Celebrity memorabilia; D-Day flag; shattuckite pieces
Arm yourself with knowledge to become a smart collectibles investor!
- Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: “Vernacular photos” is a catchphrase for collectible photos taken by lesser known photographers, both amateur and professional. These random photos are prized because they provide peeks into daily life when shot.
MORE: An oversize albumen print portrait of an American fire chief circa 1880 that sold for $5,250 recently at Swann Galleries in New York is a perfect example of what collectors seek in vernacular photos. Details such as clothing, period hairstyle, facial hair and the fire helmet illustrate a moment in time. Any collector of firefighting memorabilia would be thrilled to have it.
HOT TIP: Dealers have noted an uptick in requests for old photos. Collectors pour through albums and loose individual photos.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Automobilia collectors usually seek shots of old cars, perhaps early gas stations, or related product displays. A tin toy fan looks for photos of children posing with a prize robot or stamped car, and a railroad collector looks for shots of certain lines or switches, etc.
BOTTOM LINE: Don’t expect to get rich selling off loose photos that Aunt Blanche left in a drawer. We found thousands posted on eBay, with completed sales ranging from $5 for a smiling 1940s girl wearing a bandana to $50 and more for old views of specific railroad lines or city sites.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: When Heritage Auctions held an Entertainment & Music Signature Sale of showbiz memorabilia last month, stage and/or game-worn items from icons sold best. Whitney Houston memorabilia included her fold-out passport, which covered almost a decade of touring and sold for $11,250, but highest price went to a pair of game-worn Nike Air Jordans given to her by Michael Jordan around 1990.
MORE: Earlier in the multi-day sale, a lock of dyed yellow hair snipped from the head of David Bowie by the wig mistress of Madame Tussauds in London sold for $18,750. The cut was done to match hair color on his wax image.
The Yellow Cloud guitar designed by and played on stage by Prince brought a whopping $137,500. It was bought by Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, for his collection of important rock guitars.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: In celebrity memorabilia, association is everything. Nothing beats the show-off value of owning Prince’s favorite, the much photographed Cloud guitar.
HOT TIP: Dallas-based Heritage moved the celebrity sale to Beverly Hills, where celebrity and money matter.
BOTTOM LINE: Wealthy collectors have serious money to spend on items they want. What chance would an ordinary fan have had with that guitar? On the other hand, the new owner has the means to display his prize for the public.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: When a Tiffany Studios Geranium table lamp brought $94,800 in a James D. Julia auction in Maine, the fine shade had a lot to do with the result. Measuring 17 inches in diameter, the color, leaded glass, cone-shaped shade features red flowers with blue and green vari-color leaves, plus a background of multi-color confetti glass. The shade is signed on the underside.
MORE: Set on a classic Tiffany Studios bronze base column, the lamp has a fancy platform base. Together, the base pieces have a rich patina created by age. Three arms with sockets hold bulbs; at the top is an authentic Tiffany pierced cap. Total height is 22½ inches, and the lamp has been rewired with an appropriate cloth cord. Other glass shade lamps by varied makers also sold in the auction, but the Geranium took the cake. Another Tiffany Studios lamp, one with a blue Dogwood shade, realized $59,250.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The term “Tiffany glass lamp” has become generic, but only lamps made by Tiffany Studios in New York City using techniques developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany are true Tiffany. From the early 1890s until the company closed in the early 1930s, the studio created lighting and windows, plus blown-glass objects as well as art metals and enamels.
HOT TIP: At the time, lamps of this size were called “library” lamps.
BOTTOM LINE: Sale total was more than $2.8 million, with important glass and fine jewelry joining lamps and fine ceramics. In today’s market, the best always sells highest.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A battered American flag with 48 stars — and a bullet hole from a German machine gun — that led American troops when they landed on Utah Beach in France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, sold at Heritage Auctions last month.
MORE: The flag brought $514,000,more than five times the pre-sale estimate. Originally flown from the stern of U.S. Navy vessel LCC 60 (the sole guide boat at Utah Beach), it was kept by the ship’s captain, Lt. Howard Vander Beek, until his death in 2014.
SMART COLLECTORS
KNOW: Thoroughly documented and photographed, this World War II relic is part of an illustrious list of existing historic American flags. Its importance will continue to grow.
BOTTOM LINE: The buyer, a Dutch art collector who lives in Switzerland and New York, attended the sale with an uncle. Both had recently visited Normandy in memory of family killed during bombing raids on Rotterdam in 1940. To him, the flag represents family history, plus the valor of young soldiers, especially “Americans who gave their lives so we in Europe can live in freedom.”
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A museum-size specimen of shattuckite, dug by hand from a copper deposit in what was formerly the Congo, brought $13,125 this month in a Nature and Science auction at Heritage Auctions. Unusually thick, the specimen measures about 14 inches by 10 inches by 7 inches.
In the same sale, a box carved of shattuckite by artist Konstantin Libman sold for $7,500. The box measures 8.46 inches by 5.39 inches by 2.36 inches.
MORE: Shattuckite is a rare byproduct of copper with shades of deep sea blue and lighter hues of sky blue, plus smoky quartz areas at the top and turquoise colored streaks. In addition, copper is seen through all surfaces.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Rock hounds often collect by category. Some prefer geologic specimens, meteorites or fossils. Others go for raw or polished gemstones.
HOT TIP: Shattuckite has come from these copper deposits for years. Specimens dug in 2013 to 2014 proved exceptionally thick and pure, and only three large examples (including this one) came out intact. Ominously, mine yield is now poor.
BOTTOM LINE: The box is a lapidary product, which may account for the fact that the unusual specimen sold so high. Mineral collectors usually prefer specimens true to nature. Shattuckite is a secondary mineral of other secondary minerals, making the transformation into an artisan product even more removed from nature.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: When a pocket watch sells for more than 12 times the high estimate at auction, that’s news. It happened last month in Geneva when four bidders fought over a rare 18K rose gold pocket watch, the “The Krusenstern” chronometer. In the end two bidders, one in house and the other on the phone, duked it out. It went to the buyer in house, identified as a prominent collector of high-end watches.
MORE: Made in 1812 by Danish watchmaker Urban Jurgensen, the pocket chronometer with Arnold spring detent chronometer escapement is finely made, and has multiple complications. The oversize timepiece is 60 mm wide and 25 mm thick.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Chinese and Hong Kong buyers now influence the fine watch market in a big way. Bidders comb world-wide auctions for rare examples of timepieces, from wrist and pocket watches to table and mantel clocks. At any major sale with clocks or watches, you’ll see them pre-sale examining lots with loupes in hand.
HOT TIP: The pocket chronometer was ordered by the Danish king as a royal gift to the Russian naval officer and geographer, Barron Krusenstern.
BOTTOM LINE: Founded in Denmark as a business in 1773, the Jurgensen family of watchmakers later became a Swiss dynasty. Second generation son Urban Jurgensen is honored for having created a number of horological innovations.
- Danielle Arnet The Smart collector
- Updated
WHAT: When Palm Beach Modern Auctions sold 550 lots of modern design, art and decor recently, the $1 million-plus result was a first for the Florida auction house. Buyers from 16 countries battled in house, by phone and online for original mid-20th century design. The genre is certainly having a moment these days, worldwide.
MORE: Along with Picasso ceramics and art by Botello and Dubuffet, furniture was popular. A “Contour” model loveseat (with oil rubbed walnut frame) by designer Vladimir Kagan brought $7,500.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Kagan designed furniture that appealed to young homeowners in the booming suburbs. Built low like most mid-century furniture, his work aimed for fluid lines and comfort. The curved spread legs on this seat are another Kagan signature.
HOT TIP: Originally sold with a white woven fabric cover, this version has apparently been re-covered at some point. Clean, original upholstery minus stains could have boosted the result. In mid-century, all-original is best. And, of course, purists want only original vintage pieces.
BOTTOM LINE: Kagan died earlier this year, but many of his designs, including the Contour loveseat with a footrest, are still in production and can be seen on vladimirkagan.com
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: When Morphy Auctions sold almost 1,250 lots of automobilia and petroliana this spring, some items brought remarkable prices. A 48-inch diameter Champlain Oil Products porcelain sign featuring a swashbuckling musketeer sold for $76,250. A Kelly Tires 42-inch sign decorated with a spunky young female driver and the “Lotta Miles” logo brought $94,550. Both signs sold above pre-sale estimates.
MORE: Automobilia and petroliana are popular collecting areas that sometimes overlap. In the first, anything related to antique and vintage autos such as hood ornaments, advertising, flower holders and lenses for headlights are collected. Petroliana involves collectible antique and vintage gas station items, particularly outside or inside signs, gas pumps, brand oil bottle racks, gas pump globes, etc.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: At this level, top dollar goes to rare and aesthetically appealing pieces in excellent condition. Very minor levels of rust or damage are occasionally tolerated, but only in the rarest and finest.
HOT TIP: The sale was special because lots came from a known collection so large that this was the third sale of four groups. Selective buying and the seller’s expertise accounted for the variety and high quality of lots.
BOTTOM LINE: For common automobilia or petroliana items, or those in less than perfect condition, the going rate boils down to what someone will pay.
MORE: The Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), a nonprofit group of coin experts, has issued a report warning consumers of a rise in counterfeit vintage rare coins and fake new gold and silver ingots. Many apparently come from China. The lesson is clear: Know your seller before you buy. For more info, visit www.PNGdealers.org.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: Q: What collectible is 28 feet long, weighs more than 13,000 pounds and just sold for $250,000? A: I don’t know, but you’re not going to fit it in your vitrine!
MORE: When a 28-foot circus wagon dubbed the “Two Hemispheres” brought $250,000 in a recent sale of Americana and political memorabilia at Heritage Auctions, the event was a perfect fit. Little could be more all-American than a circa 1903 Barnum & Bailey wagon that required a team of 40 horses when it was first seen in a grand parade welcoming “The Greatest Show on Earth” home from a five-year world tour.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Circus memorabilia collectors thrive on the romance, action and smells of old-time circuses. The more flash and color the better in posters, costumes, backdrops, advertising and, yes, wagons.
HOT TIP: The historic wagon is decorated with carvings from the workshop of renowned carver Samuel Robb, who is best known as one of the premier makers of 19th century cigar store Indians. The price is the highest ever achieved for a circus wagon.
BOTTOM LINE: You never know what will appeal to a collector. The collecting bug bites for all tastes and sizes, even a mammoth circus wagon. Who knows —maybe the buyer will pop for a calliope next time! The Canadian buyer, who flew to Dallas just to buy the piece, will announce plans for the wagon at a later date.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A coverless German language copy of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” bearing the inked names of Anne and Margot Frank sold recently for $62,500 at Swann Galleries in New York.
MORE: Estimated pre-sale at $20,000 to 30,000, the book, published in 1925 Vienna, is inscribed with both girls’ names by Anne. Margot’s ink owner’s stamp is on the inside. It sold with a letter from their father Otto Frank, who had gifted the book to a friend.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Anne and Margot Frank’s copy of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” soared because the artifact is a testament to Anne’s lasting legacy. Her diary account (dated 1942 to 1944) relating her life while hiding from Nazi occupation in the Netherlands has been published in more than 60 languages and has inspired generations.
HOT TIP: Rescued from the annex where the Frank family hid in Amsterdam, Anne’s diary was first published in Dutch in 1947. The copyright to that version expired on 1/1/16. As a result, the original Dutch version became available online.
BOTTOM LINE: Anne and Margot Frank died in 1945, probably of typhus, in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp weeks before the camp was liberated.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A one-of a-kind Zeiss Tele-Tessar 500mm f/8 lens used by Commander Dave Scott in orbit and on the lunar surface during the Apollo 15 moon mission sold for $453,281 last month in an RR Auction. Some 293 photos were taken during that mission. The silver lens measures 12 inches long and was an integral part of the Hasselblad electric data camera.
MORE: The mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 26, 1971, and lasted until August 7, 1971.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Artifacts used during the golden age of space exploration, especially items handled by early astronauts, are avidly sought by collectors. When linkage to mission and user are clear, prices soar. This custom lens is considered significant as a large piece of space hardware.
HOT TIP: According to the auction house, “Special tabs were fitted to the rotational segments in the center of the lens, used to adjust focus and f-stop, for ease of use with the pressurized gloves of a spacesuit.” The lens cap and rear were later covered with duct tape and signed on the rear by Scott.
BOTTOM LINE: In 2012, Congress passed a law stating that participating astronauts can keep space artifacts used in specific missions and that they have full ownership and clear title to any artifact given to them. That includes equipment, prototypes and disposable flight hardware, but excludes lunar rocks and lunar material.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: When Heritage Auctions held a Signature auction of luxury bags and accessories last month, 50 bags of the more than 600 lots sold were from Hermes. Hermes bags outsold bags from Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Judith Leiber and other luxury houses. Sale results hit over $2.5 million.
MORE: The top lot was a previously owned circa 2010 Hermes limited edition matte So Black Nilo crocodile Birkin bag with PVD hardware in pristine condition. The all-black look pushed the price to $125,000. Another black Birkin, a circa 2006 Porosus (another species of croc) bag in excellent to pristine condition with 18K white gold and diamond hardware, sold for $118,750.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Available in Hermes boutiques only since 2010, the limited edition So Black Birkin is rare on the secondary market.
HOT TIP: The new black hardware caused a sensation with fashionistas even before its release. PVD stands for “physical vapor deposition” and is a way of bonding metal with another metal.
BOTTOM LINE: Luxury bags enjoy a brisk and competitive secondary market. It’s like a luxury auto: Let the original owner eat the depreciation.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A 1914 Chicago White Sox contract for player Ed Walsh sold last year for $50,363 in a Robert Edward (REA) auction.
MORE: Collecting baseball memorabilia is not just about sport cards, game worn uniforms or signed equipment. These days, serious fans look beyond traditional categories to seek out unusual — and hopefully less competitive —areas. Walsh’s 1914 contract is a perfect example of this.
The excellent condition contract sold with a letter of provenance from the Veeck family. When future Hall of Fame executive Bill Veeck purchased the White Sox from the Comiskey family in 1958, he acquired all of the club’s old files and contracts. Signed in black fountain pen by the player, by Chas A. Comiskey (then White Sox owner), and B. B. Johnson (American League president), the one-year contract guaranteed to pay Walsh a total of $6,000.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The authentic Comiskey signature adds value, as most of his business papers were ghost signed by a staffer.
HOT TIP: Any sports signature, on whatever matrix, must be thoroughly vetted by a professional authority recognized in the genre. Too many are fakes.
BOTTOM LINE: Significant because it is linked to an early Hall of Fame pitcher (Walsh was inducted in 1946), the contract is also unusual because it was signed on opening day in 1914, when Walsh was already past his prime.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: When important sales of Judaica (Jewish religious or cultural artifacts) are compared, the Steinhardt sale at Sotheby’s in April 2013 trumps all.
Amounting to a whopping $8.5 million, the event remains the most valuable sale of Judaica, ever. One lot, the Mishneh Torah circa mid-1400s, sold pre-auction to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A lavishly decorated Esther scroll with an accompanying blessing sheet brought $653,000, and an Arts & Crafts Rookwood pottery vase decorated with the image of an Old World rabbi fetched $1,875.
MORE: With goods ranging from Jewish antiquity to the 20th century, the sale consisted of nearly 400 lots amassed during 30-plus years of collecting.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Dedicated high-quality collections built by knowledgeable collectors are catnip to institutions and serious collectors. Methodically gathered with input from experts, collecting at this level is for those with deep pockets.
HOT TIP: Long ago, a wise collector at this level told us: “Buy only what you like and know, and buy the very best you can afford.”
BOTTOM LINE: Judaica collections this important come to auction perhaps once or twice a century.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A 14-by-22.25-inch cardboard window card advertising a Ray Charles concert in San Diego on Sept. 9, 1961, brought in about $5,440 when it sold in a recent pop culture/political memorabilia auction by Hake’s Americana & Collectibles. The concert promised the artist’s greatest hits, including “Georgia” and “What’d I Say.”
MORE: Note the ticket prices of $2 to $4 and the mention of The Singing Raelets and Betty Carter, plus credit for the musical arrangements by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Concert posters in excellent condition that promote major stars of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, such as Charles, will become even more valuable as older buyers buy back memories of their youth. They are the generation with disposable income to spend.
HOT TIP: Watch for rock star posters to experience the same trajectory. Music posters from that era are already gold, but rock posters of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, including those featuring the Beatles and The Doors, are not far behind and climbing. A 1969 first printing Jimi Hendrix psychedelic poster for a Toronto concert sold for a little more than $5,705 in the same sale.
BOTTOM LINE: Pop and rock posters were never made to be collectible. They were advertising, period. Anyone could take home a program. The lucky person who thought to take a top condition poster as a souvenir, and then preserve it for 50-plus years, hit the jackpot.
BOOK IT! “The Historical Apothecary Compendium: A Guide to Terms and Symbols” by Daniel A. Goldstein (Schiffer, $50) is an encyclopedic guide to terms used on apothecary bottles and other wares. Many of us admire the bottles as attractive curiosities but don’t have a clue to what labels mean. There are more than 10,000 entries, so no alchemical symbol or apothecary squiggle should remain unidentified. Written by a medical toxicologist, understood by the lay person.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: When Christie’s New York sold Part II of a private collection of Chinese snuff bottles last month, the 154 lots totaled just under $1 million. One, a sandwiched pink glass bottle in the form of an elongated Chinese cabbage, brought $10,625.
MORE: Sandwiched glass involves layers of differing color glass that are pressed or cut down into. Only 3 inches high, this bottle has a layer of pink glass between two layers of white glass. The white is carved on the exterior to form cabbage leaves that extend upward. The neck is speckled with green and pink glass; the stopper is carved jadeite.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Chinese cabbage, “baicai” or “qingcai,” is a symbol for wealth because it has the same sound as the word for money or wealth. Hence the cabbage shape of the bottle.
HOT TIP: Tobacco was introduced to the Beijing court by the Portuguese in the 16th century. At first, snuff bottles were strictly a court or upper class item. Intended to fit into the palm of a hand, early examples acquired a patina that is much prized today.
BOTTOM LINE: Significant collections built by knowledgeable collectors tend to sell high — often spectacularly — when they come to market. Built by focused individuals who do their research and buy only the very best, important single owner collections are often a bonanza for both seller and buyer.
MORE: On June 22, Christie’s will disperse another single owner collection when it sells items from Joan Rivers’ penthouse. Included are a silver Tiffany water bowl engraved “Spike,” Bob Mackie costumes, Faberge and French furniture, and designer jewels of all kinds.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: Printed in what was the wilderness of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Bay Psalm Book was the first book made by Congregational Pilgrims who arrived seeking religious freedom. As the first book printed in America, the book is precious as a historical document and religious artifact.
MORE: A poetic translation of the Psalms intended to reflect the Hebrew original, the text was created by leading ministers and scholars of the colony including Richard Mather and John Cotton. The press, paper and type were sent from England by an indentured locksmith.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: With printed matter, the first edition is the most sought and most valuable.
HOT TIP: Of the 1,700 copies of the first edition, only 11 are known to survive. In 2013, one set a new world record for a printed book at auction when it sold for $14.1 million in London. It was the first time since 1947 and only the second time since the 19th century that a first edition had come to auction.
BOTTOM LINE: At the Swann auction, it was the first time the seventh edition has surfaced. Published in Boston in 1693, it has provenance dating from a Salem witch trial judge.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: In New York City on April 6, the chair where author J.K. Rowling sat as she wrote “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” will sell at the Heritage Auctions gallery there.
Before donating the chair to a small charity auction in 2002, Rowling painted it with lettering that reads: “You may not find me pretty, but don’t judge on what you see.” On the seat apron she painted, “I wrote Harry Potter while sitting on this chair.” The backrest is signed, and under the seat on a stretcher is “Gryffindor.”
MORE: The chair comes from a set that Rowling was given in government housing when she was a young, single mother living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rowling used the most comfortable chair in the set as her main writing chair.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Short of laying hands on original manuscripts for the first two Potter books, this chair is the most important piece of original Potter memorabilia to sell to date. Rowling’s hand lettered message adds immensely to value.
HOT TIP: The chair will sell with the original “Owl Post” that Rowling typed for the first charity auction. In it, she writes of receiving four mismatched dining chairs in 1995 and how this “was the comfiest one.” We also learn that she produced the manuscripts by typewriter.
BOTTOM LINE: Potter enthusiasts of all ages will want this piece of literary memorabilia. Expect bidding to be fierce: The chair could end up in an institution such as a university or library.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A 25-cent Mills roulette floor model slot machine circa 1901 that sold recently at Morphy Auctions for $158,600 is one of only a few known to exist. The roulette wheel can be viewed by looking down into the top of the 45-inch tall case.
MORE: Called a seven-way machine because it accepts seven different coins on a single pull, the machine features an unusual hexagonal wooden box hiding nickel plated works. Total restoration in 1987 included replating the works, plus exterior fixtures including claw feet.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The machine sold as part of a dedicated auction limited to coin-op machines and collectible advertising. Smart collectors know that dedicated sales of antiques and collectibles offer focused collections of better goods.
HOT TIP: Pennsylvania-based Morphy Auctions held this sale in their Las Vegas gallery because they knew that the best way to cash in on collectible coin-ops is to sell where there is a focus of interest.
BOTTOM LINE: Early coin-operated machines — from peep shows to vending machines, amusement machines (think fortune tellers) to player pianos and musical machines of all kinds — are hugely popular with buyers who seek out the rarest in working condition.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: In a world where competition between auction houses for top goods has become fierce, even high-end houses are slugging it out for newsworthy sales and consumer recognition. Once a stuffy white-glove pursuit, prestige auctions have increasingly become theatrical events.
Christie’s London recently sold memorabilia from “Spectre,” the 24th film in the James Bond series. Held in-house and online, the first part alone realized about $3.9 million, with all proceeds to be donated to charities including Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and United Nations Mine Action Service. Bond’s car, an Aston Martin DB10, brought more than $3.4 million.
MORE: In late December at Sotheby’s New York, 600 Star Wars toys and memorabilia from a Japanese mega fan sold for $550,000. Top lot was a $32,500 5-figure pack originally sold only at Canadian Sears stores.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: In collectibles, it’s always the unusual and pristine that bring top dollar. Memorabilia made to be collectible never soars.
HOT TIP: Smart collectors hunt for recalled memorabilia. A Luke Skywalker figure with double telescoping lightsaber, made in limited numbers then recalled because the lightsaber tended to break, is the one everyone wants.
BOTTOM LINE: Everyone wins in sales like the one at Christie’s London. Bond producers, already under flak for flagrant product placement (said to be 17 in “Spectre”), get props for giving to charity. Collectors get a chance to bid for iconic items, and auction houses bring in new bidders. All involved gain publicity.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: Estimated to sell at about $17,000 to $26,000, a 10-inch partially glazed ceramic plate titled “Visage” (eye) painted by Pablo Picasso ended up selling for more than $90,000 at Sotheby’s London recently. The plate, decorated with a hand-painted eye, plus swipes of color, is dated May 16, 1963, and numbered on the reverse.
MORE: Sold in a collection of works owned by Marina Picasso, the artist’s granddaughter, authenticity is confirmed by Claude Picasso, the artist’s son and Marina’s uncle.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Celebrated for his paintings and flat artworks, Picasso also worked in wire, wax, sculpture, weavings and clay.
HOT TIP: Marina Picasso’s sale of works on paper, ceramics and terracotta sculpture — 186 in all —happened as a battle raged between a major art dealer and the royals of Qatar over a bust the artist did of a mistress, and whether or not Picasso’s aged daughter actually sold it twice.
BOTTOM LINE: With Picasso paintings bringing astronomical prices when they come to market, collectors have turned to his less traditional pieces. As this heavily documented plate demonstrates, they, too, have soared out of reach for many.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A rare composition toy with George Washington watching as a child chops down a cherry tree brought $10,620 in a recent auction of antique and collectible toys at Bertoia Auctions. Composition refers to the makeup of the body, which ranged from sawdust with glue to clay, fabric or you name it. The base is wood.
MORE: At 11 inches wide and 14 inches high, this toy was probably made as a display figure. Animated figures in shop windows lured passers-by to linger, then shop inside.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The 19th century was the golden age of clockwork toys, when movement was driven by clock mechanisms. Expensive and special, clockwork toys were not meant for rough and tumble play. Those that survive were probably kept for “good.”
HOT TIP: This tableau is in excellent condition. Everything, including fabrics, is intact with no fading, tears or smudges.
BOTTOM LINE: Rarity of subject, a larger size and pristine condition combined to bring top dollar.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: A red- and gilt-painted Louis XV commode that sold for $7,500 last month at Doyle New York was made in the second quarter of the 18th century. The decoration is described as parcel gilt, meaning that it is partially, not completely, decorated with gold (gilt).
MORE: The piece has a gray and white marble top plus three long drawers painted with gold chinoiserie, a fashionable look that was a rage at the time.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Chinoiserie (sheen-wahs-ree) is a French term meaning, loosely, “in the Chinese style.” It almost always refers to Chinese figures, pagodas, blossoms and other motifs, and is generally seen on painted furniture.
HOT TIP: Design styles cycle in and out of fashion, and variants of chinoiserie have been used for centuries. Quality of the gilding or decoration matters for top dollar. Good chinoiserie remains a favorite, which may explain why the chest’s estimated pre-sale was at $2,500 to 3,500 and the price soared to $7,500.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: Provenance mattered — a lot — when a plain, walnut-framed, vintage massage table soared to $10,625 in a Palm Beach auction by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Pre-sale estimate was $2,000 to 4,000.
The sale of 153 lots involved furniture and decorations from the former Kennedy winter compound in Florida. The home was sold by the Kennedy family to the current owners in 1995, along with most contents. The massage table was used by JFK as he recovered from back surgery.
MORE: Hundreds of local and national bidders attended the auction. High prices went to items linked to the Kennedy family, especially by photos or anecdote. The Kennedy dining table sold for $16,250; a pair of walnut twin beds, along with a photo of JFK sitting in one, brought $20,000.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Items related to celebrity or infamy usually sell best in locations linked to the individual during their lifetime. Palm Beach and the Kennedy family were linked for decades.
HOT TIP: Chicago auctioneer Hindman went to the most likely buyers by selling the Kennedy lots in her Palm Beach saleroom. Interest from worldwide bidders expanded participation via phone and online bidding.
BOTTOM LINE: Celebrity sold big time as advance press and the Kennedy aura drove the total to almost $500,000. Bonus: Many, attracted by the Kennedy connection, were new to the auction process. They’ll be back.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: The 1894-S Barber dime made auction history in January. Sold in a Heritage auction at the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Convention in Tampa, the coin has been called “one of the most famous, mysterious and elusive coins in American numismatics.”
MORE: Considered one of the “Big Three” gets in American coin rarities (along with the 1804 dollar and the 1913 Liberty nickel), the dime was first noticed by collectors in 1900 and has come to auction only four times. At this sale, 16 advanced collectors vied for the piece.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Only 24 Barber dimes were struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1894, probably in order to balance a bullion account. No more than nine — and possibly only eight — examples of the 1894-S are known to collectors today. This one is the finest certified survivor.
HOT TIP: Heritage believes that “at least a couple more” of these dimes are still in circulation, and has announced a $10,000 reward to anyone who allows them to be the first to examine and verify a previously unknown and authentic 1894-S dime.
BOTTOM LINE: The actual selling price was $1,997,500.
MORE: PBS powerhouse “Antiques Roadshow” plans to visit six cities this summer. For 2016, tapings will happen in Orlando, Fla., Virginia Beach, Va., Indianapolis, Fort Worth, Texas, Palm Springs, Calif., and Salt Lake City. Admission is free but tickets, obtained in advance, are required. Visit www.pbs.org/antiques/tickets or call 888-762-3749. Deadline for applications is April 18, 2016.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: The 1964 Porsche 356 C 1600 SC Cabriolet painted for rock icon Janis Joplin that sold for $1.7 million at Sotheby’s in December was a used car when acquired by the star. Spotted in a used car lot in 1968, the then-undecorated vehicle was custom-painted by a friend, a roadie with her band Big Brother and the Holding Company.
MORE: Collectors went wild for the psychedelically embellished car painted, per Joplin’s request, with a “history of the universe” theme. Seven bidders duked it out in phone bidding.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Items connected with the famous and linked to their persona interest collectors most. As an example, this car fits the Joplin image — a staid sedan would not.
HOT TIP: The psychedelic Porsche was one of the first widely known “art cars.” Sold by Joplin’s brother and sister, the vehicle had been on display for 20 years at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland.
BOTTOM LINE: The sale price marks a record for any Porsche 356 sold at auction.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: Market value of American artist Norman Lewis (1909-1979) took a giant leap when his painting, “Untitled,” circa 1958, brought $965,000 in a recent record-breaking sale of works by African-American artists at Swann Galleries in New York. Pre-sale estimate was $250,000 to $350,000.
MORE: Lewis was the first African-American artist to receive the Carnegie International Award for his celebrated painting, “Migrating Birds” (1953).
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Works by African-American artists have enjoyed a steady climb during the past decade.
HOT TIP: Galleries and auction houses are divided on if black artists should be categorized by color. One thought is that they are American artists, period. Others maintain that collectors of the genre (and there are many) seek them out by race.
BOTTOM LINE: Adding to appeal (and probably the price), this is a previously unknown work by Lewis. Originally given as a gift by the artist, it has remained in one family since. New to the market is catnip for collectors.
MORE: Auctions are a big business. Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced that 2015 was their second best year ever, with $860 million in total prices. Coins and currency remain the base strength, but the fastest growth was in sports collectibles. The category grew by 41 percent to more than $42 million.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: With an estimated pre-sale at $10,000 to $12,000, a circa 1929 cast iron delivery panel van soared to $21,240 in a recent sale of antique toys at Bertoia Auctions. Embossed “White” on the front grill and marked “Peerless Cleaning,” the vehicle is a rare all-original toy.
MORE: To begin, the truck is rare. On top of that, it is in super excellent condition. Rubber tires are intact, as are spares on each running board. As a bonus, the seated driver is intact and the rear doors open.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The problem with early toys is that once played with, value usually plummets. Depending on the toy, top dollar goes to un-played with and pristine toys.
HOT TIP: A dream scenario for today’s committed collector would be a new toy gifted at Christmas or a birthday sometime around 1900, deemed too good to be played with and put away for safekeeping, then forgotten.
BOTTOM LINE: Toy collectors are big kids at heart. As adults, they have the money to buy back toys of their youth or buy toys their parents could not afford or would not let them have. Top-line antique toys are big business: Total for this auction hit close to $1.9 million.
BOOK IT! “Scootermania: A Celebration of Style and Speed” by Josh Sims (Bloomsbury, $20) is all about transport scooters, a favorite big boy toy of the 20th century. Through text, photos and period ads, the book highlights and explains Mitsubishi, Honda, Vespa, Lambretta, Fuji and Ducati scooters, plus others.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
- Updated
WHAT: Magnificent jewels brought magnificent prices in the past year. Multiple world records fell as international buyers put their money into serious gems.
MORE: Sotheby’s final jewelry auction of 2015 fetched $52.3 million, including the sale of a record-breaking Kashmir sapphire for $5.1 million, or $197,990 per carat. Earlier, a rare gray pearl necklace with 42 natural saltwater gray pearls matched by Cartier brought $5.27 million in Hong Kong. In all, the auction house hit $571 million worldwide in jewel sales last year.
Christie’s has not yet released a year total, but a final New York jewels sale brought $59.6 million, including a D color rectan-
gular diamond of more than 31 carats that sold for $4.3 million, or $137,500 per carat.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: At this level, jewelry and gems are absolutely top grade and rare. Exceptional and celebrity provenance helps, especially if there are photos of the famous owner wearing the piece.
HOT TIP: Increasingly, cash-strapped royal houses are letting go of family pieces. Now is a good time to pick up tiaras and baubles, even fine gent’s jewelry, from lesser (and usually unidentified) nobles or cafe society figures of bygone eras.
BOTTOM LINE: The boom in fine jewels is a trend that looks to continue. World economies call the shots on likely buyers: Today it’s East Asians. Before, Middle Easterners and Russian oligarchs bought big. Decades ago it was wealthy Germans, and so it goes.
BOOK IT: We’ve always promoted the use of online databases such as liveauctioneers.com and worthpoint.com to research prices. But sometimes you want a print version.
“Miller’s Antiques Handbook & Price Guide 2016-2017” by Judith Miller Mitchell Beazley, ($45) has almost 700 pages with some 8,000 new results showing worldwide auction results for porcelain, clocks and watches, posters, antiquities, decorative arts and more.
More than a reference, it’s also fun reading.
- Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: “Vernacular photos” is a catchphrase for collectible photos taken by lesser known photographers, both amateur and professional. These random photos are prized because they provide peeks into daily life when shot.
MORE: An oversize albumen print portrait of an American fire chief circa 1880 that sold for $5,250 recently at Swann Galleries in New York is a perfect example of what collectors seek in vernacular photos. Details such as clothing, period hairstyle, facial hair and the fire helmet illustrate a moment in time. Any collector of firefighting memorabilia would be thrilled to have it.
HOT TIP: Dealers have noted an uptick in requests for old photos. Collectors pour through albums and loose individual photos.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Automobilia collectors usually seek shots of old cars, perhaps early gas stations, or related product displays. A tin toy fan looks for photos of children posing with a prize robot or stamped car, and a railroad collector looks for shots of certain lines or switches, etc.
BOTTOM LINE: Don’t expect to get rich selling off loose photos that Aunt Blanche left in a drawer. We found thousands posted on eBay, with completed sales ranging from $5 for a smiling 1940s girl wearing a bandana to $50 and more for old views of specific railroad lines or city sites.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: When Heritage Auctions held an Entertainment & Music Signature Sale of showbiz memorabilia last month, stage and/or game-worn items from icons sold best. Whitney Houston memorabilia included her fold-out passport, which covered almost a decade of touring and sold for $11,250, but highest price went to a pair of game-worn Nike Air Jordans given to her by Michael Jordan around 1990.
MORE: Earlier in the multi-day sale, a lock of dyed yellow hair snipped from the head of David Bowie by the wig mistress of Madame Tussauds in London sold for $18,750. The cut was done to match hair color on his wax image.
The Yellow Cloud guitar designed by and played on stage by Prince brought a whopping $137,500. It was bought by Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, for his collection of important rock guitars.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: In celebrity memorabilia, association is everything. Nothing beats the show-off value of owning Prince’s favorite, the much photographed Cloud guitar.
HOT TIP: Dallas-based Heritage moved the celebrity sale to Beverly Hills, where celebrity and money matter.
BOTTOM LINE: Wealthy collectors have serious money to spend on items they want. What chance would an ordinary fan have had with that guitar? On the other hand, the new owner has the means to display his prize for the public.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: When a Tiffany Studios Geranium table lamp brought $94,800 in a James D. Julia auction in Maine, the fine shade had a lot to do with the result. Measuring 17 inches in diameter, the color, leaded glass, cone-shaped shade features red flowers with blue and green vari-color leaves, plus a background of multi-color confetti glass. The shade is signed on the underside.
MORE: Set on a classic Tiffany Studios bronze base column, the lamp has a fancy platform base. Together, the base pieces have a rich patina created by age. Three arms with sockets hold bulbs; at the top is an authentic Tiffany pierced cap. Total height is 22½ inches, and the lamp has been rewired with an appropriate cloth cord. Other glass shade lamps by varied makers also sold in the auction, but the Geranium took the cake. Another Tiffany Studios lamp, one with a blue Dogwood shade, realized $59,250.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The term “Tiffany glass lamp” has become generic, but only lamps made by Tiffany Studios in New York City using techniques developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany are true Tiffany. From the early 1890s until the company closed in the early 1930s, the studio created lighting and windows, plus blown-glass objects as well as art metals and enamels.
HOT TIP: At the time, lamps of this size were called “library” lamps.
BOTTOM LINE: Sale total was more than $2.8 million, with important glass and fine jewelry joining lamps and fine ceramics. In today’s market, the best always sells highest.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A battered American flag with 48 stars — and a bullet hole from a German machine gun — that led American troops when they landed on Utah Beach in France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, sold at Heritage Auctions last month.
MORE: The flag brought $514,000,more than five times the pre-sale estimate. Originally flown from the stern of U.S. Navy vessel LCC 60 (the sole guide boat at Utah Beach), it was kept by the ship’s captain, Lt. Howard Vander Beek, until his death in 2014.
SMART COLLECTORS
KNOW: Thoroughly documented and photographed, this World War II relic is part of an illustrious list of existing historic American flags. Its importance will continue to grow.
BOTTOM LINE: The buyer, a Dutch art collector who lives in Switzerland and New York, attended the sale with an uncle. Both had recently visited Normandy in memory of family killed during bombing raids on Rotterdam in 1940. To him, the flag represents family history, plus the valor of young soldiers, especially “Americans who gave their lives so we in Europe can live in freedom.”
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A museum-size specimen of shattuckite, dug by hand from a copper deposit in what was formerly the Congo, brought $13,125 this month in a Nature and Science auction at Heritage Auctions. Unusually thick, the specimen measures about 14 inches by 10 inches by 7 inches.
In the same sale, a box carved of shattuckite by artist Konstantin Libman sold for $7,500. The box measures 8.46 inches by 5.39 inches by 2.36 inches.
MORE: Shattuckite is a rare byproduct of copper with shades of deep sea blue and lighter hues of sky blue, plus smoky quartz areas at the top and turquoise colored streaks. In addition, copper is seen through all surfaces.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Rock hounds often collect by category. Some prefer geologic specimens, meteorites or fossils. Others go for raw or polished gemstones.
HOT TIP: Shattuckite has come from these copper deposits for years. Specimens dug in 2013 to 2014 proved exceptionally thick and pure, and only three large examples (including this one) came out intact. Ominously, mine yield is now poor.
BOTTOM LINE: The box is a lapidary product, which may account for the fact that the unusual specimen sold so high. Mineral collectors usually prefer specimens true to nature. Shattuckite is a secondary mineral of other secondary minerals, making the transformation into an artisan product even more removed from nature.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: When a pocket watch sells for more than 12 times the high estimate at auction, that’s news. It happened last month in Geneva when four bidders fought over a rare 18K rose gold pocket watch, the “The Krusenstern” chronometer. In the end two bidders, one in house and the other on the phone, duked it out. It went to the buyer in house, identified as a prominent collector of high-end watches.
MORE: Made in 1812 by Danish watchmaker Urban Jurgensen, the pocket chronometer with Arnold spring detent chronometer escapement is finely made, and has multiple complications. The oversize timepiece is 60 mm wide and 25 mm thick.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Chinese and Hong Kong buyers now influence the fine watch market in a big way. Bidders comb world-wide auctions for rare examples of timepieces, from wrist and pocket watches to table and mantel clocks. At any major sale with clocks or watches, you’ll see them pre-sale examining lots with loupes in hand.
HOT TIP: The pocket chronometer was ordered by the Danish king as a royal gift to the Russian naval officer and geographer, Barron Krusenstern.
BOTTOM LINE: Founded in Denmark as a business in 1773, the Jurgensen family of watchmakers later became a Swiss dynasty. Second generation son Urban Jurgensen is honored for having created a number of horological innovations.
- Danielle Arnet The Smart collector
WHAT: When Palm Beach Modern Auctions sold 550 lots of modern design, art and decor recently, the $1 million-plus result was a first for the Florida auction house. Buyers from 16 countries battled in house, by phone and online for original mid-20th century design. The genre is certainly having a moment these days, worldwide.
MORE: Along with Picasso ceramics and art by Botello and Dubuffet, furniture was popular. A “Contour” model loveseat (with oil rubbed walnut frame) by designer Vladimir Kagan brought $7,500.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Kagan designed furniture that appealed to young homeowners in the booming suburbs. Built low like most mid-century furniture, his work aimed for fluid lines and comfort. The curved spread legs on this seat are another Kagan signature.
HOT TIP: Originally sold with a white woven fabric cover, this version has apparently been re-covered at some point. Clean, original upholstery minus stains could have boosted the result. In mid-century, all-original is best. And, of course, purists want only original vintage pieces.
BOTTOM LINE: Kagan died earlier this year, but many of his designs, including the Contour loveseat with a footrest, are still in production and can be seen on vladimirkagan.com
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: When Morphy Auctions sold almost 1,250 lots of automobilia and petroliana this spring, some items brought remarkable prices. A 48-inch diameter Champlain Oil Products porcelain sign featuring a swashbuckling musketeer sold for $76,250. A Kelly Tires 42-inch sign decorated with a spunky young female driver and the “Lotta Miles” logo brought $94,550. Both signs sold above pre-sale estimates.
MORE: Automobilia and petroliana are popular collecting areas that sometimes overlap. In the first, anything related to antique and vintage autos such as hood ornaments, advertising, flower holders and lenses for headlights are collected. Petroliana involves collectible antique and vintage gas station items, particularly outside or inside signs, gas pumps, brand oil bottle racks, gas pump globes, etc.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: At this level, top dollar goes to rare and aesthetically appealing pieces in excellent condition. Very minor levels of rust or damage are occasionally tolerated, but only in the rarest and finest.
HOT TIP: The sale was special because lots came from a known collection so large that this was the third sale of four groups. Selective buying and the seller’s expertise accounted for the variety and high quality of lots.
BOTTOM LINE: For common automobilia or petroliana items, or those in less than perfect condition, the going rate boils down to what someone will pay.
MORE: The Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), a nonprofit group of coin experts, has issued a report warning consumers of a rise in counterfeit vintage rare coins and fake new gold and silver ingots. Many apparently come from China. The lesson is clear: Know your seller before you buy. For more info, visit www.PNGdealers.org.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: Q: What collectible is 28 feet long, weighs more than 13,000 pounds and just sold for $250,000? A: I don’t know, but you’re not going to fit it in your vitrine!
MORE: When a 28-foot circus wagon dubbed the “Two Hemispheres” brought $250,000 in a recent sale of Americana and political memorabilia at Heritage Auctions, the event was a perfect fit. Little could be more all-American than a circa 1903 Barnum & Bailey wagon that required a team of 40 horses when it was first seen in a grand parade welcoming “The Greatest Show on Earth” home from a five-year world tour.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Circus memorabilia collectors thrive on the romance, action and smells of old-time circuses. The more flash and color the better in posters, costumes, backdrops, advertising and, yes, wagons.
HOT TIP: The historic wagon is decorated with carvings from the workshop of renowned carver Samuel Robb, who is best known as one of the premier makers of 19th century cigar store Indians. The price is the highest ever achieved for a circus wagon.
BOTTOM LINE: You never know what will appeal to a collector. The collecting bug bites for all tastes and sizes, even a mammoth circus wagon. Who knows —maybe the buyer will pop for a calliope next time! The Canadian buyer, who flew to Dallas just to buy the piece, will announce plans for the wagon at a later date.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A coverless German language copy of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” bearing the inked names of Anne and Margot Frank sold recently for $62,500 at Swann Galleries in New York.
MORE: Estimated pre-sale at $20,000 to 30,000, the book, published in 1925 Vienna, is inscribed with both girls’ names by Anne. Margot’s ink owner’s stamp is on the inside. It sold with a letter from their father Otto Frank, who had gifted the book to a friend.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Anne and Margot Frank’s copy of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” soared because the artifact is a testament to Anne’s lasting legacy. Her diary account (dated 1942 to 1944) relating her life while hiding from Nazi occupation in the Netherlands has been published in more than 60 languages and has inspired generations.
HOT TIP: Rescued from the annex where the Frank family hid in Amsterdam, Anne’s diary was first published in Dutch in 1947. The copyright to that version expired on 1/1/16. As a result, the original Dutch version became available online.
BOTTOM LINE: Anne and Margot Frank died in 1945, probably of typhus, in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp weeks before the camp was liberated.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A one-of a-kind Zeiss Tele-Tessar 500mm f/8 lens used by Commander Dave Scott in orbit and on the lunar surface during the Apollo 15 moon mission sold for $453,281 last month in an RR Auction. Some 293 photos were taken during that mission. The silver lens measures 12 inches long and was an integral part of the Hasselblad electric data camera.
MORE: The mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 26, 1971, and lasted until August 7, 1971.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Artifacts used during the golden age of space exploration, especially items handled by early astronauts, are avidly sought by collectors. When linkage to mission and user are clear, prices soar. This custom lens is considered significant as a large piece of space hardware.
HOT TIP: According to the auction house, “Special tabs were fitted to the rotational segments in the center of the lens, used to adjust focus and f-stop, for ease of use with the pressurized gloves of a spacesuit.” The lens cap and rear were later covered with duct tape and signed on the rear by Scott.
BOTTOM LINE: In 2012, Congress passed a law stating that participating astronauts can keep space artifacts used in specific missions and that they have full ownership and clear title to any artifact given to them. That includes equipment, prototypes and disposable flight hardware, but excludes lunar rocks and lunar material.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: When Heritage Auctions held a Signature auction of luxury bags and accessories last month, 50 bags of the more than 600 lots sold were from Hermes. Hermes bags outsold bags from Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Judith Leiber and other luxury houses. Sale results hit over $2.5 million.
MORE: The top lot was a previously owned circa 2010 Hermes limited edition matte So Black Nilo crocodile Birkin bag with PVD hardware in pristine condition. The all-black look pushed the price to $125,000. Another black Birkin, a circa 2006 Porosus (another species of croc) bag in excellent to pristine condition with 18K white gold and diamond hardware, sold for $118,750.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Available in Hermes boutiques only since 2010, the limited edition So Black Birkin is rare on the secondary market.
HOT TIP: The new black hardware caused a sensation with fashionistas even before its release. PVD stands for “physical vapor deposition” and is a way of bonding metal with another metal.
BOTTOM LINE: Luxury bags enjoy a brisk and competitive secondary market. It’s like a luxury auto: Let the original owner eat the depreciation.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A 1914 Chicago White Sox contract for player Ed Walsh sold last year for $50,363 in a Robert Edward (REA) auction.
MORE: Collecting baseball memorabilia is not just about sport cards, game worn uniforms or signed equipment. These days, serious fans look beyond traditional categories to seek out unusual — and hopefully less competitive —areas. Walsh’s 1914 contract is a perfect example of this.
The excellent condition contract sold with a letter of provenance from the Veeck family. When future Hall of Fame executive Bill Veeck purchased the White Sox from the Comiskey family in 1958, he acquired all of the club’s old files and contracts. Signed in black fountain pen by the player, by Chas A. Comiskey (then White Sox owner), and B. B. Johnson (American League president), the one-year contract guaranteed to pay Walsh a total of $6,000.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The authentic Comiskey signature adds value, as most of his business papers were ghost signed by a staffer.
HOT TIP: Any sports signature, on whatever matrix, must be thoroughly vetted by a professional authority recognized in the genre. Too many are fakes.
BOTTOM LINE: Significant because it is linked to an early Hall of Fame pitcher (Walsh was inducted in 1946), the contract is also unusual because it was signed on opening day in 1914, when Walsh was already past his prime.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: When important sales of Judaica (Jewish religious or cultural artifacts) are compared, the Steinhardt sale at Sotheby’s in April 2013 trumps all.
Amounting to a whopping $8.5 million, the event remains the most valuable sale of Judaica, ever. One lot, the Mishneh Torah circa mid-1400s, sold pre-auction to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A lavishly decorated Esther scroll with an accompanying blessing sheet brought $653,000, and an Arts & Crafts Rookwood pottery vase decorated with the image of an Old World rabbi fetched $1,875.
MORE: With goods ranging from Jewish antiquity to the 20th century, the sale consisted of nearly 400 lots amassed during 30-plus years of collecting.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Dedicated high-quality collections built by knowledgeable collectors are catnip to institutions and serious collectors. Methodically gathered with input from experts, collecting at this level is for those with deep pockets.
HOT TIP: Long ago, a wise collector at this level told us: “Buy only what you like and know, and buy the very best you can afford.”
BOTTOM LINE: Judaica collections this important come to auction perhaps once or twice a century.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A 14-by-22.25-inch cardboard window card advertising a Ray Charles concert in San Diego on Sept. 9, 1961, brought in about $5,440 when it sold in a recent pop culture/political memorabilia auction by Hake’s Americana & Collectibles. The concert promised the artist’s greatest hits, including “Georgia” and “What’d I Say.”
MORE: Note the ticket prices of $2 to $4 and the mention of The Singing Raelets and Betty Carter, plus credit for the musical arrangements by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Concert posters in excellent condition that promote major stars of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, such as Charles, will become even more valuable as older buyers buy back memories of their youth. They are the generation with disposable income to spend.
HOT TIP: Watch for rock star posters to experience the same trajectory. Music posters from that era are already gold, but rock posters of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, including those featuring the Beatles and The Doors, are not far behind and climbing. A 1969 first printing Jimi Hendrix psychedelic poster for a Toronto concert sold for a little more than $5,705 in the same sale.
BOTTOM LINE: Pop and rock posters were never made to be collectible. They were advertising, period. Anyone could take home a program. The lucky person who thought to take a top condition poster as a souvenir, and then preserve it for 50-plus years, hit the jackpot.
BOOK IT! “The Historical Apothecary Compendium: A Guide to Terms and Symbols” by Daniel A. Goldstein (Schiffer, $50) is an encyclopedic guide to terms used on apothecary bottles and other wares. Many of us admire the bottles as attractive curiosities but don’t have a clue to what labels mean. There are more than 10,000 entries, so no alchemical symbol or apothecary squiggle should remain unidentified. Written by a medical toxicologist, understood by the lay person.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: When Christie’s New York sold Part II of a private collection of Chinese snuff bottles last month, the 154 lots totaled just under $1 million. One, a sandwiched pink glass bottle in the form of an elongated Chinese cabbage, brought $10,625.
MORE: Sandwiched glass involves layers of differing color glass that are pressed or cut down into. Only 3 inches high, this bottle has a layer of pink glass between two layers of white glass. The white is carved on the exterior to form cabbage leaves that extend upward. The neck is speckled with green and pink glass; the stopper is carved jadeite.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Chinese cabbage, “baicai” or “qingcai,” is a symbol for wealth because it has the same sound as the word for money or wealth. Hence the cabbage shape of the bottle.
HOT TIP: Tobacco was introduced to the Beijing court by the Portuguese in the 16th century. At first, snuff bottles were strictly a court or upper class item. Intended to fit into the palm of a hand, early examples acquired a patina that is much prized today.
BOTTOM LINE: Significant collections built by knowledgeable collectors tend to sell high — often spectacularly — when they come to market. Built by focused individuals who do their research and buy only the very best, important single owner collections are often a bonanza for both seller and buyer.
MORE: On June 22, Christie’s will disperse another single owner collection when it sells items from Joan Rivers’ penthouse. Included are a silver Tiffany water bowl engraved “Spike,” Bob Mackie costumes, Faberge and French furniture, and designer jewels of all kinds.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: Printed in what was the wilderness of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Bay Psalm Book was the first book made by Congregational Pilgrims who arrived seeking religious freedom. As the first book printed in America, the book is precious as a historical document and religious artifact.
MORE: A poetic translation of the Psalms intended to reflect the Hebrew original, the text was created by leading ministers and scholars of the colony including Richard Mather and John Cotton. The press, paper and type were sent from England by an indentured locksmith.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: With printed matter, the first edition is the most sought and most valuable.
HOT TIP: Of the 1,700 copies of the first edition, only 11 are known to survive. In 2013, one set a new world record for a printed book at auction when it sold for $14.1 million in London. It was the first time since 1947 and only the second time since the 19th century that a first edition had come to auction.
BOTTOM LINE: At the Swann auction, it was the first time the seventh edition has surfaced. Published in Boston in 1693, it has provenance dating from a Salem witch trial judge.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: In New York City on April 6, the chair where author J.K. Rowling sat as she wrote “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” will sell at the Heritage Auctions gallery there.
Before donating the chair to a small charity auction in 2002, Rowling painted it with lettering that reads: “You may not find me pretty, but don’t judge on what you see.” On the seat apron she painted, “I wrote Harry Potter while sitting on this chair.” The backrest is signed, and under the seat on a stretcher is “Gryffindor.”
MORE: The chair comes from a set that Rowling was given in government housing when she was a young, single mother living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rowling used the most comfortable chair in the set as her main writing chair.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Short of laying hands on original manuscripts for the first two Potter books, this chair is the most important piece of original Potter memorabilia to sell to date. Rowling’s hand lettered message adds immensely to value.
HOT TIP: The chair will sell with the original “Owl Post” that Rowling typed for the first charity auction. In it, she writes of receiving four mismatched dining chairs in 1995 and how this “was the comfiest one.” We also learn that she produced the manuscripts by typewriter.
BOTTOM LINE: Potter enthusiasts of all ages will want this piece of literary memorabilia. Expect bidding to be fierce: The chair could end up in an institution such as a university or library.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A 25-cent Mills roulette floor model slot machine circa 1901 that sold recently at Morphy Auctions for $158,600 is one of only a few known to exist. The roulette wheel can be viewed by looking down into the top of the 45-inch tall case.
MORE: Called a seven-way machine because it accepts seven different coins on a single pull, the machine features an unusual hexagonal wooden box hiding nickel plated works. Total restoration in 1987 included replating the works, plus exterior fixtures including claw feet.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The machine sold as part of a dedicated auction limited to coin-op machines and collectible advertising. Smart collectors know that dedicated sales of antiques and collectibles offer focused collections of better goods.
HOT TIP: Pennsylvania-based Morphy Auctions held this sale in their Las Vegas gallery because they knew that the best way to cash in on collectible coin-ops is to sell where there is a focus of interest.
BOTTOM LINE: Early coin-operated machines — from peep shows to vending machines, amusement machines (think fortune tellers) to player pianos and musical machines of all kinds — are hugely popular with buyers who seek out the rarest in working condition.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: In a world where competition between auction houses for top goods has become fierce, even high-end houses are slugging it out for newsworthy sales and consumer recognition. Once a stuffy white-glove pursuit, prestige auctions have increasingly become theatrical events.
Christie’s London recently sold memorabilia from “Spectre,” the 24th film in the James Bond series. Held in-house and online, the first part alone realized about $3.9 million, with all proceeds to be donated to charities including Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and United Nations Mine Action Service. Bond’s car, an Aston Martin DB10, brought more than $3.4 million.
MORE: In late December at Sotheby’s New York, 600 Star Wars toys and memorabilia from a Japanese mega fan sold for $550,000. Top lot was a $32,500 5-figure pack originally sold only at Canadian Sears stores.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: In collectibles, it’s always the unusual and pristine that bring top dollar. Memorabilia made to be collectible never soars.
HOT TIP: Smart collectors hunt for recalled memorabilia. A Luke Skywalker figure with double telescoping lightsaber, made in limited numbers then recalled because the lightsaber tended to break, is the one everyone wants.
BOTTOM LINE: Everyone wins in sales like the one at Christie’s London. Bond producers, already under flak for flagrant product placement (said to be 17 in “Spectre”), get props for giving to charity. Collectors get a chance to bid for iconic items, and auction houses bring in new bidders. All involved gain publicity.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: Estimated to sell at about $17,000 to $26,000, a 10-inch partially glazed ceramic plate titled “Visage” (eye) painted by Pablo Picasso ended up selling for more than $90,000 at Sotheby’s London recently. The plate, decorated with a hand-painted eye, plus swipes of color, is dated May 16, 1963, and numbered on the reverse.
MORE: Sold in a collection of works owned by Marina Picasso, the artist’s granddaughter, authenticity is confirmed by Claude Picasso, the artist’s son and Marina’s uncle.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Celebrated for his paintings and flat artworks, Picasso also worked in wire, wax, sculpture, weavings and clay.
HOT TIP: Marina Picasso’s sale of works on paper, ceramics and terracotta sculpture — 186 in all —happened as a battle raged between a major art dealer and the royals of Qatar over a bust the artist did of a mistress, and whether or not Picasso’s aged daughter actually sold it twice.
BOTTOM LINE: With Picasso paintings bringing astronomical prices when they come to market, collectors have turned to his less traditional pieces. As this heavily documented plate demonstrates, they, too, have soared out of reach for many.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A rare composition toy with George Washington watching as a child chops down a cherry tree brought $10,620 in a recent auction of antique and collectible toys at Bertoia Auctions. Composition refers to the makeup of the body, which ranged from sawdust with glue to clay, fabric or you name it. The base is wood.
MORE: At 11 inches wide and 14 inches high, this toy was probably made as a display figure. Animated figures in shop windows lured passers-by to linger, then shop inside.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The 19th century was the golden age of clockwork toys, when movement was driven by clock mechanisms. Expensive and special, clockwork toys were not meant for rough and tumble play. Those that survive were probably kept for “good.”
HOT TIP: This tableau is in excellent condition. Everything, including fabrics, is intact with no fading, tears or smudges.
BOTTOM LINE: Rarity of subject, a larger size and pristine condition combined to bring top dollar.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: A red- and gilt-painted Louis XV commode that sold for $7,500 last month at Doyle New York was made in the second quarter of the 18th century. The decoration is described as parcel gilt, meaning that it is partially, not completely, decorated with gold (gilt).
MORE: The piece has a gray and white marble top plus three long drawers painted with gold chinoiserie, a fashionable look that was a rage at the time.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Chinoiserie (sheen-wahs-ree) is a French term meaning, loosely, “in the Chinese style.” It almost always refers to Chinese figures, pagodas, blossoms and other motifs, and is generally seen on painted furniture.
HOT TIP: Design styles cycle in and out of fashion, and variants of chinoiserie have been used for centuries. Quality of the gilding or decoration matters for top dollar. Good chinoiserie remains a favorite, which may explain why the chest’s estimated pre-sale was at $2,500 to 3,500 and the price soared to $7,500.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: Provenance mattered — a lot — when a plain, walnut-framed, vintage massage table soared to $10,625 in a Palm Beach auction by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Pre-sale estimate was $2,000 to 4,000.
The sale of 153 lots involved furniture and decorations from the former Kennedy winter compound in Florida. The home was sold by the Kennedy family to the current owners in 1995, along with most contents. The massage table was used by JFK as he recovered from back surgery.
MORE: Hundreds of local and national bidders attended the auction. High prices went to items linked to the Kennedy family, especially by photos or anecdote. The Kennedy dining table sold for $16,250; a pair of walnut twin beds, along with a photo of JFK sitting in one, brought $20,000.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Items related to celebrity or infamy usually sell best in locations linked to the individual during their lifetime. Palm Beach and the Kennedy family were linked for decades.
HOT TIP: Chicago auctioneer Hindman went to the most likely buyers by selling the Kennedy lots in her Palm Beach saleroom. Interest from worldwide bidders expanded participation via phone and online bidding.
BOTTOM LINE: Celebrity sold big time as advance press and the Kennedy aura drove the total to almost $500,000. Bonus: Many, attracted by the Kennedy connection, were new to the auction process. They’ll be back.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: The 1894-S Barber dime made auction history in January. Sold in a Heritage auction at the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Convention in Tampa, the coin has been called “one of the most famous, mysterious and elusive coins in American numismatics.”
MORE: Considered one of the “Big Three” gets in American coin rarities (along with the 1804 dollar and the 1913 Liberty nickel), the dime was first noticed by collectors in 1900 and has come to auction only four times. At this sale, 16 advanced collectors vied for the piece.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Only 24 Barber dimes were struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1894, probably in order to balance a bullion account. No more than nine — and possibly only eight — examples of the 1894-S are known to collectors today. This one is the finest certified survivor.
HOT TIP: Heritage believes that “at least a couple more” of these dimes are still in circulation, and has announced a $10,000 reward to anyone who allows them to be the first to examine and verify a previously unknown and authentic 1894-S dime.
BOTTOM LINE: The actual selling price was $1,997,500.
MORE: PBS powerhouse “Antiques Roadshow” plans to visit six cities this summer. For 2016, tapings will happen in Orlando, Fla., Virginia Beach, Va., Indianapolis, Fort Worth, Texas, Palm Springs, Calif., and Salt Lake City. Admission is free but tickets, obtained in advance, are required. Visit www.pbs.org/antiques/tickets or call 888-762-3749. Deadline for applications is April 18, 2016.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: The 1964 Porsche 356 C 1600 SC Cabriolet painted for rock icon Janis Joplin that sold for $1.7 million at Sotheby’s in December was a used car when acquired by the star. Spotted in a used car lot in 1968, the then-undecorated vehicle was custom-painted by a friend, a roadie with her band Big Brother and the Holding Company.
MORE: Collectors went wild for the psychedelically embellished car painted, per Joplin’s request, with a “history of the universe” theme. Seven bidders duked it out in phone bidding.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Items connected with the famous and linked to their persona interest collectors most. As an example, this car fits the Joplin image — a staid sedan would not.
HOT TIP: The psychedelic Porsche was one of the first widely known “art cars.” Sold by Joplin’s brother and sister, the vehicle had been on display for 20 years at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland.
BOTTOM LINE: The sale price marks a record for any Porsche 356 sold at auction.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: Market value of American artist Norman Lewis (1909-1979) took a giant leap when his painting, “Untitled,” circa 1958, brought $965,000 in a recent record-breaking sale of works by African-American artists at Swann Galleries in New York. Pre-sale estimate was $250,000 to $350,000.
MORE: Lewis was the first African-American artist to receive the Carnegie International Award for his celebrated painting, “Migrating Birds” (1953).
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Works by African-American artists have enjoyed a steady climb during the past decade.
HOT TIP: Galleries and auction houses are divided on if black artists should be categorized by color. One thought is that they are American artists, period. Others maintain that collectors of the genre (and there are many) seek them out by race.
BOTTOM LINE: Adding to appeal (and probably the price), this is a previously unknown work by Lewis. Originally given as a gift by the artist, it has remained in one family since. New to the market is catnip for collectors.
MORE: Auctions are a big business. Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced that 2015 was their second best year ever, with $860 million in total prices. Coins and currency remain the base strength, but the fastest growth was in sports collectibles. The category grew by 41 percent to more than $42 million.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: With an estimated pre-sale at $10,000 to $12,000, a circa 1929 cast iron delivery panel van soared to $21,240 in a recent sale of antique toys at Bertoia Auctions. Embossed “White” on the front grill and marked “Peerless Cleaning,” the vehicle is a rare all-original toy.
MORE: To begin, the truck is rare. On top of that, it is in super excellent condition. Rubber tires are intact, as are spares on each running board. As a bonus, the seated driver is intact and the rear doors open.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: The problem with early toys is that once played with, value usually plummets. Depending on the toy, top dollar goes to un-played with and pristine toys.
HOT TIP: A dream scenario for today’s committed collector would be a new toy gifted at Christmas or a birthday sometime around 1900, deemed too good to be played with and put away for safekeeping, then forgotten.
BOTTOM LINE: Toy collectors are big kids at heart. As adults, they have the money to buy back toys of their youth or buy toys their parents could not afford or would not let them have. Top-line antique toys are big business: Total for this auction hit close to $1.9 million.
BOOK IT! “Scootermania: A Celebration of Style and Speed” by Josh Sims (Bloomsbury, $20) is all about transport scooters, a favorite big boy toy of the 20th century. Through text, photos and period ads, the book highlights and explains Mitsubishi, Honda, Vespa, Lambretta, Fuji and Ducati scooters, plus others.
- By Danielle Arnet The Smart Collector
WHAT: Magnificent jewels brought magnificent prices in the past year. Multiple world records fell as international buyers put their money into serious gems.
MORE: Sotheby’s final jewelry auction of 2015 fetched $52.3 million, including the sale of a record-breaking Kashmir sapphire for $5.1 million, or $197,990 per carat. Earlier, a rare gray pearl necklace with 42 natural saltwater gray pearls matched by Cartier brought $5.27 million in Hong Kong. In all, the auction house hit $571 million worldwide in jewel sales last year.
Christie’s has not yet released a year total, but a final New York jewels sale brought $59.6 million, including a D color rectan-
gular diamond of more than 31 carats that sold for $4.3 million, or $137,500 per carat.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: At this level, jewelry and gems are absolutely top grade and rare. Exceptional and celebrity provenance helps, especially if there are photos of the famous owner wearing the piece.
HOT TIP: Increasingly, cash-strapped royal houses are letting go of family pieces. Now is a good time to pick up tiaras and baubles, even fine gent’s jewelry, from lesser (and usually unidentified) nobles or cafe society figures of bygone eras.
BOTTOM LINE: The boom in fine jewels is a trend that looks to continue. World economies call the shots on likely buyers: Today it’s East Asians. Before, Middle Easterners and Russian oligarchs bought big. Decades ago it was wealthy Germans, and so it goes.
BOOK IT: We’ve always promoted the use of online databases such as liveauctioneers.com and worthpoint.com to research prices. But sometimes you want a print version.
“Miller’s Antiques Handbook & Price Guide 2016-2017” by Judith Miller Mitchell Beazley, ($45) has almost 700 pages with some 8,000 new results showing worldwide auction results for porcelain, clocks and watches, posters, antiquities, decorative arts and more.
More than a reference, it’s also fun reading.
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