DAVENPORT, Wash. – Lewis American Airways may sound like an airline, but it was actually the brainchild of one Paul M. Lewis. The company attempted to market an airplane with rotating wings – a prototype did apparently achieve flight – but found no takers. Its 1937 Airomobile, a curious attempt at three-wheeled vehicle design that toured the country, suffered the same fate. Interestingly, the vehicle’s opposing-four air-cooled engine design, which predated Volkswagen’s by a handful of years, did survive and became successful as a motor for small aircraft manufacturers such as Piper.
Grant Zahajko Auctions has one of two promotional models made by Lewis American to help market the Airomobile. Painted red and faithful in dimensions and proportion, the model is 18in in length. A star lot in the Wednesday, March 6 Bicycles, Transportation, Aviation & Trains sale, it carries an estimate of $3,000-$5,000.
BARCELONA, Spain – Though most commonly found as a later reproduction, Setdart Auction House has received a consignment of an original 1986 Keith Haring for New York City Skateboards, Inc. skateboard deck, which will be one of the top lots in its Skateboard Decks sale scheduled for Monday, March 4.
Haring (1958-1990) emerged from the street art scene to become a savvy entrepreneur, making millions from licensed goods bearing his frenetic stick figures. He opened his New York City Pop Shop in 1986 and filled it with all sorts of goods. The skateboard deck was produced in association with New York City Skateboards, and as such it bears their mark on the underside. Later reproductions lack this element. Setdart has placed a remarkable €30,000-€35,000 ($32,425-$ 37,830) estimate on the skateboard.
LAKE WORTH, Fla. – For centuries, fresh or pickled oysters were a staple diet of the poor in London. However, by the Victorian period, the once vast natural oyster beds were in decline, threatened by pollution and over-fishing, and the consumption of oysters became a luxury. As shellfish made its transition from cheap foodstuff to dinner party delicacy, the oyster plate came into being.
A good collection of around 50 of these serving pieces will appear at Market Auctions as part of its Wednesday, March 6 sale titled Springtime in Palm Beach. In addition to classic 19th-century examples in majolica glazes by Minton, George Jones, Copeland, and Wedgwood are porcelain oyster plates by Union Porcelain Works, Haviland Limoges, and Carl Tiesch. Pictured here is an unusual sterling silver dish with wells for eight half-shells that has 20th-century Portuguese hallmarks and the retailers’ stamp for Tiffany & Co. It is estimated at $500-$1,000.
CHICAGO – Pearly kings and queens were once a familiar image in East London. From the 1870s, local street traders were in the habit of wearing clothes decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons in the hopes of raising money for various local charities. The best-dressed men and women would be awarded the annual titles of Pearly Kings and Queens.
This pair of signs, each 14in across, declare Hattie and Albert Groves as the Hackney King and Queen for 1879. Together they have an estimate of $400-$600 as part of a Chicago Gold Coast estate at Rivich Auctions on Sunday, March 3. They were owned by Edward Lowe (1920-1995), an entrepreneur who made his fortune in cat litter, and his wife Darlene, an interior designer and owner of Haymarket Antiques and Designs.
EDINBURGH, UK – Lantern clocks, the first type of clock widely used in private homes, were largely obsolete as timekeepers by the mid-18th century. However, during the Victorian era, they began to attract the interest of antiquarians.
This unusual example was made in silver by Alexander Chalmers of Edinburgh in 1887. An inscription on the back in mock olde English reads: ‘I serve ye here wythe all my myghte to tell ye hours by daye and nyghte, therefore example take by me and serve thy God as I serve ye.’ It carries an estimate of £1,200-£1,500 ($1,510-$1,890) as part of Lyon & Turnbull’s Tuesday, March 5 sale of Silver & Objets de Vertu.
