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Curiosities comprise Turner Auctions + Appraisals sale Dec. 10

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Turner Auctions
Handmade model of the HMS Bounty. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000. Turner Auctions + Appraisals image

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Turner Auctions + Appraisals will conduct a sale titled “Cabinet of Curiosities” on Sunday, Dec. 10, starting at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time / 1:30 p.m. Eastern. The eclectic auction features over 200 lots from private collections and estates and includes fossils, nautical items and etchings. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

Among the diverse offerings are ammonite and other fossils, turquoise nuggets and other minerals, dinosaur eggs and bones, architectural and 18th-century Italian etchings, African wood carvings, Chinese scholars stones, sterling and silver-plated pieces, and 20th-century decorative items created by designer Elsa Peretti for Tiffany.

A highly detailed model of the HMS Bounty (above) is the work of Ed Simms (20th century). The hull is built up in plank-on-frame construction. Rigged with masts, yards, standing and running rigging and a carved figurehead, the model stands 35 inches high by 30 inches long by 15 ½ inches wide, displayed on a mahogany board with keel blocks. It is estimated at $2,000-$3,000.

One of many mineral specimens in the auction is a massive turquoise nugget (below), 8 by 8 ½ inches and weighing nearly 4 pounds (est. $400-$600).

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Turquoise nugget, 8 1/2in. x 8in. Estimate: $400-$600. Turner Auctions + Appraisals image

An ammonite fossil measuring 15 by 12 ½ inches has a $200-300 estimate.

Turner Auctions
Ammonite fossil, 15 by 12½ in. Estimate: $200-300. Turner Auctions + Appraisals image

Five Chinese scholar’s stones are offered in the auction, with estimates ranging from $300-$700.

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Chinese chrysanthemum scholar’s stone, 8in. x 5in. Estimate: $500-$700. Turner Auctions + Appraisals image

A late 19th-/early 20th-century marble bust titled Ispirazione is 14 ¼ by 13 3/4 inches (est. $500-$700).

Turner Auctions
Late 19th-/early 20th-century marble bust. Estimate: $500-$700. Turner Auctions + Appraisals image

Also noteworthy are:

  • Lot 84, a 38-inch-long sauropod femur (est. $800-$1,200);
  • Lot 128, two African carved wood figures (est. $300-$500);
  • Lot 146, a Georgian hallmark tea and coffee service (est. $1,000-$1,500);
  • Lot 181, Elsa Peretti for Tiffany pair of 14-inch candlesticks (est. $200-$300);
  • Lot 187, a 16 ¾-inch Weller Coppertone pottery vase (est. $200-$400);
  • Lot 189, a 19th-century French gilt bronze clock, 16 ½ inches high (est. $600-$800).

For details contact Stephen Turner, president, Turner Auctions + Appraisals at 415-964-5250 or sturner@turnerauctionsonline.com.

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