Attributed to Samuel Robb, this early cigar store Indian is reported to have been stored in a warehouse for 100 years. Estimate: $25,000-$50,000. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery.
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Four Seasons Auction Gallery has collected dozens of outstanding items from local and national estates and consignments for its New Year’s Day Auction Extravaganza, which begins at noon, Saturday, Jan. 1. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
Topping the lineup is an early cigar store Indian attributed to Samuel Robb. The carved Indian features a “V” feather headdress and original polychrome finish on gesso. The 56-inch-tall figure stands on a 14-inch base. It carries a $25,000-$50,000 estimate.
Vintage automobiles, a restored Army jeep, museum Harley Davidson motorcycles, an early wicker horse-drawn carriage, and garden statuary and fountains are among the big items in the auction.
Superb French, American, English and Continental furniture, a selection of Oriental rugs, bronzes, paintings, fine jewelry and decorative arts will also be offered.
For details visit Four Seasons Auction Gallery website at www.fsagallery.com or phone 404-876-1048.
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.LiveAucvtioneers.com.
Diamond platinum brooch, retro Knot and Cascade design, 11.01 total carat weight. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery.Restored 1945 Willys Army jeep from National Museum of Patriotism, Atlanta. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery.2000 Harley Davidson Road King Police Special Motorcycle, custom painted with patriotic scenes, originally from the 2000 Summer Olympics and was an Official Escort Model with 6 kilometers on the odometer. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery.Pair of life-size hand-carved blackamoors, hand-painted, 70 inches tall. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000. Image courtesy of Four Seasons Auction Gallery.
Teardrop guitar made by John D’Angelico, New York, 1957. The Scott Chinery Collection. Photo copyright Archtop History Inc., from the book ‘Archtop Guitars: The Journey from Cremona to New York’ by Rudy Pensa and Vincent Ricardel. NEW YORK – Three New York master luthiers, renowned for their hand-carved stringed instruments—particularly their archtop guitars, which have been sought after by many of the most important guitarists of the last century—will be the subject of Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from Feb. 9 through July 4.
Featuring the extraordinary guitars of John D’Angelico, James D’Aquisto and John Monteleone, this unprecedented exhibition of approximately 80 musical instruments will focus on the work of these modern-day master craftsmen and their roots in a long tradition of stringed instrument-making that has thrived for more than 400 years and that was first brought to New York from Italy around the turn of the 20th century.
The work of Italian luthiers, or makers of stringed instruments, has been highly desired since the 16th century, when lute makers in cities such as Venice and violin makers in places like Cremona supplied instruments for many of the most important personages in Europe. In subsequent centuries, makers such as the famed Antonio Stradivari continued this tradition. Stradivari, best known for his violins, built a great variety of stringed instruments, including both mandolins and guitars, one of which will be on loan to the exhibition.
By the end of the 18th century, Naples had become the dominant center for stringed-instrument production on the Italian peninsula, with makers there introducing innovations to both the mandolin and guitar. Later, in the decades around the turn of the 20th century, many skilled luthiers from southern Italy moved to New York as part of the mass immigration of the time. These makers set up workshops throughout the region, building traditional-style violins, guitars, and most importantly, mandolins, which experienced a tremendous popularity in America from the 1890s to the 1920s.
A change in musical tastes by the late 1920s meant that many Italian-American luthiers were suddenly forced out of business, but the young John D’Angelico was among a small group who were able to transition to building archtop guitars, an instrument that combined elements of violin construction (carved top, f-holes) with the guitar, based on the models being produced at the time by the Gibson Guitar Co. The archtop guitar was especially popular with jazz musicians in the days before the electric guitar. D’Angelico quickly built a reputation for his high-quality, beautifully constructed guitars. The tradition was carried forward by his apprentice James D’Aquisto, and continues today with the work of the famed mandolin and guitar maker John Monteleone.
Instruments by these makers have been used by some of the most influential guitar players of the 20th century through the present day, including Chet Atkins, Les Paul, George Benson, Paul Simon, Steve Miller, Mark Knopfler, Jim Hall and Grant Green, among others. Guitar Heroes will present more than 50 works by these makers, many of whom have been owned by some of these guitar greats. The works will be placed against the backdrop of the museum’s extensive collection, which includes masterpieces of Italian and Italian-American construction, showing the place of the modern-day masters in this long tradition.
The exhibition is made possible in part by Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Chilton Jr. and organized by Jayson Kerr Dobney, associate curator and administrator in the Department of Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum.
An app, the Museum’s first, has been conceived to complement and augment the exhibition. Through collaborations with musicians and experts, the app brings to life the guitar makers’ creative process and celebrates the enduring relevance of these instruments. It features museum-commissioned musical performances expressly designed for this exhibition, artist interviews, and rarely seen archival video footage. This dynamic multimedia guide to the exhibition, which has been developed by the Metropolitan Museum’s Digital Media Department, can be downloaded free from iTunes. It will also be available for rental on iTouch devices in the Museum’s galleries ($7, $6 for members, $5 for children under 12).
The Audio Guide program is made possible by Bloomberg.
Many of the app’s multimedia features, including longer excerpts of the performances and commentary—will be available in an extensive Guitar Heroes feature on the Museum’s website at www.metmuseum.org.
A related concert by the John Pizzarelli Quartet will be held in the museum’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium on March 31. Tickets are available at www.metmuseum.org/tickets, 212-570-3949, or the box office in the Museum’s Great Hall.
A variety of educational programs will also be offered in conjunction with the exhibition, including gallery talks by Jayson Kerr Dobney; gallery concerts including performances on guitar, mandolin, and other instruments; a Sunday at the Met afternoon of programs on April 10, including a panel discussion and musical performances; and family and teen programs.
The exhibition will also be the subject of the Metropolitan Museum’s Spring 2011 Bulletin, which will be available in the Museum’s bookshops.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Four Seasons guitars. Made by John Monteleone, Islip, N.Y., 2002-2005. Private Collection, USA. Photo copyright Archtop History Inc., from the book ‘Archtop Guitars: The Journey from Cremona to New York’ by Rudy Pensa and Vincent Ricardel.
NEW YORK (AP) — Police are investigating the theft of a collection of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol artworks from the home of a beef fortune heir.
The culprits also made off with surveillance video footage that might have caught them in the act.
The New York Police Department released images of the art on Thursday, hoping someone might help solve last month’s crime in the trendy Meatpacking District by recognizing works like a well-known Lichtenstein print called Thinking Nude.
Authorities estimate the five-story apartment was burglarized sometime during Thanksgiving week, when owner and art collector Robert Romanoff was away.
Calls to Romanoff’s home went unanswered Friday.
Also taken from the building was a Lichtenstein print called Moonscape, the Carl Fudge oil painting Live Cat, the Warhol prints The Truck and Superman, and a set of eight signed Warhol prints from 1986 called Camouflage. They’re among the artist’s last works before his death the following year.
Authorities estimate the artworks, plus stolen Cartier and Rolex watches and other jewelry, are worth about $750,000.
The Romanoff home is in a neighborhood filled with old warehouses and meatpacking companies now turned into retail and living space, restaurants and boutiques.
Police say the thief drilled a hole through the wall of a hallway sometime between Nov. 24 and 28.
Lichtenstein, who died in 1997, created Thinking Nude in 1994 – one of 40 limited-edition works that are part of his Nudes series based on comic-book illustrations.
A similar print recently sold for about $85,000 at Christie’s, according to the auction house’s website.
Warhol’s Superman print is part of his 1980s Myths series featuring fictional characters with mass-cultural appeal, including Mickey Mouse and Uncle Sam.
Romanoff is heir to a beef company fortune that started as a New York City meat store opened by his immigrant relatives in 1905. He’s now president of the New Jersey-based Nebraska Meat Corp., one of the country’s biggest distributors of smoked meat that for years owned property in the Meatpacking District.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Morphy Auctions sold this rare set of four Agnes Brush Dolls with original tags for $450 in May 2007. The Pooh Bear is 13 inches tall. Image courtesy of Morphy Auctions and LiveAuctioneers archive. STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) – Imagine growing up in a world of Winnie the Poohs, Eeyores, Rabbits, Heffalumps and Tiggers, too.
And imagine not always liking them all that much.
“They tended to take away my mother’s attention,” said Joyce Riemer of Stamford, laughing. “My father did more of the raising.”
But it wasn’t all bad, Riemer said, and as an adult, she now smiles when she talks about the creatures with whom she shared her Queens, N.Y., home as a little girl. And when she talks about her mother’s artistry, there is pride in her voice.
“We’d have Winnie the Poohs all over the house, in boxes and boxes,” she said. “A bunch would be all over the piano, drying.”
About 20 years before the Walt Disney Co. got hold of the licenses that allowed them to reanimate the inhabitants of Hundred Acre Wood, Riemer’s mother, Agnes Brush, was running a small but thriving cottage industry, making the plush animals based on the books from A.A. Milne.
Once a coterie of workers had sewn the dolls together, it would be Brush’s task to paint the details and make the finishing touches. They would then be sent off to bookstores and toy stores across the country.
Brush would often take to a porch outside their home to do her painting, a habit that was documented in a pictorial spread in Life magazine of Feb. 27, 1956. Brush was one of many featured in the magazine’s ode to Pooh. She even made it onto television, appearing with her daughter on broadcaster Nancy Craig’s television talk program Women of Tomorrow in the early 1950s.
Riemer, who said she was only 6 or 7 at the time, can recall watching the live cameras and the behind-the-scenes action.
“She did this work as long as I remember,” said Riemer, adding that it started before she was born in 1945.
Riemer, who was an only child, said she grew up in a creative house. Her father, Granville, was a draftsman. Her mother had started out as a milliner, but traded hats for plush toys when she was hired by Stephen Schlesinger, who had bought the rights to the A.A. Milne characters in the 1930s.
Eventually, Walt Disney would pay for those rights by the early 1960s, at about the same time Brush stopped making the dolls.
One can now find Agnes Brush toys being sold for several hundred to several thousand dollars on various websites. When Riemer was asked about how lucrative the business was, she said her mother “eked it out,” but that it was never a big moneymaker.
When Riemer’s mother died in 1982, she and her husband, Jay, went to the home to clear it of its belongings. While there, they not only found an inventory of dolls that had never made it to bookstore shelves, but also the records of Brush’s transactions, including the sales slips and notes.
“We’d find these nice handwritten notes from the businesses,” Jay Riemer said.
“The original toys were made with care and the people did appreciate that,” Joyce Riemer said. “There were a lot of letters to that effect.”
The couple, who have lived in Stamford since 1976, returned with several bags of toys, as well as supplies and original patterns.
Last year, the two decided to visit the Stamford Museum and Nature Center’s toy exhibit, Dolls, Toys and Teddy Bears, which has enjoyed a return engagement this year.
The two thought the museum might be interested in putting some of their collection on the display, even though they were not in mint condition – a case in point, a Winnie the Pooh doll, the only one that was on display at the Riemer home while their two children grew up, shows off the work of some hungry moths who left a few holes in his distinctive red shirt.
After the exhibit, they got in contact with Rosa Portell, the museum’s curator of collections and exhibitions, who urged them to come back this year.
“What I liked about Agnes Brush work was, first of all, it sprung out of a total home industry,” said Portell. “And, when the family brought their whole collection, I had several to choose from … No two were exactly alike. They all had incredible charm.”
The plush toys are just one of several stories in the exhibit, which ends Sunday, Jan. 9. There is a restored teddy bear whose owner made sure he would not be left behind when the family left Egypt in the early 1940s.
There is a group carefully painted lead figures, that were carefully researched and reconstructed by a Rowayton father and his children. And there is a dollhouse that has been passed down through the generations.
These well-worn and well-loved characters rest alongside some pristine antique dolls.
Portell said she enjoys the mix.
“I was happy to be able to include some toys that had interesting story lines,” Portell said.
Riemer knows well the story behind her mother’s work, and it is one she was happy to share with museum visitors. As to the enduring popularity of Winnie the Pooh and his pals, she thinks the universality of the characters have allowed the stories to linger through the generations.
“I remember I used to call my son Tigger, now that I think about it,” she said. “He was quite bouncy.”
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Online:
http://www.stamfordmuseum.org/exhibit-spot.html
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Information from: Stamford Advocate,
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Owls, oak leaves, acorns and ferns are carved on the sides and base of this tall case clock. The 7-1/2-foot-tall clock sold for $14,000. The works are marked ‘Hawina,’ a German trademark.
Black Forest is a term used to describe the elaborate, realistic wood carvings that were thought to be made in the Black Forest region of Bavaria, Germany. In the 1980s, new research proved that the carvings were done in Switzerland, most by the Trauffer family. It is easy to identify pieces. Bears that play instruments, climb trees, hold benches or beg are part of the legs, seats and stands that make up the furniture. Each bear was carved from a linden or walnut tree trunk. Pieces were not signed. A similar type of carving that featured birds, branches and plants also was made in Switzerland. Clock cases were made to hold Swiss clock movements often marked with a company name. Collectors still call both types of carved pieces Black Forest. A carved, tall-case clock recently sold for $14,000 at Neal Auction Co. in New Orleans. The clock movement was marked “Hawina,” a trademark of a German clock company owned by Hans Winterhalder and his family. The company was in business from the 18th century until 1937. The elaborately carved case with owls and branches is not by the carvers of the bear furniture, although it is collected as Black Forest.
Q: I own a cash register that belonged to my great-grandfather. He used it in his produce store in New York City in the late 1930s. It’s in perfect working order; even the customer count works. It must weigh close to 200 pounds and seems to be made out of solid brass. Just under the number display is a fancy plate with the serial number 935158416. Can you tell me its age and value?
A: The first commercially successful cash register was invented in 1878 by James Ritty, a saloon owner in Dayton, Ohio. Ritty sold his cash register business and patents to National Manufacturing Co. In 1884, John H. Patterson bought National Manufacturing and its patents and renamed the company National Cash Register. The serial number on your cash register, 935158, indicates it was made in January 1911. The model number is 416. It is one of the 400-class registers, which are often found today. National Cash Register was the world’s largest manufacturer of cash registers. The name was changed to NCR Corp. in 1974. Today most businesses have replaced cash registers with computers. NCR now makes the modern equivalent of a cash register — point-of-sale workstations — as well as ATMs, software and other products and services.
Q: I inherited more than 40 Royal Doulton figurines from my mother. They are in excellent condition. I’m concerned that future generations may not appreciate the collection, and my husband and I have no children to leave them to. Should we sell them now while there is still a market for them? Also, are we better off selling them individually or as a collection?
A: Old and scarce Royal Doulton figurines sell for good prices, but common newer ones sell for less than half their issue price. Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2011 lists prices for Royal Doulton figurines that sold last year. The highest price was $2,415 for the figurine Young Widow, HN 1399. Several figurines sold for hundreds of dollars, and many sold for under $100. The lowest price was $12. Royal Doulton figurines were introduced in 1913. More than 4,000 HN numbers have been used since then to classify the figurines. The figurines have been made in China since 2005. Sort through your figures, then decide which ones you might want to sell.
Q: I would like to know something about the maker of my wood-burning stove. It’s marked “Monarch Wood Stove, Made in West Bend, Wis., Malleable Iron Range Co.”
A: Malleable Iron Range Co. was founded in St. Louis in 1896 by Silas McClure and A.C. Terrell. “Monarch” is a trademark. The company moved to Beaver Dam, Wis., in 1902. It made coal- and wood-burning stoves. Gas burners were added to some models in 1905. Later the company made electric stoves, refrigerators and water heaters. The Malleable Iron Range Co. went bankrupt in 1985.
Q: I’m looking for information on a vase, or what my mother thinks is an old spittoon. “Sarna Brass” is written on the bottom. I haven’t been able to find a single bit of information about this company.
A: “Sarna Brass” is a trademark owned by S.S. Sarna Inc. of Manhasset, N.Y. The business was started by Sajan Singh Sarna in 1920. Sarna was born in Rawalpindi in British India (now part of Pakistan). He came to the western United States to go to college and study dairy manufacturing. He found that people were interested in buying handcrafts from India, so he started an import business in about 1920. Brass, textiles and other items were among the products he sold. In 1933, with the Depression in full swing, he moved to New York and began selling goods imported from Japan. In 1938, after having a dream about a bell, he went to Indonesia to buy bells, which he sold to department stores in the United States. The bells, each with a “story” tag attached, were popular during the 1960s. His company became known as the Bells of Sarna. Sajan Singh Sarna died in the 1970s. The company is now called S.S. Sarna Inc. and sells a variety of gift items. The value of your vase or spittoon is about $50 to $75.
Tip: Be careful when burning candles in glass candlesticks. If the candle burns too low, the hot wax and flame may break the glass.
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.
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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.
Bakelite soldier pin, red envelope hat, red jacket with sleeve stripes, brown buttons, caramel pants, 1950s, 3 x 2 1/4 inches, $180.
Salesman’s sample Servel Refrigerator, hard plastic, removable door, back opens to view wiring, 12 die-cut laminated advertising cards, 1950s, 2 x 4 x 7 inches, $190.
Hamilton Beach soda fountain milkshake mixer, green porcelain enamel over cast metal, stainless-steel cup, Model 33, 1940s, 18 1/4 inches, $190.
Packard hood ornament, chrome-plated, pelican with raised wing, 1943, 9 1/2 x 19 inches, $285.
Chest of drawers, mahogany and pine, five cock-beaded drawers, inset brass escutcheons, shaped bracket feet, circa 1760, 28 x 45 inches, $410.
Baccarat Dolphin candlesticks, frosted shafts, drip pans with pendant drops, marked, 13 inches, pair, $1,035.
Mexico City Red Devils official baseball player’s jersey, No. 7, white flannel, felt patch with red devil and “Campeons 56-57” on left shoulder, 1956, $1,220.
Lenci Spanish Flamenco Dancer doll, brown googly bedroom eyes, open-close mouth, teeth, black wig, hoop earrings, ruffled red felt dress, 1920s, 24 inches, $2,300.
Rookwood vase, cylindrical, pinecones, green needles, mottled blue to orange to green matte glaze, signed, E. Lincoln, No. 784A shape, 1924, 16 inches, $2,585.
New! A quick, easy guide to identifying the valuable costume jewelry from the 1950s on. Kovels’ Buyer’s Guide to Costume Jewelry, Part Two is a report on the most popular styles, makers and designers of costume jewelry. The information makes you an informed buyer and may get you a great buy. Photos, marks, histories and bibliography. The guide features the most wanted costume jewelry made in Europe and the United States. Special report, 2010, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, 36 pages. Available only from Kovels. Order by phone at 800-303-1996; online at Kovels.com; or send $19.95 plus $4.95 postage and handling to Kovels, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
