NEW YORK – Gene Shapiro Auctions will sell important works of Russian, European and Latin art Saturday, Nov. 5, on the fifth floor of the Metropolitan Pavilion, 123 W. 18th St. in Manhattan. The auction will begin at 10 a.m.

The auction is expected to gross $4 million to $6 million, and the per-lot average is more than $20,000. The sale catalog has been posted online at www.geneshapiro.com. A printed full-color catalog is available for purchase.

“Due to the success of our previous several auctions, we have been fortunate to secure many high-quality consignments, especially from private collectors, that are fresh to the market,” said Gene Shapiro. “Serious collectors will not want to miss this sale.”

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STAMFORD, Conn. – Alexander Autographs, an auctioneer of historic autographs and collectibles, is offering the flight suit worn by Paul Tibbets on Aug. 6, 1945, when he piloted the Enola Gay to drop the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The uniform, an important piece of 20th-century military history, will be offered together with Tibbets’ Distinguished Service Cross in an auction slated for Nov. 6-7.

The  suit was previously owned by an Ohio museum near Tibbets’ residence. It received the relic with a signed letter of provenance from Tibbets himself. Also included are a number of photographs and supporting documentation directly tying Tibbets to the offered flight suit. The suit, with the medal, are estimated to sell for $150,000-$250,000.

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VINELAND, N.J. – Nearly 2,500 lots of American, European and Japanese toys, and a special selection of folk art and antique advertising, will take the spotlight Nov. 7-9 at Bertoia Auctions’ gallery. Several prestigious collections anchor the sale. Automotive collectors will be treated to more of the late Bob Smith’s friction and pressed-steel toys, while holiday enthusiasts will be invited to take a third helping from the mind-boggling Fred Cannon collection and choose favorites from the revered Mary Lou Holt collection. In addition, Bertoia’s will present still banks from the collection of the late Dick Sheppard, European toys from the late Steve Olin and his wife Diane, and a remarkable Midwest private collection of horse-drawn cast-iron toys of every imaginable discipline.

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PHILADELPHIA – On Oct. 25, Fuller’s Fine Art Auctions will present an auction of 19th- and 20th-century fine art, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and prints from various private estates, collectors and institutions. The sale will begin at noon Eastern Time.

Auction highlights include paintings from the 1950s by Kenneth Noland (lots 138, 143), a 1968 oil painting by the innovative Alan Davie (lot 161), a Harry Bertoia bronze (lot 183) and a maquette from the “Wave Series” by Lee Lozano (lot 153). The Lozano maquette is a rare instance in which the artist applied glazes to the painting’s surface, possibly in her quest to produce an invisible painting. Fuller’s set a world auction record for Lee Lozano and many other artists in its sale in December 2007.

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CLEVELAND – Gray’s Auctioneers will conduct an Oct. 25 Americana, Fine Arts and Antiques auction at its Cleveland gallery. Notable items include an 1885 cast-bronze bell by Meneely and Co., estimated at $3,000-5,000, a circa-1776 Queen Anne figured maple fan-carved flat-top highboy estimated at $5,000-7,000, and a very large selection of stick spatter hand-decorated tableware.

The Meneely Bell Foundry was established in 1826 in West Troy, N.Y., and produced more than 65,000 bells before closing in 1952. Some locations that house a Meneely Bell are the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge National Park in Pennsylvania, and Wofford College in South Carolina.

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AMESBURY, Mass. – John McInnis Auctioneers will begin its Fall Auction schedule with an Important October Estates sale on Sunday, Oct. 19, commencing at 11 a.m. EST. The auction will feature Americana, silver, porcelain, sculpture, pottery, fine art and historical memorabilia.

The sale opens with a rare and important discovery from the descendants of Nicholas Pike, an author on mathematics from Newburyport, Mass. The lot includes the first 1786 edition Pikes Arithmetic, a new and complete system of arithmetic (Nicholas Pike’s copy with hand written notes), and a three-page letter from George Washington dated 1788 written to the author commending him on his accomplishments and the importance of the work.

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LARCHMONT, N.Y. – Estate-fresh, unusual and exceptional works by artists such as Larry Rivers, Jane Freilicher, Jose Guerrero, Gladys Bates, Fabio Fabbi. A.T. Millar and Mary Cassatt will be offered at Clarke Auction Gallery’s fifth annual Fine Art Auction on Monday, Oct. 27. The sale will feature a dazzling array of 19th- and 20th-century paintings and sculptures.

Also slated to cross the block will be works of historical and artistic significance by African-American artists such as Beauford Delaney, Al Loving, Jr. and Purvis Young. International art will include works from Thomas Rowlandson, Eugene Berman, Cristobal Toval, Brett Whiteley, Wynne Apperley and Gabriel Spat.

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DOWNINGTON, Pa. – Painted birds, fanciful tulips, colorful hearts, vibrant parrots, fans and stars are all decorative elements of American painted furniture and folk art to be offered as Pook & Pook, Inc. presents the collection of Richard and Rosemarie Machmer October 24-25. The Machmers were well known for their scholarship, hard work, historic community involvement and impeccable taste. As veteran collectors, “Dick” and “Rosie” amassed exceptional pieces of painted furniture and accessories, carvings, fraktur, textiles and Native American objects.

Among the 816 lots are many local carvings primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of these carvings were pictured in Just for Nice, Carving and Whittling Magic of Southeastern Pennsylvania, written by the Machmers in 1991. One of the favorite carvers, John Reber, is well represented in the auction. Reber, born in 1857 in Lehigh County, Pa., is known for his realistic work and attention to detail. Reber highlights include: a “Dan Patch” figure of a horse with sulky and driver (Est. $25,000-$35,000), a stallion (Est. $12,000-$18,000), a 17″ long pheasant, a guinea hen and several roosters.

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DENVER, Pa. – As the follow-up to a heavily attended May 17-18 debut that grossed $1.5 million, Morphy Doll Auctions has prepared an equally diverse selection of dolls, dollhouses, miniatures and teddy bears as the foundation of its Fall Fine Doll event. The 950-lot auction will take place on Oct. 10 and 11, and features dolls of excellent pedigree from select private collections, including those of noted sister collectors Eleanor Lakin and Patricia Lemkuhl.

Friday’s session includes a treasure trove of 18th, 19th and 20th-century dolls of all types, including German and French bisque dolls; exceptional Lenci dolls, German character dolls including a Kammer & Reinhardt model 112X, more than 50 coveted porcelain half dolls, mignonettes, French fashion dolls, and an impressive grouping of antique French automata.

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VINELAND, N.J. – Veterinarians are accustomed to seeing animals of all shapes and sizes in the course of their daily work, but few – like Dr. Hal Blumenthal of Millville, N.J. – can say they’ve had a teddy bear for a patient.

It all started when Bertoia Auctions, antique toy specialists in Vineland, N.J., received a circa-1903 Steiff bear as a consignment to their Nov. 7-9 sale. Bertoia’s experts immediately identified it as a rare production from the early 20th century, but they knew that if they could confirm it was, as suspected, a Steiff “rod” bear, it would greatly increase its value and desirability to collectors.

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