VINELAND, N.J. – Collectors in a quest to find rare antique toys in superior condition struck gold at Bertoia’s Nov. 11-12 Toys on World Tour auction, which realized $1,550,000 (inclusive of 15% buyer’s premium). The 1,502-lot sale was very well attended, with phone bidders keeping Bertoia’s staff members constantly engaged. Internet bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com played a major role in the auction’s success, as well. The daily average of purchases attributable to online buyers was 27.4%.

Cast-iron toys proved to be a category with resiliency, as evidenced by the setting of several world auction records. “I would say that at this auction cast iron was not only back, but back to the future. That’s how strong it was,” said Bertoia Auctions associate Rich Bertoia. “The Donald Kaufman auction series, which grossed over twelve million dollars, seems to have reignited the fever of collecting cast iron. We even saw a few new players at the sale.”

A circa-1932 Arcade cast-iron rendition of a Mack dump truck in bright red and yellow, came with provenance from the respected Larry Sieber collection, Considered the finest known specimen of its type, the 9-inch, near-mint truck claimed the top spot in its category at $17,250.

Having passed through Bertoia’s gallery before, during the Kaufman series, a 17-inch Kenton cast-iron “Speed” truck painted green with a stake-side open body toppled its previous auction price to sell for $12,650 against an estimate of $6,000-$7,500. “There were many other pieces from both the Don Kaufman and Dick Ford collections that followed that same pattern, selling for much more than they had in recent auctions. They still had their previous Bertoia tags on them,” Rich Bertoia noted.

Another surprise was the buoyant prices achieved by German clockwork tin boats. “Normally in a single auction we don’t get as many all-original or nearly all-original boats of such outstanding quality, but it happened this time,” said Bertoia.

The top lot of the sale, an exceptionally well-scaled Marklin “Avalanche” painted in light blue and with all four lifeboats, two stacks, flags and other original accessories, had no trouble sailing to $41,400 against an estimate of $20,000-$22,000. Other big winners by Marklin included a “Puritan” oceanliner, $23,000; “Columbia” battleship (partially restored), $18,400; and 1930s “Freya” battleship, $17,250 against an estimate of $8,000-$10,000.

Additional European tin toys that won favor with bidders included a Hans Eberl two-seat clockwork tourer. Estimated at $600-$750, the red, gold and black auto with driver figure made $10,925. An earlier production dating to around 1900, a Gunthermann 12-inch vis-à-vis with hand-painted driver figure surpassed its estimate to reach $5,175.

“What was interesting about the European toys is that there were many Europeans on the phones who were extremely competitive but could not win against bidders in the room. It seemed that the estimates didn’t matter,” said Bertoia.

Over the past decade, the market for early American tin toys has confirmed that demand continues to exceed supply for rare and fine examples. A nice selection of this specialty was included in Bertoia’s sale, with the leading piece being an extremely rare Ives Man on Rocking Horse, ex Tom Anderson collection, that galloped past its $6,000-$8,000 estimate to cross the finish line at $39,100.

Of the collection of biscuit tins offered, “those in great condition brought great money,” Bertoia said. A circa-1920 W. Crawford & Sons “Fire Brigade” tin – one of the featured items on Bertoia’s auction catalog cover – benefited from crossover bidding from firefighting fans and commanded $6,900 (est. $1,000-$1,200). One of only two or three known examples of a tin pram with baby and golliwog lithographed on its lid was a runaway favorite and earned $6,325 against an estimate of $700-$900.

Almost every sale conducted by Bertoia’s features an array of excellent-quality cast-iron doorstops. The Nov. 11-12 offering included a charming rarity: a snow-capped yellow cottage with hand painting reminiscent of Grandma Moses’ primitive New England style. The doorstop was a book example and had been entered in the sale with a $1,200-$1,600 estimate. “Apparently there were many bidders who wanted this doorstop for their collections. It sold for $5,175,” said Bertoia Auctions’ owner Jeanne Bertoia, who is, herself, a renowned expert and author on the subject of antique doorstops.

Other sale highlights included an Asahi 1962 Chrysler Imperial tin car in rich cobalt blue, $6,900; and a 30-inch-tall, signed Vichy automaton of a beautiful lady with hand mirror. Superbly modeled and painted, with a Jumeau bisque head accented by pearl “drop” earrings, the elegantly dressed automaton soared to $18,400 against an estimate of $6,000-$9,000.

The much-anticipated selection of Christmas antiques attracted bidders across the board, but most especially toward the rarely seen antiques. “Collectors are waiting for the great things to come out, and they’ll pay the price to get them,” said Rich Bertoia.

The Christmas section was led by a late-19th-century chalkware belsnickle, 22 inches tall, painted in brown and red with holly and berries on the hood of its knee-length coat. Estimated at $10,000-$12,000, it was pushed competitively to $18,400.

Bertoia’s Spring Auction will be held March 23-24, 2012 and will feature doorstops from the Chuck and Barbara Cook collection, comic character toys from the Ronnie Rosen collection, cast-iron rarities from a private collection, Lehmann and Martin windups, steam engines and many other choice pieces. For additional information call 856-692-8697, e-mail toys@bertoiaauctions.com, or visit www.bertoiaauctions.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog from Bertoia’s Nov. 11-12 Toys on World Tour auction, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

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BOSTON – Skinner Inc. reports that its auction of Asian Works of Art held on Dec. 1-3 brought more than $3.7 million inclusive of buyer’s premium. Of the 1,600 works offered, many exceeded high estimates, further demonstrating that the demand for Asian art and antiques remains extremely strong.

Huanghuali furniture was especially sought with two lots exceeding the $100,000 mark, both of Chinese origin. One of the auction’s top sellers, in fact, was a pair of low-back Huanghuali armchairs with rattan seats which sold for $118,500. A pair of 18th century Huanghuali stools with rattan tops and hoofed legs sold for $112,575.

Among other big-ticket items were a large, elaborate gilt and cloisonne Mount Pengali Island with stylized tortoiseshell which sold for $118,500, a Zitan Kang table adorned with a carved archaic motif apron, which sold for $85,750 and a Chinese rhinoceros horn carving from the 1920s depicting the seated figure of Pu Tai surrounded by children which sold for $71,100.

Jade and ceramics also performed extremely well. More than 100 pieces of jade from the private collection of a New England man realized $360,000, before buyer’s premium. A large porcelain vase from the K’ang Hsi period brought $16,590 and a large celadon vase from the Ming period, sold for $18,960.

“We saw uniformly strong results across all categories within the Asian department, demonstrating that demand for Asian material shows no signs of slowing,” said Stuart Slavid, interim director of Asian Works of Art at Skinner. “Furniture, painting, ceramics, jade, and decorative arts all performed very well, bolstered by active online and telephone bidding from China and Hong Kong.”

For details visit Skinner’s website www.skinnerinc.com or phone 508-970-3278.

Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

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CHESTER SPRINGS, Pa. – Wiederseim Associates Inc. conducted their annual and always entertaining Thanksgiving Weekend Auction on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011 at Griffith Hall, Ludwig’s Corner Firehouse, Glenmoore, Pa. The sale featured many wonderful items from the Estate of John E. duPont, “Foxcatcher Farm,” Newtown Square, Pa.; fine jewelry from the Estate of Margaret R. Nagy, Malvern, Pa., and items from other estates and collections from Philadelphia’s Main Line, Gettysburg and Chester Springs, Pa., and New England.

The top lot of the sale was a rare Rene Lalique frosted glass fox-form car mascot “Renard,” the French word for “fox.” Because the mascot was not signed and was amongst hundreds of porcelain and other decorative foxes all out of the same estate, it was understandably not cataloged as a period R. Lalique glass mascot. It was sold as part of a lot with four other decorative foxes all for the single estimate of $100-$150. An alert staffer at RLalique.com spotted the photo and recognized the R. Lalique Renard, likely the rarest and most valuable of all commercial Rene Lalique car mascot models produced in the late 1920s, and placed the great fox in their worldwide auction listings. Soon Wiederseim began receiving inquiries about the piece from all over the world. It was confirmed by worldwide collectors and experts that only five such examples were known to exist prior to the discovery of this one. Wiederseim had seven phone bidders from the UK and USA, two bidders in the room and additional bidders online through LiveAuctioneers.com. Bidding on the mascot opened at $30,000, ultimately narrowing down to a battle between two private collectors from England. The bidding came to a close at $204,750. All prices in this report are inclusive of 20% buyer’s premium.

Another strong price was achieved by a wonderful circa-1900 Marklin battleship Columbia, with clockwork mechanism and original paint decoration in pristine untouched condition. One of the finest examples known, it opened at $30,000, and after very competitive bidding, was knocked down to Rich Garthoeffner, Garthoeffner Gallery in Lititz, Pa., for $81,900.

There was also spirited bidding for the many equine and sporting art paintings. Richard Stone Reeves’ [American, 1910-2005] oil-on-canvas equine portrait of a horse and jockey titled lower left “Berlo/ E. Guerin Up” went for $28,080, while a Franklin Brooke Voss [American, 1880-1953] oil portrait titled “Ruler/Brook Steeplechase 1929 and 1930/Belmont Park/Property of Foxcatcher Farms” garnered $11,115.

A Hubert Shuptrine [American, 1936-2006] watercolor portrait of a bearded man sold for $17,550; and a marvelous Audubon Elephant Folio “Great White Heron,” engraved, printed and colored by R. Havell in 1835 went for $17,550.

Furniture highlights included a rare set of eight Philadelphia Federal mahogany side chairs, circa 1800, which sold for $14,040; an Empire mahogany cabinet in the manner of Joseph Barry, Philadelphia, which realized a surprising $5,557; and a diminutive 19th century Bermuda red cedar chest-on-stand that brought $4,680. An Empire mahogany worktable, 19th century, with a carved spread-winged eagle base, which did six times the high estimate at $3,510.

The extensive and eclectic selection of accessories and decorative objects also yielded some robust results and included a beautiful gilt decorated three-part mirror, circa 1800, with original églomisé panels that made $4,387; a 19th century folk art carved wood standing fox with glass eyes and original paint decoration, $4,680; and a carved bowl with a note stating: “In which Princess Nahienaena’s feather lei was returned to Hawaii from the Marquesas by Reverend James K. Kekela in 1899.” It contained seven feather leis historically worn only by royalty, and sold for a regal $15,210.

Wiederseim Associates’ next auction is scheduled for Saturday Feb. 11, 2012, with Internet live bidding through www.LiveAuctioneers.com. For additional information, call 610-827-1910 or 610-574-9010.

View the fully illustrated catalog fro Wiederseim’s Nov. 26 auction, complete with prices realized, online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.

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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

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