February 2010 - Page 6 of 11 - Auction Central News

Hermann Historica in new alliance, taps Nick McCullough for key post

Nicholas McCullough, newly appointed international consultant for Munich auction house Hermann Historica. Image courtesy Hermann Historica.

MUNICH, GERMANY – Hermann Historica oHG, Munich, has forged a strategic alliance with Bloomsbury Auctions and Dreweatts, London, New York and Rome. Additionally, the firm has enlisted Nick McCullough, former head of Arms & Armour sales at Christie’s, as international consultant.

A respected specialist auction house known for its sales of arms, armor and militaria, Hermann Historica now partners with Bloomsbury Auctions, long known for its expertise in rare books and manuscripts, and Dreweatts, founded in 1759. The alliance will see Hermann Historica establishing a permanent presence in Bloomsbury’s Maddox Street [Mayfair, London] premises as well as a representative office in both New York and Rome. In turn, Dreweatts will establish a branch in Hermann Historica’s Munich gallery with a view to developing a meaningful presence in the German market.

“We have been looking to expand internationally for some time now and this opportunity to grow with the expanding activities of the new Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions alliance is a perfect fit for us, said Hermann Historica’s founder and owner, Wolfgang Hermann. “Like Bloomsbury, we deal with clients at the very pinnacle of our area of specialization, and the quality and location of their London, New York and Rome premises generously expands our options for future sale locations.”

Stephan Ludwig, Dreweatts’ executive chairman, stated: “Hermann Historica are a well respected business trading at the top of their field. It has been our stated goal to expand our alliances to incorporate further complementary fields to our in-house departments, and I look forward to exploring the many potential business opportunities that a presence in the German-speaking European area will afford both Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auctions.”

Both companies are clear in their message that this is only a strategic commercial trading alliance and that there are no plans to merge the businesses, now or in the future.

News of the new marketing partnership coincides with Hermann Historica’s appointment of Nicholas McCullough as an international consultant. McCullough departed Christie’s last year after many years running the company’s Antique Arms & Armour department internationally. When not traveling, McCullough will be based at the Maddox Street offices.

McCullough has 32 years of professional experience as a specialist valuer and cataloger in the fields of antique arms and armour; militaria and British modern sporting firearms. He bought his first collectible item at the age of 11 and, following service in the British army, this early interest developed into a career path.

Nicholas McCullough joined Bonhams auctioneers in London in 1978 and held his first arms auction in that year. In 1981, Nicholas headed the Arms department at Phillips auctioneers. The following year he left to begin the first of two periods of employment at Christie’s, where he continued in Antique Arms & Armour at Christie’s for a total of eleven years, both in London and New York. Most recently McCullough was Christie’s international senior specialist and head of Arms & Armour sales from 2005 to 2009.

In 1987 McCullough joined Sotheby’s in New York, where he held responsibility for their Antique Arms & Armor auctions until 1998. Within that period Nicholas was also appointed as a consultant specialist to Sotheby’s Arms department in London and additionally headed Sotheby’s Arms sales in Zurich. Subsequently Nicholas McCullough moved with the London department to Sotheby’s offices in West Sussex. From there he was involved in many of the most significant valuations and sales of noble and ancestral armouries from within the German cultural sphere to be conducted in the postwar years. These included the gunroom and armoury of the Princes Thurn und Taxis, the armoury of the Grand-Dukes of Baden, and that of the Royal House of Hanover.

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Quality array in Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Feb. 15-16 sale

Colorfully painted allegorical scenes enhance this glazed majolica urn, which was made in Italy during the 18th or 19th century. With chips to the base and restoration to the handles, the 31-inch-tall urn has a $3,500-$4,500 estimate. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc.

WEST PALM BEACH – A grand and varied assortment of antiques, art and other valuable estate items will be presented at Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches on Feb. 15-16. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

Three of the top items are sterling silver. A Victorian montieth, a large silver punch bowl with a scalloped rim, was made in London in 1892 by John Rawling. The circular bowl is chased with scrolls and flowers on a stepped base, mounted with a detachable “crown” cast with masks and scrolls. The bowl is 13 inches in diameter and has an $8,000-$10,000 estimate.

A late 19th-century Chinese export repousse silver tea and coffee service sold by Tiffany is expected to bring $12,000-$16,000. Each of the seven pieces is covered with a flower head and leaf design. Included are a teapot, coffeepot, tilting kettle with lamp, sugar bowl, creamer, spooner and a service tray.

Considered rare, a set of four George III silver gilt and glass open salts by Paul Storr, London, 1808, has a $3,000-$4,000 estimate. Each circular stand, 4 5/8 inches in diameter, is fitted with a cut glass montieth bowl, engraved with a crest and enclosed by a husk border.

A glazed majolica urn from 18th- or 19th-century Italy, possibly Urbino, is all the more impressive with hand-painted allegorical scenes on the sides. The 31-inch-tall urn has a $3,500-$4,500 estimate.

Three 19th-century Chinese School gouaches, 14 3/4 inches by 19 1/2 inches, showing different stages of pottery making, each has an estimate of $1,500-$2,000.

The second day of the auction features the one-owner African-Oceanic collection from the Estate of Nathan Schneider of Palm Beach Gardens. He collected these pieces over the past 45 years.

Additional items of note are jades and ivory, Meissen, Sevres, Chinese Export and Rose Medallion Porcelains, bronzes, Lalique, fine art from the Wunderlich family (founders of Kennedy Galleries, New York) and a contemporary studio art glass collection from an estate in Boca Raton.

For details call 561-805-7115.

The sales will be conducted at Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches, 1609 S. Dixie Highway, Suite 5. Monday’s session will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern; Tuesday’s at 5 p.m. Eastern.

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 Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches, Inc.’s complete catalog.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Made in China for export, this seven-piece repousse silver tea and coffee service is expected to bring $12,000-$16,000. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc.

Constantine Kluge (French, 1912-2003) titled this scene ‘Le Theatre Sarah Bernhardt.’ The 24- by 36-inch oil on canvas is in need of cleaning. It has a $7,000-$9,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc.

The Print Club of Cleveland’s publication no. 25 was this lithograph titled ‘Switch Engines, Erie Yards, Jersey City’ by Reginald Marsh. The unframed print is 9 inches by 13 1/4 and has a $1,500-$2,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc.

French artist Jules Rene Herve’s reputation for shimmering colors comes through in this oil painting titled ‘Bois de Meudon.’ The 23 1/4- by 28 1/2-inch oil on canvas has a $6,000-$8,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches Inc.

Lloyd Ralston rolls out part 2 of Blake collection Feb. 13

All four ships are included in this Buck Rogers set by Tootsietoy. In C8 condition, the scarce set has a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery.

SHELTON, Conn. – Lloyd Ralston Gallery will present part 2 of the diverse vehicle collection of Bob Blake on Feb. 13 at Ralston’s facility at 549 Howe Ave. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

Blake, the Emmy-nominated TV and film editor, began collecting toys in the 1970s. Included in the sale will be cast iron, lithographed tin, die cast, hard plastic and rubber vehicles. Hubley, Arcade, Champion, Dent, A.C. Williams, Marx, Paya, Corgi, Dinky, Tekno, Birk, Sabra, Solido, Cherryca Phenix and Tootsietoy are some of the toy makers represented along with Japanese manufacturers.

The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern with the sale of a Corgi 262 Lincoln Continental Limousine in its original display box. Rated at C9, the car already has multiple bids.

Among the top items in the auction Saturday is a Tootsietoy Buck Rogers 25th Century Rocket Ships set complete in its original box. In C8 condition, it carries a $4,000-$6,000 estimate.

A 1938 Tootsietoy Gift Box containing three sets – Fire Department Set, Aeroplanes Set and Playtime Set – has a $1,600-$2,200 estimate. Graded C7-9, all three sets have the original box and insert.

From the Clint Seeley collection are two Tootsietoy prototypes – a Chevy fastback and a Rabbit Funnies Auto, each estimated at $7,000-$1,000.

For details call 203-924-5804

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 Lloyd Ralston Gallery’s complete catalog.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Tootsietoy included three sets – Fire Department, Aeroplanes and Playtime – in this 1938 Gift Box. In C7-9 condition, the combo has a $1,600-$2,200 estimate. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery.

This Chevy Fastback, a Tootsietoy prototype, exhibits handworked metal. In C6 condition, this unique piece has an $800-$1,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery.

From the Clint Seeley collection comes this Tootsietoy Rabbit Funnies prototype auto. The rabbit’s ears are missing and the paint is chipped and flaking, which accounts for the C4 grade. It is estimated at $700-$1,000. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery.

Tootsietoy’s 5211 Fire Department set consists of the Mack Ladder Wagon, Pumper, Chevrolet Ambulance and Mercury Fire Chief’s car. Complete with all accessories, original box and inserts, the set has a $500-$800 estimate. Image courtesy of Lloyd Ralston Gallery.

Civil War Flag – N.C. unit’s Civil War battle flag to be preserved

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – A group of Civil War re-enactors is raising money to conserve a battle flag that a North Carolina unit carried during a futile infantry charge at Gettysburg.

The News & Record of Greensboro reported Wednesday that the flag carried by the 22nd North Carolina Regiment has been kept in storage at the North Carolina Museum of History for more than a century. The flag hasn’t been displayed because the tattered wool banner is deteriorating because of its age.

The flag includes yellow lettering with the name of the regiment with men from Guilford, Randolph and Caswell counties. Curators say holes could be from bullets and stains could be from blood.

The flag was captured by Union forces after Pickett’s Charge, the ill-fated attack on July 3, 1863, that historians believe was Confederates’ last desperate hope.

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Information from: News & Record, http://www.news-record.com

AP-ES-02-10-10 0849EST

Roof collapses at Smithsonian warehouse in Maryland

WASHINGTON (AP) – Historic aircraft and spacecraft were exposed to freezing temperatures Wednesday after heavy snow collapsed part of a roof and wall at a Smithsonian Institution storage facility.

No artifacts were thought to be damaged because they are all kept in boxes or protective crates, though some pieces are usually kept at stable temperature and moisture levels, officials said.

The metal building, part of the Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Suitland, Md. (suburban Washington, D.C.), houses about 1,500 artifacts from the National Air and Space Museum, including parts of flown aircraft, spacecraft and about 800 pieces of aviation and space-themed artwork.

“Right now, the building is still standing,” said museum spokeswoman Claire Brown, adding that shelving units inside were supporting the structure. “We’re confident the portion of the collection that’s in there is OK.”

The flown artifacts could be from any era, ranging from the space shuttle program to Apollo or earlier, she said. All the pieces are considered valuable, Brown said, but curators didn’t identify any piece as more valuable than others.

Emergency crews shut off power and natural gas service to the building when the collapse was discovered early Wednesday, Prince George’s County fire department spokesman Mark Brady said. Authorities determined the building was unstable but weren’t sure what artifacts were inside.

“At this time, they are exposed to some of the elements,” Brady said.

Artwork in the building, including posters, paintings and sculpture, was kept in a sealed, insulated box, Brown said. There was no other power source for the building. Curators noted, though, that they usually keep artifacts at cool temperatures for preservation purposes.

“At this point, we’re not worried about the falling temperatures or any other risks associated with the power being cut to the collection,” Brown said.

A collection of historic spacesuits from Apollo moon walks is kept in a secure building nearby but was not affected.

The expansive museum storage and processing facility in Maryland includes buildings from the 1950s, Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said. The building that collapsed was set for demolition in the coming years, and many air and space artifacts will be moved to a new restoration facility in Virginia.

AP-ES-02-10-10 1257EST

New British TV show Cracking Antiques merges vintage with high style

Kathryn Rayward and Mark Hill, stars of the new British TV show Cracking Antiques. Image courtesy BBC Two.

LONDON – The new British television show called Cracking Antiques is on a myth-busting mission to prove that people can add style and glamour to any type of home by investing in secondhand, vintage and antique furnishings – without breaking the bank. The primetime series, which debuts on BBC Two this spring, is presented by interior designer Kathryn Rayward and antiques expert Mark Hill.

Kathryn and Mark want to take the pain and shame out of buying old. From townhouses to terraced houses, 18th-century French Rococo to shabby chic, they want to show that antiques and vintage furnishings can help create a stylish, fashionable home and are often the better buy.

Cracking Antiques shows that spending wisely on secondhand objects can be a cheaper and superior alternative to much of what the better-known chain stores have to offer, and in comparison, antiques are well made and built to last so are also a much more environmentally sound investment.

The Brits love nothing more than trawling for trinkets and treasures at antiques fairs, car boot sales and auction houses, and as a result the British antiques industry a is highly lucrative one. But are people buying the right items, at the right price?

Mark Hill remarked: “Unique investments in quality and craftsmanship that will last a lifetime, prices that have never been more affordable, and individual statement pieces that will make a house your home, tell a story, and shout out your true personality. Antiques need to be taken off their pedestal and we should allow them to become exuberant and enjoyable parts of our lives.”

Kathryn Rayward added: “Buying antiques is recycling at its most glamorous. Purchasing secondhand goods means we’re not cutting down trees and damaging the planet. Embracing unloved family heirlooms or giving a quick lick of paint to a cheap and cheerful junk shop find can create a beautiful and utterly unique home.”

Throughout the series, Kathryn offers interior design ideas and practical suggestions on how to customize and revamp the tired and the distressed to transform them into glamorous and modern pieces. Meanwhile Mark is on hand with his top tips and helpful advice on the items to buy now, that could go up in value in the future.

From furniture to light fittings, curtains to crockery, Cracking Antiques provides the all-important guide to furnishing a home with classic pieces, how to bag a bargain and how to buy an investment piece for the future.

BBC Commissioning Editor, Jo Ball, commented: “Mark and Kathryn are great talents and I hope they will make the world of antiques accessible to everyone.”

Cracking Antiques is a Silver River production. The series will consist of six 30-minute episodes.

About the Experts:

Mark Hill was a specialist at Bonhams and Sotheby’s before joining an internet company where he became a director, running its exclusive alliance with eBay Live Auctions. He is now the resident 20th-century Design and Collectables specialist at Miller’s, and the author and publisher of a series of books on 20th-century design. Mark is an expert on BBC One’s Antiques Roadshow. He writes for magazines including Collect It! and BBC Homes & Antiques.

Kathryn Rayward is one of the most distinctive designers working on television today and runs a successful interior design company. Having started her career in theater design, she specializes in taking unloved pieces of furniture and transforming them into one of a kind, haute couture contemporary pieces of design using vintage fabric and traditional craft techniques. Kathryn’s television career began with the renovation of her house featured in (British) Channel 4’s Grand Designs. She has also designed rooms for the British television networks BBC One, ITV and UKTV, as well as writing numerous articles on craft and design.

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Paintings, art glass abound at Stevens’ estate auction, Feb. 20

The artist did not sign this 18th-century French School portrait of a noble woman. The 28 1/2- by 38 1/2-inch oil on canvas has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co.

ABERDEEN, Miss. – Stevens Auction Co. will conduct the sale of the Roy Clyde Gardner estate museum on Feb. 20 at the firm’s gallery at 609 N. Meridian St. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

Auctioneer John Dwight Stevens said that Gardner’s lifelong quest was to acquire only the finest original works of art and the best antiques, especially beautiful art glass, metals and ceramics.

The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Central. A preview will be held on Friday, Jan. 22, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Gardner, a resident of Neshoba County, Miss, was an accomplished floriculturist. He also frequented antiques shops, flea markets and estate sales in search of treasures. With each passing year, his collections grew in size and sophistication, said Stevens.

The estate is loaded with artwork, much of it framed portraits. These will include a framed oil on canvas work, 45 inches by 60 inches, of a young boy with a catch of fish; an unframed oil on canvas, 39 inches by 51 inches, of a European man dressed in black with an ornate collar; and a tempera on wooden panel painting of two apostles in an ebonized frame.

Additional artwork will include a framed oil on canvas portrait of Judge John Girard, attributed to Sir Thomas Lawrence; a framed oil on canvas portrait of a female in black lace with a red flower in her hair; a framed oil on canvas work of a female in a green dress; and a signed Deniers framed oil on canvas painting of three men smoking pipes.

Also offered will be a Swiss music box with rosewood cabinet.

The name Tiffany will be chanted often at the auction. Expected top lots include a Favrile glass vase by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the peacock feather design; a Tiffany art glass centerpiece composed of an iridescent bronze stand with center glass vase and two glass side bowls; and a lovely Tiffany art glass vase, iridescent green in color, with an upward threaded design. A Tiffany desk set will be split into three lots. These will include an inkwell, bronze, with slag glass; a desk tray, also bronze with slag glass; and a matching pair of bronze desk pads, or blotter ends. Also by Tiffany is an art glass center bowl, green with bronze organic casting.

For details call (662) 369-2200.

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 Stevens Auction Company’s complete catalog.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

A Vanhauten silver-plated floral design casing complements this 11 1/2-inch iridescent art glass vase. It is estimated at $750-$1,500. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co.

Signed ‘L.C. Tiffany Favrile,’ this 11-inch vase has a $1,200-$2,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co.

King Louis XIV is depicted in carved ivory. The statuette on ebony and a wooden base is 18 inches tall and has a $15,000-$40,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co.

Ernest Emile Armand-Delille (French 1843-1883) may have painted this copy of the Louvre’s ‘Eliezer and Rebecca’ by Nicolas Poussin. The oil on canvas measures 46 inches by 78 inches. It carries a $10,000-$15,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stevens Auction Co.

Byzantine-era street uncovered in Jerusalem

Flea market in Old City, Jerusalem. Copyrighted photo taken in 2006 by Ester Inbar, appears by permission of the copyright holder.

JERUSALEM (AP) – Archaeologists said Wednesday that they have unearthed a section of a stone street in Jerusalem that provides important new evidence about the city’s commercial life 1,500 years ago.

The 19-foot (5.8-meter) section of street passes from the west into the center of Jerusalem’s Old City, coming to a stop at a large cistern that supplied water to the city’s residents. Pottery, coins and bronze weights used to measure precious metals from Byzantine times were also found at the site.

The discovery conforms to the layout of the city depicted in a mosaic map discovered earlier in a Jordanian church, said excavation director Ofer Sion of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The map has long been used as a guide to understanding the shape of the city during the 4th through 6th centuries and the discovery of the street proves the map is correct.

“This street was the center during the most (commercially) successful period in the history of (ancient) Jerusalem,” he said. “It is wonderful that (today’s street) actually preserved the route of the noisy street from 1,500 years ago.”

Working from the historic map, archaeologists three months ago uncovered covered the section of street 14 feet (4.3 meters) below the current street level.

The map, taken from a Byzantine-era church in Madaba, Jordan, shows the locations of major streets and the Christian sites in the city, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site where the faithful believe Jesus was buried.

Once restoration work is completed, within the next few weeks, the segment of street will be covered because of heavy pedestrian traffic in the area, Sion said.

AP-ES-02-10-10 0806EST

A meal fit for a King? No, but experts say the plate is!

LONDON (AP) – A British woman says she’s shocked that a dusty dish on her shelf has been identified as a very valuable 260-year-old antique made for the King of Prussia.

Wendy Jones said Tuesday she was unaware for years that the 22-inch (55-centimeter) meat dish – which once even clattered to the floor – was a rare collectable from a 100-piece dinner service.

Jones took the plate to a taping of BBC television’s Antiques Roadshow, even though she originally hoped experts would value her collection of books.

Experts instead examined the plate and confirmed it was part of a set presented to Frederick the Great of Prussia in 1750 by the Prussian East India Company.

Jones was told the dish, a family heirloom from Germany, is worth about 100,000 pounds ($160,000).

AP-ES-02-09-10 1248EST

Alaska’s first car heads to antique museum

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s first car is being loaned out to the Antique Auto Museum in Fairbanks.

The car is a runabout hand-built in 1905 by late Skagway resident Robert Sheldon. The construction was reportedly based on illustrations Sheldon had seen of cars in magazines and built with materials available in the Southeast town.

The vehicle has been on display for years at the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North.

The car will be on loan for at least five years.

UA Museum spokeswoman Kerynn Fisher says the new display is expected to be unveiled to the public by mid May.

Fisher says there are plans to ultimately build a working replica of the Sheldon car, which is not operable and will be transported a couple miles Tuesday by another vehicle to its new temporary home.

AP-WS-02-09-10 0800EST

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