MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. — The Benefit Shop Foundation, Inc. will hold its next Red Carpet auction on Wednesday, August 16, starting at 10 am Eastern time. Boasting more than 750 items, the auction ranges from documents signed by Founding Fathers and renowned presidents such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, James Monroe and Ulysses S. Grant. It will also feature a trove of baseball memorabilia that centers on the New York Yankees. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
A New York City advertising industry CEO had twin passions for collecting presidential signatures and baseball memorabilia, particularly for his home team, the New York Yankees, and acquired hundreds of items during several decades. He was so serious about his collection he had an architect-designed room constructed in his Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan that blocked ultraviolet light. The room contained custom furniture fitted with dozens of drawers to store these items. He has since passed away, and his estate headlines the August 16 auction.
The selection of photographs and artifacts from the New York Yankees and other baseball teams is led by an actual stadium seat that was removed from Yankee Stadium in the 1970s as the venue underwent renovations. It departed the famed baseball palace during a lull in the team’s popularity that was so stark, the owners were debating moving the team to New Jersey. New York City mayor John Lindsay bought the stadium for $24 million in 1972, saving it, and a refurbished version reopened in 1976. This wood and iron seat, numbered 18, is conservatively estimated at $100-$300 and bears a plaque that reads, “YANKEE STADIUM, ‘The House That Ruth Built’ – 50th Anniversary 1923-1973, BRONX, N.Y.”
Left, folk art sculpture of Mickey Mantle, estimated at $50-$100; Right, folk art sculpture of Babe Ruth, signed M. Dangelo, estimated at $50-$200. Courtesy the Benefit Shop Foundation, Inc.
Other items on offer have crossover appeal with baseball and folk art collectors, such as a hand-carved folk art sculpture of Mickey Mantle that is estimated at $50-$100. The nearly 30in-tall statue, dated 2002, pictures the legendary hitter standing up and holding a baseball bat and mitt. Another hand-carved sculpture signed M. Dangelo, depicting Babe Ruth and standing 5ft 3in tall carries an estimate of $50-$200. Ruth is shown wearing his Yankees pinstriped uniform and resting his hand on a bat.
George Washington-signed envelope with hand-colored portrait engraving of Washington, estimated at $1,000-$5,000. Image courtesy of the Benefit Shop Foundation, Inc.
Expected to attract keen interest is a George Washington-signed envelope, framed with a hand-colored engraved portrait of the nation’s first president and estimated at $1,000-$5,000. The envelope is addressed to the Rev. Doct. Lathrop (aka John Lathrop) of Boston. Assigned the same estimate are blank ship’s papers with the signatures of Thomas Jefferson as president and James Madison as Secretary of State. The framed document was was signed in advance and not subsequently filled in to indicate which ship was being verified to prove ownership and nationality.
Blank ship’s papers signed by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison, estimated at $1,000-$5,000. Image courtesy of the Benefit Shop Foundation, Inc.
Another presidential highlight is a framed copyright claim document signed by John Q. Adams as president regarding Daniel Webster’s book A Discourse in Commemoration of the Lives and Services of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The paper is dated August 28, 1826 and has an estimate of $500-$2,000.
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