A Currier and Ives hand-colored lithograph depicts the Battle of Corinth, Miss. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) – When Allen Wandling held the old Confederate sword over the grave of its owner in Corinth, Miss., he swore he felt the hair on his arms stand on end.
“It was spooky,” he said.
He was standing at the grave of Col. William P. Rogers, who fell in the Battle of Corinth on Oct. 4, 1862.
Wandling, a serious Civil War memorabilia collector, bought the sword from a man in Joplin, Mo., but oddly enough, it had spent many years in Belleville after the war.
Wandling, of Belleville, said it probably hung in the old Grand Army of the Republic headquarters, which was near downtown Belleville.
He spent four years tracing the story of the sword.
He bought the leather scabbard of the sword in 2006 from a man who was selling it for his grandfather in Joplin. The man said his grandfather had inherited it from a sister who was married to a Belleville police officer, who got the sword when the GAR headquarters was sold at auction.
Wandling made him promise to get in touch if they found the drag, or the brass tip of the scabbard, or the sword. Six months later, he bought that piece.
Another three years later and he got a call that the family had found the sword in a closet after the old man died.
Wandling traced the sword to William Rowley, of the 58th Illinois infantry, who cut the sword from Rogers’ belt after the colonel died, leading a gallant charge against Battery Robinette during the battle. Rogers had an armored suit on his chest but after being shot many times, finally died when a canister shot proved the suit not quite bulletproof.
Union Gen. William Rosencrans accorded Rogers a military funeral where he fell for his gallantry.
Wandling got a taste of how revered the colonel still is in early March when he took the sword back to Corinth for a Civil War relics show in honor of the 150th anniversary of the battle.
“They treated me like a hero,” he said. “Everyone wanted to talk to me and see the sword. They paid all my expenses.”
Rowley apparently gave the sword to an officer in the 9th Illinois and it ended up in Belleville at the GAR headquarters.
A great-great-great granddaughter of Rogers—Leslie Eckert, of Austin, Texas—asked Wandling if she could buy it. He agreed to meet her at the show but isn’t selling.
Wandling also had an interest in the battle as two of his relatives fought for the 63rd Ohio and likely had been shooting at Rogers.
“Here were two descendants of people who had fought each other, shaking hands and holding the sword,” Wandling said. “It was a nice moment.”
Wandling said plans to go back down this fall for more festivities and he is hoping that he will be able to work out a deal to display the sword at the interpretative center at the battlefield.
“I see a real enthusiasm for history down there,” he said. “Rogers has been dead for 150 years now but he’s living again in this sword.”
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Information from: Belleville News-Democrat, http://www.bnd.com
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-23-12 1117GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A Currier and Ives hand-colored lithograph depicts the Battle of Corinth, Miss. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Homer Davenport was an influential political cartoonist in the the early 1900s. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Two antique watches, one of which belonged to famed cartoonist Homer Davenport, have disappeared from a Silverton museum, and some of the volunteers who work there believe they were stolen
Silverton police are investigating the disappearance but have no suspects.
“We’re sick. It’s sickening is what it is,” Chris Schwab, a volunteer with the Silverton Country Historical Society, told the Salem Statesman Journal.
Officers have said nothing was left out of place, and there were no signs of forced entry to the locked case where the Davenport watch was displayed. The other missing watched belonged to William McGinnis, who once managed Silver Falls Timber Co., and the Silverton Red Sox baseball team. That watch was taken from an unlocked case.
Twelve to 14 people have access to keys at the museum, said Carolyn Hutton, the volunteer who discovered the watches were missing as she led a tour through the museum on March 17. The museum also has a security system, and some of the volunteers know the code.
Silverton police have said that until they have more to go on, interviewing all of the volunteers would be a drain on resources.
Neither Schwab nor Hutton wants to believe that it was an inside job, but police officials said it’s not out of the scope of possibilities.
“People should be aware that somebody has taken very precious, irreplaceable artifacts that mean a lot to a lot of different people in the community,” Hutton said. “Somebody has stolen from the whole community.”
Officials can’t say for sure when the watches disappeared, but they believe it happened after Feb. 4, when the museum was thoroughly cleaned.
Both watches were donated to the historical society in 2010 by decedents of their former owners. Davenport, born near Silverton, was an influential political cartoonist for the San Francisco Examiner and the New York Journal. He became famous for his cartoons taking on corporate trusts, according to the Oregon Blue Book, and died of pneumonia in 1912 shortly after his last assignment commenting on the sinking of the Titanic.
Before it was displayed in the museum, the watch had been locked away in a safety deposit box for at least 60 years, said Hutton, who was dreading the phone call she would have to make to Davenport’s niece.
The watch is a gold Elgin with a white face and Roman numerals. The back of the watch is engraved with a horse’s head in the center of a floral and ribbon design. Inside is a patent date of Feb. 19, 1884.
McGinnis received his watch in 1923, and decedents of his family donated it to the Silverton Country Historical Society in 2010, Hutton said.
The McGinnis watch has a white face with bold, black numbers. It’s engraved on the back with a deer head inside of a heart and floral border. The initials W.L.McG are engraved between the deer’s antlers. A brown shoelace with knotted ends is attached to the top.
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Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Palace size pair of carved Chinese ivory tusks. Image courtesy J. Garrett Auctioneers Ltd. DALLAS – J. Garrett Auctioneers Ltd. will sell the Bertha Ahlschlager Estate at auction on Saturday, April 21, and Sunday, April 22. Ahlschlager was one of Dallas’ best-known and influential persons in antique and design circles and owner of Le Papillon in Highland Park Village, one of the area’s finest antique shops during the 1970s and ’80s.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding both days. Saturday’s auction will begin at 11 a.m. Central and at 1 p.m. Central. More than 800 lots will be sold.
Previews will be Thursday, April 19, from noon to 7 p.m. and Friday, April 20. from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The auction will take place at 1202 N. Riverfront Blvd. in the Dallas Design District at the corner of Riverfront and Howell Street.
Ahlschlager began collecting at the age of 10, and her passion for antiques and design took her on regular buying trips to France as well as the Orient, where she found the finest pieces. Her home on Armstrong Parkway in Highland Park, Texas, is a Heritage Home, named one of Dallas’ 50 finest homes, and has been featured in Texas Home Magazine, Architectural Digest and other publications. It was often used for photo shoots for Neiman Marcus and Calvin Klein.
Ahlschlager was known for her exquisite taste and her penchant for acquiring only the finest from around the world.
Items to be offered include fine 18th and 19th century French and Continental antiques; Bacarrat chandeliers; signed antique marble and bronze statuary including pieces by Moreau, Carrier, Bouret and C.E. Dallin; exquisite antique accessories by Tiffany, Baccarat and other fine makers; more than 100 pieces of fine jewelry including a 10-carat diamond wedding ring; pieces by David Webb, Henry Dunay, Kurt Wayne, Tiffany and other high-end makers. A fine collection of ivory includes a palace-size carved tusk and palace-size pair of ivory phoenix. Other treasures include a large 18th century Flemish Tapestry, a pair of 18th century Italian giltwood torchieres, and incredible 18th and 19th century signed oil paintings.
Outstanding estate items include sterling silver, fine linens, Judith Lieber and other designer bags and accessories, a signed Sormani commode, a bronze cartel clock by Julien Leroy, an exceptional French five-piece salon suite, and various other important pieces of signed French furniture. Antique porcelain includes Sevres, Meissen, Royal Crown Derby, Imari, majolica, rose medallion, Malachite, dore’ bronze, gold overlay dishes, Waterford, Old Paris and Royal Vienna. Antique architectural elements and garden accessories including bronze fountains and statuary.
The sale also has fine consignments from the estate of Jane S. Crouch of Lookout Mountain, Tenn., and others.
For details visit J. Garrett’s website: www.jgarrettauctioneers.com.
L.C. Tiffany Favrile Vase, #3190. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers. CHESTER, N.Y. – William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers will hold a fine art and antique auction at their New York facility, and with on-line bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com on Sunday, April 1, commencing at 11 a.m. Eastern.
The fine art portion of the auction is perhaps the highlight with a large canvas Gathering Firewood by Henry Hadfield Cubley; an oil on canvas Madonna and Child, Italian School of the 19th century and signed verso F. Alinari; an oil on canvas, Happiness & Fortune by Anton Skorubsky Kandinsky; an acrylic on canvas White House and Bouquet by Peppino Gino Mangravite (signed/titled, estate #142); a wonderfully executed oil on panel by Franz Nowak; an oil on canvas The Beet Wagon by Frans Van Leemputten; oil on panel Winter in the Forest, signed Jan Stanislawski; an oil on canvas, courtyard with peacocks, by Douglas Arthur Teed; and a small work by George Nemethy, oil on panel, Sailing Sloop on the Hudson.
For the collector of Chinese objects we will be offering several lots of porcelain, hard stone, wood and paper. Always fascinating scholar’s rocks seem to capture a huge landscape in a single stone as with the mountainous view afforded by the Lingbi stone to be sold. Also in the stone area will be a set of four dendritic stone panels that suggest brush painted landscapes that naturally occur in the stone. One of the auctioneer’s favorite lots is a finely carved soapstone weathered log with a cicada perched upon it that is so realistically done one expects the insect to move. There will be several watercolor scrolls and a collection of porcelain from a former prominent New York, Madison Avenue dealer.
There will be over 50 lots of African and tribal art being offered including a number of vintage carved elephant ivory and ebony figures. Some of the more unusual ivory pieces being offered are candelabra, a large camel bridge, a pair of vases with carved alligators and a copy of the Egyptian bust of Nefertiti. Of the vintage masks, carvings and other objects being offered will represent the cultures of Senufo, Yoruba, Mokonde, Cameroon, Dogon, Bambara, Baule, Dan, Chamba and others.
As with all of Jenack’s sales there will be furniture, carpets, silver, bronzes and collectible glass including Steuben, Victorian satin glass, Richard, Peking and others.
Previews will be held at the William Jenack auction facility located at 62 Kings Highway Bypass, Chester NY 10918 daily beginning Wednesday, March 28, including the morning of the sale from 9 to 10:45 a.m.
For details contact 845-469-9095 or email kevin@jenack.com.
Jan Stanislawski (Poland 1860-1907), ‘Winter in the Forest,’ oil on panel. Estimate: $2,500-$3,000. Image courtesy William Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers.
Louis Icart, etching and aquatint, ‘Paresse.’ Estimate: $500-$800. Image courtesy Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers.
Henry Hadfield Cubley, oil on canvas. Estimate: $700-$1,000. Image courtesy Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers.
Anton Skorubsky Kandinsky, oil on canvas. Estimate: $700-$1,000. Image courtesy Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers.
Ann Van Hoey. ‘Growing,’ 2009. White earthenware, slab building and molding. H 15 x 30 x 30cm, H 13 x 23 x 23 cm, H 10 x 15 x 15cm. J. Lohmann Gallery.
NEW YORK – With a new design scheme and an exciting roster of international dealers, Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (SOFA NEW YORK) celebrates its 15th anniversary on Friday, April 20, through Monday, April 23, at the Park Avenue Armory, 67th Street and Park Avenue. The fair’s invitation-only opening night preview is Thursday, April 19, from 5-7 p.m., followed by a public preview from 7-9 p.m. by ticket purchase.
“We are delighted to celebrate SOFA NEW YORK’s 15th anniversary in the art capital of the world,” said Mark Lyman, president of The Art Fair Co. and founder of SOFA. “SOFA dealers have always been at the forefront of promoting studio artists and designers when they were just starting to gain recognition.”
According to Lyman, SOFA was instrumental in bringing attention to luminaries such as Rudy Autio, Ruth Duckworth, Wendell Castle, Olga de Amaral, Dale Chihuly, Jun Kaneko, Betty Woodman, Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova, Sam Maloof, William Morris, Beatrice Wood, Philip Moulthrop, George Nakashima, Ted Noten, Lenore Tawney, Albert Paley, Ed Rossbach, Lino Tagliapietra, Peter Voulkos and Michael Zobel.
“These artists are always breaking new ground and SOFA dealers continue to reintroduce them, and many up-and-coming artists, to a whole new audience,” said Lyman, whose career as an art fair organizer spans 25 years.
Donna Davies, director of SOFA fairs in New York, Chicago and Santa Fe added, “In celebration of SOFA NEW YORK’s milestone 15th anniversary, plans are under way to reinvigorate the design and aesthetics of the exhibition hall. We look forward to presenting an exciting group of new dealers this fair who are strong in international ceramics.”
Renowned New York architect David Ling will transform the Park Avenue Armory into a veritable work of art for an event that itself overflows with top-tier contemporary and modern arts and design.
SOFA NEW YORK visitors will experience Ling’s creativity as soon as they step into the Armory.
“I conceived of it as a time machine-like procession,” said the architect/designer. “This procession leads visitors from the stately, Victorian-era foyer of the armory through a long, narrow tunnel, tantalizing you with the prospect of an unknown but exciting journey.”
The destination: the armory’s exhibition hall, modernized by Ling’s cutting-edge design, which will hover above the exhibition stands of the 50 participating international art galleries.
“Floating high over the exhibitions will be a huge cube of light, out of which smaller blocks of light explode, traveling to all points within the hall like newly formed stars,” said Ling. “I based the concept on the Big Bang Theory. It’s about creation, re-creation and energy, the origin of the universe in the Big Bang. It served as an inspiration for a modernist constellation to light this year’s SOFA NEW YORK. And with the fair’s universe of offerings,” added Ling, “I think my concept is a fitting one.”
Tickets are $25 for a single day and $40 for a four-day pass; both include catalog. For general information, visit www.sofaexpo.com; call 800-563-7632 or 312-587-7632; or email info@sofaexpo.com.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Ann Van Hoey. ‘Growing,’ 2009. White earthenware, slab building and molding. H 15 x 30 x 30cm, H 13 x 23 x 23 cm, H 10 x 15 x 15cm. J. Lohmann Gallery.Honda Syoryu, ‘Catalpa,’ 2011. Madake bamboo, rattan. 28 x 12 x 13.25. TAI Gallery.Martin Rosol, Untitled, 2011. Cast, cut, laminated, polished glass. H 15 inches, W 23 inches, D 3 inches. Photo: David Stansbury. Schantz Galleries.Philipp Aduatz, ‘Fauteuil II.’ GFRP. 92 x 120 x 152 cm, edition size: 12 + 3 A/P. Wexler Gallery.
A student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has been chosen to have his mural grace the Chicago skyline. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
CHICAGO (AP) – A student from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago will have his artwork displayed on a mural along one of Chicago’s busiest expressways.
Bank of America, the Art Institute of Chicago and the school announced Wednesday that Adam Horrigan’s artwork will be displayed along the Kennedy Expressway this spring and summer. Horrigan is a visual communication design student from Grand Island, N.Y. The mural is reminiscent of pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s work.
The Art Institute of Chicago will launch the “Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective” exhibit later this year. Horrigan’s colorful design includes images of the Chicago flag, the Chicago River and architectural landmarks.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-03-22-12 1113GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has been chosen to have his mural grace the Chicago skyline. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
American National ‘Moxie’ pedal car from the 1920s, the only all-original one known. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services. ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The 35-year collection of Al and Peg Araiza, collectors in many categories, will headline a massive auction slated for March 30-April 1 by Showtime Auction Services, at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. Also offered will be the outstanding lifetime pedal car and toy collection of Ed and Christy Ramsey.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding on Saturday and Sunday.
The first day of the auction, Friday, March 30, will be for a live audience only (no phone or Internet bidding). The hours will be noon to 6 p.m. Eastern, with a preview from 8 a.m.-noon. The next two days, March 31-April 1, will have online bidding. Hours will be 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Eastern.
Over 2,000 lots of investment-grade antiques and collectibles from over 100 consignors will change hands. In addition to pedal cars and toys, the auction will feature banks, pottery, Wave Crest, trade signs, advertising signs, folk art, soda fountain, Coca-Cola, western, American Indian, country store, paintings, farm signs, match safes, tip trays, whiskey and breweriana.
Also sold will be drug store items, barber shop, general store, saloon, coin-op, gambling, Part 3 of a great cigar and tobacco tins collection and more.
The Ramsey collection of pedal cars and toys is expected to generate a high level bidder of interest. Included are about 50 rare pedal cars—most of them original and unrestored—and some of the best pressed steel toys ever offered at auction.
Pressed steel toys will include highly collectible Buddy L examples, such as a rare Buddy L tanker (BL12), green, with pumping mechanism, open cab and spotlight, 25 inches long. Also sold will be a tan Stutz pull toy car by Gendron, circa 1926, 28 1/2 inches long, the best Stutz known to exist.
Pressed steel cars by American National will include a tan and gold Packard in excellent condition (but missing the hood ornament), 28 1/2 inches long; and a Fire Chief pull toy car, all complete, convertible red with yellow trim, 28 1/2 inches long. The auction will also feature a full-size antique car: a 1954 Corvette, all original including the paint, with 9,800 original miles.
Additional pressed steel vehicles will include a Toledo Buick, green with orange trim, complete and all original, 28 1/2 inches long; a rare Keystone Mfg. Co. (Boston, Mass.) No. 84 Ride ’Em Greyhound coast-to-coast bus, the only one known and with the original box, in mint condition; and a Sturdi-Toy coal truck, orange, all original and with compartments in the bed.
Pressed steel toy airplanes will also come up for bid. Examples include a Keystone Air Mail Ride ’Em airplane, grey and red, all original and in good condition, with a slide door that opens, 25 inches long with a wingspan of 24 inches; and a Steelcraft Tri-Motor U.S. Mail plane, orange and black, all original and in fine condition, 23 inches long and with a 23-inch wingspan.
More than 25 unrestored pedal cars will cross the block. Examples by American National will include a circa-1920s Mogul pedal car with wood frame, in excellent condition, 48 inches long; a circa-1920s Moxie pedal car, the only all-original one known; and an “electric” 1926 Packard pedal car, the only all-original one known, with complete motor.
Gendron is another manufacturer that will be chanted frequently. Examples will include a Paige pedal car, circa 1915, with wood spoke wheels and frame, 48 inches long; a Pioneer Flyer locomotive pedal car, circa 1920s, with wood frame and disc wheels, excellent and all original; and a Packard pedal car with metal frame, two spare tires and running board-mounted spotlights.
Airplane pedal cars will feature a Curtis Moth tri-motor biplane pedal car, 52 inches in length and with a wingspan of 31 inches; and a circa-1920s Louis Meyers airplane pedal car, possibly the only one in existence, in good condition, 43 inches long with a 24-inch wingspan.
Moving into nontoy categories, one lot in particular will difficult to miss, or ignore. It’s a rare and beautiful Brunswick serpentine saloon front and back bar, with fancy appliqués, granite toe-kick and wraparound brass railing. The back bar features massive oak columns adorned with cherubs and ornate carvings. A stained and leaded glass canopy is a perfect match. The back bar is 18 feet 8 inches by 10 feet 21 inches, while the front bar is 18 feet plus the rails.
Tobacciana items can start with a circa-1880s Samuel Robb cigar store Indian with most of the original paint intact. Other pieces will include a White’s Knight 5-cent cigar tip cutter and lighter made by the Morris D. Neumann & Co. (Philadelphia, Brunhoff Mfg.), in great shape; and a “Tall Chief” stogies cigar tin, one of only three known, with incredible graphics and color.
Other examples of tobacciana will include a Jump Spark “The Wireless” cigar lighter and cutter, made in 1902 by the Eldred Mfg. Co., one of two known; a Tom Moore Cigars serving tray, made by Standard Advertising Co., Coshocton, Ohio, 13 inches in diameter; and a large cigar store Indian indoor trade sign with a ruby red glass light-up cylinder on porcelain brackets.
Gas station collectibles will feature a Frontier Gasoline sign in excellent condition; a Lionel Gasoline sign, also in excellent shape; and a Union Gasoline Service Station porcelain and wood bench, one of only two known, in fine condition (48 inches by 32 inches by 29 inches). Also sselling will be a Santa Fe Trail Bus Depot porcelain sign in excellent condition.
Advertising signs will include a rare Hood & Sons porcelain ice-cream sign in very good condition, 30 inches in diameter; a Buffalo Peanuts wood sand finish two-sided sign, possibly the only one in existence and in super condition, 10 1/2 feet long by 25 inches tall; and a Peters Diamond Brand Shoes two-sided tin flange sign, fully restored, 19 inches by 14 inches.
Paper signs will also be offered. Examples include a Huber Manufacturing Co., Marion, Ohio, steam engine paper sign, with original metal bands top and bottom, 24 inches by 34 inches; a Cunard Cruise Ship Lines paper sign displaying Pier 40 at New York Harbor, near mint; and a Cascarets Candy cathartic paper sign in great shape and with incredible graphics.
Store bins will feature a John T. Hancock & Sons, Dubuque, Iowa, tin store spice bin in superb condition, 38 inches by 13 inches by 12 inches; and a Five Brothers Smoking Tobacco tin store bin, the better one of only two known, 10 inches by 12 inches by 9 1/2 inches. Also sold will be a “The Butcher Boy Block” salesman’s sample butcher block with a Sept. 1908 patent date.
Certain to get paddles waving is a Horse Race Wheel of Fortune with rare reverse-glass layout and table, complete with odds maker. The wheel has reverse glass painted panels and the table comes with a rarely seen glass layout. Also sold will be a Mills Dewey upright 25-cent slot machine, with keys. It was made circa 1900 and is in good working order.
The sale will feature a Jolly Tar Pastime Baird advertising clock with some discoloration on the clock face but otherwise in excellent condition, plus a pendulum but no key; and a Gem Damaske cardboard clockwork store display, partly restored, with automaton action, original instructions and a factory label on back.
A Watling “Guess Your Weight” nickel scale made in 1902 by Watling Mfg. Co. is the best one Showtime has ever offered. The fully restored scale is oak with nickel trim and features a reverse glass face and front sign and ornate cast-iron side door with original locks. Also sold will be a rare National Cash Register Model 6 barbershop-style cash register with fine oak base.
Bidders looking to recreate an early 1900s-style sweet shop will this soda fountain draught station featuring a marble base with leaded glass contemporary lamp shade and three onyx spigots. It stands 40 inches tall. Another great piece is a rare and colorful Rock-Ola Commando model 1420 jukebox, totally restored.
Gum vendors and trade stimulators will also be sold to the highest bidder. Examples will include a Pulver red porcelain and iron gum vendor with “Foxy Grandpa,” circa 1910, in very good working condition and complete with keys; and a Caille Brothers 5-reel “Good Luck” trade stimulator housed in a quartersawn oak case, patent 1902, in excellent original working order.
The host hotel for this auction is Weber’s Hotel, located at 3050 Jackson Ave. in Ann Arbor. For reservations, call 734-769-2500. Room trading will go on each evening after the auction. Showtime Auction Services is based in Woodhaven, Mich. The firm is always accepting quality items for future sales. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, call Michael Eckles at 951-453-2415 or email him at either MikEckles@aol.com or mike@showtimeauctions.com To learn more about Showtime Auction Services and the upcoming auction, log on to www.ShowtimeAuctions.com.
Union Gasoline Service Station porcelain and wood bench, one of only two examples known. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.Rare Brunswick saloon front and bar back, made circa 1895-1905 of quartersawn oak. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.
Rare calendar for Adam Scheidt Brewing Co., Norristown, Pa., in excellent condition. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.1926 Gendron ‘Stutz’ pressed steel pull toy, the best Stutz known to exist, 28 1/2 inches long. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Services.
The Red Brigade photographed Italian prime minister Aldo Moro after kidnapping him in 1978. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
ROME (AFP) – Propaganda leaflets written by Italy’s notorious Red Brigades announcing the murder of former prime minister Aldo Moro will be sold at auction this month, Italian media said Tuesday.
Seventeen leaflets, written and distributed by the violent left-wing organization between 1974 and 1978 will go under the hammer on March 29 in Milan, in northern Italy, with a starting price of 1,700 euros ($2,244).
One, dated April 15, 1978, said that “the interrogation of the prisoner Aldo Moro is finished” and that the politician—who had been mediating a historic deal with the Communist party—“is guilty and has been sentenced to death.”
The leaflets are being sold by Bolaffi auction house on behalf of an anonymous seller from the Piedmont region who is reported to have found them, the Corriere della Sera newspaper said.
Moro, a five-time prime minister, was head of the Christian Democrats when commandos of the left-wing military brigades kidnapped him on March 16, 1978, killing his five body-guards in the process.
His body, hidden in the trunk of a car, was found nearly two months after his abduction.
The sale of the leaflets “seems very cynical to me,” Moro’s daughter Agnese told La Stampa newspaper.
“It seems rather inappropriate to buy and sell objects which are this sensitive and significant. We end up normalizing a tragedy which was in no way normal,” she said.
“Of course, if there are archives which buy the documents, that changes everything,” she added.
The Red Brigades emerged in the 1970s seeking to create a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist state through armed struggle and were responsible for a number of murders during Italy’s so-called “Years of Lead.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Red Brigade photographed Italian prime minister Aldo Moro after kidnapping him in 1978. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
RICHMOND, Va. – The grand opening of the Museum of the Confederacy-Appomattox will be held Saturday, March 31, beginning at 10 a.m.
A full day of events and activities will commence with a grand procession led by generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant and their respective color guards. The museum is located at 159 Horseshoe Road (the junction of U.S. 460 and State Route 24). Uniformed officers will direct the public to designated parking areas where shuttle busses will be available for transportation to the museum.
After welcoming remarks by S. Waite Rawls III, president and CEO, Matthew G. Thompson, chairman of the board of trustees, and William T. Bolling, lieutenant governor, Commonwealth of Virginia, the keynote address will be given by James I. Robertson Jr., alumni distinguished professor of history, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. After the raising of the flags on the Reunification Promenade there will be a ribbon cutting and the museum will be opened for visitation.
Demonstrations by historians and period craftsmen will be conducted throughout the day. A special reenactment of the negotiations of surrender between generals Lee and Grant will occur at 2 p.m. Local nonprofit organizations will provide food services.
Those attending are advised to arrive early. Admission to the museum will be free for the day.
The Museum of the Confederacy is a private, nonprofit educational institution. The Museum of the Confederacy owns the world’s largest collection of artifacts and documents related to the Confederate States of America. The Museum of the Confederacy-Appomattox is located in Appomattox, Va.
Edward Curtis blue-toned silverprint. Estimate: $2,000-$2,500. Image courtesy Michaan’s Auctions. ALAMEDA, Calif. – The fine art portion of Michaan’s April 1 estate auction encompasses over 125 lots of European and American works from the 17th to 20th centuries. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Many notable American artists are represented in the sale, including the likes of William Frederick Ritschel (lot 1072), Guy Carleton Wiggins (lot 663), Charles Arthur Fries (lot 662) and Edward Curtis (lot 714).
The Curtis offering titled Castle o’ Dreams, 1920 is a scarce find from the photographer, as his usual subject matters revolved around the American West and Native American peoples. The night scene depicts a fair maiden gazing on a moonlit town perched on a cliff. The ethereal quality of the piece is beautifully enhanced by the use of blue-toned silver print, giving the image a soft, glowing quality. The photo is signed “Curtis L.A.” and measures 9 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches. It carries a $2,000-$2,500 estimate.
The jewelry department’s lots include Victorian pieces, gemstones and numerous suite sets. There is also U.S., Chilean and Spanish coin jewelry available as well as nine timepiece lots featuring makers such as Rolex and Cartier. Standout lots include an exceptional jade ring and earrings, both certified with a GIA Gem Trade Laboratory Report and classified as “A” jade. The untreated stones are desirably translucent with a beautiful, vibrant green hue. Both the ring and earrings are mounted in 14-karat white gold and a total of 62 full-cut diamonds flank the substantial cabochons. The ring is being offered as lot 215 with an estimate of $12,000-$15,000 and the earrings will go up for sale as lot 216 with an estimate of $5,000-$6,000.
The Asian department highlights a delightful collection of nine opium bowls among its lots including decorative objects, furniture and Japanese pieces. In the Chinese culture opium smoking had become a refined, material form of expression during the late Qing dynasty. A smoker’s bowl could be likened to a symbol of class ranking and sense of style, just as an expensive watch or piece of jewelry might delineate the same for a person in modern day culture. A high quality bowl with a coveted studio mark was a form of socio-cultural communication and differentiation, often noted by fellow smokers. This grouping of mid- to late-19th century Yixing clay bowls is a nice example of worthy opium utilities from the period. Colors range from a deep maroon to light taupe, and style variations are also evident. Angular and round forms include depictions of prunus blossoms, a painting of a crane, carvings of a mythical beast, floral motifs and even a painted poetic verse. Studio marks are evidenced on most of the bowls, a stamp of quality solidifying their high-end production. The bowls are to be offered as lot 348 with an estimate of $700-$900.
A vast selection of American and European furniture styles is also available encompassing Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Renaissance Revival, Arts & Crafts, Queen Anne and French Provincial stylings. In addition are a dozen lots of fine antique Persian area rugs from a private estate in the Monterey Peninsula, over 30 lots of silver including decorative objects and service sets and an intriguing collection of smoking pipes with royal Hungarian ties. Other specialty collections include multiple lots of ornamental canes, over 30 S.T. Dupont pens and a Royal Doulton bone china dinner service set containing over 200 pieces. Interesting Americana folk pieces are also represented in the sale including five period Windsor chairs, a Hitchcock rocker and a distinctive table whose base is made from a genuine weather vane.
The illustrated auction catalog will also be on-line for review at www.michaans.com. Previews open at Michaan’s Auctions on March 30 and continue until April 1, the day of sale. For more information please visit our website or call the front desk at (510) 740-0220.
Michaan’s Auctions is located at 2751 Todd St., Alameda, CA 94501.
