October 2011 - Page 16 of 16 - Auction Central News

Pa. group hopes to get Civil War-era train rolling

This ambrotype depicts a Civil War-era train at the William Mason train works in Taunton, Mass. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com archive and Royka's auction house, Lunenberg, Mass.

YORK, Pa. (AP) – A replica of a Civil War-era train could be rolling through central Pennsylvania in time for the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, if members of a York County nonprofit have their way.

Steam into History Inc. says the project will combine the history of the Northern Central Railway and the Civil War in York County.

Co-chair Bill Simpson tells the York Daily Record that he sees the train drawing railroad buffs and history enthusiasts from far and wide to the area.

Backers point out that President Abraham Lincoln traveled on a train through the county to deliver the Gettysburg Address, and two years later, his funeral train chugged along the same Northern Central Railway.

Board member Reed Anderson said a $2 million locomotive is being built in Illinois, and the next step is to design and build railroad coaches to be as authentic as possible while meeting today’s design standards, such as requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Steam into History also plans to build two turntables – one near New Freedom and one near Hanover Junction – and an engine house in New Freedom, and repair of the track running between them that is part of the Heritage Rail Trail County Park.

“It’s very much on track – no pun intended,” Anderson said.

Simpson says the nonprofit agency has received “very generous” private donations but declined to say how much money has been raised.

Officials also hope the York No. 17 Civil War-era steam locomotive will be finished by spring, so it can be used for the sesquicentennial and re-enactment of the “Great Locomotive Chase” in Georgia.

In 1862, union raiders captured a locomotive in Big Shanty, now Kennesaw, Ga., and were chased and caught by Confederates who used three different locomotives, according to The Southern Museum’s website. The City of Kennesaw plans to host a ceremony to commemorate the event in April 2012, according to the site.

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Information from: York Daily Record, http://www.ydr.com

Online: http://www.steamintohistory.com

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Shreveport to develop cultural district

Shreveport's riverfront casino district. Photo by Brian Bussie of Photos by Brian, LLC, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) – A downtown cultural district boasting boutiques, art galleries, a sculpture garden, an urban dog park and various residential options could be on the horizon for Shreveport.

The Times reported on Monday that city leaders, downtown businesses, nonprofits and private investors are moving ahead with a unified vision to revive the nine-block area known as Shreveport Common.

Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover says a cultural district could broaden and further diversity the local economy from its largely agrarian and oil and gas roots by creating a place where people want to live.

He says cities where people want to start businesses are not necessarily based on the job availability, but rather what the city offers in arts and culture.

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Information from: http://www.shreveporttimes.com

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LA’s latest art project is 340 tons and rock solid

LOS ANGELES – King Sisyphus, it turns out, had little on the folks at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned by the gods to push a giant rock up a hill for eternity. In modern-day LA, the city’s largest museum has spent months – and $5 million to $10 million – trying to get a 340-ton boulder from a dusty quarry in Riverside onto its campus west of downtown.

When the teardrop-shaped chunk of granite finally arrives it will become the focal point of acclaimed earth artist Michael Heizer’s latest creation, “Levitated Mass.” Museum visitors by the thousands are expected to walk under what will be one of the largest environmental art creations ever placed in an urban setting.

Heizer “came up in a generation that wasn’t just about what you could create or sculpt in the studio,” said Rochelle Steiner, dean of the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Fine Arts. “It was about how you could intervene in the elements, in your own environment, in the landscape, and how the environment became not just your subject matter but your situation as well.”

The reclusive Heizer is perhaps best known for “Double Negative,” the 1,500-foot-long land sculpture he cut into a desert mesa in a remote section of southern Nevada.

“Levitated Mass” will be a major coup for the museum, Steiner said, and will provide the general public a rare opportunity to see Heizer’s work up close.

But before that can happen, the museum has to get the rock here, and that’s proving a Sisyphean task.

At the Stone Valley quarry, on the outskirts of Riverside, a 196-wheel, 44-axle transport vehicle strong enough to hold more than a million pounds is being constructed. With drivers, steerers and police escorts, as many as 60 people could be involved in the move.

“It will be an entourage,” laughed Rick Albrecht, who is supervising the rock’s move for Emmert International, an outfit that specializes in moving really big stuff.

Although Emmert has never hauled a rock the size of a two-story house before, Albrecht appears undaunted by the challenge.

“This might be the first time for a rock but our company moved a building in Salt Lake City that was equivalent to a five-story,” he said during a recent day at the quarry, as workers with welding torches worked on the transport vehicle. “It was almost 60 foot wide, it was a little over a hundred feet long, and we had to jack it up 14 feet, spin it 180 degrees, move it across the street and jack it back down.”

Compared to that, he indicated, the rock will be a piece of cake.

The hardest part so far has been getting permission from the three counties, the state and the numerous cities through which Emmert will haul the boulder.

The museum has rescheduled the departure date several times as it works with local officials to find a route acceptable to everybody. The rock is now tentatively scheduled to leave the quarry sometime later this month.

The 60-mile trip to the museum that would normally take about an hour in light freeway traffic is expected to take the rock at least 10 days.

It will rarely travel faster than 5 mph and its delivery people may have to drive as far as 20 or 30 miles out of their way to get around various obstacles like utility wires and freeway overpasses.

The move, coming just months after repairs to a major freeway overpass had most of Los Angeles staying off the freeways for a weekend, has reawakened “Carmageddon” traffic nightmare scenarios.

Albrecht downplays such concerns. Although the transport vehicle is as wide as three freeway lanes and nearly as long as a football field, he notes it will only travel a few hours each night when traffic is lightest. People along the route will be told in advance that it’s headed their way.

Once the rock arrives it will straddle a 456-foot-long trench in such a way that people who walk under it will have the illusion that it is floating unsecured above them. California seismic officials had to sign off on the project to make sure no one would be squashed by the boulder should an earthquake strike.

While he’s kept a low profile, museum officials say Heizer himself has been involved in every aspect of the installation and may even show up for the planned unveiling in November.

For most of the last 40 years, the 66-year-old artist has been creating a Mount Rushmore-sized project called “City” near his home in the central Nevada desert.

Although he has carefully, some would say obsessively, kept the public from seeing it, photos that have surfaced show a number of huge, pyramid-like buildings, some as high as 80 feet, stretching across more than a mile of desert terrain.

Before he started on “City,” Heizer was already envisioning “Levitated Mass” and spent decades searching quarries for the right rock.

He found it in Riverside six years ago, about the same time his longtime friend Michael Govan became head of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Govan arrived with a mandate to install large outdoor works that would anchor the museum’s campus. “Urban Light,” contemporary artist Chris Burden’s stunning display of 202 restored antique street lamps, was placed in front three years ago.

“Levitated Mass” will go in back, literally just about a stone’s throw from the famous La Brea Tar Pits and the dinosaur fossils they hold.

As word of the project has spread around town, some critics have come forth, complaining that the money could be better spent on adding other works to the museum’s eclectic collection, which includes everything from 6th century Mexican sculpture to works by Rembrandt and Picasso.

Steiner indicated they aren’t seeing the big picture, that “Levitated Mass,” in tandem with “Urban Light,” will give the museum two different but equally impressive displays of modern Western U.S. art.

“Chris Burden is an LA artist. Michael Heizer is an artist who is interested in the landscape of the West,” she said. “The choices (of those two) are not coincidental but a statement about LA and its larger surroundings.”

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France to return mummified Maori heads to New Zealand

Head and shoulders portrait of a tattooed Māori chief seen by Capt. Cook and his men. Hair is in a topknot with feathers and a bone comb, displays full facial moko, a greenstone earring, a tiki and a flax cloak. He has a small beard and a moustache. Probably sketched in 1769; artwork published in 1784. From the Alexander Turnbull Library.

PARIS (AFP) – France will hand the 20-odd mummified heads of Maori warriors still held by its museums back to New Zealand at a ceremony in January, the Quai Branly museum president, Stephane Martin, told AFP Monday.

Maori warriors tattooed their faces with elaborate geometric designs to show their rank. The recovered heads of those killed in battle were displayed and venerated until the soul was judged to have departed.

The tattoos made them an object of fascination for European explorers who collected and traded them from the 18th century onwards.

France handed the tattooed, shrunken head of a Maori warrior that had been in possession of the museum at Rouen since 1875, back to New Zealand in May.

The restitution followed a four-year political struggle which ended last year when the French Senate approved a law allowing the return to New Zealand of all Maori heads held in France.

Rouen authorities decided to give the head back to the Maoris in 2007 but were overruled by the national government which feared setting a precedent for other museum holdings, such as Egyptian mummies or relics of Christian martyrs.

The Quai Branly museum in Paris, which had seven such heads, would host a Maori exposition until January 22, at the close of which a ceremony would be held for the restitution of all warriors’ heads still in French collections – about 20 in total, said Martin.

About 320 Maori heads have been returned from several countries since New Zealand began demanding their return in the 1980s, the organisers of the Rouen ceremony said earlier this year.

The first such head recorded as being acquired by a European was taken in 1770 by a member of an expedition of the British explorer James Cook. It was that of a 14-year-old boy believed to have been killed just for his head.

The demand for the preserved heads drove the true Maori to stop getting the tattoos and preserving their relatives’ heads.

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Kovels – Antiques & Collecting: Week of Oct. 2, 2011

This 19th-century ironstone jar once held live leeches. It has hand-painted flowers, gilt and other decorations. The lid is pierced to let air into the jar. The pottery of John and George Alcock of Staffordshire, England, made the jar. Brunk's Auctions in Asheville, N.C., estimated its value at $300 to $600.

Antiques sometimes remind us that Grandma’s home remedies are still the best. In 2004 the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of leeches by doctors. Beginning in 200 B.C., medical doctors used leeches to cure a fever. They thought the red color of the face and the fever was caused by too much blood. There are several types of leeches found in the wild, but they have fewer and fewer places to breed. Leeches look like large worms – some grow to be 8 inches long. They feed on blood. Many campers have gone swimming and find bloody leeches clinging to their legs when they get out of the water. The leech bite injects an anticoagulant so the blood flows more freely. In the 18th and 19th centuries, leeches were kept at the apothecary shop in attractive pottery urns with lids. The use of leeches was very popular in the 1860s, then lost favor. But now the animals are used to help heal skin grafts, to treat blocked veins and to aid in surgeries that require the removal of pooled blood under the skin.

Q: I have a metal box with “HRH Princess Elizabeth, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards” sitting on her horse. The words “Huntley & Palmers Biscuits, Reading & London, England” are stamped on it. Can you tell me what year this was made?

A: Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth) became Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards in 1942. She reviewed the troops at the changing of the guard for the first time in 1947. This was also the first time the ceremony was held after the end of World War II. Your tin commemorates this event. Huntley & Palmers was founded by Joseph Huntley, a baker, and George Palmer, a tinsmith, in 1822. They packed their “biscuits” (cookies) in tins to keep them from crumbling when they were delivered by stagecoach. Their first bakery was located on London Street in Reading, England. The company was the world’s largest maker of biscuits by 1900. It was in business until the 1990s, and after an absence of several years, the company began making biscuits again in Sudbury, England, in 2006. Huntley & Palmers is still in business.

Q: I inherited my grandmother’s Victorian upright piano. She was born in 1902. I remember her telling me that her father brought the piano up the driveway on his horse-drawn wagon when she was 13 or 14 years old. Inside the piano it says “A.M. McPhail Piano Co.” and it’s stamped with the number 21072. Can give me any information?

A: The A.M. McPhail Piano Co. was founded in Boston by Andrew M. McPhail in 1837. The serial number inside your piano indicates that it was made in 1897. The trade name was bought by Kohler & Campbell in about 1891 and pianos with the McPhail name were made until the late 1950s. People who want to buy a piano look for an instrument in good, playable condition. The age of the piano may be a drawback, but some people want an upright because it takes up less space or because they want to decorate their home with Victorian furniture.

Q: I have a red Sunken Hollyhock pattern “Gone With the Wind” lamp that my husband’s grandmother received as a wedding gift sometime before 1911. I have read that it’s rarely found in this color. The glass has a quilted flower pattern and the lamp has brass fittings marked “Success.” It’s 25 inches tall. Do you know how much it’s worth?

A: Your lamp may have been designed by Nicholas Kopp of the Pittsburgh Lamp, Brass and Glass Co., which fitted most of the lamps it manufactured with its own “Success” brand burners. The Sunken Hollyhock lamp is usually found in a yellow-orange color called marigold. A red lamp like yours sold at auction for $708 in 2010.

Q: I have a dog’s head made from “macerated money.” There is a partial label on the bottom that says it was made by the U.S. Mint from an estimated $100,000 worth of greenbacks that were redeemed and macerated. It was purchased at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1901 and given to me many years ago. Can you give me any information about it?

A: Souvenir items made from macerated money were popular at the turn of the 20th century. Paper money was first issued by the federal government in 1861. In the early years, old paper money was destroyed by punching holes in it and burning it, but it was found that some unscrupulous federal employees were patching the holes and making off with the money. Between 1874 and 1942, a system of macerating the money into a pulp was used to destroy it. The money was soaked in a vat of soda ash and lime water and the pulp was then rolled into sheets and sold as bookbinder’s board. Figures were made from macerated money as early as 1879. In about 1881, Henry Martin, a U.S. Treasury employee and a one-legged Civil War veteran, began molding the pulp into souvenir items and selling them in Washington, D.C. By the turn of the century, many others were also making these souvenirs. A 1901 newspaper article estimated that millions of souvenir items were being made from billions of dollars of macerated money. Most weremade in molds and mass produced. The Washington Monument is the most popular item. The estimated value of an item molded in greenbacks depends on the denomination of the bills included. We’ve seen the dog’s head made from an estimated $100,000 worth of greenbacks. It sold at auction last year for $170.

Tip: Try this to remove stains from inside a glass decanter. Put warm water, 1/2 teaspoon of liquid detergent and some uncooked rice grains into the decanter. Shake well, then rinse.

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, (Name of this newspaper), King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Need prices for collectibles? Find them at Kovels.com, our website for collectors. More than 84,000 prices and 5,000 color pictures have just been added. Now you can find more than 900,000 prices that can help you determine the value of your collectible. Access to the prices is free at Kovels.com/priceguide.

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.
Gene Autry Cowboy songbook No. 2, 28 songs, Gene and Champion on cover, M.M. Cole Co., Chicago, $25.
Niagara Falls souvenir powder jar, metal lid with picture of Canadian Falls at night, molded glass in ribbed pattern with four panels of flowers, 1930s, 3 1/2 x 2 inches, $45.
“Doctor, Doctor!” game, diagnose Mr. Illbent’s illness and advance from Medical Student to Chief Doctor, bed, illness cards, medical chart, doctor’s bag, Ideal, 1978, $55.
General Electric radio, Model 401, ivory plastic, AC/DC, 117 volts, 1 watt, Super-Heterodyne, 1950, 6 x 7 inches, $60.
Iroquois Indian beaded purse, red fabric with rows of four white glass beads, clear butterfly with green and white beads, metal hook-and-eye closure, c.1900, 3 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches, $75.
Jadeite measuring cup, green glass, pouring spout, handle, 1950s, 7 inches, $85.
Donald Duck cookie jar, blue sailor’s suit with matching blue cap and red bowtie, yellow beak and feet, pink tongue, American Bisque, 1950s, 12 1/2 inches, $250.
Kissin’ Thumbelina doll, pull cord, head moves around, soft vinyl, blue sleep eyes, brown hair, white christening outfit, Ideal, 1970, 10 inches, $255.
Bull Dog Brand Fly & Insect Powder sign, paper, image of house with insects covering driveway, bulldog in corner, 8 x 12 inches, $550.
Irish George III-style wing chair, mahogany, tall padded back, shaped sides, out-scrolled arms, cushioned seat, cabriole legs, 1930s, 49 inches, $1,230.

Available now. The best book to own if you want to buy or sell or collect – and if you order now, you’ll receive a copy with the author’s autograph. The new “Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2012,” 44th edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and 40,000 up-to-date prices for more than 775 categories of antiques and collectibles. You’ll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks, a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available online at Kovelsonlinestore.com; by phone at 800-303-1996; at your bookstore; or send $27.95 plus $4.95 postage to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

Historic ship replica at Ohio shipyard for tuneup

The Brig Niagara, owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, shown here in full sail off South Bass Island, Ohio on Lake Erie. Photo taken June 26, 2009 by Lance Woodworth, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

CLEVELAND (AP) – A 300-ton replica of a U.S. warship victorious in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie is getting a checkup and some fine tuning at a northeast Ohio shipyard before returning to its homeport in Pennsylvania.

The two-masted warship Niagara is formally called a replica of the flagship from which Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry defeated an entire Royal Navy squadron during the War of 1812. But the ship’s current captain, Wesley Heerssen, calls the brig that contains pieces of the original ship the “third reconstruction since 1813,” The Plain Dealer reported.

The Niagara put into the Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland on Tuesday from her homeport of Erie, Pa. Shipwrights at the shipyard on the Cuyahoga River sanded off a coating that protects the vessel below the waterline to allow a U.S. Coast Guard inspection that is required every few years.

Workers at the shipyard will rebuild the Niagara’s engine exhausts and a generator over the next week and have pulled off both of its 32-inch propellers so they could be shipped back to the manufacturer for re-balancing. Great Lakes installed auxiliary engines in the ship in 1992 and has said this week’s work also includes cleaning and painting the hull.

Heerssen said the Niagara has had a 20-year relationship with Great Lakes “because we didn’t really trust any other yard.”

Great Lakes also donated $10,000 for the work on the ship managed by Flagship Niagara League Inc., a private nonprofit, and the donation was needed after Pennsylvania cut funding, the newspaper reported.

“It doesn’t cover all of our dry-dock expenses but it goes a long way,” Heerssen said. Two hull planks also will be replaced but “we do the carpentry,” he said.

The Niagara is owned and maintained by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, a Pennsylvania state agency. It will be at the shipyard for at least another week before returning to Erie, Pa.

The brig is scheduled to sail around the Great Lakes next year with Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates of the U.S. Navy. It also will be a star of the tall-ship gathering at Put-in-Bay in Lake Erie in 2013, for the bicentennial of Perry’s victory.

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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Photo of the 1873 William Henry Powell (1823-1879) painting of Perry's transfer from the Lawrence to the Niagara during the Battle of Lake Erie. — Photo of the 1873 William Henry Powell (1823-1879) painting of Perry’s transfer from the Lawrence to the Niagara during the Battle of Lake Erie.

Weisman Art Museum reopens after $14 million expansion

The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, designed by Frank Gehry and completed in 1993. Photo by Mulad, taken from the Washington Avenue Bridge.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Weisman Art Museum reopens to the public Sunday afternoon after being closed for a year for a $14-million remodeling project.

The modern art museum with the rippling metal walls on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota now features more skylights and twice as much gallery space as before.

The festivities run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and will events for the kids, lessons in screen printing, dancers, yoga classes in the galleries and a concert by Rogue Valley. Admission is free.

Online:

Weisman Art Museum: http://www.weisman.umn.edu/

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Lunch-hour heist: Man allegedly robbed estate jewelers while on trial

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) – A man on trial for robbery was arrested Friday after the jury delivered a guilty verdict. His crime? Authorities say he pulled a heist while on a lunch break from his trial a day earlier.

The Tennessean reports that police waited for a jury’s decision in Mark Burgin’s trial before immediately charging him in the theft of $45,000 worth of jewelry from a nearby Franklin, Tenn., jeweler.

Burgin had been on trial for the 2009 knifepoint robbery of a man at a truck stop. While on his lunch break Thursday he allegedly grabbed the jewelry and rushed out.

A clerk noticed he was wearing a Rolex watch, and saw that a nearby display watch was missing. The clerk confronted him about the watch and he returned it. But when the clerk noticed several other pieces missing and asked Burgin about them, he fled and apparently returned to court about a block away.

“He was just a grab and run,” said Mike Walton, owner of Walton’s Antique and Estate Jewelry.

Police matched Burgin’s description from witness accounts. His probation was revoked and he spent the night in jail before returning to his trial Friday. He was convicted later that evening.

The robbery was common knowledge around the courthouse, but Judge Robbie Beal kept the news from the jury while the trial wrapped up – other than to note that Friday’s lunch break wouldn’t be as long.

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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com

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Peachtree & Bennett putting on the Ritz with Oct. 8-9 auction

Mauboussin ruby and diamond brooch, est. $5,000-$8,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

ATLANTA –Peachtree & Bennett’s Oct. 8-9 auction promises to wow bidders with Jazz Age lavishness and an array of luxe antiques and art to satisfy even the most discriminating collector.

The company is celebrating its first year in the Atlanta area with an auction that features property from the estates of actor George C. Scott, artist Louise Nevelson and character actor Lou Jacobi. The sale also includes high-end merchandise acquired from fashionable Park Avenue and Upper East Side addresses in Manhattan. Additionally, a large selection of fine silver kept in storage in Fairfield County, Conn., and property from North Shore Towers on Long Island will be available.

From the Atlanta Metro area comes property from the exquisitely decorated Buckhead residence of a well-established interior designer, and property from the estate of Michael Deskey, whose father, Donald Deskey, was a renowned 20th-century furniture designer.

Vintage automobile aficionados will marvel at the classic first edition 1966 Silver Shadow Rolls-Royce complete with all original parts, paint and distinctive hood ornament. A newly restored 1928 Overland Whippet will also breeze across the auction block.

The fine jewelry selection is led by a jaw-dropping 8.91-carat, GIA-certified emerald-cut diamond. Also to be auctioned are spectacular diamond and emerald necklaces, a stunning period Art Deco diamond and ruby-encrusted cocktail ring, a Mauboussin diamond and ruby bow-form brooch, and a Tiffany & Co. gold and diamond equine dress pin. A collection of Tiffany & Co. silver pieces totaling hundreds of troy ounces, along with a glittering variety of additional estate jewelry, precious metals and gemstones will also be offered.

Connoisseurs will be jazzed by the stellar gathering of original art. Among the highlights are a landscape oil on canvas from French artist Gustave Loiseau, a bold interior-scene watercolor from German artist Georg Grosz, and Hungarian impressionist artist Francois Gall’s young woman at a vanity. A Karl Witkowski 19th-century oil depicting a street urchin oil, a colorful Cy Twombly abstract pencil on paper are also on the auction roster.

A striking selection of fine bronzes includes an Auguste Rodin bronze bust of a man, reclining mother and child modernist figural group by Russian-American artist William Zorach, and an Edgar Degas female bronze bust.

A mid-century Piero Fornasetti 4-part screen decorated with a trompe-l’oeil image of a bookcase on front and exotic bird aviary on verso is an attractive decorative-art highlight. Another auction star is the charming antique Serves ormolu mounted dresser box.

The sale is rounded out by a fine selection of Italian, French and English antique porcelains; loads of Orientalia, including furniture; and a variety of Satsuma porcelains, objets de vertu, collectibles, Picasso porcelains, a collection of Sevres porcelains, antique and period furniture, decorations and accessories.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 678-705-9798 or email auctions@peachtreebennett.com

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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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.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

3-piece Louis XVI parlor suite, est. $3,000-$5,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

Francois Gall oil on canvas painting, est. $4,000-$6,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

Piero Fornasetti trompe l'oeil folding screen, est. $6,000-$9,000. Peachtree & Bennett image. — Piero Fornasetti trompe l’oeil folding screen, est. $6,000-$9,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

Sevres bronze ormolu mounted box, est. $7,000-$10,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

1928 Overland Whippet, est. $12,000-$18,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

8.91-carat emerald-cut diamond, GIA certified, est. $300,000-$500,000. Peachtree & Bennett image.

Victorian étagère, possibly Pottier & Stymus. Peachtree & Bennett image.

Doctor’s estate to strengthen Mealy’s auction Oct. 4-5

Carved giltwood 0vermantel, attributed to John and Francis Booker, basically 18th century, 71inches x 41 inches. Image courtesy of Mealy’s Fine Art.

CASTLECOMER, Ireland – Mealy’s Fine Art will sell more than 1,200 lots of fine and decorative art at an auction Tuesday, Oct. 4, and Wednesday, Oct. 5, commencing at 10:30 a.m. each day at its gallery on Kilkenny Road. For those who cannot travel to County Kilkenny, LiveAuctioneers.com will facilitate Internet live bidding.

The sale will include selected items from Lyons Demesne on the instructions of the representative of the late Dr. Tony Ryan (approximately 300 lots); an executor sale of the contents of a period home in the South East; a private collection of family crested Irish and other silver (recently removed from an Irish bank vault); Oriental art from a gentleman’s private family collection, brought out of China before the onset of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937; together with an array of fine and decorative art and other personal property from Irish estates and private collections.

Day one includes ceramics, glass, silver and plate, works of art, Oriental art, tribal art, taxidermy, musical instruments, militaria and edged weapons.

Day two will be 18th, 19th and 20th century furniture, paintings and carpets/rugs, chimney pieces and fire furniture.

Day one highlights include:

203 – Important set of Irish candlesticks (recently removed from bank vault);

451 – star lot, with inscription in Chinese and Manchua, possibly from the Forbidden Palace, inscription hints that this was originally from emperor’s bedroom;

452 – 19th century rhino horn libation cup, very large, already attracting major interest internationally;

453 – 19th century rhino horn carving, same as above;

455 – early Chinese plate, probably early 17th century, with strange image depicted on the front;

597 – Kenyan African elephant foot, with cites license from a private Irish estate;

597A – Leopard skin, also with cites license (as above);

597C – found in Scotland, a massive rack, 9-feet 1-inch wide with 12 points (fossil of now extinct Irish elk, 11,000 years old); and,

598C – Square piano by Southwell (“The Irish Genius”) of Dublin and London.

Day two highlights include:

720 – breakfront library bookcase from Knocktopher Abbey in Kilkenny;

759 – fine cabinet, stately piece from Ryan estate, late 17th century;

851/852 – fine North African suzanis, or wall hangings, rare;

939 – impressive bench, made for the original provincial bank in college green, Dublin (now Westin hotel), designed by G. Murray;

986 – carved giltwood overmantle, Irish , attributed to Booker, basically 18th century;

1019 – early ‘View of New Ross’ by Henrietta Browne Clayton, acquired at clearance sale of Ballinamona Park;

1048 – view of ‘The Lower Lake, Killarney,’ attributed to James Richard Marquis;

1053 – view of ‘Dunbrody Abbey’ by the Hon. Henry Richard Graves; and,

1124 – Boardroom table with provenance, made for the board room of the Guinness Mahon Bank.

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.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

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