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The highlights of the Important Watches sale on April 7th comprise an array of highly coveted complications including Patek Philippe timepieces with remarkable dials, extremely limited editions of creations by renowned brands and independent watchmakers and a fine selection of enamel and complicated pocket watches spanning the late 18th to early 20th centuries.
Design auction to be held April 7th, 2011
Phillips de Pury London
Prints and Paintings: Vintage Icart offset print, Mt. Ranier impressionistic oil on canvas, vintage portrait paintings, lawn bowling print, reproduction travel poster, yardlong Alaskan fort panorama Decorative Arts and Misc: folk art shore birds, German cuckoo clock, Merschaum pipe, crystal and short wave radios, radios and clocks, Weber vintage drafting set, Cannon, Polaroid, and Kodak cameras, lenses, and accessories, 8mm editor, Sundstrand antique store cash box, antique store counter-top display case, beer can collection, depression glass, Royal Copeland MCM boxes, Hall pottery pitcher, transferware, Precious Moments, art glass and other clowns, Lodge cast iron skillets, A/C Sterling candlestick Jewelry: vintage men’s watches, cufflinks Furniture: 50s projector screen, Alabaster lamp, marble pedestal side table, 1940s children’s furniture Toys: Structo, John Deere, Tonka trucks, Pick Up Sticks collection, vin. Matchbox cars, tin litho, Herald boxed toy soldiers, Benbros die cast motorcycles, Britains, friction motorcycle, 1940s dolls and accessories Ephemera: collection 200+ 1960s/70s Playboy magazines, Cunard and United States cruise lines memorabilia and trunks, several collections antique and misc. books incl. 1st edition and signed copies, bound National Geographics, comic books and postcards, Remington shotgun packaging Asian: black lacquer cabinet, soapstone and bone carvings, snuff bottles, wood stands, carved transom, porcelain, red amber. Tools/Sporting: antique wood plane, Luxor fishing reel, football and baseball jerseys, Colts playoff/Superbowl memorabilia Clothing/Textiles: 1950s Boy Scout uniform and accessories, vintage tie collection and 1940s ladies traveling outfits.
A collection from Gladys Knight’s sparkling wardrobe will be auctioned off next month in Chicago by Leslie Hindman’s eponymous auction house.
Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art
Sotheby’s historic sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art this spring features one the most important modern Indian paintings ever to appear on the market: Akbar Padamsee’s rare, monumental reclining nude created in 1960.
Indian & Southeast Asian Works of Art
From the early, classical sculpture of South Southeast Asia to superb Indian miniature painting; from the acme of Tibetan and Himalayan bronzes to the delicate, handwork craftsmanship of the finest Raj-era silversmiths, Sotheby’s auction of India and Southeast Asian Works of Art this spring offers a unique opportunity to collectors to acquire artworks embodying the highest standards of quality and connoisseurship in this category.
Dealers Wanted for Discovery TV Show
UK TV production company Fever Media are looking for U.S. antiques and collectibles dealers to appear in a brand new TV show for the Discovery Channel.
The program sees members of the public attempting to sell their items to a panel of dealers. These items could be anything from a vintage car, to a collection of Star Wars toys, to an original Picasso sketch.
We are seeking dealers with a good knowledge of different areas and periods to feature on the panel. We are very keen to get a U.S. based dealer involved and if the show is successful there is potential to screen it in the U.S. A fee would be paid.
If you are interested or would like to know more, please contact Kieran at kieran.clubb@fevermedia.co.uk
Sotheby’s Hong Kong 20th Century Chinese Art Spring Sale will be held on April 4th offering a selection of 119 lots estimated at HK$ 117 million. The auction will revolve around two major themes – Chinese abstract art and Modern Chinese sculpture – stimulating collectors’ knowledge and interest in these genres. The works featured in the abstract category are rich in cultural history, reflecting the aesthetic ideals and personal conviction of their respective artists. In addition to abstract art, collectors will be provided with an opportunity to acquire outstanding Realist works at the sale.
Walt Whitman signed working manuscript of a poem initially titled Ah, not that Granite Dead and Cold and later published as Washington’s Monument, $57,750. Dirk Soulis Auctions image.
LONE JACK, Mo. – In the world of antiquarian books and ephemera, it’s a topic of conversation but not necessarily a shocker when a rare manuscript elicits a hefty five-figure sum at a New York or London saleroom. It becomes a major headline, however, when the sale takes place at a family-run auction house in suburban Kansas City. That was the case on Feb. 26, 2011 when auctioneer Dirk Soulis brought the hammer down at $55,000 on a signed, annotated manuscript of an 1885 Walt Whitman poem.
“I could have bought that cheaper at Christie’s!” the buyer in the room exclaimed after winning a prolonged bidding battle against the phones. Regardless, the buyer regained considerable ground at the check-out, since Soulis – whose Midwestern sensibility rejects the concept of customer gouging – charges only 5% as a buyer’s premium. That brought the total to $57,750.
The Whitman manuscript – a poem initially titled Ah, not that Granite Dead and Cold and later published as Washington’s Monument – was part of a distinguished, “old time” collection amassed by the late Eugene DeGruson (1932-1997).
“Gene DeGruson was considered a Kansas treasure,” said auctioneer Soulis. “He was an English professor at Pittsburg (Kan.) State University and was on the board of the Kansas State Historical Society. Although he had come from humble origins – his father and grandfather were coal miners – he became a prize-winning poet and widely respected scholar on Kansas history. He also built a premier collection of 19th-century literature, letters and autographs that included Shelley, Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde. Kansas was the last place anyone would have expected to find this long-hidden collection.”
Stultifera Navis (Ship of Fools), edition of 1497 in Latin as translated by Jacob Locher, with 118 woodcuts attributed to Durer, $12,600. Dirk Soulis Auctions image.
Soulis said that until a few days prior to the auction, rare book enthusiasts seemed to be keeping their cards close to their vests. “Then all at once they started calling to set up phone lines for the Whitman manuscript. It was one caller’s sense that the lot was going to fly under the radar, but by auction day, we had 17 bidders on the phones and absentee bids totaling $10,000. At that point I knew we were going to see some action – but I don’t think anyone suspected it would even get within $20,000 of its eventual selling price,” Soulis said. “I certainly didn’t.”
Fewer than 50 people were present in the gallery, Soulis said. He observed that phone and Internet bidding are “the mode of the day, especially when it’s a narrow specialty like manuscripts and autographs.”
Two of DeGruson’s brothers, Jim and Walter DeGruson, serve as co-executors of the late professor’s estate. Jim, his wife Rita, and their son Eric were among those in the gallery who watched as bidding for the Whitman manuscript intensified, then boiled down to two competitors – one in the room and one on the phone.
“It didn’t seem that the two final bidders had any particular limits in mind,” Soulis said. “I would be just about to bring down the gavel when one of them would jump back in and the bidding would go up by a few thousand more. The manuscript was such a prize, they were both reluctant to concede.”
Oscar Wilde hand-written manuscript of the poem Amos Intellectualis, $17,325. Dirk Soulis Auctions image.
While the Whitman manuscript was the clear superstar of the $200,000+ sale, there were many other entries among the 350 lots that easily met or surpassed expectations. An Oscar Wilde hand-written manuscript of the poem Amos Intellectualis, although neither dated nor formally signed by Wilde, sold to a phone bidder for $17,325 (estimate $500-$1,000). Another phone purchase was the 1497 Latin edition of Sebastian Brandt’s Stultifera Navis (Ship of Fools), translated by Jacob Locher and illustrated with 118 woodcuts attributed to Durer. It finished at the midpoint of its estimate range at $12,600.
An archive of personal ephemera consisting of telegrams, photos, research materials and 78 letters signed by Amy Lowell also included a 5-page typed manuscript in which the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet responded to a literary magazine’s negative review of a friend’s book. Estimated at $500-$1,000, the archive sold to a phone bidder for $13,650.
Approximately $75,000 in bids came from remote sources, and 37% of the auction’s contents sold to online bidders, including a 1755 first edition of Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language. The 2-volume set, which took Johnson eight years to complete and was later described by the author as “a most enduring and endearing work,” realized $7,875 (estimate $1,000-$1,500).
On March 27, 2011, Dirk Soulis Auctions will conduct an estate auction containing hundreds of antique and vintage golf clubs, books, bags, trophies and other golf-related collectibles. Subsequent events include an Art Pottery, Glass and Lamp auction on April 2 and an American Art Pottery auction on April 16.
For additional information, call Dirk Soulis Auctions at 816-697-3830 or tollfree 800-252-1501; e-mail dirksoulis@gmail.com. Visit the company online at www.dirksoulisauctions.com.
