1965 Austin Healey 3000 Mk III, not running, sold for $14,160. Michaan’s Auctions image. ALAMEDA, Calif. – Asian items reigned supreme across all department lines in Michaan’s Feb. 3 estate auction, along with two vintage Austin Healey sports cars in need of restoration. LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live-bidding services for the sale.
The department experienced a lengthy succession of lots that exceeded expectations with jade collections surprising at auction. Five lots containing carved jade objects sold from anywhere from over three to seven times projected high values, with lot 302 most sharply exceeding its high estimate of $500. Consisting of a pair of jade gourd carvings, which exhibited beautiful craftsmanship, the lot sold to an Internet buyer for $3,835.
Asian art specialist Harry Huang acknowledged that quality jade carvings remain “very much in demand,” but even he was surprised at their performance. Another noteworthy jade lot was found in 306. The two scholar’s implements sold for over five times their projected high value of $700 for a handsome $4,130.
The March estate auction saw a 100 percent sell-through from offerings of stamps and coins. The top performing lot in the department was also the one to most significantly surpass a high estimate in the sale. A collection of Chinese stamps sold as lot 226 amazingly went for over 14 times their projected high value of $400. A battle for the lot ensued between a single phone and Internet bidder, causing the sales price to continue to climb. The Internet bidder was victorious, walking away with the lot for a final selling price of $5,900.
The sale opened with eight lots of cars, which all sold. A pair of Austin Healeys struck a cord with bidders willing to go the distance to secure the collectible automobiles. Both cars managed to sell for more than nine times their high estimates, which were quite conservative due to their nonrunning condition. But, bidders undoubtedly noticed their potential and were willing to up the ante to own the classic sports cars. A 1965 model left its high estimate of $1,500 far behind as an Internet bidder snapped it up at $14,160 (lot 005). A 1959 model also performed exceptionally well, selling for $11,800 with a high estimate of $1,200 (lot 003).
Rugs and carpets enjoyed an approximate 78 percent sell-through with a Lavar Karman carpet seen as a top performer (lot 292, $800-1,200), which sold for $3,245. Rounding out the offerings was an antique iron floor safe (lot 044) estimated at $400-600, which sold for $2,360, and a modernist Reed & Barton coffee and tea service set (lot 269, estimate $800-1,200), which sold for $3,245.
For general information please call Michaan’s Auctions at 510-740-0220 ext. 0 or email info@michaans.com.
Greek Attic black figure stemmed kylix, Athens, Classical Period, c. 510 B.C. Estimate: $8,000-$10,000. Antiquities-Saleroom image. BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – For their March 1 auction titled “Antiquities, Ancient and Ethnographic Art,” Antiquities Saleroom decided to think big – as in dinosaur big. Coming on the heels of their highly successful Feb. 1 auction, Antiquities Saleroom’s latest auction offers the biggest piece ever offered by this Colorado antiquities company. Lot no. 3 is a nearly complete dinosaur fossil skeleton of a Psittacosaurus measuring over a full meter in length and half a meter in height. Far from the only prize piece in this 250-plus lot auction, this 140-million-year-old fossil, estimated to fetch a dino-size $10,000, is just the beginning of what’s in store.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
According to Teresa Dodge, managing director and co-founder of Antiquities Saleroom, the March 1 auction includes more than 250 authentic examples from ancient cultures all over the world, as well as several interesting fossil and mineral specimens.
“We’re really excited about this latest auction. Unlike our February auction that featured Pre-Columbian antiquities exclusively, this sale literally has something for everyone,” said Dodge. She pointed out that the March auction showcases almost two dozen ancient examples from Egypt, more than 30 pieces from ancient Greece, including a fine Attic / Athens-made pottery wine jug (lot #32) estimated to hit $8,000 to $10,000, and a large number of Roman artifacts, including examples in stone, bronze, pottery and glass. There are also many fine examples from Asia-Minor, including the largest and most complete cuneiform tablet Antiquities-Saleroom has ever seen or offered and many more exceptional examples of ancient and near-ancient Chinese / Far East antiquities, as well as more than 50 lots of Pre-Columbian artifacts.
Bob Dodge, also a co-founder in the company, stresses that all items offered by Antiquities Saleroom have been legally acquired, are legal to resell and are unconditionally guaranteed to be authentic and as described in the catalog. “We do not sell replicas or anything ‘in the style of’ any ancient culture. What’s more, no sale is ever final. We want satisfied customers who are happy with what they buy – so they will come back and buy more.” Dodge said.
Antiquities, Ancient and Ethnographic Art Auction will start at 10 a.m. MST, noon Eastern, on Friday, March 1..
For additional information about the auction, call Teresa Dodge at 720-502-5289, or send her an email at antiquitiessaleroom@gmail.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Kataro Shirayamadani Rookwood vase. Material Culture image.
PHILADELPHIA – On Sunday, Feb. 24, Material Culture will hold an important auction of fine art, antiques, carpets and ethnographic arts under the title “Collector’s Eye.” A portion of the 300-plus lots up for sale come from the art collection of the international healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline LLC, which holds many museum-quality pieces. The auction catalog is available online through LiveAuctioneers.com, who will also facilitate live internet bidding at the time of the sale. The auction begins at 11 a.m. EST.
One of the exceptional pieces brought to auction by GlaxoSmithKline is a Rookwood vase from 1900, decorated by Kitaro Shirayamandi with gorgeous chrysanthemums for Rookwood Pottery. Maria Longworth founded the Rookwood Pottery Company in 1880 in Cincinnati, Ohio, inspired by Japanese ceramics and under-glaze French pottery. Rookwood was the first American company to gain international admiration for ceramics from the United States, surprising detractors of American craft by winning the First Prize Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1889.
Japanese artist Kitaro Shiryamandi was invited to come to Ohio to create for the company in 1887, and the vase up at auction on Feb. 24 is a spectacular example of his artistry. Gleaming with golden and cream chrysanthemums against a dark background, the hand-painted earthenware piece – produced in 1900 – measures 18 inches by 9 1/2 inches, and is expected to fetch $10,000-$20,000.
Work by renowned Italian-American sculptor and designer Harry Bertoia (1915-1978) also comes to auction from the GlaxoSmithKline collection. Bertoia studied the at the Art School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, earning a scholarship to the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he studied under Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius, among others, and became friends with designers Florence Knoll and Charles and Ray Eames. He is perhaps most famous for designing the Diamond and Bird chairs for the Knoll furniture company, which became icons of modernist furniture, and for his sound sculpture. When he began exploring tonal sculpture in 1960, he was already well-known for his sculptures and installations, but his innovation in creating sculptures that generate their own otherworldly music has come to be his hallmark. A winner of awards from the American Institute of Architects and the American Academy of Letters, Bertoia has installations in public institutions around the country, and in the permanent collections of museums such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, both in Washington D.C.
The Sounding Sculpture at auction features 16 rods of beryllium and copper, metals which were some of Bertoia’s favorites for tonal sculpture, set into a tall rectangular pedestal. He never made the same piece twice, enjoying the varied depth and timbre of differently sized rods; this Sounding Sculpture measures approximately 30 inches high, on a pedestal that measures 27 inches by 9 inches by 9 inches. It is 57 inches high overall. As is seen on some but not all of Bertoia’s sounding sculptures, the rods are capped with metal cylinders to accentuate the movement initiated by a hand or puff of air. Bertoia had renovated an old barn on his estate and assembled 100 sounding sculptures into the acoustically perfected space, where he recorded 11 albums titled Sonambient, featuring the sonorous, sometimes haunting, tones of his sculptures. His installation in the barn remains intact, but individual sounding sculptures have been in high demand at auction houses, and this Sounding Sculpture, made in the 1970s, is valued at $10,000-$20,000. Also showcased at this sale is another of Bertoia’s sculptures, Wheat Sheaves, which is expected to fetch $5,000-$10,000. This stainless steel sculpture measures 45 inches high on a 10-by-10-inch base.
Another highlight of the GlaxoSmithKline holdings is Sheila Hicks’ Double Prayer Rug, made in 1981 at the Atelier des Grands Augustins in Paris. One of the world’s most preeminent fiber artists, Hicks (American, b. 1934) is influenced by the Bauhaus traditions of her painting instructor at Yale University, Josef Albers, and her study of Pre-Columbian textiles. Hicks relates in a 2004 interview with the Smithsonian Institution, “Textiles had been relegated to a secondary role in our society, to a material that was either functional or decorative. I wanted to give it another status and show what an artist can do with these incredible materials.” Her works, which often fuse abstract sculpture with weaving, are held in the permanent collections of museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. In 2011, an important retrospective exhibited at the Addison Gallery in Andover, Mass., the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C., and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. Measuring 80 by 60 inches, Double Prayer Rug plays with the tradition of textile, introducing woven sculptural elements. Hicks created a series of “Prayer Rugs,” featuring, as this one does, a flat weave at top, from which wrapped pile projects into space in a cascade of tassels. The shape formed by the pile echoes the niche pattern of a classic prayer rug, and in the case of this unique Double Prayer Rug, a doubled niche. Constructed of silk, linen, cotton and gold thread, this innovative piece bears an estimate of $10,000-$20,000.
The collection includes another piece of significant fiber art, a tapestry titled Flower Field, by Helena Hernmarck. Born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1941, Hernmarck is one of the finest artists working in tapestry today. In contrast to Hicks’ abstract, multi-dimensional creations, Hernmarck’s tapestries are frequently pictorial, sometimes pulling three dimensions in a trompe l’oeil of a two-dimensonal weaving. Hernmarck studied her craft at Handarbetes Vanner Weaving School and the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, and her work responds to Sweden’s rich textile tradition. Using Swedish yarn and Swedish looms, she creates large tapestries, frequently in relation to the public or private space for which they are commissioned, or to the natural world of the local community. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. She has received numerous awards, including the American Institute of Architects Craftsmanship Medal (1973), and Sweden’s prestigious Prins Medal (1998). In 1996, she became a Fellow of the American Craft Council, and in 2000, she was elected the Swedish American of the year. Her piece at auction, Flower Field, depicts wildflowers of lilac and deep purple in a green field. Measuring 68 inches by 131 inches, this tapestry of silk and wool is valued at $5,000-$10,000.
The auction will additionally showcase a number of truly spectacular carpets from private collections around the country and around the world. An antique Heriz carpet from Persia dates to the 19th century, its rich tones of burgundy, salmon, navy and sky blue well preserved, and the carpet’s overall condition excellent. Its central medallion, split-leaf decorations and guard-banded border are representative of classic Heriz designs, but what distinguishes the carpet is its extremely rare size, measuring 24 feet by 17 feet. Carpets of that length almost never exceed 14 feet in width, making wider rugs almost impossible for collectors to find. This Heriz carpet comes to the auction from a man in North Carolina, and is expected to fetch $30,000-$40,000.
Another rare 19th century carpet at auction is a Turkish Oushak, which stands out for its spectacular condition, as near to mint as could be imagined. Woven in lustrous angora wool, the full pile carpet still has its original warp ends and vivid, playful colors. In fact, the carpet’s ochre, crimson and cornflower blue are far more lively and vibrant than the conventional palette of an Oushak; also notable is its inner border, which contains a band of Arabic script. This truly distinctive carpet, property of a man in Dallas, Texas, measures 9 feet 3 inches by 12 feet 1 inch. It bears a presale estimate of $20,000-$30,000.
Other exceptional carpets include a Karagashli carpet, a top example of this type of Caucasian rug with its distinctive light sky blue color. The property of New York collector, this carpet measures 3 feet 2 inches by 4 feet 10 inches and is valued at $8,000-$10,000. A consignor from Greece brings several fine carpets from auction, including an East Anatolian Kurd rug, approximately 150-200 years old. In very good condition for its age, it bears a presale estimate of $2,000-$4,000. Another from the same collector is an outstanding example of a true late 19th century Agra carpet In wonderful full-pile condition, still bearing brilliant, clear colors. This rug makes a compelling departure from the rigidly symmetrical designs of most Agras, where typically the patterns are read aloud to weavers; the main border of this carpet, in particular, exhibits its weaver’s improvisation and sense of play. Purchased in London in the 1970s, the carpet is expected to fetch $15,000-$25,000.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
President George Washington’s face is pictured with a flag on the lid of this 3-inch-by-4-inch 1890s tobacco tin. It sold for $303 at a William Morford auction in Cazenovia, N.Y.
It would not be in good taste or even legal to use a picture of the president of the United States as part of a product’s package design or advertisement. Most states have laws that prohibit the unapproved use of a person’s name or likeness for “commercial benefit.”
This was not a concern when George Washington (1732-1799) was president (1789-1797). He was admired by the public, but there were no photographs of him and few portraits. Product packaging back then was usually a plain black and white folded paper packet. In the 19th century, celebrations of Washington’s Feb. 22 birthday and the July 4 birthday of the United States made Washington a symbol of the country. A surprising number of things collected today feature Washington’s portrait. At least three tobacco companies used “Washington” as a brand name one for pipe tobacco, one for plug tobacco and one for chewing tobacco. Each had a picture of Washington on the package, often beside a flag and other patriotic symbols. Collectors of Washington memorabilia can also find a brand of coffee, a soup company’s ads, dishes, calendars and many other products that feature Washington’s image. No doubt he would be upset to know he once advertised Acapulco Gold cigarette papers. Other Washington collectibles found today include old posters and signs advertising products like insurance, 1876 U.S. Centennial furniture with wooden inlay picturing Washington, and paper needle cases from 1930s dime stores. Even today Washington is a spokesman for products. In the past year, he has promoted cars, beer, an appliance store and a state lottery.
A colorful tobacco tin for Washington Mixture tobacco, picturing Washington and a flag, auctioned for $303 at a 2012 William Morford auction in upstate New York. Almost all George Washington-related collectibles and antiques are selling well.
Q: My mother said she and my father had the first radio in our area, and people came from all over to listen to it. She thought it was about 1919 or 1920. My dad built the radio, then bought a cabinet to put it in. The cabinet has a label that says “American Beauty Radio Cabinets & Console Speakers, Mfg. by Pierson Co., Rockford, Ill.” The radio was disposed of long ago, but we still have the cabinet. It has all its original knobs and is in good condition. I’d like to know when it was built and what it’s worth.
A: The first commercial radio broadcast was made when KDKA of Pittsburgh broadcast the results of the presidential race between Warren Harding and James Cox on Nov. 2, 1920. Radio receivers were not widely available at the time. In the 1920s, many people made their own radios by assembling the necessary components and attaching them to a board. By the late 1920s, radios were being manufactured for sale, and furniture companies began making cabinets to put them in. Pierson Furniture Co. was founded in 1927. It became Pierson Radio Co. in 1930 and began making radio cabinets. In 1940 the company switched from manufacturing to retail, and its name was changed to Pierson Factory Showrooms. Your empty cabinet would sell as used furniture and might bring a few hundred dollars.
Q: Have you ever heard of green glass goblets filled with peanut butter and sold by Armour Meat Packing Co.? My brother-in-law worked for Armour in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He would bring home various purchased meats and also peanut butter packed in these goblets. I have three of them and would like to donate them to Armour for its museum, if they have one.
A: Armour was founded in 1867. Although the company’s main business was meat packing, it also made bacon, ham and other meat products, as well as canned food, jam, jelly, lard, salad oil, soup, peanut butter and other products. The company used byproducts of the slaughterhouse to make brushes, glue, strings for musical instruments and tennis rackets, sutures and pharmaceuticals. Armour’s refrigerated meats, nonrefrigerated products and pharmaceuticals are owned by different companies today. Several companies packed peanut butter in goblets or glasses in the 1940s and ’50s. By the 1950s, they were also using decorated glass as packaging. The pressed glass goblets sell for about $5 to $10 each today.
Q: I have a 9 1/2-inch-high oval crystal vase that’s heavy and has lots of detail on it. Mother said it was “Imperial Crystal.” I found Imperial listed in a book at the library, but it said the company made only pottery. Who made my vase?
A: The name Imperial has been used by several companies. Some made pottery or porcelain and others made glass. The Imperial Glass Corp. produced glass in Bellaire, Ohio, from 1901 to 1984. Glass made by this company was sometimes marked “Imperial,” but we have never seen any marked “Imperial Crystal.” A company named Imperial Crystal exists today, but it doesn’t make vases like yours. It personalizes items made by other companies. Your vase probably was made by the Ohio company.
Tip: Do not store jewelry in silk or wool bags. The fabric may contain sulfur or plastic that can discolor silver and copper.
Take advantage of a free listing for your group to announce events or to find antique shows and other events. Go to Kovels.com/calendar to find and plan your antiquing trips.
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.
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.
Tramp art wall vanity, matchsticks, overhanging eave, bracketed shelf, framed mirror, hanger, 13 x 6 1/2 inches, $24.
Toy Yellow Taxi, black “Main 7570” tin windup, J. Chein, 1920s, 6 inches, $270.
Art pottery vase, green, brown matte glaze, twisted handles, four wells, organic shape, Vance & Co., 9 x 10 inches, $458.
Bronze trumpet vase, Gothic-style borders and banding, black marble plinth, France, circa 1850, 17 1/2 x 9 inches, $1,195.
Meissen reticulated basket, blue and white, couple in 1700s attire, tree, scrolled base, 20 x 13 inches, $1,375.
Shelf clock, gilt bronze, figure of cavalier wearing plumed hat and reclining on cannon, scrolling mounts, 20 x 13 inches, $1,875.
Center table, Gothic Revival, rosewood, upholstered top, carved, arched stretchers, c. 1850, 31 x 27 inches, $4,182.
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. 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. Available only from Kovels. Order by phone at 800-303-1996; online at Kovels.com; or send $19.95 plus $4.95 postage and handling to Kovels, P.O. Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
President George Washington’s face is pictured with a flag on the lid of this 3-inch-by-4-inch 1890s tobacco tin. It sold for $303 at a William Morford auction in Cazenovia, N.Y.
Platinum diamond and ruby bracelet, $15,600. Morphy Auctions image. DENVER, Pa. – Morphy Auctions’ Feb. 8-9 collaboration with the Pennsylvania Treasury’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property resulted in an exciting weekend of transactions that tallied over one million dollars (inclusive of 20% buyer’s premium). Of that total, 26% was attributable to prices realized by 200 lots of fine jewelry, watches, coins and other valuables from the Treasury’s vaults in Harrisburg, Pa. The greater portion of the 1,146-lot sale included consignments of paintings, mechanical music, a collection of vintage violins and a broad selection of decorative art, including Part II of a highly refined Amphora pottery collection. LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live-bidding services for the sale.
“There was a lot of interest from the media in the run-up to this sale, especially because of the Treasury Department items,” said Dan Morphy. “It was the first time in 10 years that the Treasury had sanctioned a live auction of unclaimed goods from safe deposit boxes. The quality was there, all the way.”
There were 2,179 registered bidders for the sale, and more than 100 people attended the event in person, including representatives from the Pennsylvania Treasury. The phone bank was active throughout the auction, and Internet bidders made their presence known in a big way, with online purchases representing 62% of the gross over the two-day period.
Of the Treasury consignment, the earliest representation of Pennsylvania’s history was a Spence-authenticated, handwritten 1787 property deed signed by Benjamin Franklin. Estimated at $7,000-$10,000, it was bid to $13,200.
Bidders dipped into the Treasury’s jewelry box with glee, taking away many exquisite gold, diamond and platinum pieces just in time for Valentine’s Day. A heart-shape diamond-encrusted pendant set in 14K gold featured a 1.25ct pear-shape center diamond surrounded by smaller rough-cut pave diamonds. Its sparkle and heft encouraged bidders to ignore the $7,000-$10,000 estimate, and ultimately it checked out at $18,600.
A stunning platinum engagement ring with a 4.25ct European-cut diamond and two flanking baguettes, each weighing .30 carats, came very close to achieving its high estimate at $19,800. The ring would have made quite a spectacular statement if paired with another retro-chic design that finished high amongst prices realized: a platinum, diamond and ruby bracelet with an Art Deco feel. It featured an eye-filling medley of round, Asscher- and emerald-cut gems, and drew a winning bid of $15,600.
Timepiece highlights included an impressive 18K diamond-face Rolex Presidential watch, $10,800; and a sporty Swiss-made Breitling Chronograph with cobalt blue and gold face, $5,700.
Patrick Orbe made his debut as Morphy’s fine art consultant with the selection of paintings he curated for the Feb. 8-9 sale. The auction’s top fine-art lot was a Ferdinand Richardt (Danish, 1819-1895) oil on canvas titled “View of Niagara Falls.” The signed 33 x 43in painting presented in a custom-made gold leaf frame realized $37,200.
Bidders competed aggressively over rare pieces of Amphora from the Les Cohen collection, especially the monumental 18½in “Daughter of the Rhine” vase with applied jewels and enameled flowers. Well exceeding estimate hopes, it rose to $18,000. Another crowd-pleaser was the 22½in Amphora Saurian & Crab vase. Estimated at $7,000-$9,000, it was chased to $13,800.
Other decorative-art categories also held up very well. Desirable Loetz glass was led by a circa-1903 pink luster vase with a blue pattern reminiscent of peacock feathers, $4,800. The top Rookwood lot was an initialed and dated 1927 monumental vellum vase in a hibiscus motif, created by Elizabeth Lincoln. The vessel garnered $6,000.
“I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way bidders responded to the fine jewelry and other articles from the Pennsylvania Treasury,” said Dan Morphy. “Even though all of their items were offered without reserve, nearly every piece met or exceeded expectations, with sales totaling $260,000. We’re very much looking forward to presenting the next Treasury selection, which we anticipate will be sometime in the fall.”
To contact Morphy Auctions, call 717-335-3435 or e-mail serena@morphyauctions.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog for Morphy’s Feb. 8-9 auction, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Strike up the bandwagon! Bertoia’s may decide to hold even more Concept Auctions if they prove to be music to customers’ ears. Bertoia Auctions image. VINELAND, N.J. – On Saturday, March 16, Bertoia Auctions will present their 300-lot Concept Auction, in which all lots will be sold absolute and without reserve — meaning each lot will sell for whatever price the auctioneer states as being final as the hammer falls. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding.
The auction will consist exclusively of cast-iron toys – primarily automotive, horse-drawn and work vehicles, supplemented by farm accessories, miniature cast-iron furniture and automotive accessories, such as gas pumps and street signs. Also included in the mix are cast-iron airplanes, motorcycles, doorstops, bottle openers, paperweights and toy stoves and ranges. There will also be a small section of banks in the sale.
Most items will be offered as groups in affinity lots containing three to five pieces per lot. Bertoia Auctions’ owner, Jeanne Bertoia, said the mixed lots contain “many eye-openers…There are a few near-mint-condition autos and many more-affordable toys that any entry-level collector would be proud to acquire.”
The list of automotive highlights includes numerous Kenton buses, a Kenton coal truck and Los Angeles blimp; a Hubley crash car and fire pumper, an Arcade panel van and other Arcade toys in boxes; a few Vindex pieces and several Buicks. The selection is rounded out by a multitude of work vehicles of various colors, sizes and types.
Collectors of horse-drawn toys will find the array of Kenton toys appealing. All are in nice condition, and several retain their original boxes. Additionally, there are horse-drawn toys from Hubley’s Circus line and a group lot consisting of seven cast-iron wagons by Champion and Kilgore.
Alongside a fine lineup of figural cast-iron doorstops, Bertoia’s has brought together some very desirable figural cast-iron paperweights, including some with people, dog and other animal themes. Top lots include two complete sets of desirable miniature paperweights replicating Popeye, Olive Oyl and Wimpy.
Other notable entries include caps guns and an especially large group lot containing Arcade tools and accessories.
Bertoia’s March 16, 2013 Concept Auction will begin at 12 noon Eastern Time. For additional information on any lot in the sale, tel. 856-692-1881 or e-mail toys@bertoiaauctions.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
A 1926 Travel Air 5000. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
HAMILTON, Texas (AP) – Harry Hansen was a Continental Airlines co-pilot in 1961 flying from Dallas to Abilene when his captain pointed down to a decrepit airplane parked next to a farmhouse near Lake Worth.
An aficionado of old aircraft, Hansen was intrigued. After the flight, he learned that the farmhouse was on Amon G. Carter Sr.’s Shady Oak Farm. Hansen knew Carter’s son, Amon Carter Jr., from a previous job flying for oilman W.A. Moncrief.
So Hansen called Carter Jr. and told him he was interested in the aging airplane. Carter Sr. had died in 1955.
“He asked me, ‘What do you want that old piece of junk for?’” said Hansen, now 79. “I said I wanted to restore it one of these days. And I was there the next morning to get it.”
The aircraft that Carter gave him was a Travel Air 5000, a rare and iconic plane that today is considered the oldest known piece of the Carter family’s aviation legacy in North Texas, according to the Veterans Memorial Air Park in Fort Worth. It was one of only 14 such planes built and was operated by National Air Transport when it first added passenger service to its Chicago-to-Fort Worth airmail route in 1927.
Now it is an aviation artifact that organizations supporting the air park hope to return to Fort Worth. They’re seeking financial pledges and a grant to raise the money to buy the airplane, which Hansen plans to auction later this year.
“This is the oldest piece of aviation history that we have,” said Jim Hodgson, executive director of the airpark. “We really feel it belongs here.”
Hansen declined to say how much he hopes to sell the airplane for. But, if airpark officials can raise enough money, he has agreed to sell it to them before the auction. The auction could occur in August or September, he said.
Airpark officials say they hope to raise $200,000 to buy, transport and continue rehabilitation of the aircraft.
Hansen told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said he has slowly restored the plane in his hangar in Hamilton during the past 10 to 15 years but didn’t have time to do it all. He had a friend rebuild the wooden wings out of spruce. He refurbished other parts like the rudder, elevator and aileron, he said.
Plenty of work remains. The plane, which has a 51-foot wingspan, needs “skin,” the cotton fabric covering the outside. The engine must be restored. Age and health will keep Hansen from finishing it.
“As you get older, you don’t get to do everything you want to do when you are younger,” Hansen said.
Bill Morris, who researches aviation history, documented the Travel Air 5000’s story for the airpark.
The aircraft grew from a 1925 effort by a group of investors in Chicago, New York and Detroit looking to connect the cities with airmail service. They formed the airline National Air Transport, also known as NAT, which would become United Airlines in 1931.
Carter Sr. and other local Fort Worth business leaders began working to put Fort Worth on a NAT mail service route. In November 1925, the airline was awarded a contract by the U.S. Post Office to carry mail between Fort Worth and Chicago.
“By transferring its airmail operations to private companies, the government effectively created the commercial aviation industry in the United States,” Morris wrote.
Initially, NAT moved mail on 10 Curtiss “Carrier Pigeons,” open-cockpit biplanes designed for airmail delivery, according to the airpark’s literature. But the airline soon wanted to add passenger service to the mail flights.
The Travel Air 5000s were developed by Wichita, Kan.-based Travel Air Manufacturing Co., which was founded in 1925 by three young aircraft designers – Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman. All three would go on to become giants in the aviation industry.
Only 14 Travel 5000s were built. One of the airplanes provided Fort Worth with its first scheduled interstate passenger airlines service at Meacham Field in 1927.
With their enclosed cabins, the planes could fit four passengers behind the pilot, Morris said. But they had to squeeze in with the bags of mail.
“If you had a big load of mail, you might only be able to put three passengers in there,” he said. “If it’s Christmas time and you have a bunch of packages, you definitely aren’t going to fit four. There was no center aisle and certainly no stewardess.”
The tight seating meant the Travel Air 5000’s time was limited. Looking to expand passenger service, NAT replaced the 5000s with 14-passenger Ford Trimotors by 1931. The Travel Air 5000 was gifted to Carter for his contributions to aviation during a presentation Feb. 1, 1931, in Fort Worth.
Hansen has an old washed-out photograph of the ceremony. In it, Carter and NAT President Paul Henderson stand in front of the airplane looking at a piece of paper. Carter’s friend, humorist Will Rogers, stands next to them, smiling at the camera.
Carter stored the airplane at Shady Oak as a souvenir until he gave it to Hansen. The retired pilot said he contacted United Airlines to see if it was interested in the aircraft, but the company was not.
Morris said that airpark officials are pursuing a grant to help with the expense of buying the aircraft. In the meantime, they’re accepting financial pledges from the public on the air park’s website. Ideally, they would like to see the plane serve as the centerpiece for a museum. So far, the airpark has raised more than $20,000, he said.
“We’re seeing some enthusiasm out there for this,” Hodgson said. “This is a unique piece of history, and we hope people will take an interest.”
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Information from: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, http://www.star-telegram.com
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A 1926 Travel Air 5000. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Banksy, ‘Slave Labour (Bunting Boy),’ stencil and spray paint on render with additional Golden Jubilee bunting, 48 x 60 in. Unique street work. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and Fine Art Auctions Miami.
LONDON (ACNI) – It’s not the first time an artwork attributed to stealth muralist Banksy has been removed from its place of origin and sent to auction, but the latest such incident is sparking a furor in England. A report has gone viral throughout the British media that a Banksy mural painted on the side of a London shop last May was ripped off the wall and consigned to an auction in Miami.
Titled “Slave Labour (Bunting Boy),” the stencil and spray paint artwork with additional Golden Jubilee bunting is entered in Fine Art Auctions Miami’s Feb. 23 Modern, Contemporary and Street Art Sale with a $500,000-$700,000 estimate. The 48 by 60-inch painting depicts a grim-faced young boy on his knees, presumably in a sweatshop, stitching up Union Jack flags on a sewing machine. The auction catalog describes it as a “unique street work.”
Residents of North London’s Wood Green neighborhood are up in arms about the removal of the mural, which wasn’t discovered missing until yesterday. Apparently the wall from which it was removed last Wednesday was covered with scaffolding and a tarp. A published report in The Guardian said the mural is in storage in Europe, awaiting sale.
Frederic Thut, owner of Fine Art Auctions Miami, spoke with Auction Central News and confirmed that the consignor is “a well-known collector,” but declined to provide their name or identify where they are located. Thut said the collector had signed a consignment contract with Fine Art Auctions Miami and that the deal is legal.
“There is always a controversy when a Banksy is sold,” Thut told Auction Central News, “but everything is clear and correct, and the owner has the title and right to sell [the mural]. If a judge gives an order to stop its sale, then we will be more than happy to comply, but I am very sure that the sale is legal.”
London daily newspaper The Sun quoted Wood Green councilor Alan Strickland as saying, “Banksy gave our community that painting for free. Someone has taken it and plans to make a huge amount for themselves, which is disgusting and counter to the spirit in which it was given.”
The mural, which adorned one of the exterior walls of a store called Poundland — the British equivalent of a dollar story — had become a popular tourist attraction in Wood Green. There were even signs at the local Underground station to direct visitors to the artwork. A Poundland representative said the store was not responsible for the removal of the mural.
Click to view the online auction listing for the Banksy artwork:
Copyright 2012 Auction Central News International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Banksy, ‘Slave Labour (Bunting Boy),’ stencil and spray paint on render with additional Golden Jubilee bunting, 48 x 60 in. Unique street work. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and Fine Art Auctions Miami.
The monument to the USS Maine in Havana photographed circa 1930. Image published according to terms of the Free Art License.
HAVANA (AP) – It was a little before 10 p.m. that February night in 1898 when a fiery explosion roiled the normally calm waters of Havana Harbor, blowing out windows in the city and sinking the USS Maine to the bottom of the bay, just the mast and some twisted metal wreckage left to poke above the waves.
Havana’s monument to the 266 U.S. sailors who died that night was dedicated 27 years later as a tribute to lasting Cuban-American friendship, a thank-you for Washington’s help in shedding the yoke of Spanish colonial rule, which was known for its cruelty.
The years since have been unkind to the twin-columned monument, and to U.S.-Cuba ties. But while relations between Washington and Havana remain in deep freeze, the monument, at least, is now getting a facelift.
The restoration project is fraught with symbolism, with the monument’s scars telling the story of more than a century of shifts in the complex relationship and changing interpretations of the marble structure.
“Of the monuments in Havana, that’s one that really is struggling to contain all of these different historical episodes,” said Timothy Hyde, a historian of Cuban architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. “It doesn’t just symbolize any longer this single moment of the sinking of the Maine. It symbolizes all these periodic moments of antipathy and hostility and challenges between the two nation-states.”
Soon after the USS Maine suddenly sank off the coast of this Caribbean capital 115 years ago last Friday, the United States accused Spanish colonial authorities of responsibility in the blast.
“Remember the Maine!” became a rallying cry in the States, and after the U.S. victory in the brief Spanish-American war, Spain ceded control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam.
The Maine monument was inaugurated in 1925 and bears the names of all 266 sailors. Two statues standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the base represent a maternal America guiding the maiden Cuba into independence.
Words etched into the marble quote an 1898 U.S. congressional resolution recognizing a free Cuba, and the massive bronze eagle that long capped the monument faced due north to symbolize Washington’s promise to return home after helping the island break from Spain.
“To me it signifies a legacy of loyalty … friendship between two peoples,” said Julio Dominguez Santos, the monument’s night watchman for 17 years.
But things didn’t work out as that earlier Congress had hoped.
Many Cubans resented the 1901 Platt Amendment, which said Washington retained the right to intervene militarily as a condition of ending the postwar U.S. occupation.
The U.S. did in fact intervene several times, and American business and mafia gangs came to dominate many aspects of the island in the run-up to the 1959 revolution – leading many Cubans to feel like the eagle had never flown back north.
Soon after Fidel Castro’s rebels marched victoriously into Havana, the tense marriage rapidly careened toward divorce and diplomatic ties were severed in 1961. Following the doomed, U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion months later, the more than 3-ton eagle was ripped from the monument during an anti-American protest and splintered into pieces.
“The eagle was torn down after the triumph of the revolution because it’s the symbol of imperialism, the United States, and the revolution ended all that,” said Ernesto Moreno, a 77-year-old Havana resident who remembers waking up one day to see the statue gone. “I found it to be a very good thing, and I think most Cubans agreed at the time.”
Castro’s government added a new inscription to the base of the broken monument alleging the Maine victims had been “sacrificed by imperialist greed in its zeal to seize the island of Cuba,” a reference to speculation that the U.S. deliberately blew up the Maine to justify a war against Spain.
Historians say the explosion was probably an accidental ignition of the Maine’s own munitions, but the conspiracy theory still commonly circulates in Cuba.
The Communist Party newspaper Granma, for example, has written in the past that the Maine victims were “immolated to serve as a pretext for American intervention that in 1898 prevented the island from gaining true independence” – ignoring the fact that Cuban rebels had failed to oust the Spanish on their own for decades.
A Granma article published on Friday’s anniversary was less certain, but still said American self-sabotage “cannot be ruled out, given the interest among the more aggressive imperialist circles in instigating war.”
The Maine eagle’s head was mysteriously delivered to Swiss diplomats, who had agreed to act as protectors of U.S. property in Cuba. Today it hangs in a conference room at the U.S. Interests Section, which Washington maintains in Havana instead of an embassy.
After relations were partially re-established in 1977, longtime foreign service officer Wayne Smith, who had been in Havana in 1961, returned and arranged to see the body, wings and tail, which are currently out of sight in a musty storage room of the Havana City History Museum.
“I have been the faithful custodian of the body,” City Historian Eusebio Leal, told The Associated Press. “Smith told me that until the body and the head are reunited, there won’t be good relations between Cuba and the United States.”
U.S. diplomats also possess the monument’s original eagle, toppled by a hurricane in 1926. Since 1954 that earlier bird has presided over the immaculate gardens of the Interests Section chief’s official residence.
A plaque at the base calls the eagle “a symbol of the enduring friendship” between Cuba and the U.S.
“I’m just happy we have it. I don’t know how it got here. Somebody got ahold of it, saw it and gave it to us,” said John Caulfield, the Interests Section chief since 2011.
Coincidentally, the U.S. State Department recently sent two specialists down to repair the first eagle, which was cracked and tarnished green.
Like many structures in Havana, the monument on the seafront Malecon boulevard had become seedy from decades of neglect. Marble lion heads were damaged or looted, and the fountains were used as trash receptacles by passers-by.
The repair seems to be part of a general restoration of hundreds of historic structures by Leal’s office, unrelated to any change in U.S.-Cuban ties.
Workers in blue jumpers recently removed scaffolding that shrouded the columns for months, revealing gleaming-white marble scrubbed clean of grime. Gone are the rusty stains beneath the two 10-inch guns that were salvaged from the Maine. The statues are a lustrous bronze again after corrosive salt air turned them bright green.
Leal said his office intends to finish remaining tasks such as getting the fountains working and re-landscaping two adjacent plazas in the coming months.
But amid the ongoing renovation, a return to the monument’s original spirit of friendship seems unlikely – at least for now.
“Certainly we have as much wish for that to be true today as we did at the time,” Caulfield said of the congressional resolution inscribed on the monument supporting Cuba’s right to be free. “I hope that we and the Cubans will see a new relationship with the United States that allows those words to be true.”
Leal said he also hopes for warmer ties, but first Washington must end the 51-year economic embargo and abolish “anti-Cuban” laws.
Can he envision a bronze eagle resuming its perch someday atop the monument?
“On the occasion of a friendly visit by a U.S. president,” Leal said. “I wish President Obama would be the one to do that.”
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Associated Press writer Anne-Marie Garcia contributed to this report.
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Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The monument to the USS Maine in Havana photographed circa 1930. Image published according to terms of the Free Art License.
‘Self-portrait,’ by Edward Steichen. Published in ‘Camera Work,’ No 2, 1903. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) – An Illinois museum has received 49 photographs by Edward Steichen, a photographer known for his portraits of celebrities such as Greta Garbo and Charlie Chaplin.
The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University in Evanston on Friday announced the gift from collectors Richard and Jackie Hollander. The museum plans an exhibition of the photos in the fall.
The Hollanders gave other Steichen photographs from their collection to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
The Hollanders purchased the photos from the artist’s estate and they were printed by Steichen himself.
Lisa Corrin of the Block says the museum has been building its photography collection. She says she considers the gift of the Steichen photos “transformative” for the museum.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
‘Self-portrait,’ by Edward Steichen. Published in ‘Camera Work,’ No 2, 1903. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
