Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry collection is documented in the book Elizabeth Taylor, My Love Affair with Jewelry. Click here to purchase through Amazon.com.
NEW YORK – The Internet entertainment news site People StyleWatch – a division of Time Inc. – is reporting that Christie’s has been chosen to auction the fine jewelry collection of film legend Elizabeth Taylor, who died on March 23. A spokesperson for Christie’s declined to comment on the story.
Taylor’s treasure trove of important jewels is estimated to be worth more than $150 million. It includes a dazzling Bulgari diamond-and-emerald necklace, the legendary La Peregrina Pearl formerly owned by Spanish royalty, and Taylor’s favorite: the 33-carat Krupp Diamond.
Reportedly, the auction proceeds will benefit charities close to Taylor’s heart, including AMFAR and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry collection is documented in the book Elizabeth Taylor, My Love Affair with Jewelry. Click here to purchase through Amazon.com.
Circa-1912 Van Rozen 17-inch character doll, French, jointed composition and wood body, ceramic bisque-type head. Estimate $6,000-$10,000. Morphy Auctions image.
DENVER, Pa. –Fabulous French, German and American dolls from several long-time collections will be showcased in Morphy Auctions’ April 2, 2011 Spring Doll Sale. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
Comprising 446 lots, the auction has been cataloged by Morphy’s Fine Doll specialist, Jan Foulke, who is known not only for her exceptional knowledge of antique and vintage dolls, but also for her accuracy in creating catalog descriptions that assist both the novice and advanced collector.
One of the featured collections in the April 2 sale consists of a beautiful grouping of French and German dolls. One of the highlights is a 24-inch French Bru bebe on an original Chevrot body (lot 57).
Also sure to please collectors are a rare Jumeau Portrait Face Lady in stunning condition (Lot 170), a Jumeau Long Face “Triste” Bebe (lot 171), and an extremely rare French ethnic fashion doll (lot 62). The latter doll, attributed to Barrois, has a swivel bisque head on a bisque shoulder plate and features a long braided wig, black inset glass eyes and an open mouth with white porcelain teeth. It is elaborately costumed in an original, traditional outfit typical of those seen in North Africa.
One of the top lots of the sale, an extremely rare 17-inch French Van Rozen character doll, is presented in all-original condition (lot 291). “Van Rozen created several different character faces, with this doll representing one of them,” said Foulke. “Van Rozens are considered important because they were part of the circa-1920 art doll movement.” The features on the doll’s face are extremely realistic, owing to the fact that designer was a sculptor and artist. The doll is expected to make $6,000-$10,000.
A very rare black ethnic French fashion doll (lot 62) attributed to Barrois has a brown leather fashion body, a swivel bisque head on bisque shoulder plate, inset glass eyes and an open mouth with white porcelain teeth. It is elaborately costumed in an outfit representing a region of North Africa. A dazzling example standing 14½ inches tall, it is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.
A number of desirable all-original bisque-head Bleuettes will be offered. One of them is accompanied by a wardrobe of original dresses. Foulke explained that Bleuettes were offered as premiums in a French children’s magazine, which only adds to their historical cachet.
Another highlight in the sale is the late-19th-century bisque “Lily” fashion doll. “This doll was sold only by Madame Lavelle-Peronne in her Paris shop,” Foulke noted.
Among the other front runners expected to finish in the auction winners circle are a Tete Jumeau size 1 – “Everyone’s looking for that one,” Foulke said – and an EB portrait fashion doll. The diverse French section is rounded out by more than a dozen other fine-quality bisque fashions and related dolls.
A very special single-owner collection of half dolls has been consigned to the sale. This collection of more than 75 half dolls includes some coveted examples, such as a Goebel “Jenny Lind,” a Goebel “Chocolate Lady,” an Art Deco German porcelain lady and many other highly desirable examples in mint condition.
Heading up the German doll selection are great examples of Simon & Halbig, Kammer & Reinhardt, Kestner, Steiner and many other wonderful German bisque dolls.
Foulke thinks the collection of 1930s Effanbee Patsy dolls will strike a chord with collectors, who love discovering rare examples. “There are definitely some Patsy dolls in this collection that you don’t often encounter, like the black Patsy. Some of the dolls in this collection are mint and in their original boxes, as well.”
Some of the early American examples to be auctioned include a cloth Philadelphia Baby (lot369A), which was marketed by Shepperd’s Department Store in Philadelphia; a large Columbian rag doll (lot 369B), and an extremely rare, 1860s-vintage Izannah Walker painted oilcloth doll (lot 369C). Measuring 19 inches tall, it exhibits the trademark painted corkscrew curls in front of each ear typical of Walker dolls. The charming Rhode Island doll is offered with an $8,000-$12,000 estimate.
The auction roster is further enhanced by an appealing selection of Steiff and Schuco toys, dollhouses, accessories, and a small collection of German pink porcelain pigs.
Morphy’s cordially invites the doll community to join them for a beautiful sale on April 2nd, featuring the types of dolls today’s collectors want. For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 717-335-3435 or e-mail serena@morphyauctions.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Seventeenth-century crystal figure of the Christ Child. Estimate: $20,000-$40,000. Austin Auction Gallery image.
AUSTIN, Texas – Indian, Islamic and Asian arts from the 15th to the 19th century dominate Austin Auction Gallery’s Spring Estates Auction on April 2 and 3, commencing at 1 p.m. both days. Live Internet bidding will be provided through LiveAuctioneers.
Saturday’s offerings include an array of Continental and American antique furniture, with several Georgian chests, Milo Baughman furniture, firearms, sterling silver, jewelry and fine art. The Sunday session has a stunning collection of Indian, Islamic and Asian Art.
Highlights of the Saturday session include an American Renaissance Revival Wooton desk, Extra Grade Model, which secures a $20,000-$30,000 estimate. A large 7.0-liter Mettlach beer stein with a heavy figural Mauser sterling silver lid accompanied by the original provenance tracing the stein to Peter Doelger of the Peter Doelger Brewery, New York, (1832-1912), is estimated at $4,000-$6,000. An impressive 268-piece S. Kirk & Son Repousse sterling silver flatware service weighing 265 ounces will open at $6,000.
Sunday’s offerings are comprised of over 300 lots of Indian, Islamic and Asian antiquities of the finest quality from private collections, including that of an esteemed retired Texas professor who traveled the world collecting pieces reflecting his remarkable taste.
Among the collection are fine 17th-19th-century jewelry pieces, contador boxes, Indian silver and a rare 19th-century elephant ankush encrusted with rubies.
A selection of 18th- and 19th-century Mughal hilts in jade, ivory and silver precede the high point of the auction, a stunning 19th-century enameled gold and steel hilt encrusted with diamonds and rubies, which is expected to fetch $25,000-$30,000. Other enameled items include a diminutive Mughal box of 22K gold with exceptional enamel work, the top encrusted with diamonds set in kundan work; a rare 18th-century Mughal enameled silver box in the form of a peacock; and a Mughal gold gem set and enameled pendant (estimate: $4,000-$6,000).
A selection of Indo-Portuguese antiquities includes a rock crystal figure, Ceylon, 17th century, modeled as the Christ Child with gold fittings. Bidding on this piece opens at $15,000. An unusual group of Indo-Portuguese mother-of-pearl pieces include a Kendi flask, a large cask with figural lizard-form lock plate and an early 17th-century Gujarat Indo-Portuguese bowl with silver pins (estimate: $12,000-$18,000). A selection of Islamic vessels in bronze and brass from the 16th-18th centuries will also be offered with estimates from $200 to $1,500.
Asian ivory and jade are plentiful in Sunday’s sale. Standout lots include an immense intricately carved Chinese ivory flower basket on stand measuring 33 inches high by 40 inches wide (estimate: $3,000-$5,000) and a monumental Chinese carved ivory pagoda standing tall at 57 inches high. Other lots of note include a pale celadon jade brush washer in the form of a peach, which will open at $250. A large jade screen held by a pierced wood frame is expected to bring $4,000-$6,000 and a pair of 19th-century Chinese life-size cloisonné horses from a private estate has a $12,000-$15,000 estimare.
Austin Auction Gallery associate Chris Featherston said, “We are extremely pleased and honored to offer the collections included in this auction.”
Preview for both days auctions is available Thursday, March 31, and Friday, April 1, from noon to 5 p.m. each day or by appointment.
For details visit www.austinauction.com or call 512-258-5479.
PARIS (AP) – A giant 18th-century Chinese silk scroll painting of a military troop review has been sold at auction for more than euro22 million ($30.8 million), the highest auction price for a Chinese work in France.
The work, found in a Paris attic and sold in Toulouse by auctioneer Marc Labarbe, is one of a series of four works of 17th-century maneuvers that mobilized some 20,000 men.
A Hong Kong collector, who asked to remain anonymous, made the winning bid Saturday of euro22,057,000 after a ferocious bidding war with seven others.
The 24-meter-long (78.7 feet) horizontal scroll was painted around 1748 under Emperor Qianlong.
One of the four scrolls is in the Palace Museum of Beijing, and another was auctioned off in 2008 at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong for $67.86 million.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
An 1835 watercolor portrait of Polish composer Frederic Chopin, painted by then-16-year-old Maria Wodzinska. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. WARSAW, Poland (AP) – A collection of Frederic Chopin’s letters telling of the Polish composer’s daily life, from giving lessons to the hot chocolate he drank, have gone on display in Warsaw’s Chopin museum more than six decades after they went missing.
The six letters written by Chopin to his parents and sisters back home in Warsaw in 1845-1848 are the centerpiece of an exhibit that opened Thursday. It will run for one month after which they will be made available to researchers.
The collection of 47 items also includes letters from the piano composer’s Scottish pupil Jane Stirling to Chopin’s sister, as well as other items, such as a ticket for a rehearsal concert on July 26, 1840.
The letters were written from Paris and Nohant, where Chopin used to spend summers and talk about his time with friends, his painful work on the Sonata in G minor, and the chocolate he liked to drink.
Although the contents of the letters were known to researchers, the originals were believed to have been lost or destroyed during World War II.
“This is a great day for us. This is an invaluable collection that we have acquired,” museum curator Alicja Knast told a news conference.
She said that until 1939 the collection was in the hands of Laura Ciechomska, a grandniece of Chopin’s.
Word emerged in 2003 that the letters still existed. The museum alerted Polish emigre art dealer living in Mexico, Marek Keller, who decided to buy them and donate them to the museum.
Museum authorities refused to disclose the name of the collector who had them or the fate of the items since 1939, honoring the collector’s request to remain anonymous. Knast said all the items were confirmed as authentic before they were bought for an undisclosed sum of money.
Chopin was born in Poland in 1810 to a French father and a Polish mother, and spent the first half of his life in Poland. During the second half he lived in France, where he won fame with his compositions, mostly for the piano, and his popular concerts.
He died in Paris in 1849.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) – Shipwreck salvors Friday evaluated a centuries-old 40-inch gold chain recovered from the sea floor during the search for a 17th-century sunken Spanish galleon off the Florida Keys.
The chain, bearing an enameled gold cross and two-sided engraved religious medallion, is believed to be from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank approximately 35 miles west of Key West during a 1622 hurricane. It was discovered by Bill Burt, a diver for Mel Fisher’s Treasures seeking the Atocha’s sterncastle.
“It has a cross on it with black enamel and a gold medallion, and lots of lettering on the medallion and the cross,” said Andy Matroci, captain of the search vessel J.B. Magruder. “When you enter the water, you never know what you’re going to find.”
Tentatively valued at about $250,000, the chain contains 55 links resembling cotterpins. Its cross measures 2 inches by 1.25 inches, and its oval medallion features an engraved Virgin Mary and chalice. The chain also contains a black bead and two halves of a gold floweret.
Treasure hunter Mel Fisher and his crew recovered more than $450 million in gold, silver and artifacts from the Atocha shipwreck in 1985, but the sterncastle remains undiscovered.
Sean Fisher, grandson of the late Mel Fisher, said the chain’s discovery is an important pointer in their search.
“We’re in a really hot area right now, and this type of artifact is the right sort of material for the sterncastle,” he said.
Made in Germany, this chromolithographed cigar tip tray advertised the Markert Cigar Co. in Davenport, Iowa. It is 4 1/4 inches in diameter. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers Archive and Cowan’s Auctions Inc. DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – If you listed your occupation as “stripper” in the early 1900s, it didn’t necessarily mean you peeled your clothes off for pay.
In Davenport anyway, it likely meant that you were employed by one of the city’s various cigar manufacturers and that your job was to strip out the center stem from the big tobacco leaves and tear the leaf into smaller pieces that would then be used to roll cigars.
That’s one of the interesting bits of information inveterate collector and Davenport history buff Merle Vastine has learned in gathering memorabilia related to the city’s cigar industry.
A portion of his collection, including 90 cigar boxes, plus various box openers, lighters and trimmers, is on display now through May at the German American Heritage Center in Davenport.
At one time, Davenport was a cigar capital of the Midwest; at its high watermark in 1910, there were 34 manufacturers easily employing more than 1,000 people, Vastine said.
Cigars got their start here before the Civil War with entrepreneurs – mostly German immigrants – bringing tobacco in by rail in bales, boxes and barrels from southern Illinois, Wisconsin and Kentucky, he said.
Once here, the big leaves were torn into strips that were wrapped around other pieces of tobacco and placed moist into molds that were pressed and dried to give the cigar its uniform shape. The cigars were then packed into colorful boxes and shipped across the country.
The early boxes were wood, usually covered in paper with lithograph pictures along with the manufacturer’s name. Among the pictures in Vastine’s collection are one for WOC, the communications company, and another for the I&I, a trolley that ran between Clinton, Davenport and Muscatine, Iowa.
“Anything to personalize it,” Vastine explained.
By 1945, there were just two manufacturers left, and the last one, F.C. Gremmel Co. at 908 W. Second St., closed in 1961, he said.
“They couldn’t compete with the big national cigar manufacturers,” Vastine said. Also, as cigarettes became more popular, demand for cigars decreased.
Two of the bigger manufacturers were the Ferd Haak Co., located in what is now Tri-City Equipment, a big redstone building at 527 W. Fourth St., and the Peter N. Jacobsen Cigar Co., located in a building at the southwest corner of Fourth and Harrison streets.
Another manufacturer whose building still stands was M. Raphael & Sons., now the site of Raphael’s Emporium antiques, 628 Harrison St.
In addition to boxes, openers, lighters and trimmers, the display includes carriers, clippers, sample pipes (so you could test your tobacco before buying), ashtrays and advertising giveaways such as calendars and a ruler.
Vastine has been amassing his collection for years, buying mostly at flea markets and from other collectors who, knowing of his interest, give him a call when they find something.
At one point, Vastine sold his collection of boxes to the late Dan Nagle, who put them on display at Pioneer Village in Scott County Park, Long Grove, Iowa. “But I have a passion for it and I got into it again,” Vastine said.
He is a Davenport native who retired from the former Iowa-Illinois Gas & Electric Co. and now works part-time as an auction clerk – and as a collector, of course.
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Information from: Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-CS-03-25-11 2228EDT
Captions:
2967 …
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Made in Germany, this chromolithographed cigar tip tray advertised the Markert Cigar Co. in Davenport, Iowa. It is 4 1/4 inches in diameter. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers Archive and Cowan’s Auctions Inc.The cigar box on the right is held Speckled Trout brand cigars made by Ferd Hack Co. in Davenport, Iowa. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers Archive and Rich Penn Auctions.
Detwiler Tractor Parts supplies many John Deere parts including steel spoke wheels like those mounted on this Model A tractor. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers Archive and Dennis Polk & Associates. MARSHFIELD, Wis. (AP) – Tom Detwiler turned his hobby into a career with his Spencer business, Detwiler Tractor Parts.
“We make new parts for old tractors,” he said. “These tractors are so old that a lot of the parts have not been available for many years.”
Detwiler started making and supplying parts to antique tractor restoration hobbyists in 1985. Now, with more than 400 parts available online and by catalog, Detwiler’s son Robert has expanded the business to W9450 Apple Ave. in Medford. Tom still sells some parts at the original store, S3266 Highway 13, in Spencer.
The Detwilers specialize in John Deere tractors made before 1960. The style of the company’s tractors changed in 1961 and all machinery used to make them was scrapped, Robert said.
As a result, the Detwilers must build their own equipment to produce old parts such as fenders and hoods themselves or have them made by local machine shops and foundries.
“You’ve got to start from scratch again – there’s no original tooling left over from John Deere,” he said.
Detwiler is probably the only antique parts supplier that makes new steel spoked wheels, because it’s an expensive process, Robert said.
“There’s several salvage yards around the country that specialize in John Deere parts, but nobody goes after the new stuff like we do,” Robert said.
Detwiler focuses on the John Deere brand because the antique varieties often are rare and unusual, sometimes selling for more than $100,000. The company also still allows hobbyists to archive their historical tractors.
“There’s a unique sound to them because they only have two cylinders (in the engine),” Robert said.
Tom attends several tractor shows during the summer months to display the company’s products.
“If you attend shows, the John Deere people seem to take a lot more pride in ownership and restoration of old farm equipment,” he said.
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Information from: Marshfield News-Herald,
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-CS-03-26-11 0101EDT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Detwiler Tractor Parts supplies many John Deere parts including steel spoke wheels like those mounted on this Model A tractor. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers Archive and Dennis Polk & Associates.
PARIS – A giant 18th-century Chinese silk scroll painting of a military troop review has been sold at auction for more than euro22 million ($30.8 million), the highest auction price for a Chinese work in France.
The work, found in a Paris attic and sold in Toulouse by auctioneer Marc Labarbe, is one of a series of four works of 17th-century maneuvers that mobilized some 20,000 men.
A Hong Kong collector, who asked to remain anonymous, made the winning bid Saturday of euro22,057,000 after a ferocious bidding war with seven others.
The 24-meter-long (78.7 feet) horizontal scroll was painted around 1748 under Emperor Qianlong.
One of the four scrolls is in the Palace Museum of Beijing, and another was auctioned off in 2008 at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong — for $67.86 million.
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Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
A mural in Port Angeles, Wash., depicts the streamlined ferry MV Kalakala in its heyday. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. TACOMA, Wash. (AP) – Steve Rodrigues’ dream for the MV Kalakala is starting to look more and more like a nightmare.
The old 1935 ferryboat, famous for its streamlined, Art-Deco design and tied up in Tacoma’s Hylebos Waterway for the past 6 1/2 years, is taking on water, causing it to list precariously and raising concerns that it’s about to sink.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” said Jeff Barney, Bay Patrol director at the environmental watchdog group, Citizens for a Healthy Bay.
Barney, who patrols Commencement Bay and the tideflats, tracking down pollution, said that at low tides this week, the 276-foot ferry has been listing more than 25 degrees – enough to put openings in its hull below the water line.
“Every time she grounds out, she breaks off pilings and lists farther to the port side and then takes on sea water,” he said.
Water pours in the holes, Barney said, until the rising tide floats the boat again and rights it – at a constantly lower level.
“I’m throwing up the red flags,” Barney said. “It’s taking on an immense amount of water. It’s time to do something, before this becomes a multi-multi-million-dollar cleanup problem.”
Rodrigues, who bought the ferry in 2003 for $135,560, and has championed several creative ideas for restoring and marketing it – including restaurants, a carousel and an ice-skating arena – says the boat is not going to sink. “We’re going to have it righted again in a matter of hours,” he said Friday.
Rodrigues and another man were at the dilapidated Taylor Avenue dock, sliding a large pump onto the steeply sloped deck of the Kalakala along a cable tied off to an abandoned feed storage silo on shore.
Electric power to the boat was provided by a string of extension cords running along the remains of the dock. “We have a lot of plans,” Rodrigues said. “We have a lot going on, but I can’t talk about it right now.”
“What I can say, is we are going from nonprofit to profit. It’s official as of today.”
According to the corporation registry at the secretary of state’s office, Rodrigues’ nonprofit foundation, “The Kalakala Alliance Foundation,” which he’s been using to try to raise money to save the boat, became inactive Jan. 31.
Rodrigues has estimated costs for renovation at $14 million.
The U.S. Coast Guard was at the dock on Friday, too, trying to assess the risk.
“We’re here to see if there is a structural integrity issue with the hull,” Chief Warrant Officer Tim Macon said. “The question is: Is it going to sink?”
Barney and other environmentalists say that if the Kalakala sinks, it will release decades worth of fuel and hazardous chemicals into the Hylebos Waterway.
“The problem is the Hylebos is a Superfund site,” said Bill Anderson, the executive director of Citizens for a Healthy Bay “We can’t afford re-pollution.”
If the Kalakala sinks, Anderson said, several scenarios could ensue: all of them bad – and expensive.
The sunken hulk, and subsequent efforts to raise it, not only would release pollutants, he said, but they would block the busy Hylebos, which accommodates a constant flow of oceangoing ships and barges serving log exporters, an oil refinery and the multinational metals recycler, Schnitzer Steel.
If the Kalakala breaks free from its mooring, it could smash into docks, marinas or industrial facilities along the Hylebos, Anderson said.
Of most concern, he said is the oil refinery directly across the waterway.
“A free-floating vessel across from a fueling station could be catastrophic,” Anderson said.
The Kalakala is connected to shore at its stern with a single, frayed, 2-inch rope. Several of the pilings holding its bow are split or broken. Last month, Barney said, a cluster of pilings to which the Kalakala had been attached broke off and floated down the waterway.
“Things suddenly have gotten decidedly worse,” Anderson said. “Before, the Kalakala was just a creepy-looking ship. Now it’s a serious hazard.”
Marki Allen, an employee of Tri Pak Inc., which leases upland property immediately adjacent to the Kalakala, says she’s run out of patience with Rodrigues and his dreams, which she sees as farfetched and unrealistic.
“I believe in preserving our past and antiques and stuff,” she said, “but this thing is just a menace right now. It’s rusting right into Puget Sound. It’s crap.”
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Information from: The News Tribune,
http://www.thenewstribune.com
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WS-03-26-11 1454EDT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A mural in Port Angeles, Wash., depicts the streamlined ferry MV Kalakala in its heyday. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
