Promotional street poster by Martin Sharp promoting the release of the seminal underground publication ‘Oz’ magazine. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and the Fame Bureau Limited. SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian psychedelic artist Martin Sharp, a founder of the controversial Oz magazine who designed posters for the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, has died aged 71.
His death on Sunday, after a long struggle against emphysema, was confirmed by artist and friend Garry Shead, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“We’ve lost a major figure and a great character,” said Wayne Tunnicliffe, head of Australian art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Sharp studied at the National Art School in East Sydney before founding the famed Oz magazine in the early 1960s with Richard Neville and Richard Walsh.
The three were twice charged with printing an obscene publication, with a cover showing Neville and two friends seemingly urinating on a sculpture provoking fierce controversy in 1964.
Once his convictions were overturned on appeal in 1966, Sharp moved to London where he and Neville established London Oz along similar lines.
But Sharp is best known for the psychedelic posters he designed for the ilk of Hendrix and Dylan, and the album covers he did for supergroup Cream, featuring Eric Clapton.
“His psychedelic artwork is fantastic. I’m very sad to hear that he’s died,” said Australian artist Reg Mombassa.
“I first saw his work when I was about 16 because he did the cover of Disraeli Gears, the Cream album,” he told the Herald.
“And I’ve always said that Martin would be one of the best-known artists around the world, even though people may not know his name, because millions of people have that record.”
Sharp had lived in Sydney since the 1970s and Tunnicliffe said he was a pop artist who “really engaged with the city, its people and really reminded us of our history and our beloved institutions.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Promotional street poster by Martin Sharp promoting the release of the seminal underground publication ‘Oz’ magazine. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and the Fame Bureau Limited.
A child plays with a Sony AIBO ERS-7 robot dog. Image Stuart Caie. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
MADRID (AFP) – A white robotic beagle sits wagging its tail and nuzzling anyone who pets it, while six pint-size robots, flashing blue, pump their fists as they dance to the pop hit Gangnam Style.
They are the stars of a new museum launched in Madrid this month, showcasing what its owners say is one of the world’s top collections of robot dogs and other pet automatons.
“As far as we know this is the biggest collection of robots in Europe, and in particular of Aibo robotic dogs,” sold by Sony from 1999 to 2006, said the Robot Museum’s manager Daniel Bayon, 39.
“They are a very important part of the museum. They are the most advanced robot dogs that have ever existed,” he told AFP.
This pack of Aibos is the biggest in the world outside their native Japan, he added.
The museum houses some 140 exhibits dating from the 1980s to the present.
Among them is Nao, a walking, talking miniature humanoid developed by the French robotics company Aldebaran as an educational aid.
“I am a very special robot. I can simulate real-life behavior,” it said, in a high-pitched mechanical voice, during a recent demonstration.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll make myself a bit more comfortable,” it added, sitting down on its bottom.
Nearby stood a model of R2-D2, the classic bleeping droid first seen on movie screens in Star Wars in 1977.
Since opening nearly two weeks ago, tickets for guided visits to the small museum underneath the Juegetronica games store in central Madrid have sold out several times, Bayon said.
The owner of the collection, local technology enthusiast Pablo Medrano, said most of the models on display are no longer for sale in shops.
The museum is “perhaps the only dedicated robot museum in Europe outside of universities and training centers where we can see this technology of the future,” Medrano, 39, told AFP.
“I want robots to be able to help us, just as household appliances and computers are helping us, which years ago was unthinkable. I hope that in a few years robots will meet our daily needs, particularly those of old people.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A child plays with a Sony AIBO ERS-7 robot dog. Image Stuart Caie. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Drawings from an 1894 anthropology book of katsina figures, or spirits, made by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States.
LONDON (AFP) – Activists vowed Thursday to block the proposed sale of sacred objects originating from Arizona’s Hopi tribe at a Paris auction, just months after a similar controversy stoked outrage.
Tribal people’s advocacy group Survival International said it would go to court in the French capital on Tuesday in an attempt to halt the sale of around 25 objects, known as katsinam, revered by the Hopi tribe.
The looming court battle is a replay of the legal saga that erupted in April when French firm Neret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou ignored internationals appeals to halt the sale of some 70 katsinam that eventually fetched around 930,000 euros ($1.3 million).
The latest sale is being conducted over two days by Alain Leroy of auctioneers EVE on Dec. 9 and 11, despite please from the Hopi’s religious authorities not to go ahead.
“It’s a matter of enormous regret that another auction house seems prepared to defy public opinion and the feelings of the Hopi, who are these objects’ rightful owners,” Survival International director Stephen Corry said in a statement.
“The previous auction generated such a torrent of unwelcome publicity for the auctioneers that you might have thought anyone would think twice before doing the same thing again – but clearly the large sums of money to be made from this immoral trade are too tempting.
“I hope the Paris courts will this time block the sale – none of these objects should be sold.”
Lawyer Pierre Servan-Schreiber, who led an unsuccessful bid to halt the previous sale in April, will head London-based Survival and the Hopi’s latest courtroom battle.
Servan-Schreiber bought one of the katsinam sold at the April auction and later returned it to the Hopi.
The last auction was decried by activists, including Hollywood legend Robert Redford, who described it as a “criminal gesture” and “sacrilege.”
The sale involved dozens of striking, brightly colored mask-like kachina visages and headdresses that the 18,000-strong Hopi say are blessed with divine spirits.
The challenge for the Hopi is that while the sale of sacred Indian artifacts has been outlawed in the United States since 1990 – legislation that has allowed the tribe to recover items held by American museums in the past – the law does not extend to sales overseas.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Drawings from an 1894 anthropology book of katsina figures, or spirits, made by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States.
Platinum cocktail ring comprising a 9.91-carat, GIA-certified oval ruby surrounded by 18 round diamonds (approx. 2.21 cts) and 18 marquise-cut diamond (4.16 cts). Est. $12,000-$18,000. Sterling Associates image. CLOSTER, N.J. – The understated but unmistakable quality of long-held Asian ceramics and the wow factor of a spectacular ruby, diamond and platinum cocktail ring combine to lend an upscale tone to Sterling Associates’ 707-lot December 12 Holiday Auction. Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
A stocking stuffer fit for royalty, the top jewelry lot features a 9.91-carat, GIA-certified oval ruby surrounded by 18 round diamonds (approx. 2.21 cts) and 18 marquise-cut diamonds (4.16 cts) set in platinum. The diamonds are approximately H/1 in color and vs2/si1 in clarity, but the show-stopping ruby is obviously something extra special, with a deep, rich color highly desired by those who know fine gems. The ring is conservatively estimated at $12,000-$18,000 and has a starting bid of $8,000.
“Without question, this is an exceptional ruby. It will be a very lucky lady who ends up with this elegant ring on her finger,” said Sterling Associates’ owner, Stephen D’Atri.
More than 100 lots of Chinese porcelain and other decorative objects are contained in the single-owner collection showcased in the December 12th sale.
“There are some very valuable pieces in this collection,” said D’Atri. “A Chinese Jun-type bowl is estimated at $200,000-$400,000. There’s also a pair of Chinese white glazed and incised double-gourd-form vases that could bring $100,000-$200,000.” Other notable entries include a pair of Chinese Doucai wine cups with floral design, est. $8,000-$12,000, and an 8-inch gilt bronze sculpture of Buddha, est. $6,000-$8,000.
The soft sheen of old sterling silver will be evident in the gallery, with the top lot of the section being a pair of ornate Christophe Fratin (French, 1801-1864) silver-over-bronze candelabra. Stamped “Fratin,” the candelabra stand 23in tall and are decorated with sculpted silver monkeys and bears. The pair is expected to make $10,000-$12,000.
Most unusual, a signed Edgar Morgan (Paris/Nice) sterling silver figural table set consists of a realistically sculpted rooster vessel with four chick salt and pepper shakers. A 19th-century production, this finely “feathered” family is offered with a $6,000-$8,000 estimate.
Among the Tiffany pieces to be sold is a marked sterling pedestal bowl/centerpiece that holds 4½ pints. Ornately decorative in a manner that Tiffany mastered to perfection, it is estimated at $2,000-$3,000.
A nicely varied selection of paintings will be auctioned, including an oil-on-canvas work titled “Archery Practice” by Ladislaus Bakalowicz (Polish, 1833-1904). The 32 by 43¼in artwork is artist-signed “Bakalowicz Paris” and comes with provenance from the Estate of John McDonald. It is entered in the sale with a $6,000-$8,000 estimate. Another beautiful European painting is a Michael Zeno Diemer (German, 1867-1939) seascape with castle. An oil on board, it is artist-signed, measures 38 5/8 by 38 1/8in and estimated at $5,000-$7,000.
A large, single-owner collection of taxidermied animals runs the gamut from raccoons and birds, such as quail, grouse and ducks; to larger species including an African jackal, est. $400-$600, and a black bear with brown coloring, possibly from Canada, est. $700-$900. A compatible item from a different consignor, an African zebra-skin rug sized 98 by 72 inches carries a $500-$700 estimate.
Additional categories in the sale include dolls and soft toys; pocket watches, ladies’ jewelry, and furniture, most notably a Nakashima triangle side table with bowed peg legs, est. $2,000-$3,000. The table was consigned to Sterling’s sale by the original owners.
“They’re a couple in their nineties from Ft. Lee, New Jersey, and they’ve been married for 75 years. They actually purchased the table personally from George Nakashima,” D’Atri said.
A second Nakashima lot consists of two paddle-form tables. The lot is estimated at $2,000-$3,000.
There are many ways to participate in Sterling Associates’ December 12 Holiday Auction, but the company conducts its auctions a bit differently than most.
“The way our auctions work, all bidding is conducted remotely, but we’re very much a permanent brick-and-mortar company where anyone can come in to inspect the goods,” said D’Atri. “It will be run exactly like a live auction, but without a live audience. Bidding is easy to do through LiveAuctioneers.”
Sterling Associates’ Thursday, Dec. 12 auction will commence at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. The live gallery preview is from 10-5 on Friday, Dec. 6; 10:30-4:30 on Saturday, Dec. 7; 10-7 on Tuesday, Dec. 10; 10-5 on Wednesday, Dec. 11; and 10-3 on auction day. The gallery is located at 70 Herbert Ave., Closter, NJ 07624. Bid online through LiveAuctioneers.com.
For additional information on any item in the auction, call 201-768-1140 or e-mail info@antiquenj.com. Visit Sterling Associates online at www.antiquenj.com.
‘On the Shore of the Seine.’ an 1879 oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal court battle over a stolen Renoir has fractured relations between a northern Virginia man and his sister, who maintains she bought the painting at a West Virginia flea market for $7 in 2009.
Her story is contradicted by the brother’s girlfriend, who told The Washington Post she found the tiny landscape painting in the siblings’ mother’s attic in 2011. The girlfriend says the sister told her that her mother was giving her the painting for safekeeping, the newspaper reported Friday.
The case spilled into public view in March, when federal authorities seized the painting amid competing ownership claims, including one from the Baltimore Museum of Art, which reported the painting stolen in 1951.
The 1879 painting on a linen napkin, titled On the Shore of the Seine, has an appraised value of $22,000.
Matt Fuqua, 50, of Great Falls said he recently told lawyers in sworn depositions that his mother had told his sister, Marcia “Martha” Fuqua, to give back the painting. Matt said he told the lawyers, “My mother told Martha to ‘return the painting to its rightful owner – the museum – so all of this goes away.’ “
Martha Fuqua, 51, of Loudon County, declined to comment, saying only, “Call my brother,” the Post reported.
The siblings’ relationship has grown bitter since their mother, artist Marcia Fouquet, died about two months ago at age 85, Matt Fuqua said. In October, Martha was charged with burglarizing the apartment of Matt’s girlfriend, Jamie Lynn Romantic, and stealing her jewelry, antiques and furniture.
Additional charges of assault and battery against her brother were later dropped, but Matt and Romantic obtained temporary protective orders from a Fairfax General District Court magistrate. In a petition to the court, Matt wrote that his sister has told him, “I’m dead to her.”
Defense attorney Michael Harrington denied that Martha broke into Romantic’s apartment.
Now Martha, the trustee of her mother’s estate, is trying to evict the couple from the mother’s property and recoup $30,000 in allegedly unpaid rent. Matt declined to comment on those matters but said his relationship with his sister has been ruined.
“This whole Renoir thing has made my sister and I – who used to be kind of close – now be enemies and at war,” he said.
He said he has told his sister to return the painting. “She said, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about?’” Matt said.
Martha’s attorney for the Renoir case, T. Wayne Biggs, declined an interview request from the Post. The case is set for a two-day jury trial starting Jan. 15 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.
ESSEX, England – UK-based Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers of Stansted Mountfitchet will present an outstanding selection of silver and jewelry – some of it with historical provenance – on Tuesday, Dec. 3rd. The auction will begin at 10 a.m. UK time (5 a.m. US Eastern time), with Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers.
Among the special highlights are:
Lot 208: A cased Austro-Hungarian gold diamond and enamel brooch/pendant, circa 1910, estimated at £800-£1,200. The brooch is of an oval form, with a diamond-set monogram applied to a blue guilloché ground. It has a satin-finish laurel leaf border with diamond set crossover ties at the cardinal points and a diamond-set coronet above with red guilloché enamel ground. Marked for Vienna 1874-1922, 0.580 standard, it comes in a case by A E Köchert, Wien, with a tooled crest to the lid, together with a bronze medallion commemorating the 25th wedding anniversary of the Duke and Duchess of Portland and the 21st birthday of their son, Marquess of Titchfield, in 1914. Additionally, it is accompanied by nine letters to Mary Marshall, Head Housekeeper at Welbeck Abbey; and eight letters from the Duke and Duchess of Portland, dated 1897-1923.
The brooch was a gift to Mary Marshall from Archduke Franz Ferdinand during one of his visits to the Duke and Duchess of Portland at Welbeck Abbey, likely in November 1913. The Archduke and his wife Sophie had been staying with King George V at Windsor before they joined the house party at Welbeck Abbey on November 22nd. The house party included many other illustrious guests, including the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador, Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Lord and Lady Salisbury and Arthur Balfour, the Conservative Prime Minister.
Only six months after the house party, on June 28, 1914, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo, a trigger for the commencement of World War 1.
Also included in the lot are letters from both the Duke and Duchess of Portland to Mary Marshall. Welbeck Abbey suffered a serious fire in 1900. The Duke and Duchess were away but the children were in residence. It was reported that they were saved due to the quick thinking of Mary Marshall, and there are letters included in this lot from the Duke and Duchess thanking her and the staff and making contingency plans for their next visit. Also included are letters thanking Marshall for her years of service on notice of her retirement in 1923.
Lot 20, a French silver plaquette by Jacques-Frederic Kirstein, Strasbourg, circa 1825-1830, is estimated at £2,500-£3,500. The piece is chased in high relief and is superbly detailed with a boar-hunting scene. Measuring 10.5cm in diameter, it is signed “Kirstein a Strasbourg” and is presented in a 20cm-square gilt metal and ebonized wooden frame.
Jacques Frederic Kirstenstein (contracted to “Kirstein” in signatures) came from a well-established family of goldsmiths based in Strasbourg from the early 18th century. After the French Revolution, the demand for large silver declined and Jacques-Frederic (1765-1838) decided to specialize in small chased and repoussé subjects with an emphasis on hunting or military scenes. These were made in silver or gold for use as plaquettes, like the one on offer, or were set in snuff boxes. The superb quality of high-relief chasing in his work brought him international acclaim, and he won gold medals at the Exhibitions of 1810 and 1834. Examples of his work are in the collections of Baronne Elie de Rothschild, Monsieur Jacques Kugel, the British Royal Collection, and the Arthur Gilbert collection.
Lot 287 is an elegant single-row graduated natural pearl necklace with a French Art Deco diamond set clasp, and is estimated at £30,000-£40,000. It comprises a single row of 75 graduated natural pearls, 5.1-10.1mm in size, strung-knotted to a single row, with an Art Deco diamond-set “box” clasp. The stepped rectangular geometric clasp, with a baguette-cut diamond rub set to the center, has lines of grain set old European and eight cut diamonds. Remnants of an unidentified signature are seen at two separate points on the clasp.
For additional information on any items in Sworders’ Dec. 3 Silver and Fine Jewellery auction, call 011 44 1279 817778 or email georgeschooling@sworder.co.uk.
Three empty whisky bottles and three metal wall brackets plus the imagination of a modern artist made this artwork by Barry McGee. The untitled piece sold for $6,875 in October at Los Angeles Modern Auctions.
BEACHWOOD, Ohio – The ancient Greeks collected bottles, but only a few wealthy American collectors were buying bottles in the early 1900s. At the time, only commercial flasks that held whiskey and a few other hand-blown bottles were considered important.
Probably the earliest book for bottle collectors was written in 1921 by Stephen Van Rensselaer. In 1941, George and Helen McKearin wrote American Bottles and created a system of identification that listed, numbered, described and sketched all known historic American flasks. Bottle collecting became a hobby of the middle class in the 1950s. Valuable bottles were dug from backyards and riverbanks or found at resale shops or yard sales. The first collectors club, the Antique Bottle Collectors Association of California, started in 1959. By the 1960s, articles on old bottles were being published in magazines and books. Kovels’ “Bottles Price List,” written in 1971, was the first of 13 editions. We wrote the last in 2006.
Interest in bottles has gone up and down during the1980s, 1990s and 2000s, but clubs, shows and collections remain. Prices of historic flasks have gone from less than $100 to thousands of dollars. Fruit jars, soda bottles, commemorative bottles, perfumes, poisons and inks attracted new collectors. But who would have guessed that old bottles could become part of modern art? Amateurs could buy kits that helped them take old bottles and stretch them into elongated modern shapes. Early 1900s bottles were turned purple by exposure to the sun or radiation.
Claire Falkenstein became famous for sculptures made from iron rods and drooping bottles. An English artist, Barry McGee, made modern art from bottles he painted with pictures of heads. He chose empty whiskey bottles to picture street people. His bottle art sells for thousands of dollars. Still, the most expensive commercial bottles today remain the historic flasks. Rarities can sell for more than $40,000.
Q: A few months ago, my husband and I bought a mahogany bookcase with four leaded glass doors at an estate sale. It’s about 54 inches high, 66 inches wide and 12 inches deep. There is a small brass plaque on one of the shelves that reads “Library Bureau Sole Makers.” Can you give us the history of this bookcase?
A: Library Bureau was founded by Melvil Dewey (1851-1931), a librarian and the inventor of the Dewey Decimal Classification System used by many libraries today. He published his system in 1876, the same year he founded a company that sold library supplies. The company operated under different names until it became Library Bureau in 1881. It made a bookcase that could be joined with others to create a long wall of bookcases. The company was bought by Remington Rand in 1927 and became part of Midwest Library Systems in 1976. Library Bureau products still are being sold.
Q: I have a ceramic vase marked “Mougin Nancy” and “J. Mougin.dc.” It has been in our family for more than 60 years. I would like to know who made it.
A: The marks on your vase were used by Joseph Mougin (1876-1961). Joseph and his brother, Pierre, were French sculptors and ceramists known for their Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs. They worked in Nancy, a town in France, from 1906 until 1916, producing their own designs as well as works by other artists. In 1916 they moved to nearby Luneville. Your vase, marked “Mougin Nancy,” was made between 1906 and 1916.
Q: I have a 9 1/2-inch Orrefors decanter decorated with an etching called “Susanna bathing with the old men watching her.” I can’t find any information about it. Do you know what it’s worth?
A: Orrefors, a Swedish glassworks, has been in business since 1898. It has made many styles of decorative and useful glass. The story of Susanna bathing is an apocryphal chapter in the Bible’s book of Daniel. The story, about a pair of old men trying to blackmail a virtuous young woman, has been the basis of many pieces of artwork throughout the centuries. It is likely your decanter isn’t yet an antique (100 years old), but in 1993 one like it auctioned at Christie’s for $690.
Q: I’m trying to identify a plate that was given to the Point Cabrillo Light House Museum. It has a white background with roses in the center and on the border. There is no mark. A couple of people have told me it was a Quaker Oats premium. I found that Quaker Oats gave Homer Laughlin’s Tea Rose pattern plates as premiums. Our plate has similar flowers but in a different arrangement. The interior of the museum is being restored to the way it would have been in 1935 and we want to know if the plate is from that period.
A: In 1891, Quaker Oats became the first company to include dishes as premiums in its packages. Dinnerware made by Homer Laughlin, Royal China and Taylor, Smith & Taylor were included as premiums from the 1920s until the 1960s. Tea Rose is the name of a Homer Laughlin shape. Plates have a scalloped edge and a six-panel border. The shape was decorated with different decals, many of flowers, and also was made in solid colors. Tea Rose was introduced in about 1937, but it is not known when it was used as a Quaker Oats premium.
Tip: Never store celluloid jewelry with metal or rhinestone jewelry. Celluloid ages and gives off an acidic gas that eats metal. The metal will become pitted and greenish. Celluloid “disease” also attacks pearls, paper and other organic materials. Store celluloid by itself.
Need prices for your antiques and collectibles? Find them at Kovels.com, our website for collectors. You can find more than 900,000 prices and more than 11,000 color pictures that help you determine the value of your collectibles. Study the prices. Viewing prices is free at Kovels.com/priceguide. Kovels.com also has lists of publications, clubs, appraisers, auction houses, people who sell parts or repair antiques, lists of antique shows and more. Kovels.com adds to the information in this column.
Terry Kovel and Kim Kovel answer questions sent to 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 photographs, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The amount 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.
Menorah, wrought iron, seven twisted arms, scrolled base, c. 1820, 34 x 28 inches, $800.
Birdhouse, redware, inscribed “Rent for a Song,” c. 1850, 5 3/4 inches, $1,895.
Safe, Wells Fargo Co. Express, cast iron, wall, Dodge City, Kan., 10 x 13 x 16 inches, $3,705.
New! The best book to own if you want to buy, sell or collect—and if you order now, you’ll receive a copy with the author’s autograph. The new Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2014, 46th edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and more than 35,000 up-to-date prices for more than 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You’ll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks, a report on the record prices of the year, plus helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available for $27.95 plus $4.95 postage: online at KovelsOnlineStore.com; by phone at 800-303-1996; at your local bookstore; or mail payment to Price Book, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
Three empty whisky bottles and three metal wall brackets plus the imagination of a modern artist made this artwork by Barry McGee. The untitled piece sold for $6,875 in October at Los Angeles Modern Auctions.
