Shortly before Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa was assassinated in 1923, two artisans created a silver embroidered parade saddle for the desperado. After his death, Villa’s widow gave to the saddle to famed director Howard Hawks when he was on location in Mexico shooting “Viva Villa!” This past weekend the saddle, which had been estimated at $150,000-$250,000, sold for $718,000—a new world auction record for a saddle.In more recent years, it’s been on display at the Witt Museum in San Antonio, Texas, and also the South Texas History Museum in Edinburg, Texas. It was the featured item at the January 28th High Noon Western Americana Auction in Mesa Arizona. The winning bidder plans to exhibit the saddle—the last that Villa owned—at a museum.
Record $718,000 For Pancho Villa Saddle
January 31, 2012
Bizarre Topless Photo of Jolie, $45,500
May 16, 2013A bizarre topless photo of Angelina Jolie called “Horseplay” sold at Christie’s London auction last night for $45,500. The “Wild Side of Photography” sale was scheduled well before Jolie’s double mastectomy announcement. Taken when she was 25, the photo also prominently displays a “Billy Bob” tattoo, referring to former husband Thornton who has since been removed from her shoulder and her life.
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Milton Berle’s Jokes Laugh To The Bank
May 8, 2013For $158,000 a bidder got Milton Berle’s library, including books and boxes of bound scripts and personal correspondence, but he didn’t get the comedian’s thousands of one-liners and jokes carefully catalogued over the decades. That file went for another $65,000 at Bonham’s Entertainment auction this week.
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“Woz” Signed Apple 1 Appears At German Auction
May 3, 2013There are only some fifty surviving examples of the handmade Apple 1, the first computer sold by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and they’ve been rapidly gaining in value. Last year one sold for $624,000 at Team Breker in Cologne.Later this month the German auction house will offer another, one of only six still in working order. As a bonus, this motherboard sports Wozniak’s signature as “Woz.” It’s expected to sell for $260,000-$400,000.
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Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
