DALLAS — Heritage Auctions is presenting two standout lots of Verdura bracelets here and here as potential top performers in its Fall Jewelry sale scheduled for Monday, September 30.
Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, Duke of Verdura (1898-1978), founded his namesake jewelry firm in New York in 1939, just as the world was about to go to war. Verdura’s designs remain timeless to this day, and the firm is known for its creative use of a wide variety of materials to achieve uniquely beautiful results.
The wood, gold, diamond, turquoise, and cultured pearl bracelets being offered are individually estimated at a strong $30,000-$40,000.
BANGOR, PA — Colorado was admitted to the Union on August 1, 1876, necessitating an additional star on all American flags, which then numbered 38. An unusual 1876 American flag with the stars on the canton arranged into a larger star-like pattern was recently found in Pennsylvania. The unsigned wool flag was hand-stitched for most of its composition, and the stars have a slight shine. It appears to have been stored for decades.
The flag comes to market Monday, September 30 at Hartzell’s Auction Gallery as a unique lot in the Country Holiday Gallery Antique Auction. It is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.
CHICAGO — The late Richard Harris was a connoisseur of the macabre. His collection focused on all things to do with death, and as past Potter & Potter sales make clear, Harris was not alone in his pursuit of this type of subject matter. The house has scheduled the Cabinet of Morbid Curiosities sale for Wednesday, October 2, and its highest-estimated lot comes from famed 20th-century artist Bruce Connor (1933-2008), known for his non-traditional work in assemblage, film, sculpture, painting, and photography.
Shrine is a 1981 piece featuring a human skull and jawbone, a candle, and an assemblage in a wooden shadow box. Conner was an early practitioner of found-object assemblage, and as Potter & Potter notes, his works have been widely recognized for their masterful compositions and daringly dark subject matter. The house estimates Shrine at $10,000-$20,000.
YPSILANTI, MI — The Fall Clock and Watch Auction at Schmidt’s Antiques on Saturday, October 5 includes this German or Swiss musical picture frame clock.
A type that enjoyed considerable popularity in the 19th century, it combines a competently painted oil on canvas landscape with a striking clock movement that operates the porcelain dial in a church tower. A series of pulleys eliminates the need to take the picture off the wall to wind the clock. The estimate is $2,000-$3,000.
MASSILLON, OH — ‘Touring’ was one of the most popular card games in American history. Created by William Janson Roche and first released in 1906, the intellectual property would be purchased by board game behemoth Parker Brothers of Salem, Massachusetts in 1925. Its marketing muscle propelled Touring to the top of the themed card game heap, where it would remain until the mid-1970s, when it was finally discontinued.
The game, which likely served as the inspiration for the French card game Mille Bournes (1000 Miles), is simple enough for children to play, but innovative enough to captivate adults. Players receive cards with mileage and hazard events, and attempt to go further than their opponents by tossing the hazard cards at competitors. The back-and-forth nature of the game provides hours of entertaining play.
On Sunday, September 29, as part of its Automobilia auction, Check The Oil Promotions has what appears to be a late-1920s countertop promotional standee display for Touring. Touted as ‘the latest game craze,’ the 13.5-by-8in cardboard easel-backed standee features bright colors, period graphics, and typography, and is in remarkable survivor condition. CTOP has given it an estimate of $50-$10,000, so it’s anyone’s guess how far the bidding for this unique artifact will travel before it hammers.
