Catherine Saunders-Watson, Author at Auction Central News

Louvre embraces comics for first time

Tin Tin. Photo from Ewbank at LiveAuctioneers.com Archive.

PARIS (AP) – Comics, long a staple of the French literary diet, are moving to center stage.

From Asterix and Obelix to Tin Tin to the brooding comic book hero Largo Winch, the French public has long adored their cartoon heroes. Now the visual world of comics is being embraced for the first time by Paris’ Louvre museum.

In the hazy lighting and hollow stone walls of the Louvre’s Medieval hall, Bernar Yslaire brought the latest character from his comic strip The Sky above the Louvre – a tempestuous young revolutionary – to life.

The Belgian cartoonist, 52, invited the live audience into his digital world of comics, where images are created not with a sketchpad and crayon, but at the click of a mouse.

“My comic strip is done exclusively on a digital screen, there is no paper at all,” Yslaire says. “We are in the 21st century of communication.”

Using his “electronic pencil,” each carefully poised click slowly revealed his protagonist: first the raging, raven eyes, then a sharp, angular nose, unkempt curly hair and finally the broad shoulders.

EBay 4Q profit and revenue fall amid recession, but PayPal unit was a winner

NEW YORK (AP) – EBay Inc.’s fourth-quarter earnings fell 31 percent, indicating that its Internet auctions and “Buy It Now” offerings are being hurt by the recession just like traditional retail sales.

The results, combined with a forecast below analysts’ expectations, sent eBay shares skidding more than 6 percent in after-hours trading.

San Jose, Calif.-based eBay said Wednesday it earned $367 million, or 29 cents per share, in the quarter. That was down from $531 million, or 39 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding one-time items in the most recent period, eBay earned 41 cents per share – 2 cents higher than the prediction of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue fell 6 percent to $2.04 billion, missing analysts’ expectations for $2.12 billion. The company said the decline stemmed mostly from the recession and the strengthening of the dollar. Deals done in other currencies now translate into fewer dollars.

Spanish police confiscate fake Dalis

MADRID, Spain (AP) – Spanish police say they have confiscated dozens of fake Dali artworks that were to be put on sale in the southern town of Estepona.

A police statement says 81 pieces were seized, 12 of which might be genuine pieces designed by Salvador Dali but are on Interpol records as having been stolen in Belgium, France and the United States.

The statement Thursday said police had arrested a Frenchman who transported the pieces from France for the sale. He was not identified.

The art included sculptures, lithographs, engravings, cutlery and textile pieces. Police said one piece, a fake Dali sculpture of an elephant measuring some 10 feet (3 meters) in height, was to be sold for euro1.2 million ($1.5 million).

AP-ES-01-22-09 0820EST

Leila Dunbar departs Sotheby’s to launch consulting/appraisal firm

Lee Dunbar. Courtesy of Lisa Hancock Headshots.

NEW YORK – After serving nine years as Sotheby’s Senior Vice President and Director of the Collectibles Department (1999-2008), Leila “Lee” Dunbar has founded Leila Dunbar LLC, offering consulting, appraisal, auctioneering, lecturing and media services to private clients, auction houses, corporations, media and institutions.

Recent institutional clients include the Baseball Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ronald Reagan Museum and Library, the Auction Network, and Sotheby’s.

In her nine years at Sotheby’s, Dunbar’s department sold more than $75 million worth of memorabilia via live and online auctions of collectibles, largely in the areas of entertainment memorabilia, sports memorabilia, toys, animation art, comic art and movie posters.

High-profile entertainment highlights included:

Estate of Katharine Hepburn ($6 million)
Estate of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash ($4 million)
Property from the Collection of Cher ($3.5 million)

London dealers kicked to the curb as U.S. chain store muscles in

LONDON (ACNI) – There was the unmistakable whiff of the sepulchre about Antiquarius this morning following the news that the Grade II-listed Arts & Crafts period building on the Kings Road will be occupied later this year by wealthy U.S. fashion giant Anthropologie.

Fifteen minutes after opening time this morning there was barely a dealer in sight, the only activity coming from the on-site greasy spoon cafeteria that serves the dealers who show here. The handful of traders who had bothered to turn up looked as if their world was about to end as they wearily unlocked their stands. Most were unprepared to talk. Perhaps they fear that publicizing the imminent closure of the centre could dampen what little business is left to scrape together before everyone is finally evicted in a few months time.

The deal that now looks almost certain to go through would allow Anthropologie (which also sells antiques and decorative objects from its 100 stores across the United States) to acquire the lease from owners retail property investment company London & Associated Properties (LAP). Since acquiring it in 2006, LAP has made several attempts to secure planning permission to develop the building, but all their applications have been turned down. However, this doesn’t seem to have stopped them going ahead with internal structural alterations.

Under the proposed deal, Anthropologie will work under the auspices of English Heritage to fund and execute a restoration of the listed building, constructed in the 1920s by the Temperance Movement) before turning the Kings Road premises into its first London outlet.

Philadelphia chosen to host 2009 art pottery convention

Newcomb College 1909 vase designed by Sadie Irvine. Image courtesy Craftsman Auctions and LiveAuctioneers Archive.

PHILADELPHIA – The American Art Pottery Association’s 29th annual convention will return to The City of Brotherly Love on April 22-26, 2009. The event’s success last year prompted a repeat visit to Philadelphia, and 2009 will feature entirely new tours, seminars, and educational exhibits, many of which highlight the Arts and Crafts movement and its pottery. The convention will again be headquartered at the Sheraton Bucks County Hotel in Langhorne, Pa., located near I-95 and Route 1.

The keynote presentation at the annual reception and banquet on the evening of April 22 will be given by Dr. Martin Eidelberg, Professor Emeritus of Art History at Rutgers University and noted author on American ceramics and glass. His topic will be “Arts and Crafts Pottery: What’s In A Name?”

The three seminars feature an impressive roster of speakers.

Suzanne Perrault, tile expert, author, Craftsman Auctions partner, and Antiques Roadshow appraiser, will discuss the tile creations of William Grueby.

Prominent contemporary potters Paul Katrich (Katrich Studios), Scott Draves (Door Pottery), Eric Olsen (Common Ground Pottery), and Chris Powell (Chris Powell Pottery) will share insights about their work and the future of art pottery.

Jonathan Clancy, Ph.D., lecturer in American Fine & Decorative Art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art and co-author with Dr. Eidelberg of Beauty in Common Things, American Arts and Crafts Pottery from the Two Red Roses Foundation will give an overview of the Foundation’s collection, its significant pieces, and research discoveries.

Kentucky judge reopens millionaire’s lawsuit over antique guns

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A millionaire’s claim that an Alabama gun collector cheated him by marking up prices on world-class antique firearms is back in federal court in Kentucky.

Liquor scion Owsley Brown Frazier befriended collector Michael K. Salisbury in the late 1990s and asked him to find antique firearms for a museum Frazier planned to open.

But Frazier – and prosecutors who brought criminal charges against Salisbury – claim Frazier was overcharged by as much as $1.5 million for the collection, including a $65,000 markup on two of Gen. George Custer’s Colt six-shooters.

Frazier sued Salisbury in 2004, but that case was on hold while federal prosecutors pursued criminal charges. U.S. District Judge John Heyburn placed the lawsuit back on the court docket last week at the request of Salisbury’s attorney, Gregg Hovious, who said he wants it dismissed.

Salisbury, of Owens Crossroads, Ala., was acquitted of felony fraud and money laundering charges at his criminal trial in July.

He has argued in court records that Frazier wanted to pay him secret commissions for acquiring the guns, but then turned on him “when it came time to account to the IRS for his and the museum’s tax treatment of his collection.”

Frazier’s attorney, Edward Stopher of Louisville, said he could not comment since the lawsuit is pending. It seeks unspecified damages.

Salisbury’s wife, Karen Salisbury, and gun historian R.L. Wilson of San Francisco were also cleared of felony charges at the July trial, but Michael Salisbury was convicted on two misdemeanor charges of failing to pay taxes and sentenced to two years in prison.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October granted Salisbury’s request that he be allowed to stay out of prison during his appeal of those convictions.

“That’s pretty good news for him all around,” Hovious said.

Frazier’s museum, known as the Frazier International History Museum in downtown Louisville and still houses a high-profile gun collection. Frazier is the great-grandson of the founder of Louisville-based liquor giant Brown-Forman Corp., which sells Jack Daniels whiskey.

AP-ES-01-20-09 1339EST

Former Green Valley president/auctioneer Jeff Evans launches new company

MT. CRAWFORD, Va. – President/senior auctioneer Jeffrey S. Evans and his wife, Beverley A. Evans, have relinquished their interests in Green Valley Auctions, the family business in Mt. Crawford, Va., that Jeff inherited in 1979.

Jeff’s brother Gregory L. Evans is now sole owner of the auction house and will continue to offer general estate auctions at the current location, but the specialty/catalog division that Jeff Evans has guided to national and international recognition since 1995 has been withdrawn from the company. Jeff and Beverley are excited to announce that they have established their new business, Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates effective January 1, 2009.

Under this new company, Jeff Evans will continue to conduct the cataloged specialty glass, lighting, antiques, Americana and decorative arts auctions that have produced numerous record auction prices for Green Valley Auctions over the years and brought national acclaim to the auction house, and to Evans himself.

Since successfully entering the world of live Internet bidding in 2007, Evans’ cataloged auctions have received enormous international exposure, with material sold to customers in more than 30 foreign countries. Future auctions will be presented through LiveAuctioneers.com, which will allow Internet buyers to participate “live” in real time during the auction, or by absentee bid.

Stating that he sees this as a “win-win” situation for everyone involved, Jeff Evans explained, “We will be able to add additional cataloged auctions to our schedule and Greg will be able to conduct his biweekly auctions without interruption.’

“The catalog division of Green Valley Auctions has grown tremendously over the past 10 years, so from a business standpoint, the time was right for a separation,” Jeff continued. “We have needed more room to efficiently process the large number of collections consigned to the catalog department for several years now.”

Hal Hunt offering an array of Belter carved furniture on Feb. 21

Mitchells & Rammelsberg half-tester bed, with canopy. Image courtesy Hal Hunt Auctions.

NORTHPORT, Ala. – An important collection of more than 35 pieces of John Henry Belter furniture, to include an exceedingly rare pierce-carved laminated bed (one of only two known), will be sold by Hal Hunt Auctions on Saturday, Feb. 21, beginning at 10 a.m. The only other known example of the bed is on display at The Brooklyn Museum in New York.

The Belter pieces – all circa 1850s – are from the estate of Gerald Lawhorn, who recently passed away in Georgia, where he lived at his magnificent home called Cypress Pond Plantation. “Mr. Lawhorn was a very discerning collector,” said Hal Hunt. “This is a rare opportunity for the established collector, as well as the savvy beginner, to bid on some truly wonderful Belter pieces and other items.”

The pierce-carved laminated bed is stamped (or embossed) in six places, with a patent date. It is also labeled on the inside and signed John Henry Belter. There is a matching dresser, also stamped and signed by Belter. The bed is pictured in the book, American Furniture of the 19th Century, 1840s-1880s. Other pieces from Mr. Lawhorn’s vast collection are also pictured in the book. All of them will be sold.
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Lost in Space actor Bob May dies at 69 in Calif.

Photo courtesy Morphy Auctions and LiveAuctioneers Archive.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Bob May, who donned The Robot’s suit in the hit 1960s television show Lost in Space, has died. He was 69.

May died Sunday of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Lancaster, said his daughter, Deborah May.

He was a veteran actor and stuntman who had appeared in movies, TV shows and on the vaudeville stage when he was tapped by Lost in Space creator Irwin Allen to play the Robinson family’s loyal metal sidekick in the series that debuted in 1965.

“He always said he got the job because he fit in the robot suit,” said June Lockhart, who played family matriarch Maureen Robinson. “It was one of those wonderful Hollywood stories. He just happened to be on the studio lot when someone saw him and sent him to see Irwin Allen about the part. Allen said, ‘If you can fit in the suit, you’ve got the job.'”

Although May didn’t provide the robot’s distinctive voice (that was done by announcer Dick Tufeld), he developed a following of fans who sought him out at memorabilia shows.

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