What you see: An inaugural license plate issued to President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957, for his second inaugural celebration. It’s one of two lots of inaugural license plates from the Eisenhower-Nixon years in a mid-May sale at Morphy’s; the second lot is a pair issued to Vice President-elect Richard M. Nixon in 1953. Both lots carry estimates of $3,000 to $6,000.
The expert: Jim Fox, consultant for Morphy Auctions.
What you see: A painted tinware and zinc Liberty cap flag finial that was part of one of the earliest deadly incidents of the Civil War—the Pratt Street Riot of April 1861. Freeman’s estimates it at $15,000 to $25,000.
The Expert: Lynda Cain, vice president and department head for American furniture, folk and decorative arts at Freeman’s.
What you see: A Winter Dance Party concert poster, touting Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, all of whom would die in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959—aka “The Day the Music Died.” Heritage Auctions issued no formal estimate for the poster, but its likely range is between $50,000 and $100,000.
What you see: A rare and important Mosaico vase by Nicolò Barovier, dating to the mid-1920s. Wright estimates it at $300,000 to $500,000.
The expert: Sara Blumberg, a consultant for Wright.
What you see: A Princess Doraldina fortune-teller machine. Morphy Auctions is offering the vintage coin-op and a second Princess Doraldina machine in the same auction. Both were made by the same Rochester, New York, company in 1928. The estimate on the machine shown above is $20,000 to $30,000. Its “sister,” shown below and featuring a mannequin clad in white, carries an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000.
What you see: A Hand chair, covered in silver leaf and designed by Mexican artist Pedro Friedeberg. Shown further along in this story is a second Hand chair in unadorned mahogany. Both chairs date to circa 1965, both will be offered at Rago in the same Jan. 19, 2020 auction. Each carries an estimate of $7,000 to $9,000.
The expert: Richard Wright, president of Wright auction house. [Rago and Wright merged in 2019.]
What you see: A carved and sculpted black walnut fireplace created circa 1956 and 1958 by Phillip Lloyd Powell. It set a record for any piece by Powell when it sold for $96,000 against an estimate of $25,000 to $45,000 at Rago in April 2008.
What you see: A Ludwig oyster black pearl three-piece drum kit that Ringo Starr played on stage and television with the Beatles in the early 1960s. Estimated at $300,000 to $500,000, it sold at Julien’s for $2.1 million – a world auction record for any drum kit.
The expert: Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions.
Update: The Know Nothing flag sold for $25,000.
What you see: A Know Nothing American flag, dating to December 1858. Freeman’s estimates it at $25,000 to $50,000.
NEW YORK – On occasion, The Hot Bid revisits remarkable antique and vintage collectible that have sold. Today’s subject is a futuristic armchair designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.