Appreciating Fine Antiques » Mike McLeod

Under The Hammer – Antique Auction News (July 2010)

Mike McLeod — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:42:43 +0000

~ On June 11, Cowan’s American History Auction was highlighted by a vignette portrait of Abraham Lincoln from a negative originally taken by Mathew Brady, Friday Jan. 8, 1864 (O-87). It was signed “A Lincoln” and had remnants of Brady’s imprint on verso It sold for $38,775. Lincoln said of this particular portrait: “I don’t know that I have any favorite portrait of myself; but I have thought that if I looked like any of the likenesses of me that have been taken, I look most like that one.”

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Upcoming Auctions – Antiques, Art and Collectibles

Mike McLeod — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:22:41 +0000

On June 23, Christie’s will offer “Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto” by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) at its Impressionist and Modern Art in London. From the artist’s Blue Period, this work will be priced at £30 million to £40 millio, and all the proceeds will benefit The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation.

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Under The Hammer – Antique Auction News (May 2010)

Mike McLeod — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:14:51 +0000

~ A 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, one of only four ever made, was sold by Gooding & Company of Santa Monica, California for $30 million to $40 million. Of the two or three of these models that still exist, one is owned by Ralph Lauren. The one sold was owned by the late Dr. Peter Williamson. The buyer and exact amount of the sale were not disclosed.

The Atlantic was the winner of the 2003 Pebble Beach “Concours d'Elegance.”

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A Great Gift: High Museum Receives 47 Works of Art

Mike McLeod — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:04:06 +0000

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, recently announced a gift of 47 works of art, the majority of which are prints and posters by major artists working in fin-de-siècle Paris, from prominent Atlanta collectors Irene and Howard Stein. The Stein collection includes many rare and extremely prized works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, such as “La Clownesse au Moulin Rouge” (1897), one of only a handful of impressions of this color lithograph, and “Miss Loïe Fuller” (1893), a ghostly image of the famous American dancer that incorporates powdered gold.

Under The Hammer – Antique Auction News (April 2010)

Mike McLeod — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:26:16 +0000

~ An extraordinary pair of gold-and-silver-inlaid flintlock pistols, made by Nicholas-Noel Boutet, was sold for $437,000 by James Julia Auctions during the Annual Spring Firearms auction March 15 and 16. Boutet of Versailles, France, was perhaps the finest gunsmith in history. His extraordinary high-art creations were sought by the aristocracy, and figures of state, including Napoleon, often used Boutet’s work as gifts to other prominent figures. These pistols were from the collection of the late H.H. Thomas of Kentucky. Another pair of high-art Boutet cased pistols realized just under $100,000.

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Under The Hammer – Antique Auction News (Feb. 2010)

Mike McLeod — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:50:34 +0000

~ An American silver punch bowl by Cornelius Kierstede (ca. 1700-1710) sold for $5.9 million at a sale of Important Americana held Jan. 22 by Sotheby’s in New York. Also, a Chippendale-figured mahogany Bombe slant-front desk made in Marblehead, Mass. (ca. 1770) hammered for $698,500; “The Maxwell Vase,” an American silver presentation vase by Fletcher & Gardiner (Philadelphia, 1829) brought $494,500; and a pair of Philadelphia Queen Anne side chairs (ca. 1750) hammered for $362,500. Prices include 12 percent buyer’s premium.

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Under The Hammer – Antique Auction News (Jan. 2010)

Mike McLeod — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:28:09 +0000

~ Bonhams & Butterfields’ Native American Art Department’s Winter Sale on December 14 yielded $2.3 million from property offered from estates, museums and private collections from across the U.S. and Europe. Grease bowls in use circa 1800 by the Tinglit or Haida from the Berthusen Collection were the top items. A 12-inch bowl carved with the head and tail of an eagle sold for $230,000. A ten-inch-long Northwest Coast bowl carved in the likeness of a seal effigy with head, tail and flippers projecting at the ends, sold for $206,000. Both bowls were estimated at $75-$125,000.

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Under The Hammer – Antique Auction News (Dec. 2009)

Mike McLeod — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:12:41 +0000

~ Boris Karloff’s costume from 1934’s “The Black Cat” sold for $89,625 at Heritage Auctions’ 20th Century Icons auction November 6-7 in Dallas. Jack Ruby’s hat, which he was wearing when he shot Lee Harvey Oswald, hit $53,775. Also, a John F. Kennedy-signed “Dallas Morning News” hammered at $38,837. At Heritage’s Signature Vintage Movie Posters Auction on November 12-13, the only known Style B one-sheet for the 1934 movie, “The Black Cat,” sold for $334,000, making it the fourth highest selling poster of all time. This movie was the first collaboration between Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.

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A Conversation With Doug Norwine, Director of Music and Entertainment Memorabilia at Heritage Auction Galleries

Mike McLeod — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:11:21 +0000

Editor: Tell me about yourself and about your background in music and entertainment memorabilia. Doug Norwine: When I was 10 years old, I wrote to Charles Lindberg, Jimmy Stewart, and Boris Karloff requesting their autographs, and they all answered me back. That began my passion for collecting autographs and memorabilia. And here I am today with 50,000 autographs.

At the age of 12, I started playing the saxophone. I eventually attended Berklee College in Boston and taught there for two years. In 1977, I moved to Los Angeles and pursued a successful career as a studio saxophonist for 22 years. I worked with Chaka Khan, Frank Sinatra, Sheena Easton, Melissa Manchester, Ray Charles, and others.

Under The Hammer – Antique Auction News (Aug. 2009)

Mike McLeod — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:20:59 +0000

~ The crypt above Marilyn Monroe’s in the Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles sold on eBay on August 24th for $4,602,100. A total of 21 bids were made on this piece of real estate that comes with a deed. (Fifty-five bids were withdrawn by bidders making mistakes or by eBay for administrative reasons.)

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