New-to-Market Lichtenstein, Plastic £10 Note an Auction Thriller, and More Fresh News

Roy Lichtentein, Female Head, 1977, estimate $10M-$15M. Copyright Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s

 

News and updates from around the arts and auction community:

  • This November in New York, Roy Lichtenstein’s 1977 work titled Female Head will make its first-ever appearance at auction. The consignor is a former Museum of Modern Art director who has owned it since it was originally offered for sale. [Read more from ArtNews]
  • A new polymer £10 note has sold for a mammoth £7,200 – or $9,400 – in a charity auction sponsored by the Bank of England. Bearing an image of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and author Jane Austen on the reverse, the plastic note is the lowest-serial-numbered one available to buy. [Read more from ThisIsMoney]
  • This month movie and pop culture fans can bid on a unique memento from the storied Star Wars franchise. Carrie Fisher’s hand-annotated script from The Empire Strikes Back is being auctioned in California, with proceeds going to charity. [Read more from Fox Business]
  • A Norman Rockwell painting stolen from a New Jersey home more than 40 years ago and returned to its rightful owners last March will be auctioned next month. The 1919 painting was immediately identifiable to the owners for an unusual reason. [Read more from US News & World Report]

For more news and updates, follow LiveAuctioneers on Twitter and Facebook.

One of oldest Native American birch-bark canoes is on display

Oil-on-canvas painting of a Native American in a birch-bark canoe by Raymond M. Spindler. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Wiederseim Associates

 

BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) – One of the oldest-known examples of a Native American birch-bark canoe is on display at a museum in Maine, where indigenous tribes have used them for thousands of years.

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Mozart’s fancy shoe buckle slated for auction, Oct. 30

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756–1791) personal shoe buckle,
silver over brass with ornamental floral engraving, iron pin, 8.5 x 7.2 cm, with autograph documentation in display case. Image courtesy of Dorotheum

 

VIENNA – All over the world, musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is worshipped in a way more commonly reserved for saints. It is therefore hardly surprising that a shoe buckle once worn by the composer was preserved in an ornate glass display case, not unlike a devotional object. The keepsake is going to be auctioned on October 30 at Dorotheum Vienna’s Imperial Memorabilia Auction.

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Archaeologists find 4,000-year-old obelisk near Cairo

Saqqara Pyramid of Djoser in Egypt. Feb. 16, 2007 photo by Charlesjsharp, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
Saqqara Pyramid of Djoser in Egypt. Feb. 16, 2007 photo by Charlesjsharp, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
The Saqqara Pyramid of Djoser is located in the same area where the obelisk was discovered. Feb. 16, 2007 photo by Charlesjsharp, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

 

CAIRO (AP) – Egypt says archaeologists have discovered the upper part of royal obelisk dating back more than 4,000 years.

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