Contributors
Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
Archive for December, 2011
Million Dollar Bouquet Of Roses?
December 30, 2011The original high estimate of $46,000 for this Henri Fantin-Latour “Bouquet of Roses” painting could border on the ridiculous. Some independent experts are predicting it will sell for $775,000, or more. Unique Auctions is staging the sale on New Year’s Day in the UK.
Read more...Whiskey Bottle Is Real Gold Dust
December 29, 2011Most 19th Century Westerners were just happy to drink a fifth, but others were more interested in collecting the bottles, and one of those embossed, glass whiskey bottles once containing “Gold Dust Kentucky Bourbon” sold this month for $28,000 at an Internet and catalog sale by American Bottle Auctions in Sacramento.
Read more...Millions Expected For Ott Furniture Collection
December 29, 2011Few collectors were as knowledgeable about American antiques, and in particular the distinguished 18th century furniture makers of Rhode Island, than Joseph K. Ott. During his lifetime he and his wife assembled an extraordinary collection, which Christie’s will auction on January 20th in New York. A standout is likely to be a Captain Anthony Low Queen Anne mahogany marble slab table built by John Goddard (1724-1785), estimated at $2m-$3m.
Read more...Letter From A Dying Antarctic Explorer
December 28, 2011On March 16, 1912, sensing that the end was near, Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott wrote a farewell letter to financier Sir Edgar Speyer, who’d raised funds for Scott’s ill-fated attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole. “I fear we must go,” Scott wrote, “but we have been to the Pole and we shall die like gentlemen.” Formerly in the collection of American polar explorer Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, the letter will be offered at Bonhams Polar Sale in London on March 30, when it’s expected to realize $155,000-$232,000.
Read more...Canaletto Leads Old Masters Sale
December 27, 2011In the mid-18th century, the Venetian painter Canaletto was living in London, where he pursued commissions from wealthy patrons. It was while there in the years between 1747-55 that he probably painted a view of Venice’s Redentore and the church of San Giacomo. The canvas, which comes from the collection of the late Lady Forte, hasn’t been seen on the market since 1986. When Sotheby’s offers the painting at its Old Masters sale on January 26 in New York, it’s expected to sell for $5m-$7m.
Read more...Gold Eagle May Soar
December 27, 2011For the seventh year in a row, Government Auctions will be hosting a New Year’s day online sale of a huge variety of items ranging from sports photos to slot machines with everything in between. The jack pot may be a 1795 $10 gold eagle coin. Only 400 to 500 examples of the 13-leaves coin are known to exist. Designed by Robert Scott, they were the first gold eagles to be stamped. High estimate is $250,000.
Read more...Greenland Currency Highlights Paper Money Auction
December 23, 2011Greenland began issuing paper currency in the very early 19th century. The first example may be a Serial No. 2, 1 Rigsdaler note that Stack’s Bowers will sell in its Paper Money session at a 3-day auction next month in New York. Extremely rare and listed in “fine-very fine” condition, it’s expected to realize $30,000-$50,000.
Read more...$10m For “Birds of America?”
December 22, 2011Of the 120 copies that are known to exist of John James Audubon’s 4-volume magnum opus, “Birds of America,” just 13 copies are in private hands. All the other copies of the set, generally considered the finest color-plate book of ornithology ever produced, are in private institutions. Sometime after 1838 the Duke of Portland bought the first edition that Christie’s will offer in New York on January 20th, when it’s expected to sell for $7m-$10m.
Read more...Rare Chinese Tael At N.Y. Coin Auction
December 21, 2011In the Far East, the word “Tael” generally refers to weight. In Chinese numismatics, it’s a coin. One unusual example is a “Pei Yang” Tael, minted during the reign of Emperor Kuang Hsu (1872-1908). The coin didn’t meet with much acceptance. Of the few produced, most were recalled and melted, making the example that Stack’s Bowers will be offering in N.Y. next month one of the rarities of Chinese numismatics. It’s expected to sell for $100,000-$125,000.
Read more...Sotheby’s 2011 Wine Sales Shy Of Record
December 20, 2011Sotheby’s wine sales this year didn’t quite match the record $88.2m achieved last year, but totals from their 23 auctions worldwide came surprisingly close, given the troubled financial climate, with a total of $85.5m. As has become common, the 6 Hong Kong events, which realized $44.7m, accounted for the largest segment. London, where Sotheby’s held 13 auctions, came second, with a total of $27.2m—the auction house’s strongest showing in 41 years of U.K. wine sales.
Read more...Ducat May Storm to $40K At Stack’s Bowers Sale
December 19, 2011Coins are an extraordinary window into history. For example, at New York’s International Numismatic Convention next month, they’re auctioning an Austrian Ducat struck by the leader of the Counter-Reformation movement who kicked out all of the Protestants from Salzburg. With remarkable detail, the 1594 Ducat shows a symbolic Catholic tower lashed by a great storm. High estimate $40,000.
Read more...Almost $1m For Contents Of Michael Jackson’s Home
December 19, 2011The 524 items from Michael Jackson’s last residence had been expected to realize $200,000-$400,000 at a weekend sale in Beverly Hills. Instead, bidders shelled out almost $1m at Julien’s Auction for the late pop star’s belongings. The highest priced lots were a $35,200 Utrillo watercolor, and a $46,875 oil by Adelsteen Normann, but buyers offered extravagant amounts for other offerings as well, like the $25,750 paid for a mirrored armoire on which Jackson scribbled a message to himself: “Train, perfection March April Full out May.”
Read more...Alas, French Dash Hopes For Bronte Prize
December 16, 2011The story is as heartbreaking as anything in Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte’s unpublished “miniature manuscript” written when she was 14 came up for sale and her hometown museum took up a collection to buy it. Their dreams were dashed when a wealthy Paris museum brushed aside their best bid and walked away with the prize for $1m. Written in miniscule script, the 19 pages measure only 1.4 by 2.4 inches.
Read more...A Carousel & Vintage Cars: Milhous Collection To Sell
December 16, 2011Bob & Paul Milhous only wanted one object in an Austrian collection. It was a Weber Maestro orchestrion, a mechanical device that produces the sounds of a 24-piece orchestra. To close the deal, the brothers had to buy the entire 260-item collection. Through the years, they’ve added to it, so that their assortment of antique cars, mechanical musical devices, clocks and curiosities now totals over 1200 items. In late February, RM and Sotheby’s will sell it all for what’s expected to be more than $40m.
Read more...Rare Scotch Honors Rarer Woman
December 15, 2011All the numbers are astounding: $72,600 bid for a single bottle of scotch, sold as part of a birthday celebration for a 110-year old woman who is the granddaughter of the man who founded the Glenfiddich distillery where the single malt whisky was put up in an oak barrel 55 years ago.
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