KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Frasher’s Doll Auctions will present its catalogued auction titled “All About Small” on Nov. 7 at the KCI Expo Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Central Time, with an hour-long preview at 9 a.m. Internet live bidding will be available through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
The auction of rare and choice antique French and German bisque dolls from North Carolina and California estates features more than 65 all-bisque dolls, such as the rare barefoot and wrestler models by J.D. Kestner in sizes up to 9 inches, the Orsini dolls, brown bisque models, Bye-lo babies and many others.
The sale also includes numerous all-bisque models of the ever-popular googlies such as Kestner’s doll with jointed elbows & knees, the tiniest models by Hertel & Schwab, and many more.
French bebes are highlighted by the fabulous and originally costumed Bru Jne Bebe size 3 with luminous blue eyes and pale bisque complexion. Also from the Bru firm is a wonderful wooden-body fashion poupee. Another especially rare French example is the lovely Petit & Dumontier bebe with composition body and pewter hands. As one would expect from a Frasher’s sale, other top-shelf firms such and Jumeau, Rabery & Delphieu, and Gauthier also are represented.
German characters to be sold include: Kammer & Reinhardt’s desirable character models 114, 115a, and 117; and the character dolls of Simon & Halbig, which include a very rare mold 1303 lady doll and Dressel’s “Uncle Sam.” Characters from the Kestner firm are highlighted by a beautiful Oriental JDK 243 baby in lavish costume, and a very rare “Seigfried Baby.”
Fine collection of vintage Kewpies from the Mona Nevins estate collection include action Kewpies, standing Kewpies in many sizes, Jasperware items, Kewpie novelties, Splash Me dolls and other Kewpie-related items. Additionally, the sale will feature more than 20 vintage porcelain trinket boxes and several examples of half dolls.
Collectible dolls in the auction include a mint #4 brunette Barbie, mint-in-box Vogue Hawaiian Ginny, plus other Ginny and Alexander dolls, Tiny Terri Lee, Benji and other hard plastics.
For additional information on any item in the Nov. 7 auction, contact Barbara Frasher by calling 816-625-3786 or e-mailing Frasher@aol.com. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Front and back bar with original matching liquor cabinet by Brunswick, Balke & Collender Co. ($302,500, a record). Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A monumental mahogany front and back bar made around 1893 by Brunswick, Balke & Collender Co. – the desirable Los Angeles model and with an original matching liquor cabinet – soared to $302,500 at Showtime Auction Services’ sale of the living estate of Ron Wallace. Antiques amassed over many years by Wallace – a dedicated collector and former president of UPS – were offered in a high-profile Oct. 2-4 auction conducted at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds.
The front and back bar suite was one of the top earners of about 1,700 lots that changed hands in a sale that grossed around $2.2 million. “It was our best auction ever in terms of average dollar amount per lot,” said Showtime’s Mike Eckles. “It was a very successful sale with several records set.”
One of those records was the one set by the Brunswick front and back bar – 24 feet in wide and 11 feet tall, with hand-carved, life-size nude supports between beveled mirrors, each weighing 140 pounds and standing 5 feet 4 inches tall. The matching liquor cabinet had adjustable shelves and a zinc-like base. “We’ve only seen two of these bars in 25 years, and only one with a matching original liquor cabinet,” Eckles said.
Another record was established by a set of circa-1902 saloon doors, also made by Brunswick, Balke & Collender Co., at $77,000. The solid mahogany swinging saloon doors, 96 inches wide by 78 inches tall, were originally from a saloon in Milwaukee and had applied carvings at the top. They were refinished 25 years ago and had a great patina, with beveled glass incorporated in all the panels.
A larger-than-life figure, Ron Wallace resides in a spectacular, 44,000-square-foot home in suburban Atlanta, where his collections of vintage firearms, advertising, gambling, saloon, brothel and country store items were kept. But the auction also featured a treasure trove of over 1,000 rare and vintage toys, plus barber shop, soda fountain and advertising collectibles, and other items.
About 350 bidders attended the auction in person, while another 100 people bid by phone and 125 others submitted absentee bids. Online bidding was facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com, with more than 150 people registered to bid online. “The bidders in attendance had a great time and really enjoyed room-hopping at the Weber’s Inn in Ann Arbor,” Eckles said. “We didn’t see much evidence of a recession. People came to spend money.”
Following are additional highlights from the sale. All prices quoted include a 10 percent buyer’s premium:
A rare Gold Medal Oil two-sided porcelain sign, made by Veribrite Signs (Chicago), 30 inches in diameter and one of only three known to exist, realized $44,000; a Rock Island System Railroad reverse glass and mother of pearl inlaid sign, one of only a few known and in excellent condition, went for $33,000; and a rare Ashbury Bar, Jackson Lager reverse glass corner sign (circa 1910) hit $24,150.
A later replica Rolls-Royce version of a Moxiemobile car, made in the 1930s and used in parades to promote the soft drink Moxie, topped out at $21,850; a straight razor display case with 18 assorted celluloid handle straight razors, with brass price tags, climbed to $16,500; and a La Preferencia Cigar reverse glass sign in original frame (Tuchfarber Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, 1909) also went for $16,500.
A Consumers Brewing Company label under glass display mug, 10 inches tall, with handle, achieved $15,400 despite some minor flaws; an Early Hazard or Big Six table, with wheel, chip rack, hazard horn and disc (marked Evans, Chicago, Ill.), with claw feet, made $15,400; and extremely rare gambling ring guns, six-shot, with original bullets and case, in excellent condition, commanded $14,300.
An American National pedal car of a Hudson (Toledo, Ohio, 1932), with original paint and minor scratches, 48 inches long, sped off for $11,000; an extremely rare double roulette table by B.C. Willis Co. (Detroit, Mich.), with William Ellis early layouts, one of only three known, brought $11,000; and an Ivory Poker Buck (circa 1880), with a front that reads “You Deal,” changed hands for $10,350.
A hand-carved Ivory Playing Card Press from the 1880s, with an unusual screw mechanism and the only example known, possibly a gift to a gambling industry executive, rose to $9,350; a prostitute’s garter (circa 1890s), with fancy beaded trim and reading “Oh Stop!,” 7 inches, breezed to $8,800; and an Oliver Chilled Plow Wood Sand sign (circa late 1880s), in excellent original condition, realized $7,700.
A Daisy Air Rifles paper banner titled “The Happy Daisy Boy ,” with metal bands top and bottom, 14 inches by 21 inches, hit the mark for $7,150; a late 1800s trade sign for Eagle Halls Light Divine Optometrist with great visual appeal, 54 inches by 30 inches, fetched $6,600; and a Lucky Strike three-dimensional die-cut quad-fold store window cardboard display with four athletes brought $6,325.
Rounding out the top lots: a cast-iron cigar advertising clock for Katy Flyer Cigars in the shape of a train engine, possibly a one-of-a-kind and an exceptional example of tobacciana, made by Golden Novelty Mfg. Co. (Chicago, Ill.) crossed the finish line at $5,775; and a Will & Finck Faro Case Keeper in a cherry wood frame, with hand-carved boxwood cards, pips and ivory beads, garnered $5,463.
Showtime Auction Services already has four exciting sales lined up for 2010, starting with a catalog auction that ends Jan. 15. A wonderful selection of country store, advertising and miscellaneous items will be offered in the absentee, phone and Internet only auction.
Then, on Apr. 9-11, a live auction will be held at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds in Ann Arbor (catalogs ready March 1).
A summer catalog auction (absentee, phone and Internet bidding only) will end July 9, then the year will conclude with Showtime’s live Fall Auction Oct. 1-3, also in Ann Arbor. Like the Apr. 9-11 sale, the fall 2010 event will feature a nice selection of gambling, coin-op, country store, advertising and miscellaneous items. Absentee, phone and Internet bids through LiveAuctioneers.com will also be accepted.
Showtime Auction Services is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, call Mike Eckles at 951-453-2415 or e-mail mikeckles@aol.com. Visit the company online at www.showtimeauctions.com.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Solid mahogany swinging saloon doors by Brunswick, Balke & Collender Co. ($77,000 a record). Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.Rare Lucky Strike three-dimensional die-cut quad-fold store window cardboard display ($6,325). Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.Latter 1930s replica of a Rolls-Royce version Moxiemobile, used in parades to promote the beverage Moxie ($21,850). Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.Consumers Brewing Company label under glass display mug, 10 inches tall, with handle ($15,400). Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.Very rare Gold Medal Oil two-sided porcelain sign, made by Veribrite Signs of Chicago. ($44,000). Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.American National pedal car, Hudson, 1932 (Toledo, Ohio), with original paint, 48 inches long ($11,000). Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.
The teeth in this face jug made by Lanier Meaders (1917-1998) are pieces of a china plate. Made in 1968, the jug has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Slotin Folk Art.BUFORD, Ga. – Slotin Auction will conduct a Fall Masterpiece Auction, featuring the lifetime collection of folk art collector and early self-taught art pioneer Lynne Ingram, on Nov. 7. About two-thirds of the auction will consist of Ingram’s collection, most of which has been stored for 30 years. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The sale will feature around 800 lots of self-taught art, Southern folk pottery, outsider art, African-American decorative arts, quilts, circus art, new discoveries, major collections and more.
“Our Fall Masterpiece Auction is always a special event on our calendar, but this year we feel particularly fortunate to have as the centerpiece the collection of Lynne Ingram,” said Steve Slotin of Slotin Auction.
Ingram lives in New Jersey but is originally from North Carolina. In the 1980s she started collecting folk art when the genre was still in its relative infancy. But she didn’t just passively acquire pieces. She actually traveled around the Southeast and visited the artists who became her friends. All the while she was amassing an outstanding collection, said Slotin.
“Lynne Ingram saw the best that these artists had to offer, and she acquired much of it along the way,” said Slotin. “She later expanded her collection to include earlier masters who had already passed on, like Bill Traylor, but she had a keen eye for emerging second-tier artists of the day, too – talents like Mose Tolliver and Jimmy Lee Sudduth. Hers is an unbelievable, top-shelf collection.”
Slotin added the collection is made more desirable by the fact that it’s been in a New Jersey storage facility, untouched and in pristine condition, for the better part of the last 30 years. “So what you have are impressive examples of the best names in folk art, offered to the market for the very first time,” he said.
Some expected top lots of the auction follow, along with their low and high sale estimates.
A paint and graphite on cardboard work by Bill Traylor, signed on the front and titled Mexican Woman, is expected to bring $25,000-$35,000. Ingram acquired the framed piece in the mid-’80s from Marcia Weber, an expert on Traylor and an early promoter of his work. This painting is considered significant because it is 100 percent original, with no re-touches or restoration.
A colored pencil on paper creation by Adolf Wolfli (1864-1930) was the top lot at Slotin Auctions’ last sale, held in March. It realized $40,480. This sale features another example by the Swiss self-taught artist: a graphite, pastel and colored pencil on paper work titled The Lion and the Masked Man. It is a strong piece in excellent condition, and carries a conservative estimate of $30,000-$35,000.
The name Howard Finster (1916-2001) is sure to get paddles waving, and this sale features a beauty by the late iconic folk artist. It is a paint on board work housed in an artist signature wood burned frame, titled Vision of Cartoon Howard Finster, #3,169 (December 1983). The painting measures 32 1/2 inches wide by 16 inches high. This piece was originally in the prestigious collection of Chuck and Jan Rosenak. It has a $4,000-$6,000 estimate.
A carved and painted wood creation by S.L. Jones (1901-1997), titled Man’s Bust, should fetch $8,000-$15,000.
“It’s one of the nest examples of Jones’ work I’ve ever seen,” Slotin said of the 10- by 7- by 13 1/2-inch work, in excellent condition. Also, a 1976 oil on canvas painting by Vestie Davis (1903-1978), Hasidic Street Scene, 51 by 27 inches, should bring $4,000-$6,000.
Lanier Meaders is another name familiar to veterans of the folk art scene. His hand-turned face jugs are renowned, and this sale will feature a china plate teeth face jug with a beautiful tobacco-split glaze, which he made in 1968. The piece boasts great veining all around and measures 9 inches in height. The face has three teeth and the jug is in mint condition. It should sell for $3,000-$5,000.
Bidding should be brisk for a painting on board by Teofilo Magliocchi, titled Madonna and Child. The signed work features a frame decorated with costume jewelry adornments. It is a very large piece – 47 by 75 inches, including the frame. This one has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate.
The aforementioned Mose Tolliver will be represented in the form of a latex on plywood panel work done circa 1989 and titled Saturday Night Dance Hall. The 36- by 40-inch piece is estimated to bring $2,000-$3,000.
A paint, glitter, lettering, mixed media on Masonite work by African American sign maker, John Edward Welch, titled Abraham Lincoln, It Would Help to Save the Union (1999), should realize $1,000-$1,500.
Slotin Auction has been in business for about 17 years. The firm conducts its sales in Buford Hall, 6,000-square-foot converted grocery store in downtown Buford, located just north of Atlanta.
For details call 770-532-1115 or 404 403-4244, or you can send an e-mail to auction@slotinfolkart.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Swiss-born Adolf Wolfli (1864-1930), who was institutionalized for schizophrenia for the last 35 years of his life, created ‘The Lion and the Masked Man.’ The work of in graphite, pastel and colored pencils on paper has a $30,000-$50,000. Image courtesy of Slotin Folk Art.Slotin considers this carved and painted bust one of the best examples of S.L. Jones’ work. The 10-inch-tall bust is from the collection of Lynne Ingram. It has an $8,000-$15,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Slotin Folk Art.Teofilo Magliocchi (1904-1985) was burn in Italy and moved to Pittsburgh in 1948. His 1940s ‘Madonna and Child’ is paint on board, which measures 47 by 75 inches. It has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Slotin Folk Art.Mose Tolliver’s ‘Face With Animals & Watermelons’ is from the collection of Lynne Ingram. The latex on plywood painting has a $1,000-$3,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Slotin Folk Art.
Cambridge Caprice depression glass box with lid to be offered as lot 1249 in Keystone State Auctioneers’ Oct. 31 auction with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Keystone State Auctioneers.
IOLA, Wis. – The beauty, history and design of depression glass will be the focus of a Nov. 5 online seminar presented by glass expert Ellen Schroy and produced by Antique Trader.
Schroy, a respected appraiser and author of several antiques references including Warman’s® Depression Glass, will serve as the presenter for event, which will be held live online beginning at 8 p.m. EST. During this open-dialogue event, Schroy will discuss the history of depression glass, the manufacturing process, popular patterns, recent market trends and research involving depression glass. Additionally, she will assess values and provide hints for detecting fakes and reproductions among patterns and tips for identifying patterns by design.
Throughout and following the hour-long online seminar participants will be able to ask questions and interact with Schroy. The cost to attend the cyber-event is $15.99. Participants will receive a download of the seminar materials, as well as an exclusive savings coupon to apply toward the purchase of the recently released new edition of Warman’s® Depression Glass.
Actor William Shatner is pictured as Capt. James T. Kirk in the ‘Star Trek’ television series. The autographed photo will be offered in a memorabilia auction Oct. 25 by Signature House, Bridgeport, W.Va. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding. Image courtesy of Signature House and LiveAuctioneers Archive.NEW YORK (AP) – A three-day love-in devoted to pop culture was celebrated last weekend with William Shatner unveiling his new comic book and fans geeking out on the latest video games, toys and electronics.
It was all fantasy and fun at the Big Apple Comic-Con, which wrapped up Sunday with appearances by sci-fi and B-list stars, as well as big names in sports.
“New York is the world mecca of comic books, and this show is a blockbuster,” said Vincent Zurzolo, whose New York-based Metropolis Collectibles Inc. is a premier dealer in vintage comic books.
On Friday, as the show opened on a Hudson River pier, he presided over gems like Amazing Fantasy No. 15, published by Marvel Comics in 1962, with Spiderman making his debut. The price: $115,000.
Celebrities invited during the weekend included Shatner, the one-time Star Trek‘ actor who remains an icon of pop culture.
His newest comic book is the fourth in a series he developed based on TekWar, his science fiction novels, set in the 22nd century when “tek” is an illegal, addictive, mind-altering digital drug.
“It’s not your grandfather’s comic book anymore,” Shatner said. “It’s filled with lust and licentiousness, it’s filled with sexual innuendo – absolutely! It’s a mature thing.”
During the weekend, fans of Batman, The Incredible Hulk and the Dukes of Hazzard could meet stars of the old TV shows: Adam West, Lou Ferrigno, John Schneider and Tom Wopat.
And sports fans awaited baseball legends Dwight Gooden, Yogi Berra and Pete Rose.
“With this, we bring the comic-book world to life,” said Gareb Shamus, CEO of Wizard Entertainment, which organized the New York show along with Comic-Cons in Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto.
He started selling comics as a 12-year-old growing up in Nanuet, N.Y., a town 25 miles north of New York City.
“That was my first job – and I’m still doing it,” said the 40-year-old father of two children, ages 9 and 11. He plays with them, tapping their opinion about “what’s the latest and greatest on the market,” said Shamus, who publishes the FunFare toy-industry magazine. “My role is to identify what’s hot before everyone else does.”
More than 500 exhibitors displayed everything from a fully functioning Batmobile to the current dozen “hottest toys,” chosen by FunFare.
As fans lined up to have comic books signed by their artistic creators, families streamed into the show.
“We don’t want children to be exposed to an adults-only environment, with sex and violence,” said Shamus, standing by a table where real-looking weapons – synthetic air pistols, machine-guns and a sniper rifle – were sold to anyone over 18 for as little $45.
On Friday, Shamus and two business partners launched GeekChicDaily, a free online newsletter and Web site aimed at pop culture enthusiasts looking for new video games, technology and applications.
“It’s cool to be a geek now,” Shamus said. As part of the show, panel discussions were scheduled on topics such as “Star Trek” and reality shows.
With tickets to the event selling at $25 each, organizers expected at least 30,000 people – some dressed in costumes representing their favorite comic-book, movie or TV characters. Costumes were judged on Saturday evening during a party open to the public.
In short, Shamus said, Comic-Con “is like Toys R Us on steroids.” ___
On the Net: Big Apple Comic-Con: http://www.wizardworld.com/home-apple.html
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The label on a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothchild pictures the vinyard’s 16th-century manor house. Image courtesy O’Gallerie, Portland, Ore., and LiveAuctioneers Archive.
PARIS (AP) – Over the years, the chief sommelier had forgotten they were there. And when the four bottles of 1875 Armagnac Vieux were finally unearthed from the labyrinthine wine cellar this week, they were covered in a black fungus that looked like matted cat fur.
The landmark Tour d’Argent restaurant, which dates back to 1582, is cleaning out its 450,000-bottle wine cellar, considered one of the best and biggest in the world. It is putting 18,000 bottles up for auction in December, an event that has captured the imagination of French wine lovers.
The restaurant is selling mostly wine but also some very old spirits, like three bottles of a Clos du Griffier cognac from 1788, the year before the French Revolution, as well as the ancient Armagnac, valued at euro 400-500 ($595-$743) a bottle. The fuzzy fungus is nothing to worry about – it thrives on the fumes of such spirits and is easily wiped away.
The restaurant wants to cut down on wines it has in multiple to vary and modernize its selection.
“You’ll probably see, we’ve got too many bottles,” jokes chief sommelier David Ridgway.
Unlocking a padlocked iron gate, the tuxedo-clad sommelier ushered visitors into the restaurant’s underworld, where bottles are stacked floor to ceiling in a succession of caverns. Though everything is registered in a computer, there are occasional surprises, like the 1875 Armagnac, which Ridgway came across while looking for something else.
The wine cellar of the Left Bank restaurant, known for pressed duck and spectacular views of Notre Dame, is a part of its history. A sign marks the spot where a brick wall was built in 1940 to hide the best bottles during the Nazi occupation in World War II.
Visitors are offered sheepskin blankets for the chill: 14 degrees Celsius (57.2 Fahrenheit) this week, but dipping to 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 Fahrenheit) in winter.
“I like the wine to live a little bit of the seasons, even though it’s temperature-controlled,” said Ridgway, a Briton who has overseen the restaurant’s wine menu since the early 1980s.
Times have changed since then, Ridgway says. Expensive jewelry or clothes no longer indicate what diners will pay for wine, and it’s not taboo now for people to say what they want to spend. Still, he has to tread carefully: Propose a wine too inexpensive and some “people feel we have looked down on them, almost.”
Estimated prices at the Dec. 7-8 sale by French auctioneer Piasa start at euro10 ($15) a bottle and go up to euro2,500-euro3,000 ($3,716-$4,459) for each 1788 cognac, one of which will go to charity.
Among wines on sale are Chateau Lafite Rothschild (1970, 1982, 1997), Cheval Blanc (1928, 1949, 1966) and Chateau Margaux (1970, 1990).
The total sale is expected to bring in around euro1 million ($1.5 million).
Buyers can rest assured the bottles aren’t counterfeit – a major problem in the industry – because the restaurant bought them directly from vintners. As for the restaurant, the timing of the auction is right even as Europe struggles amid a global economic crisis.
“I’m sure there are some amazing treasures in that cellar, and it’s a good time to sell because the wine auction market has really come storming back” after tanking during the early months of the financial crisis, said Michael Steinberger, Slate’s wine columnist and author of Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France.
The restaurant, a family business, was once the summit of French gastronomy, attracting royalty, politicians and film stars. Each duck served comes with a certificate: U.S. President John F. Kennedy ate duck No. 245,200, while Mick Jagger feasted on No. 531,147 and Princess Grace of Monaco savored No. 496,516.
But recent years have brought setbacks. Longtime owner Claude Terrail died in 2006, and his 29-year-old son Andre now runs it. The restaurant, where a prix fixe lunch menu costs euro65 ($97) and a tasting menu at dinner goes for euro160 ($238), long held three Michelin stars but is now down to one.
The economic crisis has affected the restaurant’s finances only “a bit,” Terrail said, in part because of its name and diverse international clientele. While the kitchen was recently updated, the wine sale may fund more extensive renovations down the line.
The restaurant’s name means “The Silver Tower” in French, and all the bottles for sale are stamped with the restaurant’s insignia, a tiny tower.
On the Web:
http://www.piasa.auction.fr/UK/
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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.
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. 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.
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/.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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.
Copyriught 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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.
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.
Click here to view Frasher’s Doll Auction’s complete catalog.
