PHILADELPHIA – The City of Brotherly Love is in bloom. Recently listed as one of the world’s “Ten Best Cities for Parks” by Frommer’s Travel Experts, it is also home to one of the nation’s finest annual auctions specializing exclusively in garden and architectural antiques.

Every April Kamelot Auction House fills to the brim with antique statuary, fountains and urns, architectural elements and outdoor furnishings, amassing a spectacular array of offerings befitting nearly any landscaping scheme or garden style. The 2012 Antique Garden & Architectural Auction at Kamelot Auction House will take place in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 14, 2012, starting at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding.

This year’s sale is set to open with a rare and important 19th-century bronze life-size statue of Diana as Lot No. 1. Signed with the phrase “Executed by Elkington Mason & Co. 1854,” the statue is expertly modeled after the ancient “Artemis from Gabi,” currently housed in the Louvre. It is being offered with an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000.

Acclaim of another sort is associated with several lots of finely carved antique wood architectural elements. Three of these lots originated in the mansion of Cornelius Vanderbilt II on 57th Street in Manhattan. They include Lot No. 640, a pair of very fine carved oak interior columns, being presented with estimates of $4,000 to $6,000.

A rare and monumental pair of Centennial Philadelphia Robert Wood cast-iron lions is listed as Lot No. 200. Circa 1875, the pair once stood guard in front of the Broadwood Hotel, a building that later housed The Philadelphia Athletic Club. Each figure stands 51 inches high and is 68 inches long. The lot is estimated at $20,000 to $30,000.

The buyer who seeks outdoor seating arrangements will find attractive furniture for every garden setting. A serene terrace or lawn, for example, would be well graced by the pair of elegant 19th-century lily-of-the-valley cast-iron garden chairs being offered as Lot No. 183 (est. $3,000-$4,000). The chairs possess excellent naturalistic details.

Comprising more than 750 lots, the total auction listing will include many exemplary objects of magnificent scale and decorative stature, including a massive antique mahogany mirrored bookcase or bar back, stained glass windows, outdoor lighting, antique signage and display furniture, modern outdoor furniture and decorative art; and tons of fine antique terracotta, stone and antique iron garden ornamentation.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 215-438-6990.

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

The Friday session starts with a major offering of antique and vintage trains that comprises a good 40% of the 1,615-lot sale. “Every train collector will find something that pleases them,” said Dan Morphy, CEO of Morphy Auctions. “There are hundreds of prewar, postwar and contemporary trains of many different gauges.”

The railroad selection boasts many sought-after brands – Marklin, Bing, Ives, Dorfan, Lionel and American Flyer. There are even two rare sets by American Flyer’s predecessor, Edmond-Metzel – one with original box and three Chicago passenger cars.

Within the German train group are coveted early Marklin O gauge sets, a handsome Bing 1 gauge set, and half a dozen mostly hand-painted buildings and stations, including a Leipzig station. “Golden age” highlights include an American Flyer President’s Special with original box and a Lionel #400 freight set with some of its original individual boxes.

Most of the early Marklin trains are from the Arizona collection of Ray Dextraze, while many of the Lionel and golden age trains came from New York-based collector Jack Moore. A Pennsylvania collector consigned the contemporary trains.

The stellar Geoffrey “GR” Webster collection is a comprehensive lifetime assemblage of American cast-iron, English die-cast, and pre- and postwar European and Japanese airplanes. More than 50 prized pieces – many of them reference book examples – will go under the hammer during the two-day sale.

Webster is not only a collector but also a highly decorated wartime pilot, aviation scholar and author who built his panoramic collection with an eye toward rarity, originality and historical accuracy. His fascination for flight – which began during childhood as the son of a naval pilot – led to his amassing a world-class collection of aviation toys and models. Portions of the collection are documented in his 2009 book Collecting Vintage Aircraft Toys and a 2011 co-authored edition titled Dinky Toys Aircraft 1934-1979.

The top prize in Webster collection is an ultra-rare 1930s Britains Short Bros. Monoplane Flying Boat with original box. One of only three known to exist, the Bakelite and heavy tin plane is also the only example to be offered for public sale in the last 30 years.

“James Opie, who authored the premier guide on Britains soldiers, rates this toy at the top of rarity for Britains,” said Morphy. “GR’s book example might even reach $20,000.”

A fleet of iconic 1920s cast-iron aviation toys is led by a Hubley America, the largest cast-iron plane ever made. There’s also a massive Hubley Friendship float plane with Amelia Earhart’s silhouette in one window; a Spirit of St. Louis, and numerous other period cast-iron tri-motors and gliders.

Prewar German tin planes include Tippco productions from 1935 to 1942, including a Junkers JU-52, a Siebel twin-engine transport, and the only known surviving example of a Heinkel He-100. There are also rare prewar Rico (Spanish) and Ingap (Italian) craft, including the only known original examples of the CR-42 biplane fighter and the Macchi C.202; and a seldom-seen Chein tinplate Martin seaplane. Arguably the largest tin toy ever produced, a Yonezawa tinplate 10-engine B-36 bomber had plenty of room to spread its expansive wings in the Webster collection. Two boxed prewar Dux constructor planes depict a German Stuka divebomber and civilian Messerschmidt ME109.

“Usually toy plane collectors focus on one category, for instance American cast-iron or British planes. There aren’t many who collect all toy planes, but GR was one of them. His collection is an overview of aviation history in toy form,” Morphy said.

Early German toys include a 1st series Marklin battleship New York, Fleishmann and Carette boats; and many tin autos by such makers as Bing and Fisher. A hand-painted late-19th-century Marklin firewagon, Lutz hansom cab, 30 lots of penny toys and a rare Uberlacher swimming toy set with original toy boats and tin animals round out the selection.

The Saturday session is led by cast-iron still and mechanical banks, including an Uncle Remus, and Hen on Nest; as well as vehicles and airplanes from the Webster collection. An Ives Phoenix horse-drawn fire-ladder toy is another cast-iron highlight.

More than 400 lots of fine dolls, doll clothing, accessories, furniture and wardrobe trunks represent a 200+ year timeline, ranging from 18th-century Queen Anne wood dolls to modern artist dolls. One of the finest dolls in the sale is a 1910 Kammer & Reinhardt 101X – a rare boy character doll with composition body, bisque head and flocked hair. In beautiful condition, it is expected to make $5,000-$6,000.

A 12-inch Simon & Halbig 153 boy with molded hair, also known as a “Little Duke” doll, was found in a dry attic. It commands an $8,000-$12,000 estimate. Two 1910 composition Munich Art dolls – a boy and girl – are considered to be forerunners to bisque character dolls. Each is estimated at $5,500-$8,500. A large black stockinet Beecher baby was handmade by members of an Elmira, N.Y., church group between 1893 and 1910 to raise funds for missionaries. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000.

Also poised for success are an all-wood Schoenhut “bonnet doll, French dolls, including a 33-inch Steiner child, est. $8,000-$10,000; Ideal Toni dolls, and two Miss Ondine swimming dolls patented in 1878. German dolls [Kestner, Heubach, Kley & Hahn, etc.], French Jumeaus, SFBJ children, Kathe Kruse, Lenci, and Barbie dolls; wax and papier-mache dolls; and an array of artist dolls also will be offered.

The May 11 session starts at 10 a.m. Eastern Time; the May 12 session at 9 a.m. For additional information, call 717-335-3435; 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.

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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