Selection of MC Escher works highlights Forum’s July 3 Works On Paper auction

M. C. Escher, ant lithograph, estimated at £40,000-£60,000 ($51,000-$76,000) at Forum Auctions.

LONDON — On July 3, Forum Auctions is offering a selection of works by Maurits Cornelis (MC) Escher (1898-1972), which were bought directly from the artist in his studio in the Netherlands 70 years ago. The eight prints have remained with owner, who was born in Amsterdam and lived close to Escher as a child in the late 1940s. He bought his first Escher works with pocket money.

His family recalls: “Our father was very drawn to Escher’s works, he particularly loved the mathematical aspect to them. He purchased 50 or more of his works directly from him over the years. He met Escher through a school friend and would then often frequent his studio with his mother, to spend his saved-up pocket money on another of Escher’s works.”

Each of the works selected for this auction exemplifies the weird and wonderful world of MC Escher, from two-dimensional flatworms floating in a three-dimensional space and alien birds in an impossible moonscape, to an extraordinary hellish tessellation of bats and devils. The highlight of the sale is a 1943 lithograph of an ant, extant in only 20 impressions. Only the third copy seen on the open market in the past 25 years, it is estimated at £40,000-£60,000 ($51,000-$76,000) in Forum Auctions’ Editions and Works on Paper 1500-2024 sale.

M. C. Escher, ant lithograph, estimated at £40,000-£60,000 ($51,000-$76,000) at Forum Auctions.

M. C. Escher, ant lithograph, estimated at £40,000-£60,000 ($51,000-$76,000) at Forum Auctions.

Picture of Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell

Roland Arkell is editor of Auction Central News and deputy editor at Antiques Trade Gazette. He has been writing about all aspects of the art and antiques market for more than 25 years.

1930s Pepsi Pete the Cop Double-sided Porcelain Sign leads our five auction highlights

1930s Pepsi Pete the Cop double-sided porcelain sign, which sold for $34,440 with buyer’s premium at Rich Penn Auctions May 18.

1930s Pepsi Pete the Cop Double-sided Porcelain Sign, $34,440

WATERLOO, IA — Found in a Pennsylvania warehouse, this 1930s-era Pepsi-Cola double-sided porcelain sign features Pepsi’s double-dot logo and ‘Pepsi Pete the Cop,’ a short-lived advertising character. Rich Penn Auctions brought the sign, which at some point was mounted to a later bottle-cap raised-letter base, to market May 18 as a featured lot in its Country Store and Advertising Sale.

Penn’s lot notes state that the sign had been used at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, also known as ‘The World of Tomorrow.’ It would have been used at Pepsi’s pavilion to beckon fair-goers to sip a cool, refreshing drink. The sign was in like-new condition, with a single BB-sized ding to one side and some age-related yellowing. Measuring an impressive 78in in height, the sign carried an estimate of $50-$10,000, but hammered for a whopping $28,000 ($34,440 with buyer’s premium).

1920s Military Motorcycle Wind-up Toy from an Unknown German Manufacturer, $6,562

1920s military motorcycle wind-up toy from an unknown German manufacturer, which sold for $5,250 ($6,562 with buyer’s premium) May 12 at Hoch.
1920s military motorcycle wind-up toy from an unknown German manufacturer, which sold for $5,250 ($6,562 with buyer’s premium) May 12 at Hoch.

WEST CHESTER, PA — Hoch Ltd. sold a German tin-lithographed wind-up motorcycle and rider toy for $5,250 ($6,562 with buyer’s premium) at its May 12 Fine & Decorative Arts sale. The toy had a modest presale estimate of just $200-$400.

Dozens of bids between the floor and LiveAuctioneers buyers ensued, leading to the astounding final hammer. Little was known about the toy other than it had emerged from a Burlington, New Jersey collection.

Resembling a Lehmann or Distler toy from the same period, the clockwork mechanism did not work, and a previous owner had touched up the lithography with paint.

1848 Cass-Butler Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Ticket, $5,824

1848 Lewis Cass and William O. Butler presidential ticket, which sold for $4,550 ($5,824 with buyer’s premium) at Hunt and Peck May 9.
1848 Lewis Cass and William O. Butler presidential ticket, which sold for $4,550 ($5,824 with buyer’s premium) at Hunt and Peck May 9.

LURAY, VA — A presidential campaign ticket from the hotly contested 1848 American presidential election brought a staggering $4,550 hammer price, selling for $5,824 to a LiveAuctioneers bidder who blew past the $400-$600 estimate.

Hunt and Peck Estate Services had the ticket as a featured lot in its May 9 Rare Books, Maps, And Artwork sale.

1848 was a bizarre year in American politics. Three men ran for president: Zachary Taylor as a Whig, Lewis Cass as a Democrat, and former president Martin Van Buren as a representative of the Free Soil Party. The Mexican-American War had just ended, and Taylor, being one of the prominent generals in the US Army, fighting the Mexicans, rose to ultimately win the contest, with Van Buren acting as a spoiler and splintering the Democratic vote.

The campaign ticket depicts former Army general Lewis Cass and his vice presidential running mate, William O. Butler, a retired Army major general from Kentucky. Bidding started at $200, but immediately jumped to $4,200 and rose to the final hammer with 100% of bidding coming from the LiveAuctioneers platform, once again demonstrating the power and reach auction houses enjoy when the bidding audience extends beyond the sale room floor.

Circa-1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Co. Giraffe Carousel Figure, $37,500

Circa-1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Co. giraffe carousel figure, which sold for $30,000 ($37,500 with buyer’s premium) at Schmidt’s Antiques May 18.
Circa-1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Co. giraffe carousel figure, which sold for $30,000 ($37,500 with buyer’s premium) at Schmidt’s Antiques May 18.

YPSILANTI, MI — A circa-1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Company giraffe carousel figure hammered for $30,000 amid furious bidding between the floor and LiveAuctioneers buyers. With premium, the take-home price reached $37,500 against a $2,000-$4,000 estimate at Schmidt’s Antiques May 18. The carousel giraffe was a featured lot in the house’s May Gallery Auction.

Founded in 1904, the Philadelphia Toboggan Company would have just been shipping its first products when this giraffe was created. The company still exists as Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, an amusement park wooden roller coaster manufacturer and service provider.

The giraffe features hollow-body construction with carved details and an original polychrome-painted finish. It includes inset glass eyes, a carved mane and saddle, and scrolled trappings with tassel drops. Being 120 years of age, the giraffe exhibited some surface wear, chips, and minor touch-ups, and an older restoration to its right ear and eye socket. The figure stands an impressive 78.5in in height.

Buckminster Fuller Autographed Spaceship Earth Edition of the Dymaxion Sky-Ocean Map Die-cut 3-D Model, $525

Buckminster Fuller autographed Spaceship Earth Edition of the Dymaxion Sky-Ocean Map die cut 3-D model, which sold for $420 ($525 with buyer’s premium) at JG Autographs May 14.
Buckminster Fuller autographed Spaceship Earth Edition of the Dymaxion Sky-Ocean Map die cut 3-D model, which sold for $420 ($525 with buyer’s premium) at JG Autographs May 14.

DANVERS, MA — R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was one of the 20th century’s most prominent thinkers, inventors, and designers. His geodesic dome structures once dotted the American landscape, an innovative design he created as an alternative to traditional housing that could be assembled into a finished structure in hours.

Issued by the Buckminster Fuller Institute of Philadelphia, Pennsylania, the Dymaxion Sky-Ocean Map was Fuller’s unique projection of the Earth, designed to be assembled into (what else?) a geodesic shape. Offered as a die-cut, ready-to-build model, this example survived in unconstructed form to emerge at JG Autographs as part of its May 14 History and Culture sale.

What added to this example was Fuller’s dated signature in the lower left of the sheet: Buckminster Fuller, February 23, 1983, just months before his demise in July of that year. Estimated at $200-$400, it hammered for $420 and sold for $525 to a LiveAuctioneers bidder.

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte

Jim Bunte has worked in editorial, design and the toy and auction industries for more than 30 years. He co-founded Auction Central News in 2007.