though not well-understood in Boulogne-sur-Mer, the masks were highly valued as art objects. The museum that houses them, a former medieval castle built in the 13th century, has built a large international collection of antiques since it was founded in 1825, including Greek and Egyptian items. The museum considered the Alaska masks and Pinart’s study of them a part of France’s intellectual history.

Haakanson then decided to bring more members of the Alutiiq community with him to make their case, and when the French saw how moved the Alutiiqs were upon seeing the collection, they relented.

“(The Alaskans) cried when they got in the room with the masks, they were just overcome,” Steffian said.

To the Alutiiqs, the masks were far more than just amazing and beautiful objects. They were a virtual encyclopedia of cultural and technical knowledge for the Alutiiq community, and provided a visual diary of how they were made, from hand strokes and tool marks to painting techniques.

“There’s nobody alive that knows this stuff,” she said. “That transmission of cultural knowledge was stopped.”

Pinart’s notes, which had remained untranslated all these years, were given to the Native Alutiiq speakers for translation. Pinart had in some cases recorded the songs that accompanied the masks.

“(Alutiiq artists would) write a song and produce a mask together, it was part of the creative process of artists who wanted to tell a story,” she said.

In this way the masks were given back their cultural context and reintegrated into Alutiiq history. Some of them traveled to Kodiak in 2008, and were studied by contemporary carvers and artists.

The book, published in May, contains photos of the complete collection and includes an informative text in English, Alutiiq and French, that provides a cross-cultural understanding of the masks’ traditional meaning and use.

Giinaquq is the University of Alaska Press’s best-selling book of 2009. For more information go to the Web site: http://www.uaf.edu/uapress/book/.

AP-WS-10-16-09 1419ED

Artist admits using key AP photo for ‘HOPE’ poster

Shepard Fairey posed with the 'HOPE' poster at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston last February. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

NEW YORK (AP) – Shepard Fairey’s claim that he had the right to use a news photo to create his famous Barack Obama “HOPE” poster became a widely watched court case about fair use that now appears to have nearly collapsed.

By Friday night, his attorneys – led by Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University – said they intend to withdraw from the case and said the artist had misled them by fabricating information and destroying other material.

Fairey himself admitted that he didn’t use The Associated Press photo of Obama seated next to actor George Clooney he originally said his work was based on – which he claimed would have been covered under “fair use,” the legal claim that copyrighted work can be used without having to pay for it.

Instead he used a picture the news organization has claimed was his source – a solo picture of the future president seemingly closer to the iconic red, white and blue image of Obama, underlined with the caption “HOPE.” Fairey said that he tried to cover up his error by submitting false images and deleting others.

The distinction is critical because fair use can sometimes be determined by how much of an original image or work was altered in the creation of a new work. If Fairey didn’t need to significantly alter the image he used – in this case the solo shot of Obama – then his claim could have been undermined. Fair use cases also may consider the market value of the copyrighted material and the intended use of the newly created work.

“Shepard Fairey has now been forced to admit that he sued the AP under false pretenses by lying about which AP photograph he used,” said AP vice president and general counsel Srinandan R. Kasi. “Mr. Fairey has also now admitted to the AP that he fabricated and attempted to destroy other evidence in an effort to bolster his fair use case and cover up his previous lies and omissions.”

Kasi said Fairey’s admission struck “at the heart” of Fairey’s defense that he was protected by fair use.

Kasi said the AP would continue to pursue its countersuit alleging that Fairey willfully infringed the AP’s copyright. It was not immediately clear from the statements issued and court filings if Fairey would continue with his case, but a person close to Fairey said that the artist would. The person was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fairey, 39, had claimed he based his “HOPE” drawing on a photo of then-Sen. Obama seated next to Clooney. The photo was taken in April 2006 by Mannie Garcia, on assignment for the AP, at the National Press Club in Washington.

Fairey now says he started with a solo photograph of Obama – taken at the same event, by the same photographer. The AP has long maintained that Fairey used the solo shot for the poster.

Fairey sued the not-for-profit news cooperative in February, arguing that he didn’t violate copyright law because he dramatically changed the image. The AP countersued in March, saying the uncredited, uncompensated use of an AP photo violated copyright laws and signaled a threat to journalism.

Fairey, a Los Angeles-based street artist with a long, often proud history of breaking rules, said in a statement Friday that he was wrong about which photo he used and that he tried to hide his error.

“In an attempt to conceal my mistake, I submitted false images and deleted other images,” said Fairey. “I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment, and I take full responsibility for my actions, which were mine alone.”

He said he was taking steps to correct the information and regretted that he didn’t come forward sooner.

In addition to indicating they plan to withdraw from the case, attorneys for Fairey papers filed Friday in federal court in Manhattan stating that he misled them. They also amended the original court documents, reflecting that Fairey used a different picture.

“Mr. Fairey was apparently mistaken about the photograph he used when his original complaint for declaratory relief was filed on February 9, 2009,” the papers say. “After the original complaint was filed, Mr. Fairey realized his mistake. Instead of acknowledging that mistake, Mr. Fairey attempted to delete the electronic files he had used in creating the illustration at issue. He also created, and delivered to his counsel for production, new documents to make it appear as though he had used the Clooney photograph as his reference.”

Although he said he was “very sorry to have hurt and disappointed colleagues, friends, and family,” Fairey said that the real issue was “the right to fair use” so artists can create freely.

“Regardless of which of the two images was used,” he said, “the fair use issue should be the same.”

Laurence Pulgram, an intellectual property lawyer who represented Napster in a copyright fight with the rock band Metallica, said Saturday that Fairey’s case was in trouble.

“This was a brain-dead move by Mr. Fairey, and it could be the turning point. His lawyers will still be able to argue that he made a ‘fair use’ under copyright law, but it’s a whole lot less likely that the court or jury will think that what he did was actually ‘fair’ if he has lied and tried to mislead the entire world about what use he made.”

The dispute between Fairey and the AP has led to a strong debate between artists and free speech advocates defending Fairey and photographers and journalism organizations citing the need for copyright protection.

The “HOPE” image has appeared on countless posters, stickers and buttons. It has appeared in several books and in numerous museums, including a mixed-media stenciled collage version added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington.

Fairey also used the AP photograph for an image designed specially for the Obama inaugural committee, which charged anywhere from $100 for a poster to $500 for a poster signed by the artist. It is unclear how much, in total, Fairey may have earned from the design.

Fairey has said that he first designed the image in early 2008, after he was encouraged by the Obama campaign to come up with some kind of artwork.

The AP plans to donate any proceeds received for past use of the photo to the AP Emergency Relief Fund, which assists staffers and their families around the world who are victims of natural disasters and conflicts.

In February 2009, Fairey was arrested when he went to Boston for an event kicking off his solo exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art, among the most popular in the museum’s more than 70-year history.

He faced dozens of vandalism charges, but nearly all were dropped. He pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges last summer and was sentenced to two years probation.

AP-ES-10-17-09 1459EDT

Kovels – Antiques & Collecting: Week of Oct. 19, 2009

Glass parlor fountains are very rare. This 21-inch-high brass and blown glass fountain made about 1880-90 sold for $640 at Cowan's Auctions in Cincinnati.

Some antiques are so rare and strange that they are classed as “what’s its” by collectors. Sometimes they are also so interesting they can sell for high prices. This year two different auction houses offered “Victorian glass parlor fountains” – items that were “what’s its” to most collectors. A few years ago, only 12 examples were known. Researchers have discovered that the fountains were patented by Joseph Storer in 1871. A metal stand holds a basin at the top, and underneath it a pair of glass globes attached to a hollow metal rod could swing back and forth. Water was put in the upper basin and forced down into the globes and a series of tubes, then up again as an 8-inch water spout or fountain. The globes moved up and down and the guests were delighted with the unusual centerpiece. The fountains, about 20 inches high, were held in a frame made by James Tufts of Boston, a silver-plate manufacturer. The invention was called a “perpetual fountain” or “automatic fountain.” A fancy ruby glass fountain with etched designs sold originally for $50 – very expensive for a Victorian table decoration.

Q: I have a Hoody’s peanut butter pail with a red lid. The pail pictures children on a teeter-totter. It’s in very good condition. What can you tell me about when it was made and the company that made it?

A: A.C. Hoodenpyle, a Dutch immigrant whose nickname was “Hoody,” began selling roasted peanuts in 1913. He opened a store in Oregon and began selling peanut butter under the name Hoody’s Famous Peanut Butter. The red 1-pound peanut butter tins pictured a girl and a boy in 1920s-era clothes on a seesaw that was balanced on a big peanut shell with the words “Hoody’s Goodies” on it. Tins had either a plain tin lid or a red slip lid. After Hoodenpyle died, Valentine Brown bought the company. Harvest Manor Farms, a snack food company in El Paso, Texas, bought the company in 1994. The brand name is still used. The tins are rare and the graphics are popular with collectors. A tin with a red lid is worth $400 or more. One with a silver tin lid was offered recently for $860.

Q: We still own the bookcase my husband’s mother bought for him in the 1940s, when he was a child. It was made by the Gunn Furniture Co. of Grand Rapids, Mich. Can you tell us something about the bookcase’s history?

A: Gunn Furniture Co.’s history can be traced to 1874, when William S. Gunn started selling furniture at his Grand Rapids hardware store. In 1890 he incorporated his own manufacturing firm, the Gunn Folding Bed Co. Because the popularity of folding beds was waning fast, three years later he changed his company’s name to the Gunn Furniture Co. and started making desks, bookcases, files and other office furniture. The woods he used included walnut, oak and mahogany. The firm was sold in 1953 to Bergsma Brothers Inc., also of Grand Rapids. Bergsma Brothers closed in 1985.

Q: I have a Titian Ware Royal Ivory plate by Adams that says Adams was established in 1657. Your Web site mentions that the firm was founded in 1769. Can you tell me why the date is different?

A: Several members of the Adams family operated potteries in the Staffordshire district of England. The earliest pottery operated by a member of the family was Brick House Works, established in Burslem in 1657 by Robert Adams and his son, John. William Adams & Sons was established in 1769 and operated the Greengates Works in Tunstall. The 1657 date was added to the William Adams mark in 1896 even though the date refers to a different but related Adams company. Adams became part of the Wedgwood Group in 1966 and some Adams designs continued to be made with the Adams backstamp. The Greengates Works closed in 1992.

Q: I am interested in learning the year my old brass NCR cash register was made and what it’s worth. It’s a Model 356G. The first patent date is May 23, 1893, and the last is Aug. 30, 1910. The serial number is 1283080.

A: National Cash Register Co., which dates to 1884, made your cash register in 1913. You can check serial numbers of all NCR cash registers at the Dayton History Web site, DaytonHistory.org. An NCR Model 356G cash register sold recently for $950.

Q: I have a 9-inch Chad Valley rubber doll with painted brown hair. The patent number on it is 517,252. Can you tell me when it was made and what it’s worth?

A: Joseph and Alfred Johnson founded a printing firm called Johnson Bros. in Birmingham, England, in 1849. In 1897 they added a plant in Harborne, outside of Birmingham, in the valley of a stream called Chad – hence the trade name “Chad Valley.” The company made toys at the Chad Valley plant and added doll production about 1917. Its dolls were all-cloth, usually with felt faces, velvet bodies and hand-woven wigs. Because your doll has painted hair, not a wig, it’s not as valuable as the best Chad Valley dolls. The patent number dates it to 1940. If it’s in excellent shape, it could sell for about $100. Chad Valley was sold to Palitoy, another British toy company, in 1978.

Tip: Clean the inside of a graniteware pot by filling the pot with water, adding a teaspoon of baking soda, and bringing it to a boil.

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 extra collector’s 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.

Ideal Miss Goody Two Shoes doll, “The Doll Who Walks by Herself,” turquoise dress, white leather shoes, blue eyes, blond hair, 1965, battery, 19 inches, $75.
Toy Coca-Cola dispenser, plastic, red with logo, holds one bottle of Coke, pull lever to fill plastic glass, 1950s, set of four glasses, $100.
Baby gown, petite red-and-white gingham, applique stripes across front, 1880s, $125.
Brumberger tri-level toy service station and parking garage playset, No. 800, ramps, gas pumps, air pump, grease rack, 1960s, 14 x 24 inches, $130.
Shoot DuPont Powders advertising postcard, features Monora, 1910 champion show dog in pointer stance, 5 1/2 x 4 inches, $235.
Northwood glass pull-up plate, shell form, striped satin, blue on yellow, light crimson pulled feathers, signed, 8 inches, $350.
Tiffany sterling silver bowl, leaf and dart border with drake-head handles, hairy hoof feet, marked, 5 x 7 x 6 inches, $430.
Eero Saarinen Grasshopper chair, bentwood, upholstered in blue-gray fabric, plywood arms, circa 1955, 36 x 27 inches, $1,540.
Weller Eocean vase, straight form, painted storks flying, cream ground, signed “Chilcote,” marked, 6 x 10 inches, $2,070.
1913 Barnum & Bailey “Famous Elephant Base-Ball Team” circus poster, 20 x 30 inches, $7,635.

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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