Wednesday, May 26 – 5 P.M.
Preview begins Monday, May 24, 10am to 5pm
The Complete Catalog is available online at: Dallas Auction Gallery & Live Auctioneers
Live online bidding now through Live Auctioneers

Jules Gustave Le Roy oil on canvas, 24″ x 36″

Steuben plum jade double acid cut back, 10″ Dia.

L & JG Stickley, no. 645 bookcase

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Auction of Antique & Modern Jewellry

May 20th, 2010  10:30am

This year’ ARTrageous promises to be the best ever!

Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds will be performing Live. Babyface is a 10-time Grammy winner and one of the most prolific creative forces in music history.  He has worked with everyone from Michael Jackson,  Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Madonna and Mariah Carey.

After party DJ performance by Donna D’ Cruz!

May 24th, 2010  6:30

Cipriani Wall Street

New York

Rare Sands $5 “cowgirl leaning on hourglass issue” chip expected to bring $30,000+ in Heritage Political & Americana auction, May 22

DALLAS, TX – In a time when Las Vegas casino revenues have dropped steeply during the recession, some of the city’s historic gaming chips have increased, literally, thousands of times in value. A Sands Las Vegas $5 Casino Chip, ninth issue, circa late-1950s, is expected to bring $30,000+ as part of Heritage Auctions May 22 Political & Americana Auction, in-person at Heritage’s Turtle Creek headquarters at 3500 Maple Avenue, and online at HA.com.

The auction will include some 60 lots of scarce and rare casino chips from a variety of legendary Vegas casinos, with values ranging from several hundred to tens of thousands of dollars.

“This ninth issue Sands $5 chip, with its connection the great Sands hotel, and the famous ‘hourglass’ logo, is a direct link to the history, glamour and glory of all that made Vegas what it is today,” said Tom Slater, Director of Americana Auctions at Heritage. “For a city whose hallmark is constant change this is a remarkable survivor from the golden age when the town earned its reputation as ‘Sin City.’”

This ‘hourglass’ chip features one of the best-known vintage Vegas logos; it was used in advertising and promotion throughout the 1950s and was a very appropriate emblem back when Vegas was a western-themed town. Even more impressive is the fact that this is one of only three good Sands $5 chips known, with one additional chip drilled (a common practice at casinos used to make tourist key chains of defunct chips). Of the top four chip sales to break the $100,000 mark, two were Sands chips, with a $100 eighth issue bringing $145,000. This example comes from an old collection and has not previously been offered for public sale.

This new wrinkle in the Political & Americana category marks the first time that Heritage will be including the beautiful gaming markers in one of its auctions. It is, however, a category that the company believes has great potential.

“This is a comparatively small, but growing hobby,” said Slater, “with a national organization of nearly 2000 adherents and its own magazine. What it’s lacked is a viable national auction platform to effectively serve it while also providing the visibility the hobby needs to attract new collectors. With our 500,000+ bidder-members and unparalled internet presence, Heritage is the perfect vehicle to do just that.”

Among the more intriguing of these visually stunning and valuable chips is a rare Flamingo $5 Las Vegas Casino Chip, First issue, R-6, dating to 1946. This chip is a Bugsy Siegel issue, probably the most popular chip from this famous casino as depicted in the film Bugsy. The chip is estimated at $4,000+.

“This great-looking die-cut brass inlay chip is one that top collectors cherish as they are seldom offered for sale, especially in this top-grade condition,” said Slater. “With the Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky mafia affiliation, and its long and fabled history on the strip, chips and memorabilia from the Flamingo are very popular and highly sought-after by collectors of all levels.”

Two more early Vegas chips provide added heft to the collection, with a Desert Inn $5 Las Vegas Casino Chip, “Wilbur Clark’s,” Seventh Issue, R-9, Circa 1950s expected to bring between $4,000-$7,000, and a Hacienda $5 Las Vegas Casino Chip, First Issue, R-9, Circa 1956 estimated to bring $4,000-$6,000. There are only five to seven of the blue, odd-colored “Wilbur Clark face” chips known to be in collections, and the Hacienda chip, one of just six or seven known, is a rare and desirable early original chip showing the distinctive Gaucho on a Horse image that mirrored the same famous image on the revolving marquee outside the Hacienda Hotel before it was imploded in 1996.

“Heritage has been fortunate to obtain the expertise of the man universally regarded as the guru of casino chip collecting, James Campiglia,” said Slater. “Along with co-author Steve Wells, Campiglia is the author of ‘The Official U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide, the bible for serious hobbyists. James has inspected and cataloged every lot, and each chip will be sold with a certificate of authenticity signed by him. There is no better assurance of quality and accurate presentation.”

Further Highlights include, but are not limited to:

Flamingo $5 Las Vegas Casino Chip, Fifth Issue, R-8, Circa 1950s: The Fabulous Flamingo is vintage Vegas. Opened originally in 1946, it is the oldest resort on the strip still open. This casino drilled their chips as souvenirs, though some – like this one – didn’t get drilled all the way. Obverse looks just like an undrilled chip and reverse just has a partial hole. One of only two known like this. Estimate: $2000-4000.

Harrah’s $25 Reno and Lake Tahoe Casino Chip, Third Issue, R-10, Undrilled, Circa 1950s: There are a large variety of colorful Harrah’s chips to collect spanning many years from their original locations. The first Harrah’s Club opened in Reno in 1946 and, in 1955, Harrah’s Tahoe opened. Harrah’s has grown to become the largest casino chain in the world. This is an odd colored $25 chip from when black chips were predominately $100 in value. Estimate: $1500-2500.

Dunes, Roulette, 1st issue, 1955, R-8: There are approximately 10 of these chips known, which is not nearly enough to satisfy collector demand. A challenging set to complete with 19 colors logged. The Dunes likely had three tables, each with six chips. The additional chip is probably a color variant due to a re-order or a change out of a regular house chip. Until the manufacturer’s records are found, we can only speculate. Estimate: $1200-2500.

Pioneer Club, 7th issue, c. 1950, R-5: The Pioneer Club opened in 1942 in downtown Las Vegas at First & Fremont. “Vegas Vic,” whose picture is seen on the inlay of this chip, is an icon of Fremont Street and Las Vegas. Since 1951, this famous 40 foot-tall neon cowboy has been welcoming tourists and gamblers to town. Though the Pioneer Club closed in 1995, the sign is still there in front of the souvenir shop that replaced the casino. Not an extreme rarity but certainly a classic chip in the old hub mold. Estimate: $500-800.

Heritage Auctions, headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, is the world’s third largest auction house, with annual sales more than $600 million, and 500,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.

Martignette Collection dominates top offerings; New all-time auction price records set for Enoch Bolles, Chesley Bonestell and Coles Phillips

BEVERLY HILLS — Gil Elvgren’s landmark pin-up, Bear Facts (A Modest Look; Bearback Rider), 1962, brought $191,200 in Heritage Auction Galleries Beverly Hills’ record-setting May 6 Illustration Art Auction. The auction realized more than $3.4 million total, and continued the stellar rise of the Illustration Art market, dominated by the blockbuster Estate of Charles Martignette, which continues to produce examples and record prices. All prices include 19.5 Buyer’s Premium.

“Bear Facts is a particularly important example from Martignette,” said Ed Jaster, Vice President of Heritage Auctions. “Not only was it his favorite piece out of the more than 4,000 that he owned, it represents Elvgren at the peak of his powers and is viewed, by many, as the pinnacle of American pin-up art.”

More than 1100 bidders competed – in-person in Beverly Hills, via Internet, mail, phone bidding and Heritage LIVE! – on the 670 lots offered. The auction saw more than 90% of prices realized by value and more than 95% by lot total.

The good name of Elvgren produced several of the Top 10 lots in the auction, including his evocative 1961 masterpiece Jackpot, from another consignor, which soared to a $131,450 finish against its base pre-auction estimate of $30,000. The painting was not only the subject of intense bidding during the auction, it was also one of the most actively watched paintings in the entire auction, garnering more than 9,500 pre-auction page views on HA.com.

A world record price of $80,663 was realized for Enoch Bolles’ surreal October 1935 Sure to Make a Hit, Film Fun magazine cover, another of Martignette’s most important pieces. Determined bidders vied for several minutes over the suggestive painting, driving it far above its’ pre-auction estimate of $10,000-$15,000.

“Bolles’ profile has been steadily rising over the last several auctions,” said Todd Hignite, Consignment Director of Illustration Art at Heritage, “so it’s not surprising that a painting like this – one of his best examples – would be subject to intense competition. This price shows that Bolles has stepped up a rung in hierarchy of great illustration artists.”

Another of the few pieces to break the Top 10 lots of the auction that didn’t have Martignette’s name attached to it came in the form of Chesley Bonestell’s Saturn Viewed from Titan, c. 1952, realizing $77,675.

“This iconic image is perhaps the most famous and recognized image Bonestell ever painted, having been used no less than in 10 different publications in its 60 years,” said Jaster. “The painting represents the top offering in the auction from the famed Frank Collection, a gathering as important to sci-fi and fantasy art in its own right as Martignette’s collection is to the illustration art genre.”

One more record-setting painting also happened to be another of Martignette’s favorites, Coles Phillips’ 1922 Holeproof Hosiery Company ad illustration, one of the most famous images of the period, certainly one of the most controversial, and one of the earliest paintings that could be considered a pin-up. Amidst much wrangling from erudite collectors, it rose to a final price of $77,675.

Among others world record prices set for individual artists, demonstrating the strength of the Illustration Art market across genres, was one set for pulp cover artist Rafael De Soto’s New Detective, pulp cover, January 1948, which realized $28,680, another for pin-up favorite Henry Clive’s 1925 Sultana, calendar illustration, proving exceedingly popular with a record $22,705 final price and Golden Age great McClelland Barclay, whose Pictorial Review cover, September 1933, saw the same record price of $22,705.

Martignette’s gathering of Alberto Vargas paintings was also amply represented in the auction with several important works, but perhaps none so much as Vargas’ early, seminal circa 1932 watercolor, Reverie, which was the artist’s top example in the auction, making its way to $77,675, more than three times its pre-auction base estimate of $18,000.

Further Highlights include, but are not limited to:

Rolf Armstrong (American, 1889-1960), Twinkle Toes, c. 1947: Pastel on board, 38 x 28.5 in., Signed center right. From the Estate of Charles Martignette. Realized $56,763.

J.C. Leyendecker (American, 1874-1951), Record Time, Cool Summer Comfort, House of Kuppenheimer ad illustration, c. 1920: Oil on canvas, 21.5 x 20 in. Not signed. From the Estate of Charles Martignette. Realized: $47,800.

Earl Moran (American, 1893-1984), A Mere Maid, Brown and Bigelow calendar illustration, c. late 1930s: Pastel on board, 38 x 29 in. Signed lower right. Truly one of the great pinups in all of the genre. This masterpiece is truly “the Great American Pin-Up” personified. Realized $35,850.

Heritage Auctions, headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, is the world’s third largest auction house, with annual sales more than $600 million, and 500,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com

The title page of Robert Aitken’s Bible, which was printed in Philadelphia.

CHADDS FORD, Pa. – On a day when a trio of high-profile consignments brought outstanding prices at William Bunch Auctions’ April 13, 2010 sale, friends and former customers of the late Fred Peech showed their respect for the longtime antique dealer from Marmora, N.J., with strong bidding for the best pieces from his home.

“It was just a nice sale where a lot of I’ll say ‘the old guard’ of the antique business came together to pay homage to Fred,” said auction house owner William Bunch. He was a nice guy, very humble fellow, very well liked, who had a lot of product knowledge.”

The top piece of furniture was an early 18th-century walnut William & Mary stretcher-base tavern table with one full drawer. This Pennsylvania piece sold for $21,060. (All prices quoted in this report are inclusive of 20% buyer’s premium.)

Exhibiting a crusty finish, a small walnut stretcher-base joint stool measuring 16 1/2 inches by 10 1/2 inches by 20 1/2 inches high rose to $9,945.

“A good Philadelphia dish-top tea table with a single-board top had a little repair to it, but brought a respectable $9,300,” said Bunch.

“It was the typical sale one has today where the brown furniture that has a few apologies doesn’t do as well as you’d like it do,” said Bunch, “but the things that are sweet, that are still charming, still attract a lot of attention and command a lot of competition … and good prices as well.”

Three separate consignments performed particularly well at the sale, starting with a Bible printed in Philadelphia by Robert Aitken during the American Revolution. With its cover detached, the well-worn volume looked much like any other old family Bible that might have been found in an attic.

“It was literally contained in a one-gallon baggie. It was a humble-looking book, just octavo size, which is 6 or 7 inches,” said Bunch, who quickly learned the Bible was rare and valuable.

Of the 10,000 printed in 1782, significantly fewer than 100 remain, with only a handful in private hands. It is significant in that it is the first Bible containing both the Old and New Testaments ever printed in English in America. It was sanctioned and supported by the U.S. government. George Washington said of the Bible, “It would have pleased me well, if Congress had been pleased to make such an important present (a copy of the Aitken Bible) to the brave fellows, who have done so much for the security of their Country’s rights and establishment.”

Only one of Aitken’s Bibles has surfaced in recent years at auction, bringing $57,000 in 2008. Bunch assigned an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000 on this copy.

“It has some potential to bring into five figures,” he had told the consignor, who is a descendant of the original owner.

Bunch, who was hoping to attract several interested parties to make the bidding competitive, was surprised by the broad response. “I landed eight phone lines, three active bidders on LiveAuctioneers … and I had three people in the room who that had looked at the Bible and were seriously interested. And I had an absentee bid in the neighborhood of $50,000,” said Bunch.

It finally came to a battle between two phone bidders, with a rare book dealer winning the Bible for $78,975.

“It’s hard to say if he was bidding for a client. I didn’t ask and they don’t like to say,” said Bunch.

Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (English, 1889-1946) painted this oil on canvas titled Canal at Ghent about 1912. The 30-inch by 22-inch work sold for $70,200.

The top painting at Bunch’s auction was an impressive work by Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (1889-1946), an English-born artist who studied at the Academie Julien in Paris. He was interested in Cubism and Futurism, styles that are evoked in the painting titled Canal at Ghent, a 30-inch by 22-inch oil on canvas.

The painting was consigned by a grandson of Charles Hovey Pepper, 1864-1950, who was an American artist trained in New York and Paris and was a member of “The Four Boston Painters,” founded in 1913 by Carl Gordon Cutler and including Maurice Prendergast and E. Ambrose Webster, all Academie Julian graduates. Pepper was also an avid collector, and his grandson has consigned works to Bunch in recent years that were collected by Pepper.

After discussing the painting with a British art scholar who had written books on Nevinson, Bunch estimated the painting at  $60,000 to $90,000.

“I had a lot of interest from London, but they were scared off a little by my estimate,” said Bunch. “I didn’t think I was too high; maybe I was a little optimistic.”

After a collector from the West Coast and a London gallery chased the painting to $55,000, one of Bunch’s regular customers in the gallery jumped into the fray and trumped them with a bid of $70,200.

“She buys expensive things but surprised me by buying that particular painting, but I’m glad she did,” said Bunch.

All original, this 1958 Ford Custom 300 Custom had only 5,333 actual miles on the odometer. The two-door sedan was equipped with a straight-six engine and standard transmission. A Georgia bidder paid $25,740.

The third major consignment of the sale was what Bunch described as a “rare survivor” – an all-original 1958 Ford Custom 300 two-door sedan in like-new condition.

The original owner purchased the car from Keyser & Miller Ford in Pottstown, Pa., on July 30, 1958.

“The story goes he and his wife took a trip to Florida. She didn’t like the car, so the fellow parked it and didn’t drive it much after that,” said Bunch.

The consignor’s father purchased the car from the original owner in 1973, but drove it little and kept it garaged.

“It wasn’t the most desirable model as ’50s and ’60s cars go – you’d rather see a convertible or a hardtop – but to find a car with barely 5,000 miles on it of any model is rare and unusual,” said Bunch. “Other than a little peeling paint on the engine block it was in beautiful showroom condition.”

A man from Georgia bought the classic Ford for $25,740.

For additional information contact William Bunch by calling 610-558-1800 or e-mailing info@williambunchauctions.com.

Rolex trio leads solid fine timepieces portion; American pocket watches show increased demand

DALLAS, TX – A stunningly beautiful 11.99 carat pear-shaped diamond and platinum ring, from the Dorothy & Sidney Factor Collection brought $131,450 – with all proceeds going to charity – to lead Heritage Auction Galleries’ May 3-4 Signature® Fine Jewelry and Fine Timepieces auctions. All prices include a 19.5% Buyer’s Premium.

“This amazing diamond is the crowning jewel of the Factor Family Collection,” said Jill Burgum, Director of Jewelry Auctions at Heritage, “and, as such, it’s no surprise that it would lead the auction. The family has always been amazing philanthropists, and with the donation of the proceeds to charity, this just further burnishes their already sterling reputation.”

The fine jewelry portion of the auction finished with a $1.045 million total, while the fine timepieces came in at just more than $750,000. More than 950 bidders competed for the assorted gems, jewelry and watches.

A rare 5.60 carat Lucida ™ diamond set in platinum from Tiffany & Co. added plenty of excitement to the proceedings as the final lot in the auction, selling for $101,575, while strong interest sparked a bidding war on a Diamond, Gold Necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels, which rocketed past its starting bid of $6,000, to hammer at $16,000.

“We had a fabulous turnout with an audience of floor bidders competing strong against both phone and Internet bidders,” said Burgum. “Along with the high gold market, it appears that the economy is improving and that helped achieve significant results.”

There was plenty of significant bidding action on the various fine timepiece offerings, with solid prices realized across the board. Of the watches performing particularly well, a trio of rare Rolex’s showed particular strength, bringing in almost $60,000 total, very respectable prices on today’s market.

“The trio of vintage Rolex sports models performed very well,” said Jim Wolf, Director of Fine Timepieces as Heritage. “The reference 1655 ‘Steve McQueen,’ the Ref. 1019 Milgauss and the Submariner Ref. 5512 were actively tracked by hundreds of collectors around the world and bidding was very spirited. They brought $19,718, $16,730 and $20,315, respectively.”

The American pocket watch market was bolstered by exceptional results as a rare Nashua Watch Co. watch brought $26,290 and a rare model 72 Waltham reached a record price of $14,340 after the gavel went down.

“I was very pleased with the attention these American pocket watches received,” said Wolf. “When truly rare American timepieces, like these beauties, are offered for sale the notice they bring is considerable, and the prices are commensurate.”

European watches were solid throughout the auction with the featured lots in particular drawing the eyes of collectors. A James Nardin, Locle, Extremely Fine Gold Minute Repeating Pocket Watch with Chronograph, Perpetual Calendar & Moon Phase, circa 1880s, rose to a $21,510 finish, while a Swiss Extremely Fine & Massive 18K Rose Gold Minute Repeating Watch With Chronograph, Perpetual Calendar And Moon Phases Made For Beyer, Zurich, circa 1896, found a new home with a $29,875 price tag and a Patek Philippe & Cie Rare & Very Fine Gold Trip Minute Repeater, Two Train Tandem Wind Pocket Watch, circa 1904, showed considerable strength as it finished as the top watch of the day with a $32,863 price realized.

Heritage Auctions, headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, is the world’s third largest auction house, with annual sales more than $600 million, and 500,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.

Catalog Now Online

Auction May 28th 2010

Jw Marriott Hotel – Hong Kong

Auction May 14th, 15th & 16th  10am

Featuring Objets D’Art, Art, Furniture & Accessories, Glass & Porcelain

Featuring Property from a New Iberia Estate, the Estate of Donald Schenk (Part II), items from the Estate of Joseph Francis Deynoodt (N.O City Attorney During the Morrison Administration), a Washington Ave. Estate and Numerous Local Estates

Auction: May 8th 10am

Exhibition thru May 7th 10am to 5pm