‘Femme devant une fenêtre ouverte, dite la Fiancée’ by Paul Gauguin (1888) was one of the paintings stolen in the Dutch art heist last October. Rotterdam Police photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.BUCHAREST, Romania (AFP) – A Romanian who admitted stealing seven masterpieces from a Dutch museum will get a reduced sentence because he acknowledged his guilt, a local court ruled Thursday.
The court accepted Radu Dogaru’s request to benefit from an article in Romania’s penal code stipulating that a sentence can be reduced by a third if the suspect admits guilt.
Dogaru, the alleged brain of the spectacular three-minute heist, faces a maximum 20-year jail sentence if found guilty of “aggravated theft.”
On Tuesday, he admitted stealing the paintings, including works by Gauguin, Picasso and Monet, in October 2012, but blamed the museum for failing to protect the masterpieces properly.
He told the court the back door he used to break into the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam was not fastened so he hardly needed to use the pliers he had brought.
But the prosecutor contradicted Dogaru, accusing him of trying to play down his part in the burglary.
One of Dogaru’s accomplices, Eugen Darie, the driver in the heist, will also get a reduced sentence after he admitted guilt.
The court rejected similar requests from two other accomplices. It also rejected pleas from the four suspects currently in custody, including Dogaru and Darie, to be released on bail.
The next hearing is due on November 19. No date has been set for the verdict.
Despite their 18-million-euro ($24-million) estimated value, none of the paintings was equipped with an alarm, Dutch authorities said.
Among the paintings stolen were Picasso’s “Tete d’Arlequin,” Monet’s “Waterloo Bridge” and “Femme Devant une Fenetre Ouverte, dite La Fiancee” by Paul Gauguin.
The missing paintings are feared destroyed after Dogaru’s mother, who is also facing trial, said she had torched them in her stove in the sleepy Romanian village of Carcaliu in a bid to destroy evidence against her son.
She later retracted her statement, but experts from Romania’s National History Museum said ashes retrieved from her stove included the remains of three oil paintings and nails from frames used before the end of the 19th century.
A separate investigation into the possible destruction of the artwork is under way.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
‘Femme devant une fenêtre ouverte, dite la Fiancée’ by Paul Gauguin (1888) was one of the paintings stolen in the Dutch art heist last October. Rotterdam Police photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
‘I’ll have a top-up, please, Mr. Carson.’ Poster courtesy of Downton Abbey Wines.NEW YORK – British period drama Downton Abbey® has become a global sensation, with around 120 million viewers glued to TV screens worldwide. Now, it’s possible for fans everywhere to bring a taste of Downton Abbey® home with a collection of wines inspired by the award-winning television series. The Downton Abbey Wine Collection features two enticing blends from the Bordeaux region of France: a “Blanc” white wine and a “Claret” red wine available in the United States on November 1, 2013 and in Europe and Australia later this year.
In creating this unique collection, Downton Abbey Wines looked to GrandsVins de Bordeaux, a family-owned Winery with more than 130 years of winemaking experience in the prized Entre-Deux-Mers region of Bordeaux, France. Winemaker Jean-Marc Dulong enlisted time-honored winemaking practices as well as modern techniques to create a collection of finely balanced, elegant wines that are eminently drinkable: Downton Abbey Blanc is a light and crisp white blend, while Downton Abbey Claret is medium-bodied red with bright fruit and a silky finish.
“We are excited to launch the Downton Abbey Wine Collection, made in the finest Bordeaux winemaking tradition,” said William Zysblat, co-creator of the wines. “Our collaboration with the Dulong family made perfect sense, as we wanted the same vines, soil and region used to produce the wines from the Downton Era. Having Dulong as our winemaker allows us to create accessible wines that we truly believe the Crawley Family would have been proud to serve at their table.”
Winemaker Jean-Marc Dulong added, “It is exciting for me to think about my Bordelaise ancestors crafting their clarets and blancs in the Downton Abbey® era. Their know-how, passed down to me through five generations, has inspired my own winemaking. With Downton Abbey Wines, I have strived to capture the essence of Bordeaux in this collection of delicious and approachable wines.”
Downton Abbey Wines are available online at www.Wine.com and www.DowntonAbbeyWine.com, and will also be available at specialty wine retailers and supermarkets nationwide including Cost Plus World Market beginning November 1, 2013 for $14.99 per 750-ml bottle.
About Downton Abbey Wines:
The Downton Abbey Wine Collection is inspired by the critically acclaimed and award winning drama Downton Abbey®. Downton Abbey Wines are produced from grapes grown in the famed region of Entre-Deux-Mers by The Dulong Grand Vins of Bordeaux, France. The family-owned vineyard has over 130 years of experience in creating the world’s best wines.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
‘I’ll have a top-up, please, Mr. Carson.’ Poster courtesy of Downton Abbey Wines.
Gerard Curtis Delano (American, 1890-1972), ‘Wood Smoke,’ oil on panel, signed Delano (lower left), titled and inscribed (verso), 23 x 28 3/4 inches. Estimate: $80,000-$120,000. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. DENVER – Leslie Hindman Auctioneers will sell property from the John W. Grund Collection of Western Art on Nov. 13 at the company’s Denver gallery. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The auction will feature 87 lots of early 20th century and contemporary Western paintings and works on paper, Audubon prints, photographs and bronzes. Highlights of the sale are important works by Gerard Curtis Delano, Eangar Irving Couse and Charles Partridge Adams. In addition to paintings by these respected Western artists, are works by more contemporary artists appealing to seasoned and young collector alike. The auction will commence at 6 p.m. Mountain time.
Grund was a fourth generation Denver native whose love for the Colorado Mountains began at an early age. He grew up surrounded by family, who were early members of the Colorado Mountain Club. Grund attended Pomona College, earned his master’s degree in English from the University of Washington, and graduated from the University of Colorado Law School. He was a civil defense attorney in Denver for more than 30 years, most recently at Grund Dagner P.C., which he founded in 2003. John W. Grund died in December 2012 and a scholarship in his name was established at the University of Colorado Law School.
As a young lawyer Grund collected art that reflected his love of nature and depicted the majesty of the Colorado mountains. He greatly admired the work of Charles Partridge Adams, a Colorado landscape artist, who painted many of the mountain ranges Grund had climbed during his youth. He became passionate about collecting works by Gerard Curtis Delano. Delano moved to Colorado in 1933, where he earned a reputation as a magazine illustrator. He later concentrated on painting and became known as “The Painter of the Navajo.”
Grund was influenced by Denver collector and author Richard G. Bowman and fell in love with the rich palette Delano used and the respect for the Navajos reflected in many of his paintings. For sale from the collection is Gerard Curtis Delano, Wood Smoke (estimate: $80,000-$120,000), which is illustrated in Richard G. Bowman’s book, Walking With Beauty; The Art and Life of Gerard Curtis Delano, and reportedly the last work ever painted by the artist.
Also featured in the John W. Grund Collection are works by Eanger Irving Couse, Charles Partridge Adams, Charles Fritz, William Moyers, William Cather Hook, Edward S. Curtis, John James Audubon, Merrill Mahaffey, James Disney, Ramon Kelley, Thomas Moran, William Henry Jackson and more. In addition is a selection of works by contemporary Western and Colorado artists such as Bruce Gomez, Jay More, Shaun Horne, Kevin Macpherson, Mitch Caster, Bruce Paton and Tim Diebler. This sale will interest traditional Western art collectors and young collectors interested in the Western art genre.
For information contact the Denver office at 303-825-1855.
Gerard Curtis Delano (American, 1890-1972), ‘Wood Smoke,’ oil on panel, signed Delano (lower left), titled and inscribed (verso), 23 x 28 3/4 inches. Estimate: $80,000-$120,000. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
Gerard Curtis Delano (American, 1890-1972), ‘Navajo Sheep 3,’ oil on canvas, signed Delano (lower right), titled and inscribed (verso), 22 x 27 inches. Estimate: $30,000-$50,000. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
Charles Partridge Adams (American, 1858-1942), ‘Sierra Blanca at Sunset from San Luis Valley Near Garland,’ watercolor on board, signed Charles Partridge Adams (lower left), 8 x 12 inches. Estimate: $2,000-$4,000. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
Eanger Irving Couse (American, 1866-1936), ‘Hopi Archway, Walpi Arizona,’ 1903, oil on panel, signed E I Couse (lower right), 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. Estimate: $12,000-$18,000. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
Important Boer War Officer Casualty Group of four awarded to Capt. Gilbert MacDonald Stewart, 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, killed in action at Spion Kop. Estimate: £3,000-£4,000. Baldwin’s and Dreweatts image.
LONDON – On Nov. 6, Baldwin’s and Dreweatts will conduct the second of their biannual military sales, comprising 320 lots of medals, militaria and military ephemera. The sale will be held at Dreweatts London saleroom in Mayfair and contains a plethora of historically important material for collectors.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Among a fine selection of medals sits lot 18, an Afghan and Indian Campaigns Group of four awarded to Maj. Gen. Henry Pelham Burn. The major general served at the siege of Jellallabad, in the Afghan Campaign of 1840-2, and also during the Mutiny of 1857-8, where he was present at the siege of Delhi and was granted the position of military governor upon its fall. Burn personally interrogated the great Mughal court poet Mirza Azadullah Khan Ghalib, but aware of his fame and importance, he provided him safe passage to his home, helping to ensure the survival of his own correspondence and writings from that time.
This group is made exceptionally special by the addition of an India General Service Medal, 1854-95, single clasp medal, Burma 1885-7, awarded to his eldest son, Capt. Henry Pelham Burn. He served in Burma between 1885-7 and was awarded the India General Service Medal with clasp, his only entitlement. As mentioned in Alumni Catabrigensis, while on leave from the army he rode with only a single native guide from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, passing through several areas previously unexplored by Westerners. This fascinating lot is estimated to sell for £4,000- £6,000.
Another India lot forms the highlight of the militaria section. Lot 248 is a fine Edwardian secretaire cabinet by Waring & Gillow of London, with royal significance. A brass plaque affixed to the drawer is inscribed “H.M.S. Medina used on state visit of the King & Queen to India 1911-12 Warings” (Waring & Gillows) London.
The RMS Medina was the last of 10 ships ordered by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. of the ‘M’ class. She was initially commissioned into the Royal Navy as the Royal Yacht, and her crew were mainly naval personnel. During building it was decided that Medina would take King George V and Queen Mary to India for the Delhi Durbar, leaving Portsmouth in November 1911, and returning in February 1912. Medina was provided with an extra mast, necessary to maintain Royal flag etiquette and furnished with a white hull with bands of royal blue and gold and buff funnels.
She was then delivered to P&O in June 1912 where she had only two years of peacetime service before the Great War broke out, but remained with P&O during the war. The Medina was torpedoed and sunk by SM UB-31 off Start Point, Devon on April 28, 1917. Today the wreck is upright with a 15-degree list to port, and is reasonably intact. This historically fascinating piece is estimated to sell for £5,000-£7,000.
Rounding off the sale is a small collection of watercolors, books and ephemera from the collection of the military historian Lionel Leventhal. Focusing principally on the Napoleonic and Second World Wars they include an important and rare Wyld atlas covering the battles of the Peninsular War; works by the artist Geoff Hunt; original German maps and plans issued as part of Operation Sea Lion; and a number of posters, leaflets and broadsides relating to the Blitz, British home front preparedness and the German occupation of the Channel Islands.
Important Boer War Officer Casualty Group of four awarded to Capt. Gilbert MacDonald Stewart, 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, killed in action at Spion Kop. Estimate: £3,000-£4,000. Baldwin’s and Dreweatts image.
Rare Russian World War I St. George Medal for Bravery, 2nd Class, awarded to Sgt. Edward George Cox, Machine Gun Corps (Cavalry), late 10th (Prince of Wales’ Own Royal) Hussars, awarded for gallantry and distinguished service in the field. Estimate: £3,000-£4,000. Baldwin’s and Dreweatts image.
Waterloo Medal, 1815, with contemporary silver replacement clip and steel ring suspension (Edmond Barrowcliffe, 2nd Battalion 3rd Regiment Guards). Estimate: £2,500-£3,000. Baldwin’s and Dreweatts image.
Rare George I 1738 tower-marked heavy Dragoon pattern land service pistol. Estimate: £4,000-£6,000. Baldwin’s and Dreweatts image.
Lot 3079: Arthur Matthews music cabinet. Sold for $212,400. Michaan’s Auctions image. ALAMEDA, Calif. – Michaan’s first auction dedicated to the Arts and Crafts Movement was held on Oct. 11. An Arthur Mathews music sheet cabinet was the star lot of the auction, garnering worldwide attention and selling for $212,400. LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.
The rare furniture piece was from the prominent estate of Francis Marion Smith, known for discovering and marketing borax. Smith’s luxurious Oakland estate was featured in the book The Art of Arthur and Lucia Mathews, where the music cabinet was documented in the drawing room. The cabinet realized a price fell squarely within its estimated auction value of $180,000-220,000 (lot 3079).
Lee Jester, Michaan’s Arts and Crafts specialist, was honored to present the piece at auction, saying, “The cabinet is undoubtedly remarkable. The provenance combined with the genius of Arthur Mathews solidified the piece as a coveted work of art in the marketplace.”
Handsome figures were also achieved by the auction’s offered decorative objects. Artisan pieces exceeded projected values, including a 22-inch Grueby floor vase selling for $12,980 (lot 3133, $9,000-$12,000). Also successful was a Van Erp brush pot featuring an oak tree cutout design (lot 3093, $1,400-$1,800) sold for $3,540, and a pair of Stickley no. 205 copper hanging sconces (lot 3067, $1,000-$1,500) sold for $2,655.
Furniture lots saw a range of items surpass estimates as well. An L. & J.G. Stickley Shaker-influenced five-drawer chest (lot 3034, $2,500-$3,000) sold for $5,310, a large three-door bookcase (lot 3039, $400-$600) more than doubled projections selling at $1,652, and a pair of Van Erp bookends with oak tree cutout motifs (lot 3087, $400-$600) also more than doubled the estimate going for $1,416).
Works of art also produced honorable mentions in the auction. Bertha Lum’s circa 1912 print Children in the Snow (lot 3099, $300-$400) nearly tripled the high estimate, selling for $1,180, and Harold Doolittle’s aquatint Redwood Giants (lot 3101, $200-$300) managed to more than triple estimates, selling for $944.
Lot 34: George II walnut bracket clock, sold for $146,500. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers image. CHICAGO – Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ Oct. 14–15 Fine Furniture and Decorative Arts auction realized over $1.79 million. The sale saw competitive bidding across all categories, from clocks to furniture, on the telephones, online and in the saleroom.
LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.
A George II walnut bracket clock by Henry Jones sold for $146,500 on Monday with nine international phone bidders competing from England, Germany, France and Canada. The clock finally sold to a New York bidder in the saleroom.
The auction saw extraordinary prices throughout the two-day sale and attracted bidding in every category from around the world. A marble bust, which was reputed to have come from a Chicago institution, sold for $98,500 to a European buyer who came to Chicago to bid in person. The bust had been in private hands for approximately 50 years, having been passed to the present owner by family descent; bidders from Massachusetts, New York, Belgium, England, France and Italy were on the telephones.
Demonstrating a strong demand for the finest quality objects, a lacquered commode sold for $42,500 to a buyer in Luxembourg, and a Mohtashem Kashan rug sold for $37,500 to a buyer in Germany.
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers is accepting consignments through Dec. 20 for the Feb. 10 Continental Furniture and Decorative Arts auction, and the Feb. 12 English and American Furniture and Decorative Arts. For more information contact Corbin Horn at 312-280-1212.
23in French circle dot Bru bébé, $18,000. Morphy Auctions image.DENVER, Pa. – As expected, the top lot in Morphy’s September 21 doll auction was a magnificent 23-inch French circle dot Bru bébé (Lot #262) made in 1880. An impressive representation of the golden age of French doll manufacture, the bisque beauty with amber-threaded, deep-brown eyes sold for $18,000. All prices quoted in this report are inclusive of 20% buyer’s premium.
Another French highlight was a very rare circa-1877 Fernande Sustrac all-bisque mignonnette (Lot # 130) with ball-jointed elbows. A delightful package, just 5½ inches tall, she was dressed in a blue silk and lace original factory costume, including ribbon-wrapped feet to simulate boots. Her new owner paid $4,200. A 25in Phénix Bébé (Lot #532) wearing an antique cream wool dress with black velvet trim was purchased for $5,400.
The German bisque category was brimming with desirable Hertel, Schwab & Co.; Kley & Hahn, Gebr. Heubach, and Kammer & Reinhart characters. Top honors went to a splendid 21-inch K & R 114 doll (Lot #289) with rare glass eyes, pouty mouth and crisp modeling, which sold for $9,000. A rare 16-inch Heubach 7746 character (Lot #163) with a cheeky grin was ready to entertain in an antique gold and black clown suit for a $6,600 price. Also by Heubach, an 11in candy container doll on a sled with pouty bisque head went to a new home for $2,160. Other notable dolls were a 20-inch H.S. & Co. 141 (Lot #435) with painted eyes and closed mouth ,$4,200; and a rare variant of the same mold (Lot #288) with glass eyes and open mouth, $2,700.
Lady dolls were quite popular. A 24in Simon & Halbig 1159 (Lot #291) in original red and white striped nurse’s uniform sold for $2,280. A dainty 14in painted bisque Armand Marseille 402 doll with slender lady face and body sold for $1,560. A 17in French lady doll (Lot #131) with wistful face and desirable kid-over-wood body with bisque lower arms and legs brought $5,700, even though one arm was repaired.
Other items of interest included a 15in Neapolitan crèche figure of an elderly lady (Lot #205) with wonderful character face, $3,600; an early Moravian cloth doll “Polly Heckewelder” (Lot #600), $3,200; a boxed H. Handwerck child doll with original clothing (Lot #167), $1,560; and a boxed DEP Jumeau (Lot #260), $2040. A Kathe Kruse 1931 “Hampelchen” (Lot #352), all original with label, brought $2,700; while a desirable Door of Hope small boy in silk (Lot #587) went for $1,920.
In addition to antique dolls, the 623-lot auction featured compositions, hard plastics, Sashas, R. John Wright and other high-end artist dolls; antique and vintage teddy bears, antique doll clothing and shoes; accessories and period furniture.
Morphy’s next cataloged doll sale is scheduled for March 22, 2014. Consignments will be accepted through December 2013. For more information, contact Morphy’s doll specialist Jan Foulke at 717-335-3435 or e-mail janfoulke@aol.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog from the Sept. 21 auction, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Image courtesy of BanksyNEW YORK (AFP) – British street art superstar Banksy said police on Wednesday prevented him from creating a new piece of art in New York as promised on each day of the month.
“Today’s art has been cancelled due to police activity,” he wrote in a blank window on his website www.banksyny.com under the heading October 23.
The same message was carried on his instagram account, which has more than 255,000 followers and which like his website each day announces his pop-up exhibition.
Banksy provided no other details. And a spokesman for New York Police Department had no immediate comment.
Art work by the England-based graffiti maestro, who has never been formally identified, can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars in upmarket galleries.
His month-long residency in New York has attracted a cult following, but has enraged the owners of defaced property and been criticized by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“Graffiti does ruin people’s property, and it’s a sign of decay and loss of control,” Bloomberg said last week. “Some places are for arts, and some aren’t.”
In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the owner of a building — on which Banksy painted two geishas on a bridge — was tagged and put guards on watch.
The artist’s take on the twin towers of the World Trade Center brought down on September 11, 2001 — painted in Brooklyn Heights, was removed after less than a week.
Banksy’s stenciled designs, known for their irreverent humor and political activism, have propelled him from a graffiti rebel to reluctant star.
Called “Better Out Than In” his New York show includes traditional stencil designs with installation art.
One of the highlights is a slaughterhouse delivery truck stuffed with soft toy animals, which appeared first in Manhattan’s uber trendy meatpacking district.
Called “The Sirens of the Lambs,” the cuddly toy pigs, sheep, chickens and cows are operated by puppeteers and also tours the city everyday until the end of October.
Oil on canvas painting by Spanish artist Julio Romero de Torres (1874/79-1930), signed and dated 1911. Estimate: $50,000-$80,000. Matheson’s Auctions image.
MELBOURNE, Fla. – Over 350 fresh-to-the-market items, carefully selected from several fine Florida estates and collections, will be sold on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 11 a.m. Eastern. The sale is being held by Matheson’s Auctions, buyers and sellers of fine art and antiques for over 40 years. LiveAuctoineers.com will provide Internet bidding.
Included in the sale will be property from a $15 million Miami mansion, a significant vintage art glass collection of an Ocala, Fla., collector and part one of the fine art collection from the Cuban ambassador to Canada.
“This auction will also feature one of the finest groups of Bakelite beaded and petit point purses we have ever offered,” said Lloyd Matheson of Matheson’s Auctions, “plus 25 large pieces of Lalique, a monumental set of Herend Rothchild Bird, Chinese bronzes, ivories and jade, a fine assortment of estate jewelry, sterling silver and period furniture, and much more.”
Two lots expected to attract keen bidder interest are a rare silver and brass automaton in the form of an ice-breaking ship, being offered for the first time from a private collection (est. $10,000-$15,000); and a massive nine-tube oak tall-case clock made circa 1890 by Walter M. Durfee and retailed by Bailey Banks & Biddle (est. $10,000-$15,000).
Several of the top lot candidates will come from the fine art category. An oil on canvas painting by Julio Romero de Torres (Spanish, 1874/79-1930), measuring 35 inches by 27 inches, signed front and back and dated 1911, should fetch $50,000-$80,000; and an oil on board by Emilio Sanchez Perrier (Spanish, 1855-1907), signed lower right, should realize $25,000-$35,000.
Two paintings by the noted French artist Edouard Cortes (1882-1969) will be sold, to include an oil on canvas evening scene of Paris, signed lower left and measuring 20 inches by 31 inches (est. $30,000-$40,000). Also, an ink on paper (sgraffito) by the Spanish artist Angel Botello (1913-1986), signed lower right, 15 inches by 12 1/4 inches, should hit $8,000-$10,000.
A pair of lots from the jewelry category is expected to do well. One is an 18K yellow gold diamond engagement ring consisting of one round brilliant cut 1.62-carat diamond in a six-prong 14K white head (est. $9,000-$12,000). The other is an 18K yellow gold woman’s Rolex watch with diamond bezel and dial and an extra Rolex face included (est. $4,000-$5,000).
From the furniture category, a heavily carved 19th century oak R.J. Horner sideboard with griffins and still in the original finish, standing 6 feet 4 inches tall by 6 feet wide, is expected to breeze to $5,000-$7,000. One of the more interesting items in the sale is an Ernest Heinrich Roth antique violin in a case, with a Sivori bow, (est. $2,000-$3,000).
Chinese items will include a pair of important oil on canvas paintings, one depicting a seated dignitary surrounded by dragons (55 1/2 inches by 25 3/4 inches), the other depicting a procession of Chinese dignitaries (both est. $2,000-$2,500); and a lovely, intricately carved Chinese ivory birdcage, measuring 13 3/4 inches tall by 10 1/2 inches wide (est. $1,000-$1,500).
Returning to art, two drawings by Andy Warhol will be offered, each with an estimate of $1,000-$1,500. One is a drawing of the Disney character Mickey Mouse, while the other is of the Playboy bunny logo. Both are signed and framed and both come with a letter of authenticity and provenance from Melbourne, Fla., art gallery owner Mark Ozz.
An important Old Master oil painting on cradled panel, signed “de Hoogh” on the lower right side, should bring $5,000-$10,000; and an original linocut by the Spanish master himself, Pablo Picasso, titled Tete de Garcon (Boy’s Head), 14 inches by 10 1/2 inches, numbered 36 of 50, and with a certificate of authenticity and receipt from 1969, should command $3,000-$5,000.
Two rare Royal Copenhagen figural groups after Lenci, both marked on the base, should each hammer for $1,000-$1,500. Also, a Boehm bird of paradise floral (from an edition limited to 400), the piece signed “Boehm” and measuring 24 inches tall, should make $1,500-$2,000; and a large Mettlach beer stein should hit $500-$800.
From lamps and lighting, a reverse-painted stained glass lamp shade measuring 29 inches by 23 inches, with a solid bronze base, carries a reasonable estimate of $500-$800. And from the silver category, a diminutive Imperial Russian enameled silver bowl measuring a spare 1 1/4 inches by 5 inches, marked “88” silver, is expected to bring $1,000-$1,500.
Also due to cross the auction are an art glass sphere by the American artist Patrick Wadley (1950-1992), signed and dated (1990) and measuring 11 inches by 11 inches (est. $1,000-$1,500); and a grand jardinière by French artist Louis Carrier-Belleuse (1848-1913), 31 inches by 18 inches, artist-signed and with impressed numbers on the base (est. $8,000-$12,000).
For details call Matheson’s Auctions at 321-768-6668. Matheson’s Auctions is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. To inquire about consigning a single item, an estate or a collection, call the same number or e-mail them at mathesonsauctions@yahoo.com.
Oil on canvas painting by Spanish artist Julio Romero de Torres (1874/79-1930), signed and dated 1911. Estimate: $50,000-$80,000. Matheson’s Auctions image.
Two paintings by Edouard Leon Cortes (French, 1882-1969) will be sold, including this evening scene in Paris. Estimate: $30,000-$40,000. Matheson’s Auctions image.
Amazing and rare silver and brass key windup ship automaton weighing about 20 pounds. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Matheson’s Auctions image.
Heavily carved 19th century oak R.J. Horner sideboard with griffins, in the original finish. Estimate: $5,000-$7,000. Matheson’s Auctions image.
Walter M. Durfee 9-tube oak grandfather clock, made circa 1890 and sold through Bailey Banks & Biddles. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Matheson’s Auctions image.
Vintage poster damaged by unsightly tape residue. Kovels.com image.
CLEVELAND (PRWEB) – The antiques experts at Kovels.com know how hard it can be to safely remove sticky labels from plastic, glass, metal and paper antiques and collectibles. What’s the best way to remove a price sticker from the action figure’s cardboard backing? Scotch tape on a poster? Gluey residue on the back of a postcard pasted in a scrapbook? Or old masking tape residue that is not only sticky but hard?
Care should be taken when using Scotch tape, duct tape, adhesive tape or sticky labels. They can leave a residue that discolors over time, can discolor or remove crackled glaze and overglaze colors (especially gold) on ceramics, take off some of the thin sheet of silver used over copper on old Sheffield plate, or leave a discoloration on metal patina. It’s especially harmful to paper and painted tin. Resulting stains can lower the value of an item. Kovels.com offers 10 tips to use to safeguard your antiques:
1. Whatever product you try, test it on a small and inconspicuous area first. Be sure it will not leave a spot.
2. Use vegetable oil or orange oil on glass or china. Peel away as much of the label as you can. Soften what’s left with the oil, applied with a Q-tip, then rub gently. Porous materials like wood, textiles or cardboard shouldn’t be oiled.
3. Use lighter fluid on glass or cardboard. Drip a little on the sticker and around the edges. Blot the excess and be careful not to let it drip anywhere else. Wipe with a soft cloth. You’ll probably have to do this a few times. Don’t use lighter fluid on plastic, especially clear or see-through plastic. It can turn it smoky. Don’t let the lighter fluid touch chrome parts; it can damage the shine.
4. Use a hair dryer to soften the adhesive from a sticky label on metal or ceramics. Then peel off the label. Any remaining glue could be removed with isopropyl alcohol.
5. Use a hot cloth or heat the label with a hairdryer on veneer or painted surfaces. Just don’t pull the label too quickly because you could pull off paint or tear off a piece of veneer.
6. Use peanut butter on plastic. Yes, smooth peanut butter. Rub gently.
7. There are strong adhesive-removal products available at hardware stores. Some are: Goo Gone, Bestine (found at artist supply stores and good for paper), UN-UD Adhesive Remover (on glass, paper, metal and wood) and WD-40 (on glass and metal). Do not apply these products to old, porous ceramics because they can cause darkening or crazing. The product label may not caution against it.
8. Other suggested products to try are acetone-free nail polish remover, denatured alcohol, toothpaste, mayonnaise, mineral oil and spray-on hair de-tangler.
9. Go slowly. Be gentle and patient. It may take a few tries.
10. Look carefully under any sticker before you buy. It could be hiding a stain or flaw that cannot be repaired.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Vintage poster damaged by unsightly tape residue. Kovels.com image.
