McCoy multicolor Fox Squirrel cookie jar, $4,600. Image courtesy Belhorn Auction Services. COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Carol Seman & Dan Eggert Collection of Cookie Jars & McCoy Pottery was featured by Belhorn Auction Services on Nov. 14 in Zanesville, Ohio, and produced remarkable results. Internet live bidding was provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
“McCoy Pottery traditionally has a loyal following and there was also very strong interest in cookie jars including pieces ranging from extremely rare to more common productions. Many people at the auction commented to me that they were encouraged to see high demand and prices for these items.” said Greg Belhorn, auctioneer and president of Belhorn Auction Services.
A handmade McCoy panther by Sidney Cope (1882-1961) received bids from both the floor and online up to $10,000. After additional competition on the floor closed, the hammer dropped for this unique piece at $13,000 plus the 15 percent buyer’s premium, setting a record price for McCoy pottery at $14,950.
“More than a piece of McCoy, this is an amazing sculptural work by Sidney Cope,” explained Belhorn. “It’s little wonder why this piece set the new high-bar mark for McCoy Pottery.”
Sidney Cope, and his son Leslie (1913-2002), were the principal designers for the McCoy Pottery from the mid-1930s through the mid-1960s.
A second piece, also handmade by Sidney, was a McCoy Washtub Lady planter in unusual rustic orange glaze. Lively bidding ending at $3,680. (Prices include the buyer’s premium.)
Carol and Dan’s collection was built during a period of over 20 years seeking out rare and unusual items. Bidders from 11 states in addition to Ohio, along with online bidders from virtually every state in the nation as well as Canada fueled the bids on 500 lots of cookie jars and McCoy Pottery. In addition to McCoy cookie jars, makers such as Abingdon, American Bisque, Brush, Maddux, Regal, Robinson Ransbottom, Rick Wisecarver and others were sold.
Also well-represented by price were rare and unusual cookie jars. A blue McCoy Choo-Choo Train with white smoke sold for $7,015, while a McCoy red Fox Squirrel cookie jar closed at $4,600.
Carol Seman and Dan Eggert, who have been regulars at both McCoy Pottery and Cookie Jar events for years commented in a news release, “Every collection is a reflection of its collectors. Ours is no exception. We have shared a fondness for McCoy cookie jars, matte white stoneware, unusual Cope designs, oddities we used for articles in the NMXpress and the privilege of owning one-of-a-kind pieces of pottery and art from the Cope Gallery.” Seman added, “We are still in the afterglow of a happy day and seeing friends from long ago.”
Belhorn Auction Services is a recognized leader and expert in American Art Pottery Auctions and offers a full calendar of pottery auctions. Belhorn is the official auctioneer for the American Art Pottery Association, The Pottery Lovers Reunion and the Columbus Pottery Show & Auction. Full details, including prices realized from this auction and others, are available at Belhorn.com.
The one-of-a-kind Panther handmade by longtime McCoy designer Sidney Cope sold for $14,950. Although the Panther never went into production, the price is considered ar record for a piece of McCoy pottery. Image courtesy Belhorn Auction Services.McCoy blue Choo-Choo Train cookie jar with white smoke, $7,015. Image courtesy Belhorn Auction Services.McCoy Washtub Lady planter by Sidney Cope, $3,680. Image courtesy Belhorn Auction Services.
One of three tall-case clocks in the auction, this Edward Duffield, Philadelphia Queen Anne clock, lot 400, is expected to sell for $10,000-$15,000 on Saturday, Nov. 27. Image courtesy of Wiederseim Associates Inc.
CHESTER SPRINGS, Pa. – Wiederseim Associates Auctioneers will conduct their annual Thanksgiving Weekend sale on Nov. 26 and 27 at Griffith Hall, Ludwig’s Corner Firehouse, in Glenmoore, Pa. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
The two-day sale is brimming with high-quality items including Staffordshire figures, paintings, silver, furniture and accessories, antique firearms and Oriental carpets, mostly from the from the estates of Claire J. Rivello, Swarthmore, Pa., the estate of Leonard E.B. Andrews, featuring the former Staffordshire collection of Carroll B. Barnes Jr. of Philadelphia, and items from other estates and collections in and around the Delaware Valley.
The Friday session, which begins at 5 p.m. Eastern, has many interesting objects including over 20 Oriental carpets, several of which are Caucasian throw mats of good quality, and a palace-size Isfahan and a room-size Serapi, that are from the Rivello estate. A large oil on canvas painting by Walter Emerson Baum titled Allentown Houses #4 is one of four works by Baum in addition to works by Charles W. Hargens Jr., John J. Dull, Edmund D. Lewis and Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait among others.
Among the pieces of furniture being sold is an Arts and Crafts L.& J.G. Stickley sideboard which retains its original hardware, and a fine Philadelphia Pembroke mahogany table, circa 1775, in addition to a New York cherry corner cupboard.
The extensive collection of Staffordshire figures will be sold on both days and includes some rare and important pieces. Other highlights are two early Pennsylvania samplers, two early Continental brass candlesticks, a Delft garniture, and a selection of Continental and American silver to include an example by Philadelphia silversmith Joseph Richardson Jr.
The 450-plus lot Saturday session on Nov. 27 will begin at 9 a.m. with a wonderful selection of furniture, paintings, Staffordshire, antique firearms, jewelry and accessories including over 20 $20 American gold coins. In firearms, the best is a rare signed “S. Miller” Pennsylvania Kentucky rifle with brass inlays and brass patchbox. The gun was once owned by renowned dealer Joe Kindig.
A fine two-piece bronze figure signed “E. Hebert” (French 1828-1893) is an intricate and beautiful piece. Silver will also be sold in the Saturday session to include a rare flatware sterling silver flatware service in the Persian pattern by Tiffany and a basting spoon by well-known Philadelphia silversmith Philip Syng Jr. dated 1781.
Many pieces of antique American and English furniture will include a Philadelphia Hepplewhite mahogany inlaid serpentine chest of drawers, Philadelphia Chippendale walnut chest and several corner cupboards including a paint decorated example and a long leaf pine Eastern Shore barrel-back. The three tall-case clocks in the sale include a Queen Anne cherry tall-case clock signed “Edw. Duffield, Phila.” and a mahogany example signed “John Parry, Philadelphia.” Furniture by Baker and Kittinger is also well represented as well as a set of L. & J.G. Stickley dining chairs, dining table and desk to complement the Stickley sideboard being sold on Friday.
“This is always one of our best venues of the year. People love to get out after Thanksgiving and do something fun and exciting that encompasses both history and shopping,” said Ted Wiederseim. “There is always plenty of entertainment at our events.”
For additional sale information, preview times and the illustrated on-line catalog, please see the web page www.wiederseim.com or call 610-827-1910 or 610-574-9010. For live and absentee Internet bidding, go to LiveAuctioneers at www.liveauctioneers.com. Prices realized will be posted to the web page within 24 hours after completion of the auction.
Victorian diamond and pearl portrait bangle bracelet depicting female portraits on ivory. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – Nearly 650 mostly fresh-to-the-market lots in a dizzying array of categories will be offered at a two-session weekend sale slated for Dec. 3-4 by Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. The auction will be conducted in the firm’s new gallery at 620 Cornerstone Court. Online bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com.
“We have been fortunate to be concluding a terrific year in what has been an admittedly down economy,” said Leland Little of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. “In fact, we posted back-to-back record quarters, and for that we’re very proud. The team has worked hard all year, and this December sale is another reflection of our ability to attract quality consignments.”
The action will kick off Friday evening, Dec. 3, at 6 p.m. (following a daylong preview) in a session dedicated entirely to fine wine. It’s a category the firm has carefully nurtured along in recent sales. Expected top achievers will include two lots of three bottles each of Chateau Lafite Rothschild (French, 2000) and two case lots of 12 bottles of Chateau Haut-Brion (French, 1982).
Then, on Saturday morning, Dec. 4, close to 580 lots will come under the gavel. Period American furniture will feature a Federal mahogany drop-leaf library table from the shop of Duncan Phyfe (circa 1810-1830), a late 18th-century Chippendale mahogany kneehole desk made in New York, a walnut Southern cellaret on frame made around 1800 and with a cataloging label from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, a North Carolina walnut and pine chest of drawers crafted circa 1820 in Orange County (home of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales, Ltd.), a late 18th-century walnut with cedar secondary Southern inlaid center table from Eastern North Carolina, and a Southern Hepplewhite cellaret made in Virginia circa 1800.
Continental furniture will be no less impressive. Offerings will include a diminutive inlaid marble-top French abattant made from mahogany and other light and dark woods in the early 19th century, a Louis XV-style bureau plat with a tooled black leather top over a concave skirt with three side-by-side drawers, a pair of Louis XVI-style screens with Fortuny cotton fabric in a printed yellow damask design, an important English Sheraton satinwood veneer Pembroke table from the 18th century accented with rosewood and oak, and a Continental carved gilt wood large wall panel in the Rococo form, 18th century or earlier, large at 9 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 3 inches.
Asian objects will be served up in abundance. Sample lots include a Chinese Export orange Fitzhugh pattern platter made for the American market with an eagle and streamer depiction, a monumental 36-inch tall Imari covered temple jar from the Meiji period with ovoid tapered form, a Satsuma Thousand Face covered urn in hexagonal form and supported by three shaped feet, an amazing antique Chinese tester bed made in the late 19th century of mahogany with bone and lighter wood inlays, a bronze and gilt bronze Southeast Asian standing Buddha likely made in the 18th century, and a late 19th-century Burmese gilt lacquered Buddha from the Sakyamuni Mandalay period.
Other Asian lots worthy of mention include a group of three late 19th-century Chinese Export famille rose plaques, a Japanese ivory female Samurai warrior, a pair of 19th-century ivory cane handles, a Japanese ivory and wood figural group from the Meiji period (circa 1870), an antique Asian carved ivory hand fan of 14 overlapping panels, a signed Japanese ivory skeleton Okimono, and a pair of early 20th-century Japanese polychrome Samurai figures.
Continental works of fine art are certain to get paddles wagging. These include an oil on canvas by Albert Dawant (French, 1852-1923), signed lower right and depicting a stoic Napoleon addressing his troops before battle (and housed in a period frame of excellent quality), a shipwreck oil on canvas in the style of Joseph Vernet (French, 1714-1789), a signed and dated oil on canvas of birds in a landscape by Abraham Bisschop (1660-1731), and a pair of pictures by Abraham Hulk I (British, 1813-1897), signed lower left and housed in fine period gilt wood frames.
Works by American artists will also be much in evidence. Offerings include an oil on board lake scene by John Ross Key (Maryland/D.C., 1837-1920, grandson of Francis Scott Key, who wrote The Star Spangled Banner), two lots comprising five North Carolina-themed etchings on wove paper by Louis Orr (Connecticut/French, 1879-1961), a pencil-signed Jugtown etching by Antoinette Rhett (South Carolina, 1884-1964), a numbered, titled and signed woodcut by Anna Heyward Taylor (South Carolina, 1879-1956), a Raritan sketchbook filled with 48 mostly pencil and ink sketches by Francis Speight (North Carolina, 1896-1989), a signed oil on board rendering of a meandering stream by Robert E. Owen (New York, 1878-1957), and works of note by David B. Walkley (Ohio/Connecticut, 1849-1934), William Lester Stevens (Massachusetts, 1888-1969) and Samuel Dyke (Pennsylvania, 1834-1870), who will have two paintings in the auction.
Statuary and bronzes will feature a large antique Italian blackamoor carving with polychrome decoration (circa 18th century or earlier), a patinated terra-cotta sculptural group titled La Source, signed and dated by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824-1877), an Art Deco figural depiction of a serenade by Roland Paris (German, 1894-1915), a bronze statue titled Student Athlete by R. Tait McKenzie (Pennsylvania, 1867-1938), and a realistic lost wax method cast bronze rendering of three pigs reveling in a mud puddle by Andre Harvey (Delaware, b. 1941).
Fine estate jewelry is always a crowd-pleaser, and this sale has a lot of it. Examples include a Victorian diamond and pearl portrait bangle bracelet with a wide-hinge oval shape showing two detailed painted female portraits on ivory under a clear glass frame, a custom-made diamond bypass solitaire ring signed by Thibodeau and centering on a round brilliant partial bezel set in the center, an 18K gold man’s Rolex perpetual date watch with 54 round and baguette diamonds, a rare (only 100 made) Breitling SuperOcean Heritages chronograph watch (numbered 95/100), and a fine diamond ring set with a gorgeous emerald cut diamond weighing about 1.68 carats.
Other jewelry by makers of note will include a set of gold and diamond earclips by Danken, a fine diamond line bracelet by J.B. Star, a diamond dome ring by Kurt Wayne, a gold motion ring by N. Teufel, a Happy Diamonds ring and a sapphire and diamond ring by Chopard, a pavé diamond ring and a pair of Infinity earclips by David Yurman, and three offerings from Henry Dunay: a pair of hammered gold earclips, a beautifully hammered gold ring and a gold and diamond bracelet.
Continental sterling silver will also shine throughout the day. Anticipated top earners include a pair of George III entrée dishes and covers bearing the sponsor’s mark for Paul Storr (London, 1799), a George III sterling silver waiter with the sponsor’s mark for Thomas Hannom and John Crouch (London, 1798), a George IV sterling silver tray with armorial crest (London, 1814), a five-piece George IV sterling silver tea and coffee service (London, 1820s), and a Danish silver tea urn in the Regency style, dated 1908 and marked Michelsen, Copenhagen. American silver pieces and sets will be sold by manufacturers such as Towle, Gorham, Tiffany, Alvin, Reed & Barton and Durgin.
From the china and porcelains group, two pieces stand out. One is a Meissen porcelain figural group with a large pagoda figure shown seated on a floral strewn base, with a parrot perched on a stump by his knee. It’s unusual because it combines Meissen with Asian, two elements desired by collectors. The other piece is a 20th-century porcelain Amphora bust of a lady. The Teplitz Austrian Art Nouveau bust, in overall remarkable condition, is marked “Rstk Riessner, Stellmacher & Kessel.”
Historical items will feature a signed photograph of Grover Cleveland, 22nd president of the United States (1885-89) in overall very good condition, a one-page document signed by John Hay, the Secretary of State, dated Jan. 5, 1905, a Republican Party campaign circular for Ulysses S. Grant titled The Party of Freedom and Its Candidates – The Duty of the Colored Voter, and a rare set of North Carolina election tickets for 1868, providing Republican and Democratic Party listings of all state and local candidates for the time.
Militaria items will include a North Carolina Confederate’s archive with images and another one with Manassas (Va.) letters, a pair of Arkansas-to-North Carolina Civil War letters, one lot of three North Carolina Confederate documents, a North Carolina Confederate officer tintype with 1864 letter, and two lengthy North Carolina Confederate soldiers’ letters, as one lot.
Fans of Southern pottery will not be disappointed, beginning with the monumental Dave the Slave 8-gallon jar (Edgefield, S.C., 1857), ovoid form with applied wide ear handles and with a direct line of descent to the original owner. Other pottery pieces of note will include a salt-glazed stoneware storage jar by Nicholas Fox (Chatham County, N.C., 1797-1858), and a Chinese blue Han earthenware vase crafted by Ben Owen, master potter, circa 1960. Also offered will be glazed Auman Pottery bowls and vases by C.B. Masten (North Carolina, circa 1928-1930).
Vintage lighting will illuminate the crowd, as well as the room. The brightest star in the constellation promises to be a fine Continental Georgian-style crystal chandelier from the 19th century with 10 lights draped with cut crystal swags and five upper bell form cut crystal arms with ornate prism mounts. Other lots will feature a 19th-century bell form Empire-style crystal chandelier with multiple strands of crystals and 12 scrolled candle arms, and a pair of late 19th-century blown glass English three-light glass candelabra.
Art glass will feature a signed Quezal pulled feather trumpet vase from the early 20th century, plus examples by makers like Baccarat, Clark, Salviati, Lobmeyer, Steuben and Loetz. Persian rugs will include a fine and large antique Indian-Agra wool carpet, Amristar style with an overall pattern and floral center design (17 feet 9 inches by 11 feet 7 inches).
Fans of vintage toys and mechanical banks will be excited to see pieces by J. & E. Stevens, Kenton, Henry Chart and others.
Rounding out the day’s list of expected top lots is a 1929-30 Notre Dame champions rectangular pennant made of felt, a Mariano Fortuny (Italian) pleated silk Delphos tea gown made in the 1920s, weighted and edged with white Murano glass beads over a tunic forming points at the sided and center, and a small rectangular form North Carolina leather key basket with provenance and of tooled line decoration and rolled handle with decorative metal fixtures at the base.
For details call Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. at 919-644-1243, e-mail them at info@LLAuctions.com or log on to www.LLAuctions.com.
One lot consisting of three bottles of Chateau Lafite Rothschild wine (French, 2000 vintage). Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.Oil on canvas painting by Albert Dawant (French, 1852-1923), of Napoleon addressing his troops. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.Entree dishes Pair of George III entree dishes and covers bearing the mark of Paul Storr (London, 1799). Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.Monumental 8-gallon jar by the renowned 19th-century potter Dave the Slave, dated 1857. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.Fine Continental Georgian-style crystal chandelier, 10 lights draped with cut crystal swags. Image courtesy of Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.
Studio portrait of aviator Amelia Earhart, circa 1932. Courtesy Wikipedia.org.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Amelia Earhart was, of course, a famous pilot and pioneer for women. Her time as a fashion designer, though, usually isn’t something people remember about the woman who disappeared during a 1937 flight.
The National Air and Space Museum has added such details about her life as it overhauled one of its original galleries on the “Pioneers of Flight,” opening Friday, to go beyond the facts and figures about historic airplanes.
Curators acknowledged the original hall with planes flown by Earhart and Charles Lindbergh was a little bit “bare bones” since its creation when the museum opened in 1976.
“Now we have a chance to bring out the personalities,” curator Dorothy Cochrane said. “We knew we had other artifacts. We knew we had more information.”
Now the gallery includes more than 1,000 objects from the museum’s archives, including a jacket Earhart designed for female aviators, Lindbergh’s radio receiver, snow shoes and other emergency equipment he took on his daring flights with his wife, Anne.
Earhart’s bright red Lockheed Vega airplane is the centerpiece – which she flew to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932 and the only person to do so since Lindbergh – ringed by objects from her life. Earhart also made history in her “Little Red Bus,” as she called the plane, by flying it nonstop across the United States later that year.
The plane was featured last year in the movie Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Other sections feature milestones from military aviation and pioneering black aviators, including the Tuskegee Airmen from World War II. A version of the exhibit on those who broke the color barrier in flight will travel to museums nationally in 2011.
Museum Associate Director Peter Jakab said the personal stories added to the exhibit will engage more visitors at the museum, which attracts millions of tourists each year.
“It’s at this intersection of hardware and human beings … where museums can be at their best,” he said, adding that the 1920s and 1930s laid the foundation for modern aerospace. “By the end of the 1930s, there was no turning back: We were a species with wings.”
The gallery’s overhaul was funded by a $10 million grant from the Los Angeles-based Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 2008, and it is named in honor of Barron Hilton.
The gift also funded one of the Smithsonian’s first early childhood education programs. The gallery includes a children’s corner with a puppet theater that will offer daily programs.
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Online:
National Air and Space Museum: http://www.nasm.si.edu
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-ES-11-16-10 1535EST
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Tuskegee Airmen, photo taken circa May 1942 to Aug 1943. Location unknown, likely southern Italy or North Africa. U.S. Federal Government image.
1870 artist’s depiction of Pocahontas saving the life of colonist Capt. John Smith. New England Chromo. Lith. Co., sourced from Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.
SURRY, Va. (AP) – A historic plantation on the James River in Surry County has a new owner.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that Swann’s Point Plantation was sold at auction this week for $7.1 million to an individual from Littleton, Colorado.
The plantation was part of a wedding gift to Pocahontas in 1614 from her father, Chief Powhatan, when she married colonist John Rolfe. The property was most recently owned by Stanley Yeskolske, a businessman who died several years ago.
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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://www.pilotonline.com
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.
