Contributors
Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
Archive for September, 2010
Asian Art Soars At Christie’s
September 20, 2010Over four days of Asian art sales last week, Christie’s scored an impressive $70.75 million in sales. Chinese art alone accounted for $55.5 million, the highest total for that category ever achieved in New York. It was, said Christie’s, “a milestone for Chinese Art in the West.”
Read more...Model Jerry Hall’s Art At Sotheby’s
September 14, 2010Lucien Freud painted her portrait when she eight months pregnant, and Andy Warhol gave her his work “Dollar Sign” as a gift. Now model and actress Jerry Hall, former wife of Mick Jagger, is selling 14 items from her art collection at Sotheby’s, where a total sales price of at least $2.3 million is anticipated.
Read more...“Ship of Gold” Ingot To Sell
September 14, 2010When the SS Central America sank in a 1857 hurricane off the coast of North Carolina, 400 passengers and crew were lost along with its cargo, 30,000 pounds of gold. A large ingot recovered from the vessel, known as the “Ship of Gold,” will sell at Heritage’s September auction of rare U.S.coins, where it’s expected to fetch more than $130,000.
Read more...Ian Fleming’s Ride
September 14, 2010His fictional hero James Bond may have favored an Aston Martin, but Ian Fleming’s ride of choice was an AC Aceca Coupe, which he bought new from the factory in 1962. One of only six cars made by AC with a 2.6 Ruddspeed and Ford Zephyr engine, it’s expected to sell for $152-$203,000 at Bonham’s Goodwood Revival auction this week in West Sussex, England.
Read more...Jaguars for Children
September 14, 2010For the child who doesn’t have everything, Bonham’s will auction a D-Type, “long nose” kid-sized Jaguar designed for children to race. The car is expected to go for an estimated $15,000 when it comes up at the Goodwood Revival on Sept.17, 2010.
Read more...Aston Martins at Reims
September 06, 2010Aston Martin isn’t a marque ordinarily associated with anything as prosaic as station wagons. The rare and elegant example featured at Bonhams’s September 11 Reims auction, however, might alter one’s sense of the category. It’s a 1996 shooting brake Sportsman, one of only two produced that year and hand-made in aluminum, estimated at $513-$642,000.
Read more...George Washington’s Will
September 06, 2010One of only 13 copies of George Washington’s will as well as early Presidential letters of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Jackson will be among the more than 200 lots offered by R.W.Oliver’s this week in a sale billed as “Personal Property of 10 Generations of the descendants of Thomas Green (b. 1640).” Much of the collection was accumulated by Andrew H. Green (1830-1918), who was known as “The Father of Greater New York.”
Read more...“My Little Friend” To Sell
September 03, 2010RM Auctions calls the M16 the “most recognizable gun in film history.” It’s one of the two weapons Al Pacino wielded in “Scarface” complete with the grenade launcher (“my little friend“) that Tony found so useful. Say hello!” he memorably commanded before blasting away. Also used in Arnold Schwartznegger’s “Terminator” and offered at auction for the first time, the gun is listed without estimate.
Read more...Rarest of Russian Stamps at Cherrystone
September 02, 2010Formerly part of the Faberge collection, this strip of five blue and brown 1857 Russian stamps has been described as “the most important piece of Russian philately.” One of 53 lots in the Alexander Collection of Imperial Russia, it goes on sale September 16th at Cherrystone Auctioneers in New York, carrying a pre-sale estimate of $250,000.
Read more...“Perfect” Wine Auction
September 02, 2010It’s a wine lover’s dream: an auction consisting of nothing but 100-point wines, as rated by noted wine expert Robert Parker. The Naples (Florida) Winter Wine Festival will auction off a 100-bottle selection at its January 2011 event benefiting local children’s charities. Included in the mix: a 1985 Domaine Romanee-Conti estimated at more than $11,000.
Read more...Soviet Space Suit To Sell
September 01, 2010The Soviet Union’s “Moonshot” program from the 1960’s may be a distant memory, but the wardrobe created for its astronauts lingers on. An unused “Orlan-D Eva” spacesuit developed for lunar flight will go on sale Regency Superior’s October 1st space and aviation auction, where it’s expected to fetch a lofty $30-$50,000.
Read more...Another Blow To “Ansel Adams” Find
September 01, 2010An expert who had authenticated a group’s claims for a yard sale trove of supposed Ansel Adams photographs has withdrawn his support. “I made a mistake,” said former Boston Museum of Fine Arts curator Robert C. Moeller III. He now believes that an amateur California photographer named Earl Brooks was responsible for at least some of the photographs.
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