Topping the sale at $49,999 was this dark cranberry cut to clear tankard by Dorflinger in the fine no. 99 pattern. Image courtesy Woody Auction.
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – A rare dark cranberry cut to clear tankard by Dorflinger soared to $49,000 at an American Brilliant Cut Glass auction conducted Nov. 15 by Woody Auction. The tankard was cut in the fine no. 99 pattern and boasted a fine embossed vintage silver spout signed Tiffany & Co. with mark “C” for Charles C. Cook, president of Tiffany from 1902-1907.
Woody Auction of Douglass, Kan., conducted the auction, which included the collection of Dr. John Hall, a dedicated collector of ABCG. About 475 lots changed hands in a sale that grossed slightly less than $225,000. No buyer’s premium was charged.
DALLAS (AP) – The last batch of original art from MAD magazine’s New York archives sold Friday for a combined total of nearly $750,000.
The combined $746,516 was more than double presale estimates, said Greg Rohan, president of Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries.
The collection was mostly made up of covers featuring the grinning Alfred E. Neuman, including the first one drawn by the late Norman Mingo for MAD’s issue No. 30 of December 1956, which sold for $203,150.
Mint in the box, this Wagon Train play set by Marx sold for a record $15,255. Image courtesy Philip Weiss Auctions.
OCEANSIDE, N.Y. – A Wagon Train playset, made around 1960 by Marx Toy Co. and based on the popular television show of the era, sold for $15,255 – an auction record for a Marx playset – at an auction conducted by Philip Weiss Auctions Oct. 24-26. The play set, Series 5000, Stock No. 4888, was mint and unused in the box, the only blemish being a few tears to the accessory bags inside.
Ironically, the Wagon Train set was sold just a few minutes after another Marx play set crossed the block and held, albeit briefly, the world auction record, too. It was a Ben-Hur playset, Series 5000, Stock No. 4701, also made circa 1960 and in mint/boxed condition. The set sailed past its presale estimate of $2,000-$4,000 to bring $9,320. The Wagon Train set was expected to bring $1,000-$2,000.
The top lot of the sale was this rare bow front Violano music player made around 1910 by the Mills Novelty Co. The unusual music machine turned $137,500. Image courtesy Showtime Auctions.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A rare bow-front Violano music player, made around 1910 by the Mills Novelty Co. of Chicago, soared to $137,500 at a sale Oct. 10-12 by Showtime Auction Services. Professionally restored and in excellent playing order, the Violano bearing serial number 195 was one of only 20 known to exist.
The auction, which saw 2,340 lots cross the block over the weekend, featured all three versions of the Mills Violano. It might have been the first time that all three Mills Violano versions were offered in the same auction. The bow-front model sold had a wireless device that permitted the user to operate it from 90 feet away.
The featured collector of the sale was Sandy Rosnick, founder of the Antique Advertising Association of America and a avid collector of store tins in many categories. A prize piece from his collection was a rare Mohawk Chief cigar tin with just some minor scuffs and scratches, but otherwise in very good condition. The tin, which once contained 5-cent cigars, brought $1,800.
Just Andersen, Pair of fine and large Just Andersen candlesticks ($15,600). Image courtesy Treadway Toomey.
OAK PARK, Ill. – A pair of fine and large Just Andersen candlesticks lit up the room for $15,600 at Treadway-Toomey’s 20th-Century Art & Design Auction held Sept. 14 at the John Toomey Gallery in Oak Park. The candlesticks were among the top lots in an auction that was 90 percent sold, by lot.
“Basically, this was a very good auction with strong prices realized for the better merchandise,” said Don Treadway of Treadway-Toomey Auctions. “Most of the items were consigned to us by prominent estates. It was an eclectic mix of merchandise, and bidders were enthusiastic.” Online bidding was facilitated by eBay Live Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.com.
Starring in James Julia’s summer auction was this awe-inspiring life- size figure of the Goddess of Liberty, which sold for $143,750. Image courtesy Julia Auctions.
ROCKLAND, Maine – James D. Julia’s spectacular antiques and fine art auction at the Samoset Resort has long been a favorite of the summer auction season. This year the Fairfield, Maine, auction company’s three-day extravaganza, Aug. 26-28, featured more than 1,700 lots with sales topping $5 million, making it their biggest summer antiques auction to date.
Bidders in attendance were treated to the breathtaking display in the posh ballroom and adjoining halls of Maine’s most luxurious resort. The sale featured nearly 750 pieces of fine artwork, high style Victorian contents of a Gulf Coast mansion, early American furniture, folk art, pottery, and fine antiques of every kind from some of the finest estates and collections to hit the auction block in many years. Included were the contents of the Richard Paine estate of Seal Cove, Maine, whose auto museum was a world-renowned attraction. His tremendous collection of folk art included a variety of rare weather vanes highlighted by one in the form of a full-bodied standing mule, which carried a $20,000-30,000 estimate. Circa late 19th century, this possibly unique form was a must have for two phone bidders who refused to let it go without a fight. Only one could be victorious, and that is the one who was willing to pay $117,300.
Peanuts creator Charles Schulz drew this Sunday comics page in May 1953. Done in pen and ink, the strip sold for $67,800 at Philip Weiss Auctions. Image courtesy Philip Weiss Auctions.
OCEANSIDE, N.Y. – An original “Peanuts” Sunday page, rendered in pen and ink in May 1953 by the late comic illustrator Charles Schulz, soared to $67,800 at a multi-estate sale Sept. 13-14 at Philip Weiss Auctions. The eight-panel strip showed Charlie Brown and Snoopy playing fetch. In addition, two daily “Peanuts” strips sold for $21,470 each, bringing the three-strip total to $110,740.
All things considered, this sale was way better than I expected, with lots of surprises along the way,” said owner and auctioneer Philip Weiss. “I didn’t expect this level of activity – it was very exciting. Toy trains, comic books and animation art, in particular, did very well.”
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A recently discovered jar by potter John Alexander Lowe set a record for Tennessee pottery at a Case Antiques Auction on Sept. 27. Estimated at $12,000-$18,000, the redware jar soared to $63,000, inclusive of 12.5 percent buyer’s premium, selling to a collector in the room.
Gallery owner John Case said that state archaeologists dug up pottery shards bearing Lowe’s name at a site in Greene County, Tenn., several years ago. However, the circa 1860 jar, with extruded handles, incised decoration at the handle attachments and stamped name circling its shoulders, is the only known intact piece of Lowe’s pottery to ever surface. The six underbidders on the Low jar included the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Flying Copper, by Banksy (b.1975?), silkscreen printed in colors, 2004, numbered 284/600 in pencil, published by Pictures on Walls, London, on woven paper. Photo courtesy Bloomsbury Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.com.
LONDON (AP and ACNI) – A British auction house says it has failed to find buyers for five contested pieces of street art purportedly created by aerosol impresario Banksy.
The auction at Lyon & Turnbull follows a statement posted to Pest Control, a Web site affiliated with the British artist, warning that some street pieces were being falsely attributed to the artist, whose identity has never been confirmed.
Pest Control says it refuses to authenticate street art because Banksy prefers the work to remain in place. Ben Hanly, Lyon & Turnbull’s contemporary art expert, said Monday that the pieces were genuine and that the sale fell through for economic reasons.
Marylin Monroe, from Some Like It Hot trailer. Image courtesy Wikipedia.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Rare film footage of Marilyn Monroe on the set of her 1959 hit Some Like It Hot sold at auction for US$14,624.
The two-and-a-half minute 8 mm film, which features Monroe goofing around with co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, was shot by a U.S. naval officer who was invited to the set after Monroe visited his base in San Diego.
The sailor’s daughter, who moved to Australia’s Victoria state, discovered the film by chance among her late father’s possessions.
