DAVENPORT, Wash. – This baseball, signed in October 1924 by Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel in Spokane, comes with a letter of authenticity and has been graded 9 out of 10. It will appear at Grant Zahajko Auctions’ Thursday, September 14 sale of Autographs, Sports, Comics & Collectibles with an estimate of $50,000-$60,000.
It was during October 1924 as part of a barnstorming tour that the most famous baseball player of all time came to Washington. A game was played in the old ballpark at the now long-gone Natatorium Park, with Ruth hitting a home run so far that the ball landed on the banks of the Spokane River. Since the ball was signed, it has been stored by a local family out of the light for 99 years, meaning the ink is remarkably bold.
NEW YORK – On Wednesday, September 13, Doyle will offer property from the estate of Donald D. MacDermid and his landmark Greek Revival home, the 1826 Charles Daniels House in Chester, Connecticut. The proceeds of the sale will benefit the American School in Switzerland, where MacDermid attended from 1961.
MacDermid was something of an anglophile and had many friends in London. Works by several British artists are represented in the collection.
Estimated at $20,000-$40,000 is a posthumous cast of Charles Sargeant Jagger’s celebrated Maquette for The Driver, a figure that appears in the Royal Artillery Memorial on Hyde Park Corner in London. Made in 1921-25, the monument features a model howitzer in stone surrounded by four soldiers in bronze, including The Driver standing with arms outstretched. The maquette’s presence in the collection reflected Donald MacDermid’s family history. His uncle and namesake, Lt. Donald R. MacDermid, was killed in action fighting for the British in France.
This 2ft 10in cast is number 6/10 from an edition created by the Fine Art Society, London.
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. – Nye & Company’s three-day Chic and Antique Estate Treasures auction, taking place Wednesday, September 13 through Friday, September 15 (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3), includes property “from a prominent Philadelphia and UK family.”
The consignment includes a group of American neoclassical furniture believed to have been ordered directly from New York City cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe. The family retains an 1835 journal from their descendent, Isaac Ogden of Island House in the St. Lawrence River opposite Waddington, New York, with an entry that reads “Phyfe Bill of Furniture, $257.” Pieces include this pair of upholstered mahogany Empire-style stools (tabourets) estimated at $4,000-$6,000.
LOS ANGELES – In 1950, the Swiss artist, architect and designer Pierre Jeanneret (1896-1967) joined his cousin Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (who assumed the pseudonym Le Corbusier) in India to create a new capital of Punjab. The Chandigarh project involved much of the civic architecture – 14 different types of mass housin,g plus furniture for some of the buildings.
The teak, cane and fabric armchairs Jeanneret created in France for the Punjab University, Chandigarh circa 1955 have become classics of mid-century design. This pair, with a provenance to the university, will be offered at Billings’ auction of Modern Art & Design on Saturday, September 16. The estimate for the pair is $12,000–$15,000.
DETROIT, Mich. – DuMouchelles’ next auction, on Thursday, September 14 and Friday, September 15 (Day 1, Day 2), includes two Chinese jades that come by family descent from the estate of Fred and Bertha Fisher.
Fred Fisher (1878-1941) and his brothers formed Fisher Body Corporation, which later became a division of General Motors. The two Qing or Republican-era hardstones both carry mounts by Edward I. Farmer (1872-1942), the New York dealer who specialized in Chinese works of art as well as European antiques. He is best remembered for the decorative lamps and desk accessories he fashioned from Chinese hardstone carvings and porcelains.
Pictured here is a 6in silver-mounted jar and cover carved in relief with motifs of a running stag and crane in a landscape that is estimated at $1,000-$2,000. Another Farmer creation, a jar in a celadon and lavender stone standing 17in high on a carved giltwood mount has an estimate of $10,000-$20,000.
