Alexander Archipenko (Ukrainian/American, 1887-1964) created ‘Round Torso’ in 1937. The 46-inch-high polished terra-cotta sculpture has a $200,000-$300,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. CHICAGO – Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ May 16 auction will feature American and European paintings, sculpture, fine prints, photographs and multiples. The star of the sale’s remarkable Modern and Contemporary session, Alexander Archipenko’s 1937 Round Torso sculpture ($200,000-$300,000), comes with exemplary provenance from the private collection of Michael Greenwald, Gary, Ind. The starkly elegant 46-inch high polished terra-cotta figure was originally purchased at Katherine Kuh Gallery in 1937 by collector and artist Claire Florsheim.
LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
Also among the auction’s modern and contemporary works, Deborah Butterfield’s Horse is estimated to bring $20,000-$40,000. The mixed media sculpture depicts a mare in fibrous, modernist form. It was acquired from the Lee Hoffman Gallery in Birmingham, Mich., by Irma Ecksel, its present owner.
Roy Lichtenstein’s Untitled HeadI ($70,000-$90,000), executed in 1970, has been in private hands since 1971, when Gray Atkinson, Sebastopol, Calif., acquired it from the Margo Leavin Gallery in Los Angeles.
Fine bronzes round out the auction’s modern sculpture selection; Lynn Chadwick’s Two ($30,000-$50,000), Fritz Wotruba’s 1964 Standing Figure ($20,000 to $30,000) and Michael Ayrton’s Re-Entry ($10,000 to $15,000) all come from private Chicago-area collections.
In the Fine Prints, Photographs and Multiples session, Pablo Picasso’s Les Repas Frugal ($120,000 to $140,000), from La Suite des Saltimbanques, represents a despondent transition between two of the painter’s most significant periods and was only his second work as a novice printmaker. Les Repas Frugal combines styles from Picasso’s melancholic Blue period and his Rose period, marked by his fascination with wandering acrobatic performers. It was acquired at R.S. Johnson International Gallery in 1972 by its current owner.
The afternoon auction’s painting offerings come with equally glowing provenance. Henri Jean Guillaume Martin’s Lisette cousant, assise sous une des tonnelles de Marquayrol ($80,000-$120,000) is the property of a Barrington Hills, Ill., collector. Elias Rivera’s Wall of Passion ($30,000-$50,000) was used as the cover for a 2006 monograph by Edward Lucie-Smith of the artist’s work; that same year, Rivba Yares Gallery celebrated the painting with an exhibition in Santa Fe, N.M.
The auction’s exhibition takes place May 12 through May 15 at 1338 W. Lake St. in Chicago’s West Loop.
Pablo Picasso’s etching ‘Le Repas Frugal’ is from an edition of 250. The work measures 18 1/8 inches by 14 3/4 inches. It has a $120,000-$140,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Roy Lichtenstein’s 1970 brass sculpture ‘Untitled Head I’ stands 25 1/2 inches tall. No. 17 of an edition of 75, it carries an estimate of $70,000-$90,000. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. ‘Horse’ is a mixed media sculpture by Deborah Butterfield (American, b. 1949). It measures 26 1/2 inches by 46 inches by 11 inches and has a $20,000-$40,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. ‘Wall of Passion’ by Elias Rivera (Mexican, b. 1937) measures 80 inches by 68 inches. The 1997 oil on canvas has a $30,000-$50,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
This carved stone statue of a young man playing bagpipes got the April 24, 2010 auction at Kamelot off to a rousing start, making $5,280, with premium, against a $1,000-$1,500 estimate. Image courtesy Kamelot.
PHILADELPHIA – Before he got into the auction business, Jeff Kamal was a collector—who soon learned that auctions are an incomparable source of art, antiques and decorative objects.
“I started buying things at auction to furnish my house,” he recalled. “I realized that there were ways I could do a better job of it.”
At the time, Kamal had a successful career in pharmaceuticals. Friends were perplexed as to why he would give it up to launch an auction house.
“People look at auction houses the same way they do funeral homes,” he said. “They think you have to be born into the business and have it handed down to you.”
Kamal founded Kamelot Auction House in 2004, opening a 15,000-square-foot showroom in the historic Atwater-Kent Building in northwest Philadelphia. In addition to abundant free parking, the site offers ready access to major highways.
Kamelot grew rapidly by making the auction process easy for consignors and buyers. The house has a trusts and estates department, which provides top-notch support to banks, law firms, museums, corporations, and estate executors. Lots are staged in attractive room-like vignettes. Free appraisals are offered on most Wednesdays. Kamal, CEO and president, developed an international client pool through LiveAuctioneers.com, where prospective bidders can browse through digital catalogs, place bids and track sales.
To set himself apart from the pack, Kamal established a niche in architectural antiques, especially elements associated with the garden. That strategy quickly took root and blossomed through an annual sale in April, ideally positioned between the Chicago Garden Show and the New York Botanical show.
“It provides the top dealers with a great opportunity to replenish their inventory before the New York show,” Kamal noted.
The 2010 sale on April 24 got off to a cracking good start. The first lot, a Vincenza stone statue of a young man with bagpipes, resonated with bidders to the tune of $5,280, including 20-percent buyer’s premium. That’s five times the $1,000 low estimate.
A pair of Continental Neoclassical cast-led garden urns with ram’s-head handles, estimated at $3,000, fetched $13,800 with premium, taking honors as the top lot of the sale.
Along with such classics as urns and statuary, Kamal likes to offer the unexpected, as in the ancient fragment of a cypress tree consigned by an entrepreneurial Alabaman.
“She goes into swamps and drags out pieces of petrified wood,” he said.
The consignor’s sweat equity paid off, with the tree bringing $1,200, including premium.
Although the high end is strong, Kamal said many consignors are sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the economy to improve.
“The middle of the market is still very difficult,” he said. “A jardinière on a stand that would have brought $400-$600 several years ago will bring $200.”
Still, the cream rises to the top. At the April 2010 garden sale, a fine example of a bronze and iron circa-1910 Oscar Bach conservatory table with marble top brought a handsome $12,000, including premium. Kamal noted that several years ago a similar piece garnered $8,000.
Every auction tells a tale, and the account of Kamelot’s top lot to date is a genuine human-interest story. The coveted item on the block was a bronze-on-mahogany pedestal of a pensive seated scribe titled Nestor the Chronicler, by Russian sculptor Mark Matveevich Antokolsky (1843-1902). The bidder in the gallery was an elderly tailor, whose family had been acquainted with the artist.
“He had saved all his life for this one thing he could cherish,” Kamal recalled.
Bidding quickly zipped past the $20,000-$30,000 estimate, with the tailor and a dealer on the phone from New York competing in an electrifying duel.
The gavel went down at $253,000, when the tailor had to drop out of the bidding.
“He was tearful—and the people in the audience had tears in their eyes, too,” he said. “Everyone in the room wanted him to win the piece, but it spiraled beyond his grasp.”
In September 2009, Kamelot hosted the aftermath of another drama, a high-profile, no-reserve sale sparked by the acrimonious divorce of billionaires Tim and Edra Blixseth. Bidders from 27 countries registered for the sale through LiveAuctioneers.
The Blixseths lived large, as evidenced by the antiques they collected to furnish the posh Yellowstone Club they built near Big Sky, Montana, including two 1875 sideboards from a French chateau, measuring 12 feet high and more than 13 feet wide.
Kamelot’s reputation as a resource for architectural elements has inspired a few unusual requests. When the Pennsylvania Lottery wanted to depict its mascot Gus the Groundhog as royalty, Kamelot got the call.
“They borrowed a bunch of big, important chairs that look like thrones,” Kamal said.
When patrons of the Philadelphia Art Museum are looking for help in transporting large sculptures and statues, curators frequently suggest asking Kamelot for advice.
“Having a reputation for being able to move heavy things isn’t always a blessing,” Kamal said.
The top lot at the spring garden sale was a set of Continental Neoclassical cast-led garden urns with ram’s head handles. The pair was expected to fetch $3,000 but bidding sprouted to $13,800. Image courtesy Kamelot. In Kamelot’s brief history, the highest-priced lot to date was "Nestor the Chronicler," by Russian sculptor Mark Matveevich Antokolsky. The piece surpassed estimates by ten-fold, garnering $253,000. Image courtesy Kamelot. Mother Nature was the artist that created this petrified cypress tree, pulled from an Alabama swamp and sold for $1,200. Image courtesy Kamelot. This Oscar Bach conservatory table is decorated with a frieze of lions and castles and supported by bronze legs with acanthus leaf detailing. It sold for $12,000, including premium, at the April 24 garden sale. Image courtesy Kamelot. One of a pair of similar monumental rosewood sideboards, this circa-1875 French piece with central cast-iron rosette sold for $7,200, with 20-percent premium, when Kamelot auctioned off the contents of an exclusive club following a billionaire breakup. Image courtesy Kamelot.
Los 218 ist der berühmte Thom Sarorstát Überdruck 1d in einem Block mit dem Fehler "Missing Accent and AT", niemals angekommen, beginnend bei 9000 Euro. (Photo – Rodgau Philatelie). Ein irisches Briefmarken Auktionshause ? In Deutschland ?
“Ja,” sagt Roy Hamilton-Bowen von Rodgau Philatelie, Eisenbahnstr. 8 in Rodgau, Deutschland. “Irische Briefmarken in deutscher Qualität” is sein Geschäftsmotto. Das Logo seiner Webseite www.hibernian-news.eu ist eine grüne Briefmarke geschmückt mit einer Harfe, einem irischen Symbol, welches aus dem 13 Jh. stammt.
Hamilton-Bowen ist geborener New Yorker, der international in London und Paris aufwuchs. Er begann bereits als Jugendlicher Briefmarken zu sammeln, irische Briefmarken begannen ihn zu faszinieren, nachdem er eine Zeit auf der smaragdgrünen Insel verbracht hatte.
In den späten 70igern des letzten Jahrhunderts begann er im Briefmarken Geschäft zu arbeiten. Auf seinem Weg schnappte er etwas Deutsch auf, endete aber schließlich in einem Vollzeit-Job des Unternehmens in Dublin.
Als im Jahr 1985 die Mehrwertsteuer von 10 auf 25 Prozent stieg, überspannte die Firma einen Kredit gegenüber einem deutschen Kunden und musste in Liquidation gehen. Hamilton-Bowen entschied sich, die Gelegenheit beim Schopfe zu packen und startete sein eigenes irisches Briefmarken Geschäft in Rodgau, Deutschland. Seine Autionen finden online aber auch per Katalog statt, er allerdings hat das Sammeln seit längerer Zeit aufgegeben.
“Ein wichtiger Kunde könnte kommen und ich würde Stücke aus meiner eigenen Sammlung nutzen, um seine Bedürfnisse zu befriedigen”, begründet er seinen Entscheidung.
Rodgau Philatelie Auktion, welches am 22. Mai geschlossen wird, hat 715 Lose irischer Briefmarken und sonstiger Postsendungen anzubieten mit einem Vorverkaufswert von insgesamt ca. 250.000 Euro..
Von besonderem Interesse sind Los 333, eine 1939 wieder-gravierte 10/ mit Überdruckdopplung in ausgezeichnetem Neuzustand mit einem Startpreis von 6000 Euro; Los 124, eine registrierter Schutzumschlag mit vermischter Überdruckfrankierung inklusive dem Dollard 1/2d mit invertiertem Überdruck, beginnend bei 3000 Euro und Los 105, das erste Exemplar der seltenen “SLIGO” Vorläufer, welches seit vielen Jahren wieder auf dem Markt ist, beginnend bei 2500 Euro.
“Ich finde die provisorischen Überdrucke aus den Jahren 1922-23 am interessantesten”, erklärt Hamilton-Bowen.
Die Jahre seiner Interessen und jüngsten Expertisen bezüglich dieser Briefmarken brachten ihm Spitzenanerkennung in der Welt der Briefmarkensammler. Sein Artikel über die provisorischen Überdrucke wurden in der Märzausgabe des London Philatelist veröffentlicht.
“Das war die höchste Auszeichnung, die ich erwarten konnte.”, bemerkt Hamilton-Bowen stolz.
Roy Hamilton-Bowen, Besitzer von Rodgau Philatelie, Rodgau, Deutschland. (Photo – Rodgau Philatelie).
Rodgau Philatelie kann kontaktiert werden unter +49 6106 3023.
Wilkommen:
LiveAuctioneers Mitglied, Düsseldorf Auktionshaus von www.Lauritz.com.
Leipziger Buchmesse zieht 156.00 Besucher an
Ein Schatz im Regal: Melzers Antiquarium, Lüdenscheid, brachte nicht nur schön gedruckte Bücher zur Leipziger Antiquariatsmesse, sondern auch ein Knopf-Muster-Buch von ca. 1890, Preis bei 2.400 Euro. (Photo von Heidi Lux).
Eine Rekordbesucherzahl genoss die Leipziger Buchmesse 2010. Das kennzeichnete auch das 16. Jahr für die Antiquariatsmesse in Halle 3 mit 69 Händlern aus Deutschland, Österreich, den Niederlanden, Ungarn, der Tschechischen Republick, Schweden und Finnland.
“Es ist eine wunderbare Messe,” notierte Michael Melzers Antiquarium in Lüdenscheid.
“Sogar Nicht-Sammler kommen hier her, um zu fragen und zu kaufen.”
Durch das Leipziger Buchkunst Museum und das Gutenberg-Museum, Mainz, durchgeführte Demonstrationen uralter Drucktechniken vervollständigten die antiquariatische Erfahrung in Halle 3.
Die nächste Leipziger Buchmesse ist für den 17. – 20. März 2011 angesetzt. Wenn Sie an weiteren Details dazu interessiert sind, besuchen Sie ww.abooks.de.
Frühlings Auktionen:
Galerie Bassenge, Berlin (Grunewald):
Frühlings Auktionen: Kunst inklusiv Drucke, Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Moderne Kunst, 3. – 5. Juni; Druckgraphik des 15. – 18. Jahrhunderts und Buntpapiere 3. Juni; Druckgraphik des 19. Jahrhunderts und Verschiedenes 3. Juni; Gemälde Alter und Neuer Meister, 4. Juni; Zeichnungen des 15. – 19. Jahrhunderts, 4. Juni; Moderne Kunst Teil II, 5. Juni. www.bassenge.com
Villa Grisebach, Zürich:
Frühjahrsauktionen – Klassische und Zeitgenössische Fotografie, 3. Juni; Ausgewählte Werke, 4. Juni; Zeigenössische Kunst, 4. Juni; Kunst des 19., 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts, 5. Juni. Zweite Etage – Schätzwerte bis 3000 Euro, 5. Juni. www.villa-grisebach.de
Galerie Widmer Auktionen AG, St. Gallen, der Schweiz:„Ausgewählte Werke“ 2011 – 4. Juni. www.galeriewidmer.com
Widmer A. Dietrich
Los Nr. 60 – Adolf Dietrich (1877 – 1977), Grünspecht auf Föhrenast, 1955. Öl auf Karton. Schätzpreis: CHF 80,000- 55,000. (Foto mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Galerie Widmer).
Schweizer Kunst, von 19. Jahrehunderts, 14. Juni. www.sothebys.com
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Eine aus den USA stammende, freischaffend tätige Journalistin – Heidi Lux ist in der Nähe von Rochester, NY, aufgewachsen – und hat das Studium am Nazareth College in Rochester erfolgreich abgeschlossen. Ihr derzeitiger Wohnsitz befindet sich in Sachsen, Deutschland, wo Sie als Englisch Redakteur und Privatlehrer für Englisch arbeitet. Ihre journalistischen Arbeiten wurden sowohl in den englisch sprachigen Magazinen “Transitions Abroad” und “German Life” veröffentlicht, sowie auch in mehreren US-amerikanischen Publikationen des Antiquitätenhandels.
An outstanding pair of pressed Sandwich Tulip vase raised on rare hexagonal bases, brilliant deep peacock blue. Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., 1845-1865. Height: 11 inches. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
MOUNT CRAWFORD, Va. – Early American glass and lighting from famous collections and renowned museums will be sold at auction by Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates on May 22. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
The sale will feature part one of the outstanding 30-year collection of Larry and Sandy Mackle of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and a large group of material formerly in the collection of Dr. E.R. Eller, longtime curator at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, which has descended in his family. In addition, the auction will include material deaccessioned by the Sandwich Glass Museum in Sandwich, Mass., choice selections from the collection of Ken Lyon, Fisher’s Hill, Va., as well as important private consignments from Cape Cod, Mass., New York City, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Part one of the Mackle collection includes more than 50 pieces purchased at the legendary William J. Elsholz auctions in 1986 and 1987. The more than 250 Mackle pieces in this auction span a wide range of American-made blown and pressed objects, primarily from the first three quarters of the 19th century.
Free-blown wares include an important and probably unique pair of opalescent-bloom sapphire blue baluster-form vases, each raised on a knopped stem and trumpet foot. This impressive pair stands 11 1/2 inches high and was probably produced in New England during the middle of the 19th century. Originally part of the renowned pioneering collection of Frederick K. Gaston of Greenwich, Conn, the vases were purchased at the 1940 auction of the Gaston collection by preeminent American glass author and collector George McKearin. They were included in plate 58 of McKearin’s 1941 tome, American Glass, where they were described as “unique so far as we know.” The Mackles purchased these vases at the first William J. Elsholz auction, conducted Dec. 9, 1986. While part of the Elsholz collection, the pair was exhibited at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.
Another rare free-blown object in the Mackle collection is a monumental colorless salver, or cake stand, with an applied cobalt blue plate edge and medial-stem collar. This 16-inch diameter salver is identical in form to the example illustrated in the 1868 trade catalog of Bakewell, Pears and Co. of Pittsburgh. While it is not uncommon to encounter Pittsburgh-attributed free-blown ring jars, string holders and pillar-molded decanters with cobalt-blue decorative applications, this is the first color-decorated salver that principal auctioneer and glass specialist Jeffrey S. Evans has ever seen.
“It is a tour-de-force of American glass and a testament to the artistic skills of Pittsburgh area glass blowers,” said Evans. “The simple, yet elegant form and the conspicuous use of contrasting colorless and deep blue elements beget an object as easily at home in a contemporary “modern art” setting as in its original 19th century context,” he added.
Other noteworthy and impressive categories represented in the Mackle collection include several fine lily-pad and gadroon decorated pieces; exceptional groupings of colored pressed flint vases, candlesticks and compotes; rare colored and colorless whale oil and fluid period lamps; and a fine selection of Sandwich and other colored cologne bottles.
Dr. E. R. Eller was a close friend of both George McKearin and Lowell Innes, and his collection includes pieces owned and published by McKearin, as well as numerous objects published by Innes in his seminal Pittsburgh Glass 1797-1891. This Eller-collected grouping includes rare Pittsburgh-area blown, cut and pressed wares; a fine selection of witch balls and whimsies; early bottles and flasks; and a rare bound volume of five original 1893 U.S. Glass Co. trade catalogs.
Additional important consignments to the auction include two rare Trevaise art-glass vases produced by the short-lived Alton Manufacturing Co. of Sandwich, Mass.; pressed lacy-period wares including rare colored salts; a large collection of colored and colorless cup plates; cut overlay articles including two panes; and reference materials.
“The Mackle collection represents one of the finest groupings that we have ever sold. It is outstanding in both its breadth and quality,” said Evans.
An illustrated color catalog has been published at a cost of $30 plus postage and tax as applicable. The entire catalog will also be available through jeffreysevans.com and liveauctioneers.com. See the firm’s website for additional details, highlights, e-mail notification, and to order the catalog, or phone 540-434-3939.
The sale will begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern at the firm’s gallery at 2177 Green Valley Lane in Mount Crawford, Va.
Previews will be May 19-21, 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily; and on the day of the sale beginning at 8 a.m.
As part of the Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Lecture Series, Mary Cheek Mills of the Corning Museum of Glass will present Cut Vine and Shamrock: Lamps and Tableware of Union Cut and Plain Flint Glassworks on May 21 at 6 p.m. This special lecture is free and open to the public.
The second part of the Mackle collection, containing their assemblage of primarily flint Early American Pattern glass, will be included in the firm’s Sept. 25 Early American Pattern Glass auction that will be held in conjunction with the Early American Pattern Glass Society’s Eastern Regional meeting.
Important pair of free-blown vases, stunning sapphire blue with an opalescent bloom. Probably New England, 1840-1860. Height: 11 1/2 inches. Estimate: $2,000-4,000. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates. Monumental free-blown salver, colorless and cobalt blue. Probably Bakewell, Pears & Co., Pittsburgh, 1850-1875. Height: 10 inches; diameter: 16 inches. Estimate: $2,000-3,000. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates. From a fine selection of pressed Sandwich Tulip vases in shades of green, blue and amethyst. Boston & Sandwich Glass Co., 1845-1865. Heights: 10 inches. Estimates: $2,000-$6,000 each. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates. From a large selection of rare colored whale oil and fluid lamps. 1845-1865. Estimates: $1,500-$4,000 each. Image courtesy Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates.
Lot 218 in Rodgau Philatelie’s May 24 auction is the famous Thom Sarorstát overprint 1d in a block of 6 with the error "Missing Accent and AT," never hinged, ex Gillespie, starting at 9,000 Euro. Photo courtesy Rodgau Philatelie. An Irish stamp auction house? In Germany?
“Yes,” says Roy Hamilton-Bowen of Rodgau Philatelie, Eisenbahn Strasse 8, in the German city of Rodgau. “Irish Stamps with German Quality” is his business motto, and the logo of his Web site www.hibernian-news.eu is a green stamp emblazoned with a harp, an Irish symbol that dates back to the 13th century.
Hamilton-Bowen is a native New Yorker who grew up internationally, in London and Paris. He started collecting postage stamps when he was in his teens. His fascination with Irish stamps began after spending time on the Emerald Isle.
In the late 1970s Hamilton-Bowen began working for a stamp business from New York City. He picked up a little German language along the way and ended up working full time for the company in Dublin. “I specialized in helping the German customers,” he said.
In 1985, the year the Value Added Tax (VAT) increased from 10 to 25 percent, the business overextended credit to a German customer and went into liquidation. Hamilton- Bowen decided to seize the opportunity and start his own Irish postage stamp business in Rodgau.
His auctions are online and by catalog, but he has long since given up collecting. “An important client would come along and I would end up dipping into my own collection to meet their needs,” he said.
Rodgau Philatelie’s auction, which closes May 22, features 715 lots of Irish stamps and postal history, with a presale reserve totaling almost a quarter of a million Euro.
Of special interest is Lot 333, a 1935 re-engraved 10/-with overprint double in superb mint condition, starting at 6000 Euro; Lot 124, a registered cover with mixed overprint franking including the Dollard 1/2d with inverted overprint, starting at 3000 Euro; and Lot 105, the first example of the scarce “SLIGO” forerunner to come on the market in many years, starting at 2500.
“For me, I find the 1922-1923 Irish provisional overprints most interesting,” said Hamilton-Bowen.
His years of interest and expertise in these stamps recently brought him a top honor in the stamp-collecting world. His article on Irish Provisional Overprints was published in the March issue of the London Philatelist.
“For me, that’s as good as it gets,” said Hamilton-Bowen.
Roy Hamilton-Bowen, owner of Rodgau Philatelie, Rodgau, Germany. Photo courtesy Rodgau Philatelie.
Rodgau Philatelie may be contacted at +49 6106 3023. Their next auction, with Internet live bidding provided by LiveAuctioneers.com, will be held on May 24, 2010 and contains more than 700 lots with combined starting prices of almost a quarter-million Euro.
Lauritz.com
Welcome to new LiveAuctioneers client, the Dusseldorf auction house of wwwLauritz.com. Lauritz Christensen Auctions, one of the oldest auction houses in Denmark, has 18 locations in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany. It was the first Danish auction house to provide online auctions. Their Web site currently features some sumptuous modern furniture by Charles Eames and Arne Jacobson, but they have objects of fine Modern design in every category.
Leipzig Buchmesse Attracts 156,000
A treasure on the shelves: Melzers Antiquarium, Lüdenscheid, brought not only lovely printed books to the Leipzig Antiquariatsmesse, but a Button Pattern Book, circa 1890, priced at 2,400 Euro. Photo by Heidi Lux.
Record numbers of visitors enjoyed the 2010 Leipzig Buchmesse. This marked the 16th year for the Antiquariatsmesse in Hall 3, with 69 dealers from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland.
“It’s a wonderful fair,” noted Michael Melzer from Melzers Antiquarium in Lüdenscheid. “Even non-collectors are coming here, asking questions and buying.”
Demonstrations in Hall 3 in age-old book printing techniques by the Leipzig Buchkunst Museum and the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, made the antiquarian book experience complete.
The next Leipzig Buchmesse is slated for March 17-20, 2011. For details about the Antiquariatsmesse, visit www.Abooks.de
Upcoming Auctions
Galerie Bassenge, Berlin (Grunewald):
Spring Auctions: Art including prints, paintings, drawings and modern art, June 3-5; print graphics from the 15th to 18th century and ornamental papers, June 3; print graphics of the 19th century and miscellaneous prints, June 3; Old and New Master paintings June 4; Drawings from the 15th to 19th century June 4; Modern Art part II June 5. www.bassenge.com.
Villa Grisebach, Zürich:
Classic and contemporary photography June 3; selected works June 4; contemporary art, June 4; art of the 19th, 20th and 21st century June 5. Third Floor – Estimates to 3000 Euro, June 5. www.villa-grisebach.de
Galerie Widmer Auktionen AG, St. Gallen, Switzerland:
Selected Works 2101 – June 4. www.galeriewidmer.com
Widmer A. Dietrich
Lot 60 – Adolf Dietrich (1877 – 1977), Grünspecht auf Föhrenast, 1955. Oil on card stock. Estimate: 80,000- 55,000 Swiss Franks. (Photo courtesy Galerie Widmer).
Schmidt Kunstauktionen, Dresden:
24th Art Auction – art work from the 17th – 21st century, June 12. www.schmidt-auktionen.de
Sotheby’s Zürich:
Swiss art from the 19th century – June 14. www.sothebys.com
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An American freelance writer, Heidi Lux grew up near Rochester, N.Y., and is a graduate of that city’s Nazareth College. She presently lives in Saxony, Germany, where she works as an English language editor and private tutor. Her work has appeared in Transitions Abroad and German Life magazines, as well as Style Century Magazine.
Antique duck decoy carved by Robert Elliston and purchased in April by former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson for $100,625. Image courtesy of Guyette and Schmidt, Inc., the company that conducted the auction.
SPRING VALLEY, Ill. (AP) – A century-old wooden duck decoy carved in Bureau Junction went from being forgotten and neglected to becoming a prized possession of former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson.
In the world of collectibles and antiques, the decoy discovery and then $100,625 sale at auction was a true believe-it-or-not story, said Joe Tonelli of Spring Valley.
Tonelli, Midwest representative for the company that conducted the auction during the Midwest Decoy Collectors Association 25th annual decoy show, isn’t certain how often a wooden duck decoy carved perhaps 110 years ago by Robert Elliston of Bureau was used and how many waters it floated in over the years, but he figures it sold last month for about 100,000 times its original sale price.
“It’s kind of a fairy-tale story. Elliston originally sold that decoy for about 75 cents,” said Tonelli, noting Elliston resided south of Bureau, kept bees, carved decoys and built boats and supplied most of the decoys and boats for the Princeton Game and Fish Club in Bureau County and Senachwine Duck Club in Putnam County.
Here’s what happened:
Tonelli said he cannot tell the names of the sellers or all the details of how the decoy was discovered, but a young couple that originally “met at a church thing” bought an old, extremely dilapidated farmhouse north of Indianapolis. The new buyer of the old house climbed up into the attic for restoration work and to put in some insulation. He was up in the rafters and in the corner found a gunnysack, which came open to reveal about 10 antique duck decoys.
As Tonelli tells it, the owner took the decoys to the basement and set back to work. His wife discovered a lead keel strip on some of the ducks stamped “The Elliston Decoy.” She went to a friend’s house, Googled that phrase and came across stories Joe Tonelli’s wife Donna had written about Elliston for Decoy Magazine.
“He does a search and he’s telling me about this stuff. Elliston decoys are relatively common unless they’re in the original paint. But these are in the original paint,” Joe Tonelli said.
Joe told the seller that seven of the decoys were by Mason Decoy Co. from Detroit, and brought about $15,000 total; but three were rarer Elliston decoys.
Judging from the decoy cord and the big lead weights still attached to the rig of decoys, Tonelli estimated “Those ducks had probably been stored for a minimum of 60 to 70 years and forgotten.” His theory is the ducks were used on the Illinois River first and, just maybe, taken to Indiana for hunting on the Kankakee River marsh before they were put up and out of sight.
One of the Elliston ducks was a mallard drake with head pointing straight forward, a fairly common example. Another was an extremely rare “turned-head sleeper” a sleeping hen mallard that eventually brought $40,250 at the auction in St. Charles.
Tonelli said the young couple that found the ducks had hoped they might get $5,000 for them or even up to $25,000 to help pay for restorations and a garage, “and I said, no way, you’ve got a minimum of $50,000.”’
The decoy with the turned head in a preening position was the real prize, and when it showed up in the auction catalog, former Governor Thompson contacted Tonelli to ask about it.
Tonelli knew it was rare and old because it had the round-backed characteristics of Elliston’s pre-1900 decoys. He also figured the estimate listed in the catalog was way too low at $12,000-$15,000, and he told Thompson he thought it was “the finest decoy in the auction.”
“It’s a very rare one,” Thompson told a NewsTribune reporter. “I got a collection that I started about eight years ago. It’s a collection of Illinois River duck decoys only those decoys hand-carved and painted by known Illinois River carvers, in original paint, no repairs.
“The only major carver I didn’t have was Elliston.”
Because Elliston’s ducks predate even those of famous carver Charles Perdew of Henry, a lot of Elliston’s decoys are in poor condition, Thompson said.
“Up came this, not only in wonderful shape but it’s a rare one, a preener. OK, this is the one I’ve been waiting for.”
Thompson was bidding against a man from New Jersey and another man from Iowa, he said.
Thompson has installed the decoy in his collection in Michigan, he said.
“It’s a wonderful bird. Very folky,” he said.
He added that Elliston’s wife was, much like Perdew’s, an outstanding painter. Thompson has about 40 decoys, and considers the Elliston specimen his crown jewel.
He said it’s easier to list what he doesn’t collect. He has a collection of every signature of every Illinois governor. He has campaign buttons going back to about 1870, he said.
Thompson’s decoy collection also reflects his hobby of duck hunting, which he started up when he began collecting decoys, he said.
“Your area is a great area for hunting,” Thompson told a NewsTribune reporter. “If anyone has any good Illinois River decoys, call me.”
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Information from: NewsTribune, http://www.newstrib.com
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Photo of Chief Sitting Bull and "Buffalo Bill" Cody, which sold in a May 24, 2007 auction. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Lyn Knight Auctions. MEDORA, N.D. (AP) – Exhibits at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in Medora this season will include a vest owned by Sioux leader Sitting Bull and a gun owned by Wild West showman “Buffalo Bill” Cody.
Both items are on loan from other museums.
The vest will become part of an exhibit called “Civil War in the West,” which focuses on land ownership on the Western plains. Another piece includes a six-shooter owned by Buffalo Bill.
Hall executive director Darrell Dorgan says the items were flown into Bismarck and then driven to Medora, with escorts provided by county sheriff’s departments along the way.
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On the Net: www.northdakotacowboy.com
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Information from: The Dickinson Press, http://www.thedickinsonpress.com
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Blackbeard the Pirate, copperplate engraving published in Daniel Defoe’s 1736 Capt. Teach alias Black-Beard (Publisher: Oliver Payne, London). JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (AP) – Archaeologists are trying an experimental method to preserve artifacts from a shipwreck believed to be the flagship of the pirate Blackbeard that sits off North Carolina’s coast.
The Daily News of Jacksonville reported that staff from the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch went on a three-day expedition last week to preserve parts of the Queen Anne’s Revenge while the artifacts are on the sea floor.
Project director Mark Wilde Ramsing says aluminum rods were attached to several anchors and a cannon to change the electrochemical process that corrodes iron in saltwater. Ramsing hopes the rods will reduce or reverse the amount of salt absorbed by the iron objects.
By beginning conservation underwater, archaeologists can potentially save time and space at the conservation lab, where it can take up to five years to remove salts from a large cannon using electrolysis.
“Hopefully this will reduce the time by several years,” Wilde Ramsing said. “It’s fairly experimental and if nothing else, it will help to stop the artifacts from continuing to corrode.”
Meanwhile, a nonprofit group called Friends of QAR has been established to provide funding for the shipwreck project. And the state has an initiative to retrieve all the shipwreck’s artifacts by 2013, including a dive planned for this fall, Wilde Ramsing said.
The shipwreck was located in November 1996. Archaeologists with the N.C. Underwater Archaeology Branch have led research on the wreck for the past 13 years.
Artifacts that have already been through the conservation process are on display at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort.
Since 2018 marks the 300th anniversary of the sinking of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the state hopes to mark that date with the opening of a QAR exhibit hall at the museum.
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Information from: The Daily News, http://www.jdnews.com
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The outlook for the sale of a one-of-a-kind Michael Jackson portrait isn’t thrilling.
The eBay.com auction of a fantastical portrait the King of Pop posed for before his death ended with no bids, according to the auction’s organizer. The painting’s owner had hoped to fetch millions for The Book, a 50-by-40-inch (130-by-100-centimeter) painting by Australian artist Brett-Livingstone Strong of Jackson wearing a red velvet jacket and clutching a journal.
“I have two parties considering it, so perhaps I will have a buyer soon,” organizer Marc Samson said Wednesday.
The painting’s owner, Marty Abrams, anticipated the portrait, originally sold to Japanese businessman Hiromichi Saeki for $2.1 million in 1990, would go for over $3 million in the auction, which required a minimum starting bid of $2.75 million. The toy inventor acquired the painting with his partner, John Gentilly, in 1992 from Saeki as payment on a debt.
For over 17 years, Abrams kept the painting in storage in a New Jersey warehouse. It was briefly on display at Dancy-Power Automotive showroom in New York’s Harlem neighborhood after Jackson’s death in June.
Abrams said last month the portrait, which also features a Peter Pan statue painted behind a seated Jackson, was now hanging inside his home in Kings Point, New York.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Along with this fantastic carved bed is a matching armoire and nightstand. The set is expected to sell for $7,500-$12,500. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery.
CUMMING, Ga, – A heavily carved three-piece Italian bedroom set will be one of the brightest stars of an estates auction presented by Four Seasons Auction Gallery on May 15-16. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
It’s an amazing set, obviously carved by one of the old masters,” said Steve White, who estimated it will sell for $7,500-$12,500.
The four-poster bed has carved cherubs on the crest, a chariot scene carved on the footboard and nude figures on two of the posts. The armoire, which has a beveled mirror on the front, is 108 inches tall by 48 inches wide by 20 inches deep. The nightstand is 51 inches tall by 19 inches wide by 16 inches deep.
The auction is composed of two fine Southern collector estates: Mae Payne’s from Seneca, S.C., and Jerry Gandy’s from Fayetteville, Ga. Additional antiques are from the John Gregory historic home in Saco Maine, which was built for a lumber baron with the Saco River Lumber Co., the Victorian mansion of Col. Samuel N. Campbell in Cherryfield, Maine, and a plantation home in Wilmington, Ga.
Oil paintings to be sold at the auction include a large interior scene by Johann Hamza, a German-born artists whose works have sold for as much as $92,000. The 38-inch by 28-inch painting in Four Seasons’ sale has a $15,000-$25,000 estimate.
A collection of approximately 200 pieces of Roseville pottery will sell on the first day. Included is a 9-inch Baneda vase from about 1933, which retains its Roseville paper label. The vase has a $1,000-$1,500 estimate.
The sale will also feature a collection of Victorian lamps and lighting fixtures along with a large number of smalls. Collectibles will include a dozen Royal Doulton figurines.
The auction Saturday will begin at 9 a.m. Eastern. Sunday’s session will begin at 10 a.m.
For details phone Four Seasons Auction Gallery at 404-876-1048.
Fabulous relief work is evident in this 16-inch-high gilt clock case by Ansonia. The mantel clock has a mercury pendulum and open escapement. It has a 500-$1,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery. Issued in 1960, the Royal Doulton porcelain figure, The Craftsman, HN2284, is 6 inches high. It has a $50-$150 estimate. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery. Among the best pieces of Roseville in the auction is this Baneda vase #596-9 Johann Hamza (German-American, 1850-1927) painted this interior scene, which is 38 inches wide by 28 inches high. It has a $15,000-$25,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery. The New Juno Cherub Banquet Lamp stands 33 inches high including chimney. The shade is 10 inches in diameter. It carries a $400-$600 estimate. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery.
Eine aus den USA stammende, freischaffend tätige Journalistin – Heidi Lux ist in der Nähe von Rochester, NY, aufgewachsen – und hat das Studium am Nazareth College in Rochester erfolgreich abgeschlossen. Ihr derzeitiger Wohnsitz befindet sich in Sachsen, Deutschland, wo Sie als Englisch Redakteur und Privatlehrer für Englisch arbeitet. Ihre journalistischen Arbeiten wurden sowohl in den englisch sprachigen Magazinen “Transitions Abroad” und “German Life” veröffentlicht, sowie auch in mehreren US-amerikanischen Publikationen des Antiquitätenhandels.
