Ming dynasty Wanli blue and white box with Wanli mark and of the period, 10 3/4 inches diameter. Estimate: $50,000-$60,000. I.M. Chait Gallery / Auctioneers image. BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – I.M. Chait Gallery’s auction on Sunday, Sept. 21, will feature important Chinese Yuan and Ming dynasty blue and white porcelains from an East Coast collection together with Song and Yuan dynasty ceramics from a Los Angeles estate.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding. The auction will begin at 1 p.m. Pacific time.
Also offered are:
– Fine Chinese scrolls and paintings by Walasse Ting from private collections;
– Early Chinese ceramics from Han, Jin, Tang and Song dynasties as well as antique European pottery and ceramics from Southern California collections;
– Chinese carved jadeite and group of fine Chinese snuff bottles from Los Angeles and Canadian collections;
– Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze Buddhist figures and group of large Chinese cloisonné enamel objects, including animals and vessels, from a Nevada collection;
– Vintage estate jewelry together with diamond and gold jewelry by Tiffany and Cartier from private collections;
– Coral, lapis lazuli necklaces together with small antique jades from an Orange County, Calif., collection.
For details contact I.M. Chait Gallery / Auctioneers, email chait@chait.com or phone 310-285-0182.
Ming dynasty Wanli blue and white box with Wanli mark and of the period, 10 3/4 inches diameter. Estimate: $50,000-$60,000. I.M. Chait Gallery / Auctioneers image.
Antique Chinese export silver teapot with hallmarks HM Yian and 90, likely a pre-1900 Shanghai maker, 9 1/4 inches long. Estimate: $600-$800. I.M. Chait Gallery / Auctioneers image.
Group of six Chinese carved, coral flowers: two larger roses; one chrysanthemum; smaller circular blossom; and a pair of small floral buds, largest 1 1/2 inches. Estimate: $300-$400. I.M. Chait Gallery / Auctioneers image.
When this toy is wound, four Chinese men in colorful hats wave the canopy to toss the child. It recalls the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. The 5-inch-high toy sold for $14,800 at a Bertoia auction in Vineland, N.J., in 2013.
BEACHWOOD, Ohio – Sometimes an antique toy tells an almost-forgotten story. The Tammany Hall bank with a well-dressed man taking the penny is a criticism of corrupt politicians in New York City in 1871.
A 1940s blond doll wearing ice skates probably is not recognized today as Sonja Henie, a world-champion ice skater from 1923 to 1936 and star of a dozen Hollywood movies.
A rare clockwork toy has four Chinese men tossing a child in a blanket. Each of the men has a brightly painted hat that represents a European country. The toy, made in the early 1900s by Lehmann in Germany, is a comment on the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, when England, Russia, France and Germany occupied China. A Chinese secret society, the Boxers, led a rebellion against the European countries, killing foreigners and Chinese Christians, and destroying property. An international army that included Americans subdued the uprising. The rebellion ended in 190l, and China paid $330 million in reparations. It seems like a strange idea for a toy. It is claimed that only four of the toys still exist because the action required a complicated mechanism that broke easily. So in recent years, one of these toys in good working condition sold for $14,800.
Q: Can you tell me anything about a clear pressed glass serving bowl left to my husband by his grandmother? The inside is marked “Mountain City Mills, patent, flour.”
A: A grain-milling company, or two different companies, named Mountain City Mills was in business in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Frederick, Md., in the early 1900s. It’s unusual to find a piece of pressed glass marked like yours. It is possible that Mountain City contracted with a glass manufacturer to make pieces either for employees or as a premium for customers. Pressed glass is not as popular with collectors as it was 20 years ago. Depending on the pattern and size of your bowl, it could sell for $25 or more.
Q: My mother has had a mint-condition alligator purse since about 1940. The inside is labeled “Cuba.” Can you tell me what it’s worth?
A: Back in the 1930s, ’40s and early ’50s, Cuban manufacturers sold a lot of goods in the United States. Those were the same decades when alligator purses were at their peak of popularity. If the purse is in excellent condition, it probably would sell for $20 to $50. If it had a high-end designer label, it could sell for many times that.
Q: I inherited an antique stove and would like to sell it. It’s a standing, round stove, and I assume it’s a wood-burning model. It’s black with metal accents and is marked “Great Western Stove Co., Leavenworth, Omaha, Denver.” Where can I sell it, and how much can I get for it?
A: We receive many questions about antique stoves. The history of the Great Western Manufacturing Co. of Leavenworth, Kan., dates back to 1858. The related stove manufacturer, Great Western Stove Co., was formed in 1875 and operated into at least the 1930s. We have seen Great Western stoves offered for $100 to more than $1,000. Take a look at the website AntiqueStoves.com to get an idea of the types of stoves collectors are looking for and selling. Then you might want to try selling locally through a dealer or via Craigslist so the buyer doesn’t have to worry about shipping costs.
Q: I have a tea set that I can find nothing about. It has a teapot, sugar and creamer and eight cups and saucers and is in mint condition. The pattern name is “Hawthorn” and it looks like Belleek, but I can’t find any other information. Can you help with age and value?
A: Your tea set was made in Ireland by the Donegal Parian China Co. The company was formed in 1985 in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, by a group of former workers from the more-famous Belleek Pottery, just five miles away, across the border in Northern Ireland. Donegal China made marble-like Parian tableware and giftware in the Belleek style decorated with shamrocks, roses, hawthorn and other Irish designs, but the intricacy of the pieces was never that of traditional Irish Belleek. In 1996, Donegal China became a subsidiary of Belleek Pottery, which closed the Donegal China factory in 2005, dissolved the brand completely in 2012 and discontinued the Donegal Parian lines. Your tea set is worth about $250.
Q: I have a milk glass rolling pin with wooden handles that my mother got in 1931, and I got it when I married in 1954. I use it all the time and love it. Does it have any value?
A: Rolling pins were first used over 1,000 years ago. Early pins were handmade of wood. Rolling pins made of wood, glass, porcelain, marble, tin, and other materials were mass-produced beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1864, a rolling pin with a central rod that didn’t turn with the rest of the rolling pin was invented by John W. Reed, a black American inventor. Rolling pins that are decorated, carved or have advertisements on them sell for more than plain pins. A milk glass rolling pin without decoration but with a brand name sells for about $15.
Tip: Repairs made to cut glass can be seen with a black light. It also will show most added plastic repairs. Look at where the foot, knob or handles might have been reattached. Many auctions have a black light available at the preview.
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.
Street sweeper toy, metal, painted silver, yellow, black tires, Schuco Piccolo, 2 1/4 inches, $35.
Armoire, Art Deco, painted white, mirrored door, applied designs, 1920s, 42 x 17 x 54 inches, $80.
Gullah basket, coil, dyed bands, oval hand opening, flared, South Carolina, c. 1880, 8 x 18 inches, 115.
Mirror, over-mantel, Louis XV style, carved garlands, leaves, arched plate, 76 x 52 inches, $1,250.
Clamp, wrought iron, gilt tulip and bird terminals, initials, heart-shape base plate, circa 1810, 9 inches, $4,560.
New. Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2015, 47th edition, is the most accurate source for current prices. It’s available this month and includes a special bonus section that helps you determine prices if you’re downsizing and selling your antiques. It’s the best book to own if you buy, sell or collect – and if you order now, you’ll receive a copy with the author’s autograph. This large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and more than 32,000 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-setting prices of the year and helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available for $27.95 plus $4.95 postage. Purchase online at KovelsOnlineStore.com; by phone at 800-303-1996; at your local bookstore; or write to Price Book, P.O. Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
When this toy is wound, four Chinese men in colorful hats wave the canopy to toss the child. It recalls the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. The 5-inch-high toy sold for $14,800 at a Bertoia auction in Vineland, N.J., in 2013.
The top lot of the auction was this exceptional and large traditional-shaped Pomo burden basket, which sold for $23,000. Allard Auctions Inc. image.
SANTA FE, N.M. – A large, museum-quality Pomo burden basket with beautiful fine geometric designs done in red fern sold for $23,000 at the Best of Santa Fe auction, an event held each year by Allard Auctions Inc. This year’s auction, held Aug. 16-17, featured 900 lots of Western and Native art, American Indian artifacts and related collectibles.
The twined, conical-shape traditional Pomo burden basket was in remarkable condition and was a huge example – 21 1/4 inches by 25 1/2 inches. It was made circa 1890 and was easily the top lot of the auction, one that grossed $464,000 including the buyer’s premium. The sale was packed with baskets, prehistoric pottery, dazzling hand-crafted jewelry and wonderful artworks.
“Overall we were very pleased with the auction,” said Steve Allard of Allard Auctions Inc., based in St. Ignatius, Mont. “Baskets, pottery, rugs and especially jewelry items all either met or exceeded our expectations, which were high to begin with. The only downside was that so many events were happening in Santa Fe at the same time. I hope this won’t be an issue next year.”
Between 150 and 200 people attended the auction live over the course of the two days, many of whom wer repeat customers from past sales. Absentee and phone bidding was so brisk it combined for about half the gross, said Allard. LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.
Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.
A beautiful hand-wrought Hopi belt buckle by Charles Loloma (circa 1980s), with raised and carved stones and a silver back, was the auction’s second top lot, fetching $6,325. A finer weave earth-tone storm-pattern Navajo rug, or weaving, with many feathers in the traditional design, 48 inches by 79 inches, circa mid-20th century, sold for $3,738.
A finely woven Karuk “catch basket,” or flour tray, made from bear grass, maidendhair fern and woodwardia fern, circa 1925, by Florence Jacobs Harrie, and considered her life’s masterpiece, garnered $5,750. A historical Yokuts basket made by Waysheemlet in the early 1900s, featuring a deep bowl with a beautiful arched black arrow points design, rose to $4,312.
A finer weave ceremonial Yokuts serving basket – large at 8 1/4 inches by 26 3/4 inches – with elaborate polychrome designs, including cornstalk and rattlesnake bands, circa late 1800s, went for $3,738, and an important Wasco tall lidded soft weave Sally bag, loaded with traditional figures including condors, deer or elk and sturgeon, circa 1880, commanded $4,312.
In the pottery category a scarce Hopi jar by the renowned maker Fannie Nampeyo, a larger size, low-profile polychrome example done with her famous “migration” pattern, hammered for $4,888; and 12 1/2-inch-tall prehistoric Anasazi pottery jar – a Soccoro black-on-white water olla with checkered medallions, partially restored and in good condition – brought $3,738.
Artwork wowed the crowd, led by a signed original gouache work by Helen Hardin, a.k.a. Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh, 1943-1984, depicting stylized tortoise and hare figures in the desert, which finished at $3,738, while a signed sand and paint on board work by Hardin’s father, Pablita Velarde (1918-2007), depicting desert roadrunners, sailed past its $300-$600 estimate to command $2,588.
Many other lots went roaring past their estimates. A fantastic and large finer weave ceremonial Yokuts serving basket, circa late 1800s, expected to bring $500-$1,000 realized $3,738; and a classic strand of dark blue, Dutch-made faceted “Russian” trade beads in very good condition, 22 inches long, made in the 19th century, expected to reach $75-$150, ended up selling for $431.
Jars outperformed expectations, too. A rare, prehistoric Anasazi Tularosa black-on-white pottery jar with inward curved rim and elaborate encompassing design (est. $600-$1,200) topped out at $3,163; and a Cochiti early globular pottery jar with short neck and interesting floral design, in very good condition, 8 3/4 inches tall, circa early 1900s (est. $400-$800), ended strong at $1,955.
Returning to artwork, two pieces expected to bring $500 each realized $1,380. One was a signed sand texture painting by Pablita Velarde, done in the late 1900s and measuring 10 1/2 inches by 11 3/4 inches minus the frame. The other was a signed limited edition (#3/50) bronze free-form sculpture by Bill Worrell (b. 1936), titled The Eternal Guardian, 21 1/2 inches tall, circa 1995.
A signed, original acrylic on canvas by David P. Bradley (b. 1954), depicting an encampment with a tepee, apple trees, cattails and a dog, rendered circa 1979 (est. $200-$400), achieved $920. Also, a rare, hand-wrought silver Navajo necklace with fylfot crosses and adorned with miniature conchos and round turquoise stones, 27 inches long (est. $500-$1,000), hit $2,588.
Allard Auctions Inc. has been selling exclusively American Indian artifacts and art at auction since 1968. The firm is always in the market for quality merchandise. To inquire about consigning call toll-free: 888-314-0343, or email the company at info@allardauctions.com.
The top lot of the auction was this exceptional and large traditional-shaped Pomo burden basket, which sold for $23,000. Allard Auctions Inc. image.
Beautiful hand-wrought Hopi buckle by Charles Loloma, with raised and carved stones. Price realized: $6,325. Allard Auctions Inc. image.
Low-profile Hopi polychrome pottery jar by Fannie Nampeyo, done in her famous ‘migration’ pattern. Price realized: $4,888. Allard Auctions Inc. image.
Wasco tall lidded, soft weave Sally bag, loaded with traditional figures such as condors, deer and sturgeon. Price realized: $4,312. Allard Auctions Inc. image.
Fantastic finer weave Navajo rug in an earth-tone storm pattern with feathers, circa mid-1900s. Price realized: $3,738. Allard Auctions Inc. image.
Signed original gouache painting by Helen Hardin, a.k.a. Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh (1943-1984), circa 1980s. Price realized: $3,738. Allard Auctions Inc. image.
Modern bronze sculpture by Pablo Serrano depicting Spanish missionary Fray Junipero Serra Ferrer. The Spanish government commissioned the monumental work, which was prominently displayed it at its pavilion at the New York World’s Fair of 1964-64. Roland Auctions NY image. NEW YORK – Roland Auctions NY’s September Auction on Saturday, Sept. 20, boasts over 1,000 fresh-to-market lots from several exceptional New York City estates.
Remarking on the caliber of merchandise, principal Robert Roland said, “It’s strong and amazingly rich in value.”
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding. The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern.
Featured in this auction is lot 401 a monumental modern bronze sculpture by Pablo Serrano depicting the Spanish missionary Fray Junipero Serra Ferrer. During the 18th century Fray Serra Ferrer established a chain of missions from the Baja peninsula northward through what is now California, extending the Spanish colonies into North America. In addition to being a Spanish hero and national treasure, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Sept. 15, 1988, clearing the way for ultimate sainthood. This modern, Brutalist-style, larger-than-life tour de force was commissioned by the Spanish government and prominently displayed in their pavilion at the New York World’s Fair of 1964-65.
Roland Auctions NY’s reputation for discovering and reintroducing significant works of fine art will again be well earned as bidders vie for paintings, prints, bronzes and other media not available in the marketplace for decades. This month’s estate pieces span European old master works through modern vanguards and contemporary emerging artists. Sought after canvases include Moldovan, S. Bate and Canu among bronzes by the likes of Lanceray and P. Lecoultier
In addition to 20th century modern art, mid-century design is strongly represented at Roland Auctions NY this month. Standouts among dozens of pieces in this category sought by collectors and enthusiasts will include a pair of Arteluce “Triennale” floor lamps and a pair of slate top Brutalist-style side tables designed by Paul Evans for Directional.
In tandem with this auction’s exposition of modernism are dozens of traditional 18th and 19th century American, French, Italian and English tables, chairs, bookcases, desks and commodes. Among these fine pieces are an American Empire sofa table and an English 19th side-lock specimen cabinet.
Asian arts and Orientalia include fine carved mineral specimens such as a black jade foo dog, a lapis lazuli figural group and a prasiolite urn. Other coveted items comprise an unusually large pink Peking glass vase and a Kangxi porcelain vase among many others.
A collection exemplary Judaica from antique to mid-century modern featuring a large silver Austro-Hungarian menorah will be offered just in time for this year’s high holidays as well.
For details contact Roland Auctions NY at 212-260-2000.
Modern bronze sculpture by Pablo Serrano depicting Spanish missionary Fray Junipero Serra Ferrer. The Spanish government commissioned the monumental work, which was prominently displayed it at its pavilion at the New York World’s Fair of 1964-64. Roland Auctions NY image.
A poster by an anonymous illustrator of William F. Mangels’ ‘The Whip,’ 39 1/2 by 25 1/2 inches. Invented by Mangels in 1914, The Whip was a favorite with ride operators because as a ‘flat ride’ it was less expensive to acquire and was compact. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com archive and Swann Auction Galleries. NEW YORK (AP) – A new exhibition is honoring a German immigrant who has given generations of Americans joy, thrills – and sometimes nausea.
William Mangels was a mechanical and creative genius who enthralled the masses with his carousels, shooting ranges and rides like the Whip and Tickler during the early part of the 20th century. He’s the subject of an exhibition at Brooklyn’s historic Green-Wood Cemetery where he’s buried – just miles from Coney Island where he lived and worked.
“William F. Mangels: Amusing the Masses on Coney Island and Beyond” runs through Oct. 26 at the cemetery’s chapel.
The show’s quaint vintage artifacts and carousel music easily transport visitors to a bygone era when rides were simpler but no less thrilling.
From 1890 until his death in 1958, Mangels patented over 50 inventions, including the mechanism that’s still used today to get carousel horses jumping up and down. He also wrote a book about the amusement park industry and founded the American Museum of Public Recreation near his W.F. Mangels Co.
Coney Island’s historic B&B Carousell still thrills visitors at the famous Brooklyn amusement park today.
“The Mangels factory made Coney Island the amusement center of the universe at the turn of the last century, attracting craftsman and artisans from all over the world,” said Charles Denson, executive director of the Coney Island History Project.
Some of his rides still operate at amusement parks across the country, like the B&B Carousell whose wooden horses were carved by Charles Carmel. It returned to Coney Island’s boardwalk after a $2 million restoration last year as part of the new Steeplechase Plaza and revitalization of the famous Brooklyn playground.
Other Mangels-built carousels are still in use in New York City’s Fresh Meadows Park in Queens, Congress Park in upstate New York, and Portland, Ore.
Mangels came to the United States from Germany in 1883 when he was 16. He opened his factory seven years later because he believed “human beings have a natural craving for fun.” His first invention was the Razzle Dazzle, a large hand-powered swing. Other rides soon followed, including the Whip. The three-seater cars operate on a turn-table platform that force the rider to one side as the car whips around the corner.
“It became his most popular and sensational ride,” said Jeff Richman, Green-Wood’s historian who owns the two Whip cars in the show. “He sold 500 as franchises throughout the world,” including Paris, London and New Zealand. Playland in Rye, a New York City suburb, has two Whip rides and a Mangels carousel.
“He was the biggest manufacturer of amusement park rides, carousels and shooting galleries in America in the first quarter of the 20th century,” he added.
The exhibition also has the original plans for another Mangels’ classic – the Tickler – which carried barrel-like cars by steam engine up a wooden incline and then sent them down bumping and spinning through a pinball machine-like maze.
Other artifacts include the original B&B Carousell ticket booth and cash box and a steel cast bull’s-eye shooting gallery complete with the gears, chains, belts and electric motor that drove it. Patents, blueprints and other archival material round out the story of Mangels’ passion.
Exhibition docent Edward Damato fondly recalled another from his childhood: Mangels’ Human Roulette Wheel.
“You would sit on it and it turns and by centrifugal force it pushes you off,” he said. He and his friends “laughed hysterically” all through the ride. But then his friend vomited.
“We laughed even harder,” he said.
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
U.S. Coast Guard photo from 1900 picturing the Borden Flats Lighthouse at Fall River, Mass. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sheila Consaul’s front yard is the largest natural sand beach in Ohio.
Her walkway is a stone jetty that extends a half-mile into Lake Erie. Her front steps are the rungs of a ladder, and the light atop her three-story home can be seen for miles. It comes with the benefit of helping boaters navigate at night.
“So yeah, I bought a lighthouse,” Consaul said recently while trekking along the jetty to her summer home in northeast Ohio. “I heard about these lighthouses coming up for auction, and I thought, ‘Well, that would be interesting.’”
Since 2000, the federal government has sold more than 100 lighthouses to private buyers, many of whom are turning them into livable spaces.
Consaul and others bought their lighthouses through the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, under which the government sells unneeded properties.
“Advancements in navigation technology have reduced the Coast Guard’s requirement to own and operate light stations,” Cat Langel, a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, wrote in an email.
Although the lighthouses continue to operate, they are run by computers, she said, meaning the “structures themselves are often no longer critical to the (Coast Guard’s) mission needs.”
The government offers lighthouses first to local government agencies or certified nonprofits. If they’re not interested, the lighthouses are sold through public auction.
The GSA has sold more than 100 lighthouses at prices ranging from $10,000 to $933,000, Langel said. Proceeds – $4 million to date – go to the Coast Guard’s aid to navigation fund.
Consaul paid $72,010 for the Fairport Harbor lighthouse in 2011. She spent the following summers renovating and repairing. On the ground floor where boats once were stored is a new kitchen. The second floor, formerly the lighthouse keepers’ living space, now holds three bedrooms.
“It was not occupied since 1948 when the last keeper moved out, but basically, it’s in very good shape,” said Consaul, 56, of Reston, Va. “I have just about everything painted inside, the hardwood floors have all been redone, the furniture is moved in and in place. … It’s pretty much livable now, except that there’s no running water yet. It’s really nice camping, is what it is.”
Nick Korstad turned the Borden Flats Lighthouse in Fall River, Mass., into a unique bed-and-breakfast. Built in 1881 at the mouth of the Taunton River, outside Mt. Hope Bay, the cylindrical lighthouse is half a mile from shore.
“This was my dream since I was kid: To be a lighthouse keeper,” said Korstad, 33, of Fall River. “It’s just something I always wanted to do. I have no idea why, but it started when I was like 7. The only thing I can say is possibly in a past life, if that exists, I was a lighthouse keeper.”
Wisconsin painter John Burhani bought the Kenosha Lighthouse and turned it into his art studio.
“It’s a good place to work,” said Burhani, who grew up in Kenosha and as a kid fished from the pier where his lighthouse stands. “It gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but it’s good for my art.”
For many people, lighthouses hold a certain mystique, a romantic aura. Owners find lighthouses to be a lot of work.
“It’s constant,” Korstad said. “There’s always something to fix or cleanup. You don’t get to relax.”
It’s also expensive.
For starters, lighthouse owners must buy costly insurance policies.
“It’s pretty hefty. The minimum liability policy in my case was $2 million,” Consaul said. “And you can’t just call your average State Farm agent. I did, but obviously, our conversation didn’t go very far.”
Plus, there’s maintenance. Though the Coast Guard retains the right to enter the property to maintain the beacon, lighthouse owners are responsible for everything else.
“It’s a lot of work,” Consaul said. “There are many challenges. The biggest has been dealing with the water situation. I have a composting toilet, which works for sewage. But for things like showers, that water needs to be treated. I’m still working on a solution for that.”
Still, buying a lighthouse means owning an iconic piece of property, thick with history.
In Korstad’s case, the history is difficult to ignore: The Borden Flats Lighthouse, he said, is haunted by ghosts, including the former keeper, his 10-year-old son who died after a tumble down the lighthouse stairs, and a little girl who drowned in the bay.
“My brother was outside working, and a woman came up and started talking into his ear,” he said. “It gave us goosebumps.”
The haunting has not kept visitors away. From June to August, he had 100 percent overnight occupancy rates.
“There is definitely this cool factor to it,” Consaul said of owning a lighthouse. “I get out here, and you can see 360 degrees, and the view is phenomenal. The sunrises and sunsets, just watching the boat traffic, especially the sailboats … it’s hard to beat.”
A1942 Panzer IV Ausf. F2 tank at the United States Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Maryland. Image by Mark Pellegrini. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license. REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) – A company headed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has filed a lawsuit in the San Francisco Bay Area over a World War II-era German tank it says it paid $2.5 million for but did not receive.
The Panzer IV tank was part of a fleet of military vehicles amassed by Stanford University-trained engineer Jacques Littlefield, who kept them on his family estate up a winding, forested road above Silicon Valley. After his death, his family turned them over to the Massachusetts-based Collings Foundation, which put some of them up for auction in Portola Valley in July.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Mateo County, Allen’s company, Vulcan Warbirds, says it reached an agreement to buy the tank after the auction, but was later told there had been a misunderstanding and the foundation didn’t want to give the tank up. By then, it had already wired the money to the bank account of the company that was handling the auction, Auctions America, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims breach of contract and names Auctions America and the Collings Foundation.
Collings Foundation CEO Rob Collings told the Palo Alto Daily News (http://bit.ly/1pWSlM5) the tank was never sold. The company put it up for auction, but then reached its fundraising goal without selling the tank. The foundation was hoping to raise $10 million from the auction to help build a military vehicle museum at its Stow, Mass., headquarters.
“So the decision was made by our trustees that this was core to the collection and we’re going to keep it,” Collings said.
He said it was his understanding that Auctions America had returned the $2.5 million. Auctions America spokeswoman Amy Christie said in an email the company understands the matter is in litigation and is working with the parties to reach a resolution.
There are only five Panzer IV tanks in the United States, according to Vulcan Warbirds. The Seattle-based company leases rare military planes and vehicles to the Flying Heritage Collection, a museum located in Everett, Washington, the suit says.
Vulcan Warbirds said in a statement Auctions America had failed to honor its agreement, and it looked forward to restoring the Panzer IV tank and having it join a Sherman tank and other historic military aircraft and vehicles at the Flying Heritage Collection.
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-09-12-14 2154GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A1942 Panzer IV Ausf. F2 tank at the United States Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Maryland. Image by Mark Pellegrini. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license.
