March 18, 2022 - Auction Central News

Collectors can fill ‘er up at Morphy March 29-30 Automobilia, Petroliana & Railroadiana Auction

A selection of top lots from the railroadiana to be auctioned during the opening session of Morphy’s March 29-30 auction, including a green-glass D&H Railroad lantern ($1,000-$4,000); single-sided die-cut porcelain MKT Railroad sign ($3,000-$5,000); and one of few known Crosby bronze three-chime factory steam whistles in the 40½-inch size ($2,000-$15,000)

DENVER, Pa. – Ever since the first Model A car rolled off Ford’s assembly line in 1903, America has had a fascination with cars. Now, nearly 120 years later, that attraction has become more of an obsession for the legion of collectors from coast to coast who covet signage, gas pumps, globes and other service station equipment from motoring’s golden era. Morphy Auctions is the destination of choice for hobbyists seeking antiques of exceptional quality, condition and authenticity. They’ll have their next chance to bid and buy on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 29-30 at the central Pennsylvania company’s Automobilia, Petroliana & Railroadiana Auction.

Ando Jubei cloisonne & Japanese screens grace Hindman’s March 25 sale

Japanese cloisonne-enamel and partial plique-a-jour square bowl by Ando Jubei, Meiji period, est. $60,000-$80,000

Left, Anonymous, 19th century, ‘Hunting Scenes’ est. $5,000-$6,000; Right, Japanese cloisonne-enamel and partial plique-a-jour square bowl by Ando Jubei, Meiji period, est. $60,000-$80,000 — Left, Anonymous, 19th century, ‘Hunting Scenes,’ est. $5,000-$6,000; Right, Japanese cloisonne-enamel and partial plique-a-jour square bowl by Ando Jubei, Meiji period, est. $60,000-$80,000

CHICAGO – Items ranging from a cloisonne-enamel and plique-a-jour bowl by legendary cloisonne artist Ando Jubei to a private Chicago collection of Japanese silver bonbonnieres will be offered in Hindman’s March 25 Japanese and Korean Works of Art auction. Japanese ink and color paintings from the collection of L. Harrison Bernbaum of Chicago and a vast offering of samurai swords from the collection of a prominent private collector will be presented alongside a selection of ceramic wares, woodblock prints and baskets from various private collections and estates. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Ando Jubei cloisonne Hindman Japanese screen plique-a-jour

Holabird’s late-February sale was a collectors’ smorgasbord

Independent Oil ceramic enameled sign in red, white and black, $875

RENO, Nev. – Nearly 2,500 lots were offered at Holabird Western Americana Collections’s massive four-day Western Trails & Treasures Premier Auction, held February 24 through 27.

1853 Marysville directory blue Staffordshire Bullfrog tokens F. W. Trautwein Holabird Holabird Western Americana Collections Independent Oil sign men's gold ring Phillippines silver ingot specimen stock certificate travel ephemera

Hollywood backdrops come to the forefront in Boca Raton

‘North by Northwest,’ Mount Rushmore (91 by 30ft) MGM (1959). UT- Austin students raise backdrop for assessment. Photo: Sandy Carson

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The first museum show dedicated to Hollywood’s painted backdrops, the grandest illusions ever created for the movies, makes its world premiere in South Florida at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Titled Art of the Hollywood Backdrop: Cinema’s Creative Legacy, it opens on April 20 and continues through January 22, 2023.

Boca Raton Museum of Art Hollywood backdrops Hollywood painted backdrops North by Northwest Singin' in the Rain The Sound of Music

March 24 auction Americana, Folk Art & Outsider Art spotlighted in New York, March 24

Signed Mose Tolliver painting on wood, est. $1,500-$2,000

NEW YORK – On Thursday, March 24, starting at 6 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will hold a sale of Americana, Folk Art and Outsider Art. The 534-lot auction is, as always, curated by Clifford Wallach, an expert on tramp art, folk art and Americana. Featured in the sale lineup are a trio of museum-quality portrait dolls dressed in silk and satin wedding attire, created in the first half of the 20th century; duck decoys, a wood carving of a Great Dane dog, a Southern country abacus, a quartet of Beatrix Potter Vienna bronzes, and a generous selection of quilts, including a circa-1880s Victorian silk crazy quilt.

African American artist americana antique quilt crazy quilt folk art jasper52 Mose T Mose Tolliver needlework sampler outsider art outsider artist schoolgirl sampler Victorian quilt

Door of Hope dolls: A Shanghai mission’s legacy

A Door of Hope bride doll in a lavishly embroidered red gown realized $750 plus the buyer’s premium at Frasher’s Doll Auction in October 2017. Image courtesy of Frasher’s Doll Auction and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Arriving in China in the late 1890s, American Cornelia Bonnell (1874-1916) and a group of women, all missionaries, lamented the fate of Shanghai’s young women and children. So many were destitute, had their feet bound, and were forced to work in the sex trade. Described as physically frail, Bonnell was only 21 and had reportedly been rejected for previous mission assignments because of health issues, but now found her calling.

Be Smart bride doll Door of Hope Door of Hope dolls Frasher’s Doll Auction hand-painted dolls mourner dolls vintage doll vintage dolls