Estate of prominent Gilded Age couple yields treasures for Heritage sale, Feb. 10

Gold friendship ring artist Winslow Homer gave to Helena de Kay, estimated at $2,000-$4,000. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Gold friendship ring artist Winslow Homer gave to Helena de Kay, estimated at $2,000-$4,000. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Gold friendship ring artist Winslow Homer gave to Helena de Kay, estimated at $2,000-$4,000. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions

DALLAS – Historians have long considered the significance of the Gilded Age era and the artistic legacy of New York City in American life. Helena de Kay and Richard Watson Gilder, a married couple who cultivated an expansive creative circle, were at the very center of it. Heritage Auctions is pleased to present the first and only comprehensive access to the couple’s estate, including precious artworks and the personal possessions of the family and their famous friends, and the much-coveted paintings and drawings of Helena de Kay herself. The Gilded Age: Property from the Collection of Richard Watson Gilder and Helena de Kay Gilder takes place Friday, February 10. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Babe Ruth card, rare jet plane model took off at Miller & Miller sale

Detail of a cutaway model of a 1962 Vickers VC-10 BOAC jet plane, one of only two known to exist, CA$18,880
Left, 1923 Willards Chocolates Babe Ruth baseball card, graded PSA 3 VG (Very Good), CA$23,600; Right, Cutaway model of a 1962 Vickers VC-10 BOAC jet plane, one of only two known to exist, CA$18,880
Left, 1923 Willards Chocolates Babe Ruth baseball card, graded PSA 3 VG (Very Good), CA$23,600; Right, cutaway model of a 1962 Vickers VC-10 BOAC jet plane, one of only two known to exist, CA$18,880

NEW HAMBURG, Canada – A 1923 Willards Chocolates Babe Ruth baseball card was a hit for $23,600 and a cutaway model of a 1962 Vickers VC-10 BOAC jet plane soared to $18,880 in an online-only Advertising & Historic Objects auction held January 21 by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. Both lots blasted through their $2,000-$3,000 estimates. Overall, the auction grossed $369,163. All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars.

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Surreal or magically real? Hindman explores both art genres, Feb. 10

Gertrude Abercrombie, ‘The Mysterious Stranger (Man, House, and Lady),’ estimated at $60,000-$80,000. Image courtesy of Hindman
Gertrude Abercrombie, ‘The Mysterious Stranger (Man, House, and Lady),’ estimated at $60,000-$80,000. Image courtesy of Hindman
Gertrude Abercrombie, ‘The Mysterious Stranger (Man, House, and Lady),’ estimated at $60,000-$80,000. Image courtesy of Hindman

CHICAGO – On Friday, February 10, Hindman will explore the stories behind figural surrealism and magical realism from Mexico to the Midwest in its auction titled Figuratively Speaking. Anchoring the 95-lot sale will be 21 avant-garde and surrealist works previously owned by noted artist, collector, critic and educator Florence Arquin, a close friend of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, from the Carol Williams collection. The collection features a number of works that Arquin received as gifts, highlighting the important friendships she built with many revered artists during her time living in Latin America. Examples include works by Wolfgang Paalen, Alice Rahon and Diego Rivera, among others that are from pivotal artistic moments. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

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Berlin museums ready to return skulls from former German colony in Africa

The Neues (New) Museum in Berlin, Germany, photographed in August 2016. It is home to the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, where research on hundreds of human skulls collected from the former colony of German East Africa was conducted in hopes of better pinpointing their origins. The Berlin museum authority said it would soon return the skulls to the African countries where they belong. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Fred Romero. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
The Neues (New) Museum in Berlin, Germany, photographed in August 2016. It is home to the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, where research on hundreds of human skulls collected from the former colony of German East Africa was conducted in hopes of better pinpointing their origins. The Berlin museum authority said it would soon return the skulls to the African countries where they belong. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Fred Romero. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
The Neues (New) Museum in Berlin, Germany, photographed in August 2016. It is home to the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, where research on hundreds of human skulls collected from the former colony of German East Africa was conducted in hopes of better pinpointing their origins. The Berlin museum authority said it would soon return the skulls to the African countries where they belong. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Fred Romero. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

BERLIN (AP) – The Berlin museum authority said Jan. 18 that it was ready to return hundreds of human skulls from the former German colony of East Africa after having researched their origin for several years.

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Spilling the tea on fanciful, sculptural studio teapots

Richard Marquis’s Flattened Teapot, a 1999 work from his Tea Pot series, constructed hot with murrini and incalmo, achieved $15,000 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2015. Image courtesy of Habatat Galleries and LiveAuctioneers
Richard Marquis’s Flattened Teapot, a 1999 work from his Tea Pot series, constructed hot with murrini and incalmo, achieved $15,000 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2015. Image courtesy of Habatat Galleries and LiveAuctioneers
Richard Marquis’s Flattened Teapot, a 1999 work from his Tea Pot series, constructed hot with murrini and incalmo glass, achieved $15,000 plus the buyer’s premium in January 2015. Image courtesy of Habatat Galleries and LiveAuctioneers

NEW YORK – Starting in the 1970s, post-modern studio artists, experimenting with cutting-edge techniques and materials, made unique, conceptual teapot designs like nothing else seen before. Though they draw upon the familiar handle-body-spout form, most of these daring studio teapots are not recommended for actual use; they are fun rather than functional.

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