WESTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Grey Flannel Auctions of Westhampton, N.Y., has announced details of its Fifth Annual Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Auction and other special events associated with the 2010 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The live auction will take place on Friday, Aug. 13, onsite at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The excitement level is already running high for this year’s enshrinement, which is expected to draw the largest number of Hall of Famers ever to congregate for the prestigious annual event. The Class of 2010, which will be inducted in an evening ceremony on Aug. 13 at the Hall of Fame includes eight individuals and two teams. They are (alphabetically): Jerry Buss, Cynthia Cooper, Bob Hurley Sr., Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen, along with the 1960 USA Men’s Olympic team and the 1992 USA Basketball “Dream Team.” Three legendary players will be honored posthumously: Dennis Johnson, Gus Johnson and the great Brazilian center Maciel “Ubiratan” Pereira.

Grey Flannel Auctions will begin its Hall of Fame activities on Aug. 12 by hosting an invitation-only pre-induction dinner for Hall of Famers, inductees and VIPs at the Hall of Fame’s Center Court. The following afternoon, starting at 1 p.m., Grey Flannel will conduct its 244-lot auction of vintage basketball-related memorabilia.

“I think collectors are going to be ecstatic when they see what’s in store for them at this auction,” said Grey Flannel Auctions’ president Richard E. Russek. “We’ll be offering some of the rarest and most desirable basketball jerseys and uniforms, as well as some great mementos, like the Chicago Bulls 1991-1992 NBA Championship banner that hung in Chicago Stadium.”

1965-66 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 76ers game-used home jersey (MVP and scoring title season), style used for one year only, reserve $10,000. Grey Flannel Auctions image.

A premier lot to be auctioned with a $10,000 reserve is Wilt Chamberlain’s 1965-66 Philadelphia 76ers game-used home jersey. Exhibiting a style used for only one season, the red and white jersey is emblazoned with the all-time single game point-scoring king’s number “13” and the word “Phila.”

Also entered with a $10,000 reserve is Elvin Hayes’ circa-1970 game-used and autographed San Diego Rockets home uniform. On the front is the name “Rockets,” while the “E” on the back of the jersey needs no further explanation. The number “11” appears on both front and back.

Grey Flannel has put together a very special and unprecedented selection of 12 articles related to the career of the late slam-dunking superstar Dennis Johnson, and each of the items in the sale comes with impeccable provenance: a letter of authenticity from the Johnson family.

Johnson’s 1984 Boston Celtics World Championship player’s ring features a green sapphire shamrock with a central diamond, the name “Johnson” and other symbols and words associated with the revered Boston franchise. The ring carries a reserve of $5,000.

Other highlights among the dozen articles from the Johnson family include Dennis’ 1980 Western Conference game-used All-Star uniform (reserve $2,500), his 1984-85 Boston Celtics game-used home uniform (reserve $2,500), and two multicolored Spalding basketballs commemorating career milestones: Johnson’s 15,000th point and his 5,000th assist. Each has a required minimum bid of $2,500.

Another important commemorative basketball in the sale’s top 10 lots is the one denoting the 47 points scored for the Atlanta Hawks by “Pistol” Pete Maravich on Feb. 8, 1975. The ball is autographed by Maravich in black marker, and comes with a letter of authenticity from JSA as well as a letter from the wife of the fan who received the ball at the game and asked Maravich to sign it that night.

The pride of French Lick, Indiana, Larry Bird, is represented in the sale by a game-used uniform he wore in the 1990 Eastern Conference All-Star Game. The front of the jersey says “NBA All-Star,” and both front and back carry the record-setting sharpshooter’s number “33.” Reserve: $5,000.

1969-70 Bill Bradley New York Knicks game-used NBA Finals home jersey, worn during series-clinching game, photo match, accompanied by letter of provenance, reserve $5,000. Grey Flannel Auctions image.

Other game-used apparel includes Bill Bradley’s 1969-70 New York Knicks NBA Finals home jersey (reserve $5,000), Steve Green’s 1975-76 Spirits of St. Louis home uniform (reserve $2,500) and the only known Dolph Schayes Syracuse Nats jersey, which was autographed by the 6ft. 8in. prodigy known for his shooting and rebounding skills (reserve $5,000).

Grey Flannel’s Friday, Aug. 13, 2010 auction will take place at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, 1000 W. Columbus Ave., Springfield, MA 01105, starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. In addition to in-person and phone bidding, Grey Flannel welcomes absentee bids, including by phone (please call to reserve a line) and through its Web site: www.GreyFlannelAuctions.com. Printed catalogs are free to all registered bidders. The fully illustrated electronic version of the catalog may be viewed online at www.GreyFlannelAuctions.com.

To request a catalog, register as a bidder or obtain further information on any lot in the auction, call 631-288-7800, ext. 223; email gfcsports@aol.com.

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About Grey Flannel and Grey Flannel Auctions:

Grey Flannel was founded in New York in 1989 by Richard Russek. With its respected team of experts and long-established friendships with athletes and their families, Grey Flannel rose to become the world’s foremost authenticator and dealer of game-used jerseys. In 1994, Grey Flannel became the official appraisers and authenticators for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1998, the firm was hired by Sotheby’s to authenticate the Barry Halper Uniform Collection, which rivaled in scope even that of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1999, Grey Flannel entered the auction arena, and since then has auctioned some of the most important sports memorabilia ever to reach the public marketplace, including Babe Ruth’s 1932 “Called Shot” uniform, which sold for more than $1 million. Grey Flannel continues to achieve record prices, most recently in April 2010 with the $564,930 sale of the iconic New York Yankees home uniform Yogi Berra wore during the 1956 World Series perfect game pitched by Don Larsen.

How can a good yard sale item quickly diminish to bad? When you are Vaneisha Robinson of Ohio.

Robinson claims four years ago she bought a pendant at a yard sale for $5.  She thought it was neat, and wore it around her neck not realizing its value.

The pendant is a replica of LeBron James’ jersey for the Kings. It is enameled, and encrusted in diamonds.

Robinson claims only a few months ago did she notice the diamonds were set like authentic ones are, and decided it might have more value than the $5 she invested.  She took photos, and listed it on eBay.

Shortly thereafter, Robinson was contacted by someone from James’ camp claiming he wanted the item for himself and asked to meet her.

When she arrived at the meeting place, James was not there, however one of his associates was and “forced her to hand over the pendant.”

Police in Ohio have her listed as one of five people in connection with the theft of the pendant valued at over $10,000.  The case is currently still under investigation.

Reyne interviews more dealers who display items they have attained while out picking. In this episode we see antique glass plates that were bought for a song and some interesting sewing items that are worth a lot more than you would think.

So you’re considering the purchase of a beautiful and potentially valuable set of antique furniture, a piece of antique jewelry, or an antique toy, tool, or work of art. How do you proceed? We’ve all heard stories of items like these purchased for a few dollars and then sold later for five, ten, or a hundred times their initial cost. How realistic are these scenarios and what steps can you take to optimize your investment? How can you move forward while maintaining an acceptable level of risk?

There are two very important truths to bear in mind before you make your purchase. First, every antique is valued within its own market, and this market fluctuates in accordance with demand. The current value of an antique toy—say, a 1907 stuffed mohair teddy bear has little correlation with the value of an Asian antique vase from the 16^th century. Collectors control the worth of each of these items, and collectors can be fickle. Rarity is not always a guarantee that an item will have value, and neither is a momentary spike in speculative interest (a surge of buyers who are drawn by the possible resale value of the item, not the item itself.)

Second, since this is the case, it is wisest to purchase an antique when you have a real and personal interest in owning that specific item. If you expect to enjoy the antique furniture or antique jewelry for its own sake, and would be happy to keep it for an indefinite period of time, this mitigates your level of risk.

A Few Tips for the Potential Investor:

Don’t spread a wide net. In-depth knowledge is important when investing in antiques, and the more specific your collection, the deeper your knowledge is likely to grow.

Know the difference between investing and speculating. Investing is long-term, researched, lower risk, and requires patience. Speculating often means buying an item that one has no long-term desire to own, intending instead to resell the item as quickly as possible for a profit. Speculation requires a keen eye set not just on the item itself, but on other buyers and collectors in order to gauge shifting levels of interest. Speculation requires strong nerves and a high tolerance for risk. Both investors and speculators benefit from in-depth and specific knowledge– For example, a skill in identifying provenance, an eye for antique furniture construction, or the ability to spot counterfeit components in the mechanism of an antique clock.

Remember the ten-to-fifteen percent rule: Most financial experts recommend keeping art and antiques within ten to fifteen percent of your investment portfolio.

Be aware that some antiques are easier targets for forgery than others. Forgeries tend to rise when an item becomes highly sought after by speculators. When an item seems to attract the interest of serious collectors only, counterfeits decrease.

And finally: Know yourself. Just as we’ve all experienced “buyer’s remorse”, there is a similar feeling that cuts in the other direction. “Non-buyer’s remorse” is more common in the antiques world than elsewhere, since antiques are one of a kind, and an opportunity to buy an item, once missed, may never come again. How high is your tolerance for either of these feelings? What items are you willing to pay a steep price for, and why? The heart of an antiques collector is a funny thing. In the antiques world, purchase decisions are frequently based on money, and just as frequently are based on factors that have nothing to do with money at all.

By Erin Sweeney

An important three session sale including over 1100 lots. Featuring Arts & Crafts/Art Nouveau, Fine Art and 1950’s/Modern Furniture.

September 12th, 2010  10am

DENVER, Pa. – Worldwide competition for a high-end collection of antique toys resulted in a million-dollar gross at Morphy’s on July 16-17 as the central Pennsylvania auction house presented the 28-year collection of retired California architect Michael O’Hearn.

“Interest in the O’Hearn collection, and in all of the toy consignments for that matter, was fierce,” said auction house owner Dan Morphy. “The gallery was busy all day with in-house bidders, and we had the largest number of Internet bidders in Morphy’s history.” The final tally for the 1,354-lot sale was $1,050,000. All prices quoted are inclusive of 15% buyer’s premium.

Atom Jet tin friction race car, Japanese, 25 ½ inches long, all original parts intact, $15,500. Dan Morphy Auctions image.

A futuristic postwar Japanese friction racer known as the Atom Jet, measuring an impressive 25½ inches long, commanded a strong price due to its originality and excellent condition. Against an estimate of $4,000-$8,000 the bizarre, dorsal-finned vehicle finished in a mint green color sped across the finish line at $15,500.

A toy vehicle of quite a different type, a 21-inch-long red metal Ferrari made around 1952 by the Italian manufacturer Toschi, had the added appeal of a (reproduction) factory tag featuring the trademark Ferrari horse logo. With hopes of making $2,000-$3,000, the car confidently achieved that and more, closing its hood at $5,200.

Of a much earlier era, an early 20^th-century German-made Karl Bub clockwork limousine, 10½ inches long with original lithographed driver, front headlights and gearshift levers on both sides of the front door, was won by an Internet bidder who paid $4,680.

1956 Haji (Japan) tin friction Ford Sunliner convertible with original box, 11¼ inches, $7,500. Dan Morphy Auctions image.

A colorful fleet of toy ice cream trucks found favor in the midsummer sale. The bell rang loudest for a 7-inch tin friction truck made by the Japanese company HTC and emblazoned with advertising on both sides that says “Fresh Delicious Ice Cream.” Its bonus feature is a three-dimensional vendor figure that pops out to offer an ice cream cone when the truck is activated. Against an estimate of $700-$1,000, the truck scooped up a winning bid of $3,700.

Of the two-wheeled vehicles, a 15-inch-long Japanese tinplate Harley-Davidson friction motorcycle with smartly dressed and helmeted rider fared best. Made by I.Y. Metal Toys, the bike exhibited true, unfaded colors and crisp lithography. It rolled to the top of its estimate range at $4,900.

The last lot of the opening session hit a nostalgic note with those who could recall riding in Dad’s new car – a Ford – in the carefree 1950s. Made by Haji, the faithful depiction of a 1956 Ford Sunliner convertible in a snappy red and white color scheme with peppermint-striped seats came with its original pictorial box showing a young family out for a leisurely drive. One of the most desirable of all postwar Japanese tin cars and described as the same example shown in Dale Kelley’s book titled Collecting the Tin Toy Car, it easily glided past its $3,000-$6,000 estimate to a final bid of $7,500.

Painted-lead still bank depicting Mickey Mouse on a round of cheddar cheese, 5 inches tall, $4,600. Dan Morphy Auctions image.

Character toys put in an impressive performance. A lot consisting of a pair of 80-year-old Amos & Andy walking toys, each 11 inches tall and with the correct individually named “Amos” or “Andy” box, sashayed to $5,200. In other character highlights, a 1932 Chein Popeye Heavy Hitter wind-up toy flexed its muscle at $4,300; while a rare and very charming painted-lead still bank fashioned as an early-style Mickey Mouse standing on a round of cheddar cheese earned every penny it deserved, with a winning bid of $4,600. The perennial popularity of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts characters was evidenced by the above-estimate $15,000 price paid for the artist’s original daily comic strip panel dated “5-2-1967.”

While toys were red hot, so were virtually all other categories in the sale. An exceptional single-owner collection of antique occupational shaving mugs attracted spirited bidding, with a china mug depicting a roofing contractor in his 1920s-vintage, spoke-wheeled truck taking top honors for the group at $16,100 – nearly five times the lot’s high estimate.

Yet another auction surprise was the $11,000 price fetched by a 10½-inch-tall cast-iron mechanical bank replicating a lighthouse of red brick. “It had everything going for it,” said Dan Morphy. “It was all original, in near-mint condition with strong red paint, and it was a form that isn’t seen very often.” The bank had been entered in the sale with a $3,000-$4,000 estimate.

There was a surge of bidding for early Coca-Cola advertising, such as the 1903 tinplate “pretty lady” tip tray that earned an $8,600 gratuity (est. $3,000-$5,000), and the 1940s cardboard sign of a bathing beauty sipping a Coke atop a beach blanket, $6,900 (est. $3,500-$4,500).

Convex porcelain Campbell’s Soup sign, 22½ inches by 12¼ inches, $8,190. Dan Morphy Auctions image.

In other advertising, an Internet bidder claimed a convex porcelain Campbell’s Soup sign in near-mint condition for $8,190 (est. $4,000-$6,000); and a tin Robert Smith Ale sign featuring the image of a forward-leaping tiger met presale expectations at $5,500. A Hi-Ho Tobacco pocket tin with an image of scullers rowing past the Houses of Parliament on the River Thames reached the upper level of its estimate range at $4,600.

Dan Morphy Auctions has a full slate of Discovery and Specialty sales planned for the remainder of 2010, all of which are detailed on Morphy’s Web site. The company’s next Premier Auction, featuring antique toys, dolls, trains and advertising, will be held on Oct. 15 and 16. A special highlight of the sale is the antique, vintage and contemporary doll collection of the late Martha Cristol and her daughter, Merle Cristol Glickman.

For information on any upcoming Dan Morphy event, call 717-335-3435, e-mail dan@morphyauctions.com or visit the Morphy Web site at www.MorphyAuctions.com.

Items from over 80+ consignors and various Important New England & Florida Estates to include Outrageous Carved Oak (Horner Quality) Dining Suites; Italian Renaissance Furniture; French Ormolu Furnishings; Important Continental Silver; Art Glass; 18th & 19th C Chests etc.; Danish Moderne; Fabulous China and Sterling Services; Period Lighting; Estate Fresh Oriental Carpets; Superior Estate Gold, Platinum & Diamond Jewelry.  Also many original artworks, including pieces by John Hering, Hans Klat,  Herbert Pollinger, Victor Vasarelly, Roy Nichols and David Anderson as well as more than 100 other important 18th – 20th C. Oils, Watercolors, Bronzes, Sculptures, Prints & Drawings.  Note:  Make sure to watch our website as this is only a sample.  You will not want to miss this Spectacular Auction Sale!  Quality Consignments are welcome for future Auction Events.

Incorporating inherited or recently acquired antique furniture into an existing décor can add warmth, pedigree and distinction to your home. Even if the old doesn’t technically match the new, there are dozens of tricks, tips and attitudes you can adopt that will bring the room together and make it a welcoming haven that beautifully showcases your style.

1)      Don’t try too hard. Matchy-matchy aspects can date a room and bring it down anyway, so why force parallelism between pieces that don’t match and never will? If you have a modern end table on one side of a sofa, don’t position your antique table at the other end. Put the antique table under a window instead. Let it have a place of its own.

2)      Be true to yourself. Hide nothing. A beautiful piece of antique furniture is a beautiful piece, no matter what happens to be standing nearby. Don’t cover a table—or any other antique furniture– with a blanket in an effort to blend styles. Rather, place a runner on the table with a color that picks up and plays off of other colors in the room.

3)      The same principle applies to throw pillows, knickknacks, wall art, and other movable splashes of color. You’d be surprised a how well a small but consistent streak of blue can tie an otherwise disparate room together.

4)      Be playful. Recognize that the flexibility of the room and the flexibility of your aesthetic can allow each to bring out the best in the other. Antique furniture from a certain period may not convey your exact style, but the way in which it entered your life says something about you. If this piece of antique furniture belonged to your grandma, remember that your grandma is part of who you are. Let the room represent all aspects of you, not just a filtered few. See what happens!

5)      Finally, remember the most important rule of interior design—if you like an item, then it doesn’t matter why. In some mysterious way, a group of items selected by one person have a common thread that binds them together, whether the thread is easy to identify or not. If everything in the room is yours, and everywhere the eye falls it falls on something that you find beautiful, then in some magic way, the room will feel comfortable, balanced and pleasing to others. Design, like any other art, is half science and half magic. Enjoy your new-old antique furniture, and have confidence in your instincts!

By Erin Sweeney

If you mention the name David Rittenhouse in Philadelphia, your listeners will likely think first of the tree-lined streets of Rittenhouse Square, the neighborhood named in his honor. Born in 1732 and raised in Norritown, Rittenhouse developed an interest in astronomy and mathematics early in life and later became a major contributor to science and innovation in revolutionary America. He is most widely recognized as a Philadelphia inventor, surveyor, astronomer, friend to Benjamin Franklin, president of the American Philosophical Society, and the first director of the United States Mint.

But in the minds of collectors and enthusiasts of antique clocks, David Rittenhouse was first and foremost a clockmaker. Specifically, he was the designer and creator of two antique clocks which, in terms of innovation and complexity, are considered the most important clocks in the United States and among the most important in the world. Both clocks still exist and are still in Philadelphia– One of the two is owned by Penn Hospital, and the other belongs to Drexel University and is kept on display in a University picture gallery.

What makes these Rittenhouse clocks so valuable? A brief history of antique clocks and clock-making can provide a bit of context. Before the industrial revolution, when most Europeans and Americans lived an agrarian lifestyle, clocks were not a common personal possession. When it came to dividing and marking the hours of the day, a single clock in a town square could provide all that most people required. Between about 1663 and the mid 1800’s—prior to the rise of regular working hours and train schedules– household clocks in America were owned by the wealthy few. And before David Rittenhouse, most household clocks required weekly winding, had only an hour hand, and ran on relatively simple mechanisms driven by long counterweights that hung down below the clock face. Long pendulums required a distance between the clock face and the floor, and cases were often built around the mechanisms in order to hide them. These early antique clocks were called case clocks, long case clocks, or wags-on-the-wall. (The term “grandfather clock” didn’t come along until the 1800’s.) This was the general state of the household clock around 1742 when David Rittenhouse began turning his fascination with astronomy and mathematics to the purpose of clock-making.

A close look at the famous Drexel clock reveals some of the fascinating features unprecedented among the antique clocks of its time. For example, the main face contains not only an hour hand, but also minute and second hands, as well as a hand pointing to the month of the year. In addition, Rittenhouse designed the central face with a lunarium, a device that tracks the phases of the moon. To the left of the primary dial, a smaller face shows the location of the sun and moon at any given point the zodiac. The little moon in this dial actually rotates on its axis from a darker to a lighter side, in keeping with the phases of the real moon. Within the lunarium, a dial reveals the day of the month. The clock can play ten different chimes as well, according to its setting.

Most significantly, a miniature model of the solar system is set above the clock face—six planets orbiting a tiny sun in a circle about eight inches wide. This is called an orrery, and before the construction of the Drexel clock, Rittenhouse had already created two large and astonishingly accurate orreries, one of which had been donated to Rutgers University.

By the time he built the Drexel clock around 1773, his orreries had launched Rittenhouse’s reputation as a scientist. With his ingenious contributions to clock making, Rittenhouse established himself as a representative of the strong intellectual and innovative capacity of the colonies.

Both famous orreries and several antique clocks designed by Rittenhouse survive to this day, and some of them—like the Drexel clock—still work. With careful conservation, they may continue keeping accurate time well into the future.

Erin Sweeney

8/20/2010

As any good horologist—a student of antique clocks and the history of timekeeping—can tell you, our relationship with time and the way we mark its passing are as flexible and transitory as any other aspect of our culture. Clocks, for example, have been in existence for a relatively short period considering the control they now exercise over our daily lives. In medieval Europe, clocks were useful to few outside of monasteries, and those clocks that did exist did not have faces, only chimes to ring the hours for ritual and prayer. In later years, clocks were designed with an hour hand that rotated around the clock face via gears turned by a slowly lowering weight. Clock faces were positioned in tall towers in order to provide room for the weights to drop. One clock at the top of a tower, inaccurate by a variance of an hour or more each day, could still adequately meet the timekeeping needs of an entire town. Galileo’s observations of pendulum movement in the late 1500’s led to smaller clocks that could eventually be placed inside of homes, at least by those wealthy enough to desire and afford them. And in the mid 1800’s, the industrial revolution brought the next rapid wave of changes to antique clocks and our dependence on timekeeping.

Mechanization and mass production began and were refined during this period. Factories rose. Lifestyles shifted away from the farm and toward standard working hours in offices and on assembly lines. Train schedules regulated commerce and industry. Timekeeping became more personal– and accuracy more important– then ever before. Enter the age of the pocket watch, a tiny clock with a minute and even a second hand that one could carry easily in one’s clothing. Pocket watches provided the ticking heartbeat of the American economy and lifestyle from the Gilded Age until the end of the 19^th century, when, inevitably, they were replaced by an innovation even smaller and more convenient.

In approximately 1908, with World War I a decade away, clockmakers Hans Wildorf and Alfred Davis formed a partnership with a Swiss watchmaker who agreed to help them develop a clock mechanism small enough to wear on the wrist.

This small, wearable watch would be called the “Rolex”, a name chosen for its brevity and pronouncability in any language. The Rolex was not the first wristwatch in existence, but at the time it was the most famous on account of the durable “screw crown” mechanism that protected its gears from dust and damage. The most well known of all Rolex models would become the “Rolex Oyster”, which featured a double locking screw crown that kept the casing both airtight and watertight.  In an early marketing campaign, Wilsdorf asked the famous swimmer Mercedes Gleitze to wear an Oyster during one of her swims across the English Channel, and the campaign proved a success when the watch survived.

This success, combined with the popularity of wristwatches in general after their distribution to soldiers during the war, paved the way for the wristwatch to become the signature timepiece of the 20^th century.

The history of clocks is a history of time itself, in a sense. And collecting antique clocks can be a fascinating hobby. Among collectors of antique clocks and watches, some of the most prized finds are early Rolexes and variations of the original Oyster. Santos Dumont, Patek, and Cartier are also names associated with rare early wristwatches, the most prized being ladies models as watches were first worn on the wrist by women as jewelry.

But a note for novice collectors of watches—beware! Keep in mind that watches, even more so than other antique clocks, are easy to counterfeit. Common forms of counterfeit work are wedded watches or “frankenwatches”, in which one or more of the mechanisms have been repaired or replaced while the other components remain original. These can be very difficult for non-experts to identify. Enjoy your adventures in horology, but if you intend to make a major investment in any antique clock or watch, be sure to have it reliably examined and appraised.

Erin Sweeney

8/20/2010