November 24, 2014 - Auction Central News

Quinn’s Dec. 6 antiques & art auction a virtual Grand Tour of Italy

Felix-Francois Georges Philibert Ziem (French, 1821-1922), oil on canvas of Doge’s Barge Bucentaur, 32 x 47in, est. $30,000-$50,000. Quinn’s Auction Gallery image

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – For centuries, Venice has been a glittering jewel with the ability to capture the hearts, minds and brushes of artists from all corners of the world. Its stunning waterways, architecture and landscapes have been interpreted on canvas in countless ways, a few of which will take the spotlight in a Dec. 6 Fine Antiques & Decorative Arts Auction to be held by Quinn’s Auction Galleries of Falls Church, Virginia. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Leading off is a Felix-Francois Ziem (French, 1821-1911) seascape of the Grand Canal and the Doge’s barge on Ascension Day during the Marriage of the Sea ceremony. This revered Venetian tradition that celebrates Italy’s dominance of the sea has been the subject of numerous paintings over the centuries, the most famous being those by 18th-century masters Francesco Lazzaro Guardi and Giovanni Antonio Canaletto. The 32- by 46-inch painting by Ziem is entered in Quinn’s auction with a conservative $30,000-$50,000 estimate.

Another fine-art highlight with Italian subject matter is the lakeside view of the island of Isola Bella and Palazzo Borromeo on Lago Maggiore, by British artist James Webb (1825-1895). It took 400 years and hundreds of workers to transform Isola Bella from a barren rock to a spectacular island-garden of delights. In 1632, construction began on the isle’s incomparable Palazzo Borromeo, which is now a popular tourist attraction. Housing French Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier’s Gallery, the palazzo shelters priceless artworks which are displayed amid baroque splendor of an unimaginable level.

James Webb’s impression of Isola Bella and Palazzo Borromeo is entered with a $5,000-$7,000 estimate, but Quinn’s vice president Matthew Quinn said he feels “certain the painting will exceed that price range,” adding, “It’s an accomplished work of art, and the subject matter is timeless. Anyone with an eye for art would immediately connect with it and identify its quality as being something quite exceptional.”

It’s no surprise that Quinn’s, with its close proximity to the Nation’s Capital and long-held reputation for working with local consignors, would be chosen to auction the estate of Dorothy Wurz, widow of renowned White House interior designer Nelson Wurz, of Nelson Beck & Associates.

From the Wurz estate comes Washington DC-area artist Lucien Whiting Powell’s (1846-1930) oil-on-canvas interpretation of the Grand Canal. With its sparkling waterway, bathed in sunlight and dotted with crimson gondolas, it is sure to be of interest to both aficionados of impressionistic art and those who collect the work of local artists, said Quinn. The “Turneresque” landscape, masterfully executed in shades of gold, orange and eau de Nil, is estimated at $2,500-$3,500.

Also from the Nelson Wurz collection are two midcentury modern roundelay hanging screens created by the Michael and Frances Higgins Glass Studio. The larger of the two is 42 by 24 inches. Each is estimated at $800-$1,200.

The remainder of the sale features modern design, European furniture and a large collection of Japanese artwork, including netsuke and woodblock prints.

The auction will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern Time and will be held at Quinn’s Auction Galleries located at 360 South Washington Street in Falls Church, Virginia.

For information on any lot in the auction, call 703-532-5632 or email info@quinnsauction.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

James Webb (British, 1825-1895), oil on canvas of Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Bella, Lago Maggiore, 26 x 45in, est. $5,000-$7,000. Quinn’s Auction Gallery image

Lucien Powell (Virginia, 1846-1930), oil on canvas of Grand Canal 20 x 30in, est. $2,500-$3,500. Quinn’s Auction Gallery image

Closeup of Michael and Frances Higgins Studio 25-piece glass hanging screen, one of two to be auctioned, est. $800-$1,200 each. Quinn’s Auction Gallery image

Snuff bottle to be auctioned on December 6. Quinn’s Auction Gallery image

Three examples from a selection of netsukes to be auctioned on Dec. 6. Quinn’s Auction Gallery image

Artemis Gallery’s Dec. 5 auction shines spotlight on Old World cultures

Exceptionally fine Greek Boeotian aryballos, circa 560 BCE. Est. $8,000-$12,000. Artemis Gallery image

BOULDER, Colo. – Artemis Gallery, which has been selling antiquities and ancient art online to collectors and institutions for more than 20 years, was co-founded by Teresa and Bob Dodge. Not only are the Dodges trusted implicitly for what they sell, they’re also called upon by fellow market leaders to provide their unique expertise in authenticating and evaluating objects.

“It takes many years to build a great reputation and only minutes to ruin it. We have no interest in handling anything in our auctions that isn’t absolutely authentic and legal, and of very fine quality,” said Bob Dodge. All items auctioned by Artemis Gallery — and whose sales are carried on LiveAuctioneers — are guaranteed to be as described and legal to buy/sell under the United States statute covering cultural patrimony (Code 1600, Chapter 14).

Each of Artemis Gallery’s auctions reflects a deep respect for ancient cultures of all geographic regions. That’s why the template for all of the company’s sales is so intentionally multicultural, Dodge said. The 500+ lots in their December 5 Ancient Ethnographic Art Holiday Auction includes Classical Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, as well as art and relics of Pre-Columbian, Native American and Oceanic peoples. Additionally, the auction includes Part II of the collection of William Norris Dale, an American diplomat who was stationed in Turkey in the early 1960s. During his tenure with the US State Department in Turkey, Dale amassed a premier collection of Classical Greek, Roman and Anatolian art.

Roman offerings are led by Lot 77E, a 1st-2nd century CE bronze figure of a satyr carrying a wineskin. Presented on a custom stand, the 3¾-inch tall satyr is beautifully detailed, with long pointed ears, a short tail, well-defined pectoral and abdominal muscles; and parted, wavy hair. Formerly in a New York City private collection, it comes to auction with a $12,000-$15,000 estimate.

Lot 23d, an exceptional circa-560 BCE Greek Boeotian aryballos, is one of the finest vessels of its type ever to have been offered by Artemis Gallery. “It was designed to hold perfume for athletes or for use in the bath. It was made in Boeotia, northeast of the Gulf of Corinth, but its decoration is attributed to an Attic painter who emigrated north from Athens,” said Dodge. The art depicts two sphinxes in a confrontational position with paws extended and wings outstretched above their arching backs, tails curled behind them. Its archaic style of art may have influenced some of Picasso’s mid-20th-century pottery designs. A Greek masterpiece with provenance from Millennium Antiquities, London, it is expected to make $8,000-$12,000.

Another irresistible Greek object, Lot 23A, is an Attic red-figure owl lekythos or handled oil vessel. Standing 4.13 inches high, it is adorned with hand-painted images a large owl staring forward and standing between two laurel sprigs. With distinguished provenance, the lekythos was exhibited at the New York 5th International Antiquarian Fine Art Fair in November 2001. Its presale estimate is $4,500-$6,000.

Anyone interested in gifting their special someone with a regal holiday bauble that isn’t available in any jewelry store need look no further than Lot 135A – an exquisite circa-17th/early 18th century Spanish gold pendant cross set with 34 table-cut emeralds. The old Spanish gold in this piece is of a high-karat content and carries the mark on verso of the pillars of Hercules. A near-identical example was sold at Sotheby’s on July 9, 2009. Artemis Gallery’s pre-auction estimate on the cross in their sale, which comes from a British private collection, is $10,000-$14,000. Also in the auction treasure chest are more than 20 other pieces of stunning gold and gemstone jewelry from Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Near East.

The face of Ancient Egypt is captured quite strikingly in Lot 2A, a circa-21st to 26th Dynasty (circa 1075-600 BCE) wood mummy mask. Carved from a fine-grained hardwood, the visage has finely delineated features, darkly outlines almond-shape eyes and finely arched, tapering eyebrows the follow the contour of the forehead. Retaining its original paint and gesso, it has original peg holes on verso for attachment to a sarcophagus. Ex-Adeon Gallery in Chicago, it is entered with a presale estimate of $2,000-$4,000.

Several Pre-Columbian treasures from Panama are expected to make the top 10. Lot 176 consists of a matching pair of Panamanian Cocle figural portrait vases – one depicting a male; the other, a female. Each stands about 6 inches tall and displays both painted and bas-relief features. With provenance from Splendors of the World, Los Angeles, the lot of two is expected to reach $8,000-$10,000 on auction day.

Also from Panama, Lot 216 is a circa-500 to 1000 CE Diquis carved-stone trophy head. Some anthropologists, including Professor John W. Hoopes, an expert on headhunters of Central America, are of the opinion that such stone effigies were created to consecrate or commemorate the taking of a human head. Measuring just under 10 inches in height, the example offered by Artemis Gallery is larger and finer than most others that have come to the marketplace in recent times. Its estimate is $6,000-$9,000.

Other Pre-Columbian highlights include Lot 173E, a circa 300-600 CE Mochica (northern coastal Peru) hollow high-karat encasement-style gold ring formed as a finger with knuckles and a nail, estimate $1,500-$2,000; and Lot 209, a spectacular Teotihuacan (central Mexico, circa 200-800 CE) tripodal vessel carved with old Aztec deities. Made of terracotta, it stands 5¼ inches tall by 8½ inches wide. It was formerly in the collection of the late Anthony M Kurland Jr, PhD, an archaeologist who earned degrees from Yale and Harvard. Estimate: $1,200-$1,500.

Lot 249 is a mid-20th-century Navajo rug from the Crystal Area (Arizona/New Mexico) and features an eagle feather design in complementary shades of cardinal red, charcoal, light grey and white. In excellent condition with no significant damage or signs of wear, the 114- by 57-inch rug is an outstanding work of art and is estimated at $5,500-$7,700.

For additional information about any item in the auction, call Teresa Dodge at 720-502-5289 or email teresa@artemisgallery.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Oversized Egyptian wood mummy mask, 21st/26th Dynasty, circa 1075-600 BCE. Pre-1970 provenance. Est. $2,000-$4,000. Artemis Gallery image

Greek Attic red-figure owl lekythos, Athens, mid-5th century BCE. Ex-Sotheby’s. Est. $4,500-$6,000. Artemis Gallery image

Roman bronze satyr carrying wineskin, circa 1st/2nd century CE. Est. $12,000-$15,000. Artemis Gallery image

Spanish gold emerald pendant cross, circa 17th/18th Century CE. Est. $10,000-$14,000. Artemis Gallery image

Pre-Columbian finger-shape gold ring, northern-coastal Peru, Moche culture, circa 300–600 CE. Est. $1,500-$2,000. Artemis Gallery image

Pair of Panamanian Cocle portrait vases, male and female, Pre-Columbian, circa 1000 CE. Est. $8,000-$10,000. Artemis Gallery image

Teotihuacan ‘old god’ tripodal vessel, Pre-Columbian, Central Mexico, circa 200-800 CE. Est. $1,200-$1,500. Artemis Gallery image

Important Panamanian stone trophy head, Pre-Columbian, Diquis, circa 500 to 1000 CE. Est. $6,000-$9,000. Artemis Gallery image

Navajo rug with eagle feather design, Crystal Area, Arizona/New Mexico, circa mid-10th century CE. Est. $5,500-$7,500. Artemis Gallery image

Letter that inspired Beat author Jack Kerouac found

Jack Kerouac in a Naval Reserve enlistment photograph, 1943. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – It’s been called the letter that launched a literary genre – 16,000 amphetamine-fueled, stream-of-consciousness words written by Neal Cassady to his friend Jack Kerouac in 1950.

Upon reading them, Kerouac scrapped an early draft of On The Road and, during a three-week writing binge, revised his novel into a style similar to Cassady’s, one that would become known as Beat literature.

The letter, Kerouac said shortly before his death, would have transformed his counterculture muse Cassady into a towering literary figure, if only it hadn’t been lost.

Turns out it wasn’t, says Joe Maddalena, whose Southern California auction house Profiles in History is putting the letter up for sale Dec. 17. It was just misplaced, for 60-some years. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

It’s being offered as part of a collection that includes papers by E.E. Cummings, Kenneth Rexroth, Robert Penn Warren and other prominent literary figures. But Maddalena believes the item bidders will want most is Cassady’s 18-page, single-spaced screed describing a drunken, sexually charged, sometimes comical visit to his hometown of Denver.

“It’s the seminal piece of literature of the Beat Generation, and there are so many rumors and speculation of what happened to it,” Maddalena said.

Kerouac told The Paris Review in 1968 that poet Allen Ginsberg loaned the letter to a friend who lived on a houseboat in Northern California. Kerouac believed the friend then dropped it overboard.

“It was my property, a letter to me, so Allen shouldn’t have been so careless with it, nor the guy on the houseboat,” he said.

As for the quality of the letter, Kerouac described it this way: “It was the greatest piece of writing I ever saw, better’n anybody in America, or at least enough to make Melville, Twain, Dreiser, Wolfe, I dunno who, spin in their graves.”

It turns out Ginsberg apparently was trying to get it published when he mailed the letter to Golden Goose Press in San Francisco. There it remained, unopened, until the small publishing house folded.

When it did, its owner planned to throw the letter in the trash, along with every other unopened submission he still had in his files.

That was when the operator of a small, independent music label who shared an office with publisher Richard Emerson came to the rescue. He took every manuscript, letter and receipt in the Golden Goose Archives home with him.

“My father didn’t know who Allen Ginsberg was, he didn’t know Cassady, he wasn’t part of the Beat scene, but he loved poetry,” said Los Angeles performance artist Jean Spinosa, who found the letter as she was cleaning out her late father’s house two years ago. “He didn’t understand how anyone would want to throw someone’s words out.”

Although she knew who Kerouac and Cassady were, Spinosa had never heard of “The Joan Anderson Letter,” the name Kerouac gave it for Cassady’s description of a woman he’d had a brief romance with.

“It’s invaluable,” historian and Kerouac biographer Dennis McNally said. “It inspired Kerouac greatly in the direction he wanted to travel, which was this spontaneous style of writing contained in a letter that had just boiled out of Neal Cassady’s brain.”

It was a style he’d put to use in the novels On The Road and Visions of Cody, which featured Cassady, thinly disguised under the names Dean Moriarty and Cody Pomeroy, as their protagonists. He’d continue to use it in such books as The Subterraneans, The Dharma Bums and Lonesome Traveler, cementing his reputation as the father of the Beat Generation.

Cassady would gain some small measure of fame as Kerouac’s muse and, later, as the sidekick who drove novelist Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters bus across the country.

Meanwhile, about a third of “The Joan Anderson Letter,” copied by someone before it disappeared, became well-known to students of Kerouac.

When Spinosa discovered she had the whole thing, she took it to Maddalena, a prominent dealer in historical documents and pop-culture artifacts, to authenticate it.

He’s reluctant to estimate what it might sell for. Although the original manuscript of On The Road fetched $2.4 million in 2001, everyone knew that existed. It’s much harder to estimate the value, he said, of something no one knew was still around.

For her part, Spinosa says, she’s just happy her father rescued the letter from the trash. She’s hoping whoever buys it will give the public a chance to see it.

“The letter is so good, and you see why these guys loved him,” she says of Cassady’s fellow Beats. “The writing, it just breathes off the page.”

AP-WF-11-23-14 1803GMT

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctoneers.com.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Hats off to DiMaggio & Ruth, whose super-rare caps are headed to auction

Baseball cap game-used by Babe Ruth during the 1934 Tour of Japan. $50,000 reserve. Grey Flannel Auctions image

WESTHAMPTON, N.Y. – The VIP hat rack is full at Grey Flannel Auctions’ December 17th Holiday Auction, and you won’t believe whose caps are displayed side by side – none other than New York Yankee immortals Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio.

“It’s totally coincidental that two of the rarest and most coveted baseball caps of all time found their way to the same auction, but it’s our good fortune that they did. We’re tremendously proud to be offering these unique items to collectors,” said Richard E. Russek, president of Grey Flannel Auctions.

The game-used Babe Ruth cap, which was sourced from the Ruth family more than 30 years ago, is the only example known to have been worn by the Bambino during his 1934 Tour of Japan, which took place only weeks after his departure from the Yankees. The December 17 Grey Flannel event marks the first time the Ruth cap from the historic Tour of Japan has ever come to auction.

“The 1934 tour made headlines around the world,” said Russek. “Nearly half a million Japanese fans lined the streets of Tokyo to welcome the great former-Yankee ballplayer, who rode through the Ginza district an open-top limousine. He and his teammates stayed in Japan for a month and played 18 exhibition games against Japanese players in 12 cities. That tour was a chapter in baseball history all on its own.”

The cap has “US” embroidered on the front, and inside the sweatband, the name “Babe Ruth” is embroidered in chain stitching. The cap is accompanied by an LOA from the consignor, who was close friends with a prominent person in the Babe Ruth Baseball Little League organization, who in turn had obtained it directly from the Ruth family. The minimum bid on the cap, which will also open the auction as Lot 1, is $50,000.

A circa-1937 rookie-era Yankees cap that was game-used by the great Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio, is entered as Lot 635. The extremely rare navy blue wool cap with NY logo is in beautiful, all-original condition. Embroidered inside the sweatband is “7 J. DiMaggio.” The consignor’s family has owned and treasured the DiMaggio cap since the day the legendary slugger took it off his head and handed it to them. The auction reserve on this item is $25,000.

Bidding in Grey Flannel’s Holiday Auction will close on December 17, 2014. For additional information, call 631-288-7800, ext. 223; or email info@greyflannelauctions.com.Visit them online at www.greyflannelauctions.com .

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

(Left to right) Baseball cap game-used by Babe Ruth during the 1934 Tour of Japan, $50,000 reserve; baseball signed by 10 of the 1932 New York Yankees, including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, $5,000 reserve; Joe Dimaggio game-used circa-1937 rookie-era Yankees cap with stitching inside sweatband that says ‘7 J. DiMaggio.’ $25,000 reserve. Grey Flannel Auctions image

Kovels Antiques & Collecting: Week of Nov. 24, 2014

This unusual chair is in the Egyptian Revival style. The carved wooden chair-back of a jackal-headed man-bird and the geometric trim are borrowed from ancient Egyptian art. It sold for $777 at Neal Auction Co. in New Orleans.

BEACHWOOD, Ohio – A chair decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphics, stylized birds and sphinx heads can probably be dated from its Egyptian Revival style. But furniture designs have been through several Egyptian revivals. One started in about 1800, after Napoleon battled in Egypt. Another lasted from the 1830s to the 1850s following great archeological finds in Egypt. A third short revival, from 1895 to the early 1900s, combined Egyptian Revival with elaborate Victorian styles.

Egyptian-style furniture seen most often today dates from the 1920s-30s, after the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. Art Deco designs joined Egyptian-inspired animals and symbols to create a totally new look. Although Egyptian Revival jewelry from that period has been going up in price, the furniture has lost favor and is selling at bargain prices. An early 1900s chair with bone inlay and a very Egyptian-looking carved wooden back shaped like an Anubi (the Egyptian jackal-headed man who was god of the dead) sold at Neal Auction Co. in New Orleans for $777. Perhaps the symbolism of the Egyptian god was not wanted by many 2014 bidders.

Q: My grandmother, who was born in China, came to this country in 1953 and brought a stuffed bird-of-paradise with her. I have it stored in my cedar chest, and it is still in very good condition. Can I sell it in the United States or is this now illegal?

A: Most birds-of-paradise are found in New Guinea, although a few live on nearby islands and in eastern Australia. In 1522 members of Magellan’s crew who sailed around the world brought back five bird-of-paradise “trade-skins.” They were a gift for Emperor Charles V, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire, from the Sultan of Bacan. The birds’ plumes were popular with European royalty, and by 1904 hats sporting feathers or entire birds were fashionable in the United States. Stuffed birds under glass domes were even displayed in homes of the wealthy. There are 39 species of birds-of-paradise. Some are endangered and it’s illegal to hunt or export them, but local people are allowed to catch the birds for their plumes, which evidently are used in tribal ceremonies. You should contact the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to see if it’s legal to sell your stuffed example.

Q: I have three Disney drinking glasses decorated with different scenes from “Cinderella” and a few lines of text from the story. The pictures are red line drawings with a few areas filled in with pale blue or yellow. I think I got the glasses in the 1950s. Are they of any value?

A: Walt Disney’s animated musical feature film”Cinderella” was distributed by RKO Radio Pictures in 1950. It was a popular movie and many Cinderella items have been made. Your glasses are part of a series that included at least eight different scenes. They sell today for $12 to $20 each.

Q: My aunt gave me a Will Rogers and Wiley Post lamp. The bronze base has a globe with relief busts of Rogers and Post above laurel leaves on the front and their names at the base. There is a two-seater plane landing on the top of the globe. The lamp has a vintage glass shade. Who were these men? How old is the lamp?

A: Will Rogers was a humorist who performed in vaudeville, on the radio and in films, and also wrote a syndicated daily newspaper column. Wiley Post was the first person to make a successful solo flight around the world. He asked Rogers to ride along on a flight while he surveyed air routes from the United States to Russia. They were killed when their plane crashed on takeoff near Point Barrow, Alaska, in August 1935. Your lamp was made to commemorate the pair shortly after their deaths. Condition is important. Prices range from $250 to $500.

Q: I have three Beneagles figural bottles – a Loch Ness monster, a gray badger and a clown-headed chicken. How much are they worth?

A: Beswick, an English pottery, made flasks for Beneagles Scotch Whisky. Twenty different animal shapes were made between 1965 and 1987. Your clown-headed chicken is called the “Haggis Bird.” The flasks vary in size and price. Most sell today for $10 to $30.

Q: We own an old violin with this label inside: “Heinrich Th. Heberlein Jr., Markneukirchen 1898, Imitation: Joseph Guarnerius.” The back and sides are beautiful tiger maple and the instrument is in fine condition. The violin belonged to a woman who was once a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Can you tell us something about the violin’s history and value?

A: Heinrich Thomas Heberlein Jr. (1843-1910) ran a violin-making workshop in Markneukirchen, Saxony, Germany – an area known since the 1600s for producing high-quality musical instruments. Heberlein styled many of his instruments after those of earlier makers. Yours is a copy of a violin by Joseph Guarnerius (1698-1744), a respected Italian violin maker also known as Giuseppe Guarneri. Women first joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1942, so the woman who played your violin used it in 1942 or later. Heberlein violins are well-respected instruments, but an expert musician would have to play yours to help determine its value. We have seen Heberlein violins sell for hundreds of dollars into the low thousands.

Tip: Do not dry clean vintage textiles.

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.

Worcester tea bowl and saucer, Milkmaids pattern, black and white, c. 1760, 4 1/2 inches, $94.
Weller vase, Dickens Ware, Bleak House, man holding child’s hand, rusty glaze, 15 3/4 x 7 inches, $375.
Typewriter, Blickensderfer No. 5, roller ink, wood case, c. 1893, 13 inches, $510.
Pie safe, wood, two shelves, painted green, wire mesh sides, 1900s, 16 1/2 x 28 inches, $525.
Tramp art mirror, American flags, Red Cross merit medallion, c. 1960, 26 x 21 inches, $660.
Tole tea canister, chinoiserie, woman, yellow ground, cylindrical, England, 1700s, 18 inches, $690.
Weather vane, running horse, copper, zinc mounts, 16 x 38 inches, $1,875.
Pedal car, racer, Indy 5, Pennzoil, belt driven, radio-controlled, 1970s, 43 inches, $2,280.
Confederate flag, 11 stars, c. 1861, 12 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches, $7,380.
Stoneware crock, spotted stag, field, fence, cobalt blue, lug handles, J. & E. Norton, 1855, 15 inches, $11,400.

New! Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide, 2015, 47th edition, is your most accurate source for current prices. It’s available now and includes a special bonus section that helps you determine prices if you’re downsizing and selling your collectibles and antiques. If you order directly from the Kovels, you’ll receive our FREE Companion eBook with ALL of the book’s 35,000 prices-ready for downloading to your eReader. “Kovels” is the best book to own if you buy, sell or collect. The large-size paperback has more than 2,500 color photographs and includes 700 categories of antiques and collectibles. You’ll also find hundreds of factory histories and marks, a report on record prices, and helpful sidebars and tips about buying, selling, collecting and preserving your treasures. Available for $27.95 plus $4.95 postage. Purchase directly from the Kovels if you want the eBook Companion. Visit KovelsOnlineStore.com , call 800-303-1996, or write to Price Book, P.O. Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Hitler watercolor sold for $162,000 at Nuremberg auction

BERLIN (AP) – A watercolor of Munich’s old city hall believed to have been painted by Adolf Hitler a century ago was sold for 130,000 euros ($162,000) at an auction in Germany on Saturday.

Kathrin Weidler, director of the Weider auction house in Nuremberg, said the work attracted bidders from four continents and went to a buyer from the Middle East. She declined to elaborate.

The auction house says the painting is one some 2,000 by Hitler and is thought to be from about 1914, when he was struggling to make a living as an artist, almost two decades before rising to power as the Nazi dictator.

The painting, which had been expected to fetch at least 50,000 euros, was sold by a pair of elderly sisters whose grandfather purchased it in 1916.

Hitler’s paintings surface regularly, but the auction house said the 28-by-22 centimeter (11-by-8.5 inch) scene auctioned Saturday also includes the original bill of sale and a signed letter from Hitler’s adjutant, Albert Bormann, brother of the dictator’s private secretary Martin Bormann.

From the text of the undated Bormann letter, it appears the Nazi-era owner sent a photo of the painting to Hitler’s office asking about its provenance. Bormann wrote that it appears to be “one of the works of the Fuehrer.”

AP-WF-11-22-14 2038GMT

Cowan’s acquires Calif. firearms auction house Little John’s

CINCINNATI – Cowan’s Auctions Inc of Cincinnati, Ohio has acquired Little John’s Auction Service of Orange, California, one of the most respected and recognized firearms auctioneers in the country.

The acquisition brings together two premier firms with a combined 60 years of business experience and more than $600 million in sales. With the transfer of ownership, Cowan’s Auctions, Inc. will become the third-largest antiques firearms auction house in the country, and will create a team of widely respected experts. John Gangel, president and CEO of Little John’s Auction Service will join Jack Lewis, Cowan’s director of Firearms and Militaria, as a consignment director and auctioneer. Together, Lewis and Gangel will source consignments and represent Cowan’s at all major trade shows.

Gangel has owned and operated one of the nation’s top firearms auction houses since 1979. Wes Cowan, a nationally recognized antiques expert and PBS television star, formed Cowan’s Auctions in 1995, and has been a leading firearms auctioneer for the past decade.

Gangel will host his last solo auction in December 2014. The companies will combine forces to host regular firearms sales in 2015. Next year’s plans call for four live salesroom auctions of Historic Firearms and Early Militaria at Cowan’s Cincinnati salesroom. Cowan’s will also hold several online sales of firearms and ephemera.

Gangel will continue to operate his retail business, Little John’s Firearms, in Orange, California, but much of his time will be spent on the road, visiting collectors and attending regional and national gun shows. “I’ve been wanting to spend more time doing what I love most,” says Gangel. “Let’s face it, everyone likes the thrill of the hunt and spending time with old friends. This is the perfect opportunity for me.”

All auctions conducted by Cowan’s feature Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.

Click to view Cowan’s catalog for their Dec. 5 Fine Jewelry and Timepieces Auction at https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/63847_fine-jewelry-and-timepieces/page1

Click to view Cowan’s catalog for their Dec. 8 Fine Desk Accessories: Pens and Paperweights Auction at https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/63906_fine-desk-accessories-pens-and-paperweights/page1

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Swiss museum accepts Nazi-era art hoard bequest

A German government-appointed task force has already established that 'Two Riders on the Beach' painted by Max Liebermann should be returned to the rightful owners' heirs. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

BERLIN (AFP) – A Swiss museum said Monday it would accept aGerman recluse’s bequest of a spectacular trove of more than 1,000 artworks hoarded during the Nazi era.

The decision, announced at a press conference in Berlin, covers priceless paintings and sketches by Picasso, Monet, Chagall and other masters that were discovered by chance in 2012 in the Munich flat of Cornelius Gurlitt.

Christoph Schaeublin, president of the Board of Trustees at the the Museum of Fine Arts in Bern, pledged to work with German authorities to ensure that “all looted art in the collection is returned” to its rightful owners.

Around 500 works of dubious provenance will remain in Germany so a government-appointed task force can continue its research in identifying the heirs.

Gurlitt, who died last May aged 81, was the son of an art dealer tasked by Adolf Hitler to help plunder great works from museums and Jewish collectors, many of whom perished in the gas chambers.

In the course of a routine tax inquiry, 1,280 works were unearthed in Gurlitt’s cluttered Munich home.

More than 300 other works were discovered in a ramshackle house Gurlitt owned in Salzburg.

Although he was never charged with a crime, the German authorities confiscated all of the Munich pieces and stored them in a secret location.

Gurlitt struck an accord with the German government shortly before his death to help track down the paintings’ rightful owners.

But his anger over his treatment reportedly led him to stipulate in his will that the collection should go not to a German museum but to the Swiss institution.

After six months of negotiations, German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters called the accord reached with the Bern museum “a milestone in coming to terms with our history” under the Third Reich.

She said the German government was committed to returning the looted works to Jewish descendants “as soon as possible, with no ifs, ands or buts.”

But “we’re at the beginning, not the end, of a long road,” she admitted.

Gruetters said that some of the around 500 works staying in Germany with doubtful provenance would be displayed in exhibitions to encourage heirs to come forward and stake claims.

And under the terms of the agreement, nearly 480 avant-garde works deemed by the Nazis to be “degenerate art” not befitting the ideals of the Third Reich would be loaned by Bern primarily to institutions from which they were taken in the 1930s.

‘Avalanche of lawsuits’

Had the Swiss museum unexpectedly turned down the offer, the pieces would have been divided up among relatives of Gurlitt, who never married and had no children.

Ronald Lauder, the head of the World Jewish Congress, declined to comment ahead of Monday’s press conference.

But he told German news weekly Der Spiegel this month that the Swiss museum should not accept the inheritance, saying it “would open a Pandora’s Box and

cause an avalanche of lawsuits.”

Indeed one of Gurlitt’s cousins, 86-year-old Uta Werner, said Friday she was contesting Gurlitt’s fitness of mind when he wrote the will naming the Bern museum as his sole heir.

This could return the case to legal limbo, with ageing Jewish descendants left to fight for their claims in German courts for years to come.

After the discovery of the Gurlitt trove came to light in a magazine article last year, Jewish groups and the U.S. and Israeli governments put pressure on Germany to establish a task force to investigate the works’ provenance.

In the case of a Matisse painting found in the stash, called Seated Woman and believed to be worth around $20 million, the panel determined in June that the work was “Nazi loot” stolen from Paris art collector Paul Rosenberg.

Gruetters said that three such works including the Matisse would be returned “without delay” to the heirs.

Rosenberg’s descendants include French journalist Anne Sinclair, former wife of ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

“My clients have been extremely patient with German authorities throughout the process and enough is enough,” Christopher Marinello, a London lawyer representing the Rosenberg family, told AFP ahead of the news conference.

Meanwhile the acquisition of the Gurlitt hoard would dramatically increase the prestige of the Bern institution, Switzerland’s oldest art museum.

Stephan Klingen of Munich’s Institute for Art History said the public interest in the collection was “enormous.”

“I think this is a chance to show people right before their very eyes how problematic the handling of art and artworks after the war was,” he told German news agency DPA.

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Russian tourist arrested for vandalizing Colosseum

A view of the Colosseum from from the Oppian Hill in Rome. This image is licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.

ROME (AP) – Italian authorities say a Russian tourist has been fined 20,000 euros ($25,000) for engraving a big letter ‘K’ on a wall of the Colosseum, the latest act of vandalism by tourists at the ancient structure.

The news agency ANSA reported that the 42-year-old tourist was given a summary judgment Saturday of a fine and a suspended four-year jail sentence. He was spotted by a guard as he used a pointed stone to carve the 10-inch-tall letter.

Union leaders, citing recent acts of vandalism, have complained about the lack of personnel to properly monitor Rome’s archaeological treasures – with increasing numbers of visitors seeking to leave their trace on antiquity, causing incalculable damage.

It was the fifth incidence of vandalism by foreign tourists at the Colosseum this year.

AP-WF-11-22-14 2059GMT

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