SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. – Many of America’s great railroads were founded or operated in the Keystone State during the glory days of trains – the Reading, Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania Railroad lines, to name but a few. A lesser-known and much smaller-scale Pennsylvania “railroad” is the toy train assemblage that was displayed in the Montgomery County (suburban Philadelphia) home of collector John Dieterly. On May 27, Dieterly’s collection will ride the rails to Stephenson’s auction house, where it will be featured in the company’s Spring Doll, Toy & Train Auction. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
Diego Rivera, ‘Dance in Tehuantepec,’ 1928. Image courtesy of Phillips
NEW YORK (AP) – A Diego Rivera painting has sold privately for $15.7 million, setting a world record price for any Latin American work of art, Phillips auction house said Friday.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers’ Asian and international fine arts auction Sunday, May 22, will feature a massive antique Japanese Satsuma earthenware vase aglow with gilt detailing. The 24 1/4-inch-tall vase, bearing a large gilt Satsuma mon and mark within a large signed cartouche, is estimated to sell for $5,000-$7,000.
Pair of 18th or 19th century Chinese carved jade table screens, titled ‘Figures Among Stream’ and ‘Mountainous Landscape,’ (est. $5,000-$10,000). John McInnis Auctioneers image
AMESBURY, Mass. – John McInnis Auctioneers will conduct a three-session auction over the Memorial Day weekend featuring an immense array of items from prominent estates in the Boston area, including the Hoes family, direct descendants of President James Monroe.
1865 map of Georgia detailing the pursuit and capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Centurion Auctions image
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Centurion Auctions will feature two historically significant lots in a Civil War Era Militaria & Firearm Auction on Saturday, May 28. The first is a recently discovered 1865 Jefferson Davis pursuit and capture map. The second is the saddle used by Gen. Benjamin D. Pritchard, whose 4th Michigan Cavalry captured the Confederate president near Irwinville, Ga., on May 10, 1865.
Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
Malcolm Mason, auctioneer and appraiser at Centurion Auctions, writes that the Jefferson Davis pursuit and capture map (above) was found among a private rare Civil War book collection.
The linen map is partially printed and partially hand drawn, showing the position and movements of the troops pursuing Davis. This capture map was to accompany Gen. James H. Wilson’s Jan. 17, 1867 report to Congress, although the report notes the map as “Not Found.”
“This Jefferson Davis capture map is of great historical importance and a truly exciting find, having been missing the last 150 years. It is expected to generate substantial interest within the Civil War, rare book, map and document collecting communities,” writes Mason.
The map with related documents has a $15,000-$20,000 estimate.
The second lot of particular interest to Civil War collectors is a saddle and archive (below) of Gen. Benjamin D. Pritchard of the 4th Michigan Cavalry. In addition to the general’s saddle, the archive includes personal papers, ephemera, a copy of The Life and Times of B.D. Pritchard by James J. Green, period and reunion photos of Pritchard, 1899 and 1915 group reunion photos, and a framed CDV of Andrew Bee, captor of Davis.
Saddle and archive of Gen. Benjamin D. Pritchard. Centurion Auctions image
The Gen. Pritchard saddle and archive lot has a $10,000-$20,000 estimate.
For details contact Centurion Auctions at 386-868-2889.
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. Image by Ghirlandajo. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
BERLIN (AP) – Nearly 60 sculptures that belonged to Berlin’s museums before World War II have been found at Moscow’s Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
Walter Dorwin Teague designed Nocturne radio, model 1186. Morton Casa de Subastas image
MEXICO CITY – Once in a blue moon a beautiful Sparton Nocturne radio Model 1186 goes under the auction hammer. A fine example of this Art Deco icon by American industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague will be the highlight of a Morton Casa de Subastas auction on Thursday, May 26.
Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
The console set, produced by the Sparton Corp. in the 1930s, is distinctive for its midnight blue Tufflex mirrored glass and satin chrome steel exterior. Standing 46 inches high by 43 1/4 inches wide by 12 inches deep, it becomes the focal point of any setting.
Morton Casa de Subastas estimates the radio will sell for approximately $16,300 to $27,000. However, two Sparton Nocturne radios have sold at auction in the U.S. in the last two years for $32,000 and more than $120,000.
One of the Sir Alfred Munnings paintings of Belle W. Baruch. Ivy Auctions image
LAURENS, S.C. – Eleven of 17 pieces of art stolen from Hobcaw Barony, owned by the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, have been recovered after being missing for 13 years.
The Barnum & Bailey ‘Two Hemispheres’ circus wagon sold for $250,000. Heritage Auctions image
DALLAS – Twenty-eight feet in length and weighing some 13,000 pounds, Barnum & Bailey’s “Two Hemispheres” Circus Wagon once required a team of 40 horses when it debuted in the grand parade welcoming the Greatest Show on Earth home from a triumphant five year world tour. On Saturday, May 14, it took a winning bid of $250,000 for the famed relic to find a new home after it crossed the block in Heritage Auctions’ spring Americana & Political Auction in Dallas.
A 19th century lithograph depicting Christopher Columbus and his crew leaving the port of Palos, Spain, for the New World. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress
ROME (AP) – The U.S. has returned to Italy a letter written by Christopher Columbus in 1493 announcing his discovery of the New World that was stolen from a Florence library and unwittingly acquired by the Library of Congress.
