BEACON, NY — Viewing Alfred Selnick’s lifetime collection of antique trade signs and folk art is like a trip back in time to when purveyors, mercantalists, and professionals marketed their wares and services with custom-made signage beckoning customers inside. Alfred and his wife Phyliss spent decades finding and preserving an incredible collection of United States trade signs, most of which seem to date from the late 19th century. The 291-lot sale is now open for bidding at LiveAuctioneers, with a sale date scheduled for Monday, September 23 at Hudson Valley Auctioneers.
The sale is dominated by nearly 130 trade signs. Many are figural, representing the goods or services the establishment offered — a stylistic choice that was highly common during the period. Thus, a hat maker’s sign is a hat; a sawyer’s sign is a handsaw; a tailor’s sign is a pair of scissors; and an eye doctor’s sign is either an eyeball or a set of spectacles.
But perhaps most appropriate — and definitely the sale’s highlight — is the carved-wood figural sign for The Alaska Fur Company, featuring an otter. Respendent in gold leaf, the otter rides atop the sign and the entire affair comes complete with the vintage wrought-iron display bracket. The sign is marked City Sign Co. and was previously sold through Sotheby’s. It comes to market with a $25,000-$30,000 estimate.
C.B. ENGEL & SON EYES TESTED FRAMES FITTED is a two-piece, double-sided hanging sign meant for display over a sidewalk, viewable from both directions of foot travel. Carved from wood, painted with gilt, it is altered from the original with two double-sided kerosene-backlit eglomise glass panels for maximum nighttime effect. It carries an estimate of $4,000-$6,000.
Figural arms and hands were common directional indicators in 19th-century American commerce. One such business apparently doubled as an opera house and a one-price clothing hall. Fashioned from carved wood as a human arm pointing in the direction of the establishment, the sign is 72in in length and also traces its provenance to a Sotheby’s sale. It has an estimate of $3,000-$4,000.
