Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, now titled The Right Honourable The Baroness Thatcher. Photo provided by Chris Collins of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation.
LONDON (AFP) – Margaret Thatcher’s famous handbag that struck fear in the hearts of British ministers during the ‘Iron Lady’s’ tenure has sold at a June 27, 2011 charity auction for £25,000 ($40,350, 28,000 euros).
Thatcher frequently used the black Asprey bag on important occasions, such as summits with then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during her 1979-1990 premiership.
The former prime minister donated the bag to her Conservative Party’s ex-lawmaker and author Jeffrey Archer for a charity auction held at Christie’s in London.
Proceeds from the bag’s sale will go to armed forces charities Combat Stress and The British Forces Foundation and to Debra, a charity helping sufferers of the genetic skin blistering condition Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Cartoonists often portrayed Thatcher clobbering opponents with the blunt instrument while Lord Kenneth Baker, who served in Thatcher’s cabinets from 1985 to 1990, called the bag her “secret weapon”.
Thatcher often placed her handbag on the cabinet table as a symbol of her authority and “would usually get from it some paper with a conclusive argument,” Baker recalled.
Archer’s auction realized £402,100 in total, with the stopwatch which timed British runner Roger Bannister’s first four-minute mile going for £97,250, the evening’s top price.
Other celebrity donors included guitarist Eric Clapton, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and former England rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio.
Italian bronze table fountain, 19th century, after Giacomo della Porta (circa 1533-1602) and Taddeo Landini (circa1550-1596). Height: 10 1/2 inches, width, 9 1/2 inches. Estimate: $6,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Gray’s Auctioneer CLEVELAND – A diminutive 19th-century Italian bronze tabletop fountain was discovered by auctioneer Deba Gray earlier this year in a lush but overgrown garden where it had been ensconced for more than 80 years. Gray’s will be offering the little fountain at Lot 46 in their Thursday, June 30, auction with an estimate of $6,000-$8,000. LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding for the 400-lot auction, which begins at 8 a.m. Eastern.
In remarkably good condition coated with a rich green patina, the little fountain, which measures just 10 1/2 inches high by 9 1/2 inches wide, was modeled after the stunning Fontana Delle Tartarughe in the Piazza Mattei in Rome. This show-stoppingly beautiful 16th-century fountain was designed by Rome’s foremost architect, Giacomo della Porta, himself a disciple of Michelangelo, and sculpted by Taddeo Landini between 1580 and 1588. It is said to be Rome’s most charming fountain. In 2008 Christies sold an almost identical fountain for $10,257, including premium.
The explosion of manufacturing in the 19th century is reflected in the magnificent George III-style mahogany long-case clock from John Creed Jennens & Sons (London, circa 1875-1881). Gray’s is offering this clock at Lot 84 with impeccable provenance. It is the property of the Cleveland Play House, America’s first professional regional theatre founded in 1915 by a group of eight prominent Clevelanders, among them Charles and Minerva Brooks, who sought to bring plays of substance to the people of Cleveland in an era dominated by vaudeville.
Many lots in this auction are being sold to benefit the Cleveland Play House. Most notable of these is Lot 47, a bronze bust of the great American actress Katherine Cornell by sculptor Malvina Hoffman, the brilliant American sculptor and author who died July 10, 1966. Hoffman studied with Rodin in Paris, and by 1915 had started her own foundry, becoming a master founder and writing the definitive work on historical and technical aspects of sculpture Sculpture, Inside and Out, her book on foundry technique. The bust of Katherine Cornell echoes Hoffman’s massive commission of 104 busts for the Field Museum in Chicago, Races of Mankind, which was commissioned by Stanley Field for the Century of Progress International Exposition, the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933 that celebrated the centennial of the city.
Cleveland Play House will be celebrating their centennial in 2015, but this September they move into Cleveland’s prestigious PlayhouseSquare, the nation’s largest performing arts center outside New York, where a $32-million renovation of the Allen theater complex will unite CPH, Cleveland State University’s Dramatic Arts Program and PlayhouseSquare under one roof. Many donors have made this move possible and this auction is the second in a series of auctions Gray’s is holding to generate funds to benefit CPH.
The auction features three sections including a Rare and Important Books section and a fun No Reserves section. The first section features the first 100 lots of fine furniture, paintings and decorations. Many of the lots benefiting CPH are in this section including Lots 81 and 82, two carved oak benches from the lobby of the Brooks Theatre, created by the Rorimer Brooks Co. Louis Rorimer was president of the Cleveland Play House from 1932 to 1934.
Other notable lots in this section include Lot 85 a neoclassical wrought iron and marble-top table originally created for the lobby of Pittsburgh’s Mellon National Bank, Lot 77 a stunning abstract by Matthew Kolodziej (American, b. 1967) titled Hulabaloo, and Lot 70 a striking Laszlo Dus (b. 1941) untitled triptych gifted to the consignor from the artist.
The books section features 118 lots of first editions, rare or signed editions including several lots by Nabokov, and D.H. Lawrence; several art books including catalog raisonnes such as “Lee Krasner” signed and inscribed by the author Ellen G. Landau, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University; the first edition of the Maxfield Parrish illustrated A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne; the Brothers Grimm tales for children illustrated by Arthur Rackham and published in 1917; many editions in French and German of classic titles including the complete A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust; the complete set of 48 volumes of Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly novels published from 1830-1833 in Edinburgh and London by Robert Cadell and Whittaker & Co. These are just a few of the many treasures for bibliophiles in this section of the June 30 auction at Gray’s.
The third section of the June 30 auction is filled with 150 lots of furniture, paintings and decorations all listed with no reserve. Highlights include Lot 260 a walnut and maple secretary, Lot 273 an American two-part oak hutch, Lot 301 a vintage wrought metal and laminate table and chairs, Lot 413A a Brutalist figural sculpture by an unknown artist and lot 397A an acrylic and ink on paper by Mexican artist Ricardo Barreto (b. 1953). This section of the auction will delight and enthrall buyers with champagne tastes who prefer to keep their spending on a beer budget.
Gray’s will be open for preview at their spacious showrooms, 10717 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, from Monday, June 27, through Wednesday June 29, 11 a.m. – 6pm. The auction will take place at 11am EST on Thursday, June 30. Live online bidding for this auction is offered by LiveAuctioneers.com. Gray’s also accepts absentee bids and telephone bid registration on their website. Gray’s Auctioneers is the only licensed, bonded and insured auction house in Cleveland holding monthly live auctions, and offering complimentary valuations every Friday between 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Deborah J. Gray, auctioneer, opened her eponymous auction house in 2007 with her partner Serena Harragin, and together they have transformed the abandoned building that used to house a Citroen dealership into a driving force in the vibrant Cleveland Fine Art and Antiques auction market. The complete illustrated catalog for this auction can be found on Gray’s web site at www.graysauctioneers.com and also on LiveAuctioneers. For details phone Gray’s at 216-458-7694.
Lionel 408E standard gauge train set with electric engine, four compartmented coaches and original boxes, $35,395.82. Noel Barrett Auctions image.
NEW HOPE, Pa. – Prior to Noel Barrett’s richly varied May 21, 2011 “Something for Everyone” sale, some collectors speculated that the whimsical clockwork veggie man on the catalog cover might take the blue ribbon on auction day. While the cheeky, 16-inch papier-mache Halloween figure did surpass expectations to sell for $16,520 (all prices inclusive of 18% buyer’s premium); it was a modestly estimated Lionel train set that took the express journey to the top of prices realized.
The Lionel 408E standard gauge set with electric engine and twin Bild-A-Loco motors pulled four compartmented coaches identified as 412 California, 413 Colorado, 414 Illinois and 416 New York, the latter being an observation car. All of the cars – which were finished in tan and chocolate brown with cream window frames and peacock-blue accents – came with their original boxes. The set drew numerous competitors, both in the hall and on the six occupied phone lines, but it was an Internet participant using LiveAuctioneers.com who claimed the lot for $35,395.82. The bidder eventually drove six hours to Pennsylvania to collect his prize.
“It was an exquisitely rare train set in that particular color scheme. The selling price was a very nice surprise for the consignor and proved yet again that, in today’s marketplace for antique and vintage trains, it’s the collectors who call the shots,” said auction company owner Noel Barrett.
Trains proved to be the sale’s strongest suit. An American-profile Carette gauge 1 #2350 steam loco and tender featured in Paul Schiphorst’s book The Golden Years of Toy Trains had been entered in the sale with a $12,000-$15,000 range. But with energy to burn, it powered its way to a $29,500 finish.
Superbly hand painted and designed for illumination by candlelight, a Marklin Central-Bahnhof train station #2651 was outfitted with a table, chairs and benches. Its sumptuous details included etched and stained glass windows, doorway arches, a canopy and ticket-queue rail. Perhaps the best preserved of all known examples, the perennially popular German train station achieved $23,600 against an estimate of $10,000-$15,000.
Toys with a firefighting theme “never suffer a shortage of interest,” Barrett remarked. A case in point was the salesman’s sample fire ladder wagon made by Seagrave Co., the oldest continuous manufacturer of fire apparatus in America – and still in existence. The 50-inch-long sample fire wagon from the 1890s included an array of ladders, fire axes, extinguishers, lanterns and fire buckets. It settled just short of its high estimate at $10,030.
A mechanical marvel replicating a spirit-powered fire pumper was described in Barrett’s catalog as “one of the most amazing…we have seen.” Fully functional, it included double-pump pistons, valves and a flywheel crafted from brass and iron, with nickel-plated wheel rims and other components. Estimated at $6,000-$7,000, it blazed to $8,260.
Early automotive advertising showed its muscle in the form of a self-framed Marathon Tires sign depicting two anxious couples in a red open tourer, navigating a narrow, craggy ledge. Retaining an original paper label on verso from the famed tin sign maker Kaufmann & Strauss, the 22¾ inches by 19¾-inch advertisement applied the brakes within estimate at $16,520.
Several highly desirable American painted-tin toys were offered in the May 21 auction. Two of the best were attic finds. Discovered in California, a Fallows 1886 (patented) Buffalo Hunter, whose design includes a pair of rocking buffalo on a wheeled base, surpassed its $2,000-$3,000 estimate to realize $7,670. A George Brown horse-drawn omnibus stenciled “Broadway & Central Park” was a fresh find from a Long Island home. It had a smooth ride all the way to its above-estimate $12,980 destination.
A third 19th-century American toy highlight in the sale was the Hull & Stafford “America” clockwork locomotive that came directly from the collection of Disney animator and train collector extraordinaire Ward Kimball (1914-2002). Made of stenciled tin and wood with cast-iron wheels, it was one of only two toy trains retained by Betty Kimball (1912-2010) when her husband’s incomparable collection was consigned to Barrett’s in 2004 and 2005. “The Hull & Stafford ‘America’ was always one of Betty’s favorites,” Barrett noted. Estimated at $3,000-$4,000, the charming, primitively styled red and yellow locomotive was a crowd favorite. It ended its bidding run at $11,800.
Other standouts included a set of McLoughlin paper litho on wood Brownie ninepins $7,670 (est. 2,000-$3,000) and an Erzgebirge painted-wood village consisting of 12 structures and numerous accessories, all housed in a bentwood box, $5,310 (est. $700-$1,000). An antique Parisian perfumery came to the auction podium stocked with a multitude of miniatures that included various fragrances in glass bottles, powders, soaps and pomades arranged on mirror-topped counters and on vanity shelves. The deluxe emporium also was accompanied by a shop attendant: a well-dressed, bisque-head doll outfitted in fashionable turn of the 20th century attire. Estimated at $2,000-$3,000, it clinched a winning bid of $4,425.
Noel Barrett’s May 21 auction included 714 lots and grossed $559,243, inclusive of 18% buyer’s premium. Barrett’s next sale is planned for the weekend of Nov. 19, 2011, and will feature the private collection of Tennessee antiques dealer Bill Powell. “Mr. Powell’s amazing offerings have been the highlight of many a high-profile antique show over the past 30 years,” said Barrett. “The quality and rarity in his collection is going to astound everyone. That we promise.”
To contact Noel Barrett, call 215-297-5109 or email toys@noelbarrett.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog from Noel Barrett’s May 21, 2011 Something for Everyone sale, complete with prices realized, online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
KEY WEST, Florida (AP) — Treasure divers searching for a 17th-century sunken Spanish galleon off the Florida Keys say they have found an antique emerald ring worth an estimated $500,000.
The gold ring has a rectangular cut estimated at 10 carats. It’s believed to be from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank off the Florida Keys during a 1622 hurricane.
Divers from Mel Fisher’s Treasures found the ring Thursday about 35 miles from Key West.
A spokesperson said the ring’s estimated value is based on the stone’s 2.7- by 2.5-centimeter size and the value of other emeralds from Atocha.
Also found were two silver spoons and other artifacts. A 40-inch gold rosary was found in March and a gold bar in April.
Mel Fisher (1922-1998) was an Indiana-born treasurer hunter best known for finding the wreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha on July 20, 1985.
__
Online:
Mel Fisher Treasures: http://www.melfisher.com
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
PARIS (AFP) – Renowned British sculptor Anish Kapoor’s gigantic artwork “Leviathan” concluded its exhibition at a Paris museum last Thursday. It attracted 277,687 visitors, a museum spokesperson said.
The number of visitors to see the spacious artwork made from inflated plastic in the cavernous nave of the Grand Palais museum was 85 percent higher than a previous exhibit by French artist Christian Boltanski, they said. The average daily number of visitors to cultural events organized by the museum is around 7,000.
Kapoor had dedicated Leviathan to Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei who was detained by authorities since April before being released on bail Wednesday.
The 80,000 cubic-meter, dark red Leviathan refers to a sea monster referred to the Bible. Visitors are invited to discover the work from the inside out.
On exhibit for 40 days, the artwork has been dismantled and is now expected to return to London.
1967 Green Bay Packers Super Bowl II Championship player’s ring presented to Frederick ‘Fuzzy’ Thurston, to be auctioned by Heritage Auctions on Aug. 4, 2011. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – A former Green Bay Packers lineman whose teams won the first two Super Bowls will have at least one of his championship rings auctioned off to recover some of the $1.7 million the federal government says he owes in back taxes.
Fuzzy Thurston, 77, played for the Packers from 1959 to 1967. U.S. Marshals have seized his Super Bowl II ring, and authorities are trying to track down his other Super Bowl ring along with other sports jewelry and memorabilia.
The auction announcement resulted from a court order this month calling for the sale of Thurston’s rings from Super Bowls I and II, four other NFL championship rings, other sports memorabilia and a gold watch.
Heritage Auctions, based in Dallas, said the only items it has so far are Thurston’s Super Bowl II ring, his 1960 Packers helmet and two 1960 footballs signed by members of the Packers and coach Vince Lombardi.
“We hope to reach out to fans who might wish to purchase the material to return it to Thurston,” said Chris Ivy, the auction house’s director of sports auctions.
The ring will be auctioned at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, Ill., on Aug. 4. The helmet and the footballs will be available in the Fall Heritage Sports auction, which closes Nov. 11.
The Super Bowl ring is expected to fetch at least $20,000, although auction officials said bidding could push the final price much higher. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding for the sale.
Other rings from the first two Super Bowls have also been sold in recent years. Running back Paul Hornung’s Super Bowl I ring fetched about $40,000 in 2002, while former offensive lineman Steve Wright sold his Super Bowl I ring last month for $73,409.
And a Super Bowl II ring belonging to running back Elijah Pitts once sold for about $30,000, although the diamonds in that ring had been replaced with faux gems.
Messages left at Thurston’s Waupaca home weren’t immediately returned. Green Bay lawyer Owen Monfils, who represented Thurston in some of his tax cases, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette (http://bit.ly/j30bho ) he was certain Thurston didn’t owe “nearly as much as the government claims.”
The tax fight stems from Thurston’s post-Packers days, when he and his business partners opened a chain of restaurants. According to a federal complaint, Thurston and the others withheld federal income taxes from their employees’ salaries but failed to turn all the money over to the Internal Revenue Service.
The allegation eventually led to a protracted court fight in which Thurston was ordered to pay about $190,000 in 1984. With interest, the debt now stands at just over $1.7 million, according to court documents.
Prosecutors conducted depositions of Thurston’s relatives and business associates to compile a list of his assets. The depositions revealed that his personal property included the championship rings, court documents said.
___
Online: Heritage Auctions: http://www.ha.com
___
Information from: Green Bay Press-Gazette, http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com
# # #
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
1967 Green Bay Packers Super Bowl II Championship player’s ring presented to Frederick ‘Fuzzy’ Thurston, to be auctioned by Heritage Auctions on Aug. 4, 2011. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
Billy the Kid tintype, only known photographic image of the Old West outlaw, auctioned for more than $2.6 million on June 25, 2011. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and Brian Lebel’s Old West Show & Auction.
DENVER (AP) – What is believed to be the only surviving authenticated portrait of Billy the Kid was auctioned in Denver on Saturday evening for more than $2.6 million.The tintype was purchased by private collector William Koch at Brian Lebel’s 22nd Annual Old West Show & Auction.
The $2.6 million price included a 15% buyer’s premium. It was the most expensive item ever sold by the auction’s organizers, who had expected the tintype to fetch between $300,000 and $400,000.
The tintype is believed to have been taken in 1879 or 1880 in Fort Sumner, N.M. It shows the outlaw dressed in a rumpled hat and layers of clothes, including a bulky sweater. He’s standing with one hand resting on a Winchester carbine on his right side and a Colt revolver holstered on his left side.
Tintypes were an early form of photography that used metal plates. They are reverse images, and the Billy the Kid tintype led to the mistaken belief that Billy the Kid was a lefty. The myth inspired the 1958 movie The Left Handed Gun, starring Paul Newman as Billy.
Billy the Kid gave the image to a friend, Dan Dedrick, and the tintype has been owned by his descendants, the Upham family, ever since. It has only been publicly displayed during the 1980s at a museum in Lincoln County, N.M.
McCracken said it’s recognizable around the world as a classic image of the Old West.
“There’s only one photo of Billy the Kid, and I think that’s why it captivates people’s imagination,” she said before Saturday’s auction.
The tintype was auctioned off along with more than 400 other Western-themed items, including documents from Buffalo Bill’s aborted divorce, Native American antiquities, and a painting from Andy Warhol’s “Cowboys and Indians” series depicting a Navajo woman with a baby on her back.
LiveAuctioneers.com provided the Internet live bidding during the sale. View the fully illustrated catalog, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
As seen in this promotional poster, Paul Newman starred in the lead role of Billy the Kid in the 1958 Warner Bros. film The Left Handed Gun. Fair use of low-resolution copyrighted image used to provide illustrative commentary on Newman’s depiction of the character Billy the Kid. Image sourced through wikipedia.org.
It took a bid of $90,000 to buy this Chester County, Pa., spice box made about 1750. The 21-inch-high box was made of five different kinds of wood. Photo credit: Skinner Inc., Boston.
Spices were an important part of cooking in the days before refrigeration was available in most homes. Meat and fish were smoked, pickled, peppered, salted or treated with combinations of spices that kept the food from rotting. A home garden included spices, herbs and edible flowers, all plants that either made it possible to store food or made slightly spoiled food taste better. Fresh spices were used when in season, but most were dried and stored for use later in the year. Some, like salt, were not always found locally and had to be imported. In medieval times, herbs like tansy, rue, hyssop and pennyroyal were used, but today’s selection is more likely to be pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and dozens of other flavorful spices. The spice box was an important piece of furniture kept near the cooking area. Sometimes it was made of tin, but most spice boxes were made of wood decorated with paint or inlay. An exceptional spice box from Pennsylvania dating from about 1750-1770 sold at a recent Skinner auction. It featured a compass design made of four different woods. It also had border designs. The box, about 21 inches high and 16 inches wide, had a door covering 10 tiger maple and one walnut drawer. The estimated price of $30,000 to $50,000 was surpassed when the buyer paid $90,000.
Q: I have a pink Kelvinator gas range made by American Motors. It was originally purchased in 1964 and still works perfectly. Is it worth anything?
A: Kelvinator Co. was founded in 1914 in Detroit as Electro-Automatic Refrigerating Co. The name was changed to Kelvinator in 1916 in honor of Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), the British physicist who defined the temperature known as absolute zero. The company merged with Nash Motors in 1937 to form Nash-Kelvinator Corp. Nash-Kelvinator introduced other appliances, including ranges, to its line of products after World War II. The company merged with Hudson Motor Cars Co. in 1954 to form American Motors Corp., and Kelvinator became a division of AMC. Today the brand is owned by Electrolux of Sweden. Your 1964 pink range is a collector’s item today because the retro look has become popular in kitchen design. That means your range, if in working condition, could sell for about $300 to $500.
Q: We recently came across a box of 40 cream-colored china dishes, all in the same pattern. The pattern consists of three decorative shields around the rim with the head of a woman in the center of the shield and a swastika on each side of the shield. Why the Nazi symbols? Were the dishes made or sold in Germany? The mark on the bottom of the plates is a narrow crescent moon around the words “The Crescent China Co.”
A: The Crescent China Co. was in business in Alliance, Ohio, from 1920 to 1926. This was well before the rise of Nazism in the 1930s, when the swastika became permanently linked with Germany’s National Socialist Party. By then, the image of the swastika had been around for thousands of years. It can be found on ancient pottery and coins. In the early 1900s, it became a popular symbol of good luck in the United States. We have seen a platter in your pattern selling online for $20. A 40-piece set might sell for $100 if the dishes are in excellent condition.
Q: We have an old wooden wall telephone made by Century Telephone Construction Co. of Buffalo, N.Y. There’s a 1905 patent date on it. The phone has all of its original components inside and is 100 percent complete. What is it worth?
A: Century Telephone Construction Co. was founded in Cleveland in 1899 but moved to Buffalo in 1902. In 1909 Century merged with the Federal Telephone & Telegraph Co. of Palo Alto, Calif., although the Century name continued to be used for a few more years. So your phone probably was made between 1905 (the patent date on it) and 1910 (just after the merger), but it may have been manufactured in the early 1910s. Wall telephones of that vintage in good shape sell for prices ranging from $200 to $600.
Q: My grandfather won a sterling-silver “President’s Cup” trophy at a harness race at Weequahic Park in Newark, N.J., on Oct. 30, 1909. I have a photo of my grandfather receiving the trophy, a tall cup with two handles and a cover topped by a large horse-shaped handle. I also have a copy of an article about the trophy that was published in the Oct. 9, 1909, Newark Evening News and a copy of an article about the race from the Oct. 31, 1909, Newark Sunday Call. My grandfather’s horse, Marique, won the race. The article about the trophy just says it was “designed and manufactured by local men.” Could it have been made at the Tiffany factory that was in Newark? And is the trophy valuable?
A: Your trophy is indeed valuable, if only because it is made of sterling silver, which is worth a lot at meltdown value today. But antique sterling-silver sporting trophies are collector favorites and can sell for $1,000 or more if they’re well-made and in good condition. There were a lot of silversmiths in the Newark area in the early 1900s, and you may never be able to identify who made your trophy. It’s unlikely it was made by Tiffany, though, because so many Tiffany trophies are known and marked.
Tip: Flags have been made of many different fabrics, so cleaning requires testing. A wool flag should be tested with a drop of water and blotting paper. If no color is removed, you can wash it in warm water with a wool-washing product. It can be dry-cleaned with care. Store a wool flag in an insect-proof container.
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 email 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. Go to Kovels.com/calendar to find and plan your antiquing trips or to post your group’s upcoming events.
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.
Max Factor Creme perfume compact, Elephant Tiny Tusker, gold-tone, red rhinestone eyes, 1 1/4 inches, $40.
Suzy Goose toy sweeper, image of Suzy and goose riding broom to the moon, red sweeper, 1940s, $45.
Georg Jensen sterling-silver pie server, Cactus pattern, 10 inches, $115.
Lennox Furnace Co. figural still bank, Lennie Lennox, blond curly hair with coin slot, gray pants, turquoise shirt with logo, 1949, 7 1/4 inches, $245.
Princess Feather appliqued quilt, yellow, red and olive on creamy ground, feather blocks surrounded by triangle patchwork, circa 1860, 84 x 82 inches, $295.
Clark’s Teaberry Pepsin Gum display tin, picture of teaberry branch, circa 1910, contained 40 packs, $395.
Rosenthal cat figurine, prone, long white hair, pale green eyes, designed by Theodor Karner, 1920s, 9 3/4 inches, $425.
Lenci Bambola doll, felt, painted face, blue taffeta gown, hoop skirt, swivel head, jointed shoulders and hips, 14 inches, $625.
Chippendale side chair, carved mahogany, pierced splat, crest with carved ends, cabriole legs, pad feet, 1790s, 38 inches, $885.
Baccarat pansy paperweight, flowers, birds, salamanders and butterflies, clear star-cut base, 19th century, 3-inch diameter, $900.
New! Contemporary, modern and mid-century ceramics made since 1950 are among the hottest collectibles today. Our special report, “Kovels’ Buyers’ Guide to Modern Ceramics: Mid-Century to Contemporary,” identifies important pottery by American and European makers. It includes more than 65 factories and 70 studio artists, each with a mark and dates. Works by major makers, including Claude Conover, Guido Gambone and Lucie Rie, as well as potteries like Gustavsberg, Metlox and Sascha Brastoff, are shown in color photos. Find the sleepers at house sales and flea markets. Special Report, 2010, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, 64 pages. Available only from Kovels. Order by phone at 800-303-1996, online at Kovels.com, or send $25 plus $4.95 postage and handling to Kovels, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
.jpg "As seen in this promotional poster, Paul Newman starred in the lead role of Billy the Kid in the 1958 Warner Bros. film The Left Handed Gun. Fair use of low-resolution copyrighted image used to provide illustrative commentary on Newman's depiction of the character Billy the Kid. Image sourced through wikipedia.org.")
