Three guns linked to Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa sold recently at auction for a combined $28,400, far less than predicted by organizers of the sale at the Fredericksburg Events Center
The high bid on a 1875 Remington pistol engraved with Villa's given name was $18,000, while a rifle Villa reportedly fought with before dropping it in the Rio Grande went for $7,000, and a pistol owned by Villa's bodyguard was sold for $3,400.
Saturday, 24 November 2007
Friday, 23 November 2007
$40,000 paid for Butterfly Naming Rights
A butterfly species discovered in a Florida museum has a new name after an anonymous bidder paid $40,800 for naming rights in order to honor a woman who died in 1972.
The butterfly's common name will be the Minerva owl butterfly. It's being named after the late Margery Minerva Blythe Kitzmiller of Malvern, Ohio.
While the bidder's name was not disclosed, the payment was made on behalf of Kitzmiller's grandchildren.
The butterfly's scientific name will be Opsiphanes blythekitzmillerae.
University of Florida researchers George Austin and Andrew Warren discovered the new species while looking through a butterfly collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville earlier this year. They found it was misidentified as an example of another species.
The 4-inch butterfly is brown, white and black and lives in Sonora, a Mexican state bordering Arizona. Proceeds from the auction will go toward further research of Mexican butterflies.
Beverly Sensbach, director of development for the museum, said Kitzmiller's grandchildren wanted to honor her through the name of a beautiful butterfly because she was "an extremely creative person who wrote poetry, played piano and sang."
The rights were sold via an online auction. Warren had said before the auction closed that the researchers were hoping to raise at least $50,000, which would fund two years of work in Mexico.
The butterfly's common name will be the Minerva owl butterfly. It's being named after the late Margery Minerva Blythe Kitzmiller of Malvern, Ohio.
While the bidder's name was not disclosed, the payment was made on behalf of Kitzmiller's grandchildren.
The butterfly's scientific name will be Opsiphanes blythekitzmillerae.
University of Florida researchers George Austin and Andrew Warren discovered the new species while looking through a butterfly collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville earlier this year. They found it was misidentified as an example of another species.
The 4-inch butterfly is brown, white and black and lives in Sonora, a Mexican state bordering Arizona. Proceeds from the auction will go toward further research of Mexican butterflies.
Beverly Sensbach, director of development for the museum, said Kitzmiller's grandchildren wanted to honor her through the name of a beautiful butterfly because she was "an extremely creative person who wrote poetry, played piano and sang."
The rights were sold via an online auction. Warren had said before the auction closed that the researchers were hoping to raise at least $50,000, which would fund two years of work in Mexico.
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Painting found in trash sells for $1,049,000
A painting found in a pile of trash on a New York street sold at Sotheby's auction house late Tuesday for a million dollars, nearly 20 years after it was stolen from a warehouse in Texas.
"Tres personajes" ("Three People"), a 1970 work by Rufino Tamayo, one of Mexico's best known artists, was bagged for 1.049,000 dollars by a north American buyer who fought off a telephone bidder, the auction house said.
It had been saved from the garbage by Elizabeth Gibson, who spotted the work while out walking one morning in 2003. She found the, measuring 98 by 130 centimeters (38 by 50 inches), in perfect condition.
"It was a Saturday morning. I went out for a coffee at 7:00 am. I saw it on the sidewalk among black plastic garbage bags," she told AFP ahead of the sale.
"I passed my way and had my coffee, but a voice inside kept telling me to go back and take the painting. So I stopped reading my book and I went back and took the painting, which had a very bad frame but was in perfect condition."
The work, with bold strokes of red, purple and yellow, was bought for 55,000 dollars in 1977 by a Texas man for his wife's birthday. The couple put it in storage while they moved house and noticed the painting was missing in 1987 when picking up their belongings at the warehouse.
Where the painting went for the next 16 years remains a mystery, but for several months after discovering it, Gibson kept it on the wall in her apartment.
Tipped off by a friend that the painting could be valuable, Gibson started investigating only to find on the Internet that the work had been featured on US television show "The Antiques Roadshow" in a segment on missing paintings.
Gibson approached Sotheby's, which helped return the painting to its original owner, who remains unidentified.
Federal FBI detectives are still investigating the case.
The painting carried a pre-sale estimate of 750,000 to one million dollars. Gibson has already received a 15,000-dollar reward for helping secure its return and was to receive an undisclosed sum from the sale.
Marysol Nieves of Sotheby's Latin American art department said the piece was a classic example of all the important elements of the artist's work.
"Tres personajes" ("Three People"), a 1970 work by Rufino Tamayo, one of Mexico's best known artists, was bagged for 1.049,000 dollars by a north American buyer who fought off a telephone bidder, the auction house said.
It had been saved from the garbage by Elizabeth Gibson, who spotted the work while out walking one morning in 2003. She found the, measuring 98 by 130 centimeters (38 by 50 inches), in perfect condition.
"It was a Saturday morning. I went out for a coffee at 7:00 am. I saw it on the sidewalk among black plastic garbage bags," she told AFP ahead of the sale.
"I passed my way and had my coffee, but a voice inside kept telling me to go back and take the painting. So I stopped reading my book and I went back and took the painting, which had a very bad frame but was in perfect condition."
The work, with bold strokes of red, purple and yellow, was bought for 55,000 dollars in 1977 by a Texas man for his wife's birthday. The couple put it in storage while they moved house and noticed the painting was missing in 1987 when picking up their belongings at the warehouse.
Where the painting went for the next 16 years remains a mystery, but for several months after discovering it, Gibson kept it on the wall in her apartment.
Tipped off by a friend that the painting could be valuable, Gibson started investigating only to find on the Internet that the work had been featured on US television show "The Antiques Roadshow" in a segment on missing paintings.
Gibson approached Sotheby's, which helped return the painting to its original owner, who remains unidentified.
Federal FBI detectives are still investigating the case.
The painting carried a pre-sale estimate of 750,000 to one million dollars. Gibson has already received a 15,000-dollar reward for helping secure its return and was to receive an undisclosed sum from the sale.
Marysol Nieves of Sotheby's Latin American art department said the piece was a classic example of all the important elements of the artist's work.
Pele shirt sold at auction
A yellow Brazil football shirt worn by Pele during the 1970 World Cup final has been sold for £66,500 at Christie's London auction yesterday.
The shirt was the most expensive sale in an auction of memorabilia belonging to former England captain Bobby Moore and Brazil's Mario Zagallo.
Zagallo was part of the first Brazilian team to win the World Cup in 1958 and was again in the side when they retained the trophy four years later.
He built up a collection of some 1,500 shirts which he exchanged with fellow players during his career.
The shirt was the most expensive sale in an auction of memorabilia belonging to former England captain Bobby Moore and Brazil's Mario Zagallo.
Zagallo was part of the first Brazilian team to win the World Cup in 1958 and was again in the side when they retained the trophy four years later.
He built up a collection of some 1,500 shirts which he exchanged with fellow players during his career.
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
1920s biscuits for auction
Bonhams auctions are to auction a box of biscuit’s from the 1920s. The box is in the shape of a toy car with the original contents intact. This is quite rare and is exciting toy enthusiasts around the world.
Estimate $4-6,000, although it wouldn’t surprise me if it made much more.
Unfortunately the biscuits are past their sell-by date and have turned a slight purple.
Estimate $4-6,000, although it wouldn’t surprise me if it made much more.
Unfortunately the biscuits are past their sell-by date and have turned a slight purple.
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Eiffel Tower Stairs Sold at Auction
The 14ft. section of staircase was sold for $219,390 – Ten times the asking price.
It was purchased by Erik Kurvers to promote his team Eiffel Towers, a member of the Union of European Basketball Leagues based in Den Bosch, Netherlands.
It was purchased by Erik Kurvers to promote his team Eiffel Towers, a member of the Union of European Basketball Leagues based in Den Bosch, Netherlands.
Monday, 19 November 2007
Eiffel Tower staircase for auction.
A rare chance to own part of France's best-loved monument comes up today, when a piece of the original staircase of the Eiffel Tower will be put under auction.
The 20-step spiral section was part of the flight leading from the second to the third levels of the tower. It was scaled by Gustav Eiffel himself at the inauguration in 1889, when the lift was not yet in service.
One of 24 sections of the staircase removed in 1983 during renovation work, it has been in private hands ever since.
The sale at the Drouot auction house on Monday afternoon is expected to make up to €30 000. Buyers are warned that the ironwork is 4,5m high and weighs 700kg
The 20-step spiral section was part of the flight leading from the second to the third levels of the tower. It was scaled by Gustav Eiffel himself at the inauguration in 1889, when the lift was not yet in service.
One of 24 sections of the staircase removed in 1983 during renovation work, it has been in private hands ever since.
The sale at the Drouot auction house on Monday afternoon is expected to make up to €30 000. Buyers are warned that the ironwork is 4,5m high and weighs 700kg
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Risking the Lot - Subprime Stupidity and Art Auction Arrogance
Interesting post from an Australian art market analyst and blogger:
Risking the Lot - Subprime Stupidity and Art Auction Arrogance
The US subprime housing crisis is one of those things that makes you wonder what the people involved were thinking. The lenders had to have known the risks involved in lending money to people to buy a house who couldn’t get finance through the more main stream, traditional lenders yet these lenders let these people borrow money anyway driven by what could only be described as blatant greed. Lending money to people who have the highest probability of not being able to pay the money back is risky enough but when you add the possibility of property values dropping below the value of the mortgages which would result in the lender not being able to recoup the money that they lent, the risk goes through the roof.
It would seem that the art auction houses are taking the same risks as the mortgage lenders by giving minimum price guarantees to their clients which means that they are gambling on their ability to achieve the sale prices they have promised their vendors. As an indicator of how much risk some of the art auction houses are taking, Sotheby’s have given minimum price guarantees for a massive 78% of the value of one of their contemporary art auctions to be held in March which equates to approximately US$200 million.
Regardless of whether or not the artworks reach the minimum guaranteed price that the auction houses have given, the auction houses have to pay the vendor the promised amount of money. The reason that the auction houses give guarantees is to entice the sellers with the most valuable artworks to sell through their auction house. By having the most valuable artworks to sell, auction houses get more publicity, more bidders and potentially greater profits but by giving minimum price guarantees they are also risking their reputation and business. Just like the subprime mortgage lenders it would seem that greed is motivating the art auction houses and just like the subprime mortgage lenders the auction houses are creating a time bomb which could explode at any time.
Not only are the auction houses risking their own businesses but they are also creating false expectations of the art market and presenting a manipulated view of the art market by promising minimum sale prices just to secure the sale of particular artworks which may not reflect the true market value of the artwork. If there were to be a situation where the auction houses were not able to sell the artworks for the prices that they had guaranteed the sellers then there would not only be significant repercussions for the auction house but it would also be likely to cause a general panic in the art market which would effect many people. As far as I am concerned the auction houses are taking far too many risks and not considering the consequences for themselves and others but greed can unfortunately cause people to make significant errors of judgment.
Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.
Risking the Lot - Subprime Stupidity and Art Auction Arrogance
The US subprime housing crisis is one of those things that makes you wonder what the people involved were thinking. The lenders had to have known the risks involved in lending money to people to buy a house who couldn’t get finance through the more main stream, traditional lenders yet these lenders let these people borrow money anyway driven by what could only be described as blatant greed. Lending money to people who have the highest probability of not being able to pay the money back is risky enough but when you add the possibility of property values dropping below the value of the mortgages which would result in the lender not being able to recoup the money that they lent, the risk goes through the roof.
It would seem that the art auction houses are taking the same risks as the mortgage lenders by giving minimum price guarantees to their clients which means that they are gambling on their ability to achieve the sale prices they have promised their vendors. As an indicator of how much risk some of the art auction houses are taking, Sotheby’s have given minimum price guarantees for a massive 78% of the value of one of their contemporary art auctions to be held in March which equates to approximately US$200 million.
Regardless of whether or not the artworks reach the minimum guaranteed price that the auction houses have given, the auction houses have to pay the vendor the promised amount of money. The reason that the auction houses give guarantees is to entice the sellers with the most valuable artworks to sell through their auction house. By having the most valuable artworks to sell, auction houses get more publicity, more bidders and potentially greater profits but by giving minimum price guarantees they are also risking their reputation and business. Just like the subprime mortgage lenders it would seem that greed is motivating the art auction houses and just like the subprime mortgage lenders the auction houses are creating a time bomb which could explode at any time.
Not only are the auction houses risking their own businesses but they are also creating false expectations of the art market and presenting a manipulated view of the art market by promising minimum sale prices just to secure the sale of particular artworks which may not reflect the true market value of the artwork. If there were to be a situation where the auction houses were not able to sell the artworks for the prices that they had guaranteed the sellers then there would not only be significant repercussions for the auction house but it would also be likely to cause a general panic in the art market which would effect many people. As far as I am concerned the auction houses are taking far too many risks and not considering the consequences for themselves and others but greed can unfortunately cause people to make significant errors of judgment.
Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
FDR clock expected to make $1m
A Pierre Cartier clock that belonged to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is scheduled to go up for auction on December 4th at Sotheby's in Manhattan.
Cartier gave the onyx clock with several different time zones (specific to key Allied forces locations in World War II) to the President back in 1943. Letters between Cartier and President Roosevelt regarding the gift are not part of the sale but can be viewed in the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York.
The clock comes with a red leather presentation box inscribed with "F.D.R" and is expected to sell for as much as $1 million dollars.
Cartier gave the onyx clock with several different time zones (specific to key Allied forces locations in World War II) to the President back in 1943. Letters between Cartier and President Roosevelt regarding the gift are not part of the sale but can be viewed in the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York.
The clock comes with a red leather presentation box inscribed with "F.D.R" and is expected to sell for as much as $1 million dollars.
Monday, 29 October 2007
WE57 HAM license plate fetches record price
Fans of east London club West Ham set a new record price of £57,000 for a football-related vehicle license plate as they outbid each other for plate number WE57 HAM
The price dwarfed the previous record of £36,000 set in 2004 for plate number AR53 NAL (Arsenal). The winner bid anonymously over the Internet.
The price dwarfed the previous record of £36,000 set in 2004 for plate number AR53 NAL (Arsenal). The winner bid anonymously over the Internet.
Sunday, 28 October 2007
'Che' Guevara articles sell for $100,000
A lock of dark brown hair, fingerprints and other artifacts from the capture and execution of Ernesto "Che" Guevara will soon be the property of a Houston-area bookstore owner.
. Items were sold by a man hired by the CIA to capture Che. Left: A 1958 photograph shows Che in Cuba. Other items sold included fingerprints and photographs of Che dead and alive.
Bill Butler of Rosenberg, Texas, bid $100,000 Thursday night to claim the items at a Dallas auction.
Held by Heritage Auction Galleries, the event drew television cameras and extra security but only Mr. Butler's bid, the seller's minimum price.
The items, including a map, letter and photographs of Che dead and alive, belonged to Miami resident Gustavo Villoldo, hired by the CIA to capture the guerrilla leader as he tried to foment rebellion in Bolivia.
. Items were sold by a man hired by the CIA to capture Che. Left: A 1958 photograph shows Che in Cuba. Other items sold included fingerprints and photographs of Che dead and alive.
Bill Butler of Rosenberg, Texas, bid $100,000 Thursday night to claim the items at a Dallas auction.
Held by Heritage Auction Galleries, the event drew television cameras and extra security but only Mr. Butler's bid, the seller's minimum price.
The items, including a map, letter and photographs of Che dead and alive, belonged to Miami resident Gustavo Villoldo, hired by the CIA to capture the guerrilla leader as he tried to foment rebellion in Bolivia.
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Diamond Shirt To Be Sold In Dubai
The $1.4 million diamond-studded top which was shown on the runway during Milan Fashion Week last February will go on the auction block in Dubai in December. The top was created with the late fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré and Diamond Company and DTC sightholder Dalumi.
The top has more than 900 diamonds stitched along a sheer black vest. The over 300 carats of diamonds are of G color and VS or higher clarity and are set in white gold studs. One dedicated employee hand stitched each diamond on the shirt.
The top has more than 900 diamonds stitched along a sheer black vest. The over 300 carats of diamonds are of G color and VS or higher clarity and are set in white gold studs. One dedicated employee hand stitched each diamond on the shirt.
Monday, 22 October 2007
Picasso's Communist Party Membership Card for auction
It is not every day that 100 unknown Picassos go on sale. Just off the Champs Elysées in Paris today, there will be an auction of drawings, doodles and scribbles.
There are florid notes, scratched in Pablo Picasso's handwriting on scraps of paper with hurried messages like "I'm in the restaurant" – with an estimated price of €1,500 (£1,045).
There are five, signed copies of Picasso's Communist Party membership card from the mid 1960s – with estimated auction prices of €500. I predict that these will make MUCH more!
There are also previously unseen sketches and cut-outs by the Spanish artist, some beautifully child-like, others in his familiar Cubist style. All were collected over a period of 33 years by a relatively unknown but very important woman in Picasso's life. The woman, Inès Sassier, was never Picasso's lover or mistress or wife. She was, variously, for more than three decades, his friend, adviser, house-keeper, cook, nanny, model and confidante.
The collection has been put up for sale today at Artcurial, in the Rond Point des Champs Elysées,
The 150 drawings, photographs, mementoes, and a handful of signed lithographs, are expected to fetch up to €444,000 and possibly far more.
Mme Sassier kept many items that others might have thrown away. The auction includes elaborate notes bearing messages like "Je serais ici à 7 heures" (I'll be back at 7). There is also an envelope addressed to Inès at the Rue des Grands Augustin in 1957 containing Picasso's signature.
There are florid notes, scratched in Pablo Picasso's handwriting on scraps of paper with hurried messages like "I'm in the restaurant" – with an estimated price of €1,500 (£1,045).
There are five, signed copies of Picasso's Communist Party membership card from the mid 1960s – with estimated auction prices of €500. I predict that these will make MUCH more!
There are also previously unseen sketches and cut-outs by the Spanish artist, some beautifully child-like, others in his familiar Cubist style. All were collected over a period of 33 years by a relatively unknown but very important woman in Picasso's life. The woman, Inès Sassier, was never Picasso's lover or mistress or wife. She was, variously, for more than three decades, his friend, adviser, house-keeper, cook, nanny, model and confidante.
The collection has been put up for sale today at Artcurial, in the Rond Point des Champs Elysées,
The 150 drawings, photographs, mementoes, and a handful of signed lithographs, are expected to fetch up to €444,000 and possibly far more.
Mme Sassier kept many items that others might have thrown away. The auction includes elaborate notes bearing messages like "Je serais ici à 7 heures" (I'll be back at 7). There is also an envelope addressed to Inès at the Rue des Grands Augustin in 1957 containing Picasso's signature.
Sunday, 21 October 2007
EBay Typo Costs Man $500,000
Shopping on eBay is supposed to be about finding bargains, and this summer a guy from Oklahoma ended up finding quite the deal.
He was the winning bidder of a bottle of Allsopp's Arctic Ale in which the seller made a typo in his auction and spelled it "Allsops."
The auction ended with very little interest and only 2 bids for the bottle that was obviously worth so much more than the winning bid of $304.
And to make the mistake even more painful, that winning bidder turned around and listed the bottle again on eBay, but this time with the name spelled correctly, and got a whopping 157 bidders and a sale price of $503,300.
He was the winning bidder of a bottle of Allsopp's Arctic Ale in which the seller made a typo in his auction and spelled it "Allsops."
The auction ended with very little interest and only 2 bids for the bottle that was obviously worth so much more than the winning bid of $304.
And to make the mistake even more painful, that winning bidder turned around and listed the bottle again on eBay, but this time with the name spelled correctly, and got a whopping 157 bidders and a sale price of $503,300.
Saturday, 20 October 2007
Orson Wells’ Citizen Kane Oscar for auction.
It won only one Oscar, but Orson Welles' 1941 film "Citizen Kane" is widely considered his best movie. Now the Academy Award Welles received for his masterwork can be bought for a cool million -- or maybe more.
Sotheby's said it will auction off the statuette Welles won for screenwriting with Herman Mankiewicz on December 11. They estimate it could fetch between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
The movie, about a power-hungry newspaper baron with political aspirations, is one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time, which enhances the statuette's value, said Leila Dunbar, senior vice president at Sotheby's.
"The movie had a star-studded cast. Welles was fearless in the filmmaking and he had complete autonomy, all of which helped him create a landmark movie," Dunbar said.
The Oscar has almost as tangled a past as the film's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane. The award was believed to have been lost until it surfaced at another Sotheby's auction in 1994 after being held in secrecy by a Los Angeles cinematographer who once worked with Welles and received it from him as payment.
Welles' youngest daughter, Beatrice, sued Sotheby's and the cinematographer and eventually claimed the Oscar. When she tried to sell it, the academy sued her as part of its longstanding goal of keeping Oscars off commercial markets.
Since 1950, the academy has required Oscar-winners to give it the first right of refusal to buy back an Oscar for $1. Because this particular Oscar had been given before 1950, among other reasons, Welles was able to prevail in court.
In 2003, Welles sold the Oscar to the Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit group that supports various educational, health and other causes. Dax is auctioning the Oscar.
Dunbar said Welles' Oscar is hard to value because so few from classic or iconic movies come on the market.
In 1999, the best picture Oscar for "Gone With the Wind" sold for more than $1.5 million and Vivien Leigh's best actress statuette for the same movie fetched more than $550,000.
Sotheby's said it will auction off the statuette Welles won for screenwriting with Herman Mankiewicz on December 11. They estimate it could fetch between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
The movie, about a power-hungry newspaper baron with political aspirations, is one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time, which enhances the statuette's value, said Leila Dunbar, senior vice president at Sotheby's.
"The movie had a star-studded cast. Welles was fearless in the filmmaking and he had complete autonomy, all of which helped him create a landmark movie," Dunbar said.
The Oscar has almost as tangled a past as the film's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane. The award was believed to have been lost until it surfaced at another Sotheby's auction in 1994 after being held in secrecy by a Los Angeles cinematographer who once worked with Welles and received it from him as payment.
Welles' youngest daughter, Beatrice, sued Sotheby's and the cinematographer and eventually claimed the Oscar. When she tried to sell it, the academy sued her as part of its longstanding goal of keeping Oscars off commercial markets.
Since 1950, the academy has required Oscar-winners to give it the first right of refusal to buy back an Oscar for $1. Because this particular Oscar had been given before 1950, among other reasons, Welles was able to prevail in court.
In 2003, Welles sold the Oscar to the Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit group that supports various educational, health and other causes. Dax is auctioning the Oscar.
Dunbar said Welles' Oscar is hard to value because so few from classic or iconic movies come on the market.
In 1999, the best picture Oscar for "Gone With the Wind" sold for more than $1.5 million and Vivien Leigh's best actress statuette for the same movie fetched more than $550,000.
Hitler's Globe Up for Sale
Days after the end of World War II, an American soldier entering the wreckage of Adolf Hitler's mountain stronghold found that fierce Allied bombing had left the "Eagle's Nest" in ruins.
Hitler was dead, and other soldiers had already looted the inside of his private residence, even stripping the leather from furniture. Nearly everything of value was gone — except for the Fuhrer's globe.
"Literally, the place is all bombed out and here this globe is sitting there on the desk," said John Barsamian, now 91.
Now Barsamian is putting the artifact up for auction, along with all the military paperwork that allowed him to bring it back to the United States, including a certificate that reads "1 Global Map, German, Hitler's Eagle Nest."
Barsamian found the globe in May 1945 in the Berghof, Hitler's home in the Bavarian Alps town of Berchtesgaden. He boxed it up with a few other keepsakes, including a pistol and a dagger, and shipped them home.
After beating cancer and burying his wife, Viola, in 2004, Barsamian is finally ready to part with the globe. He's selling it now, while he's still alive, so he can personally tell the story behind it and share his experience in the war, says his son, Barry.
The globe to expected to attract bids from $15,000 to $20,000 when it is auctioned Nov. 13 in San Francisco.
Other items up for auction include rare documents signed by Hitler, and a box of cigars that belonged to Hermann Goering
The auction will take place at the Greg Martin auction house in San Francisco, November 13th, 2007.
Hitler was dead, and other soldiers had already looted the inside of his private residence, even stripping the leather from furniture. Nearly everything of value was gone — except for the Fuhrer's globe.
"Literally, the place is all bombed out and here this globe is sitting there on the desk," said John Barsamian, now 91.
Now Barsamian is putting the artifact up for auction, along with all the military paperwork that allowed him to bring it back to the United States, including a certificate that reads "1 Global Map, German, Hitler's Eagle Nest."
Barsamian found the globe in May 1945 in the Berghof, Hitler's home in the Bavarian Alps town of Berchtesgaden. He boxed it up with a few other keepsakes, including a pistol and a dagger, and shipped them home.
After beating cancer and burying his wife, Viola, in 2004, Barsamian is finally ready to part with the globe. He's selling it now, while he's still alive, so he can personally tell the story behind it and share his experience in the war, says his son, Barry.
The globe to expected to attract bids from $15,000 to $20,000 when it is auctioned Nov. 13 in San Francisco.
Other items up for auction include rare documents signed by Hitler, and a box of cigars that belonged to Hermann Goering
The auction will take place at the Greg Martin auction house in San Francisco, November 13th, 2007.
Saturday, 13 October 2007
AUCTION to-morrow
South Eastern Auctions of East Peckham,Kent have their auction tomorrow.
It’s my favourite auction to conduct.
This month there are over 800 lots starting with a post hole digger and ending with a Victorian travelling trunk.
In between there will be a vast array including:
Motor Cycles.
Vintage fishing gear.
Stamp collections.
Two Roman Coins.
Masonic items.
Collection of Pendelpin pottery.
A Bernard Leech pot and other ceramics.
Musical Instruments.
Georgian and later furniture.
Paintings, Watercolours and engravings.
Large number of jewellery lots.
J. Hoover signed Christmas card.
Fossils etc. etc.
The full catalogue can be downloaded from:
http://www.southeasternauctions.co.uk/
It’s my favourite auction to conduct.
This month there are over 800 lots starting with a post hole digger and ending with a Victorian travelling trunk.
In between there will be a vast array including:
Motor Cycles.
Vintage fishing gear.
Stamp collections.
Two Roman Coins.
Masonic items.
Collection of Pendelpin pottery.
A Bernard Leech pot and other ceramics.
Musical Instruments.
Georgian and later furniture.
Paintings, Watercolours and engravings.
Large number of jewellery lots.
J. Hoover signed Christmas card.
Fossils etc. etc.
The full catalogue can be downloaded from:
http://www.southeasternauctions.co.uk/
Thursday, 11 October 2007
Straw bale auction rooms nearing completion
As an auctioneer and a Green Party activist, I am delighted to post this report from Green Building Magazine.
Straw bale auction rooms nearing completion.
The main structure of the largest straw bale building in the UK is nearing completion near Stansted airport. Pioneers of straw bale building in the UK, amazonails of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, are now completing the straw bale walls of the 1,100 sq m (11,800 sq ft) auction room and offices.
The design, with straw bales infilling a timber frame, is an advance on conventional timber-frame buildings and is quicker to build. Workers from amazonails will have spent three weeks camping at the site building the straw bale walls when the main structure is completed this coming weekend, the cedar shingle roof being supported above the building on timber uprights while the walls were filled in.
The construction process has also been used for training future straw bale constructors, this following an amazonails tradition in which people wanting to build their own straw bale home learn while they build, under instruction from experts from amazonails.
The building will provide new auction rooms and offices for Sworders Fine Art and Antique Auctioneers, of Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. The building as a whole was designed by Robert Ward-Booth FRICS, a partner in G E Sworder & Sons. It incorporates solar heating, a bio-fuel boiler and water is harvested from the roof.
Barbara Jones, Executive Director of amazonails says: “This building demonstrates the amazing potential of straw bale buildings. They not only offer the possibility of exciting, eco-friendly homes; working commercial buildings can also benefit from the advantages of this kind of building while helping to lessen the consequences of climate change. The thermal efficiency of straw bale walls means that long term running costs can be much lower than other types of building and the dependence on fossil fuels can be reduced”.
This new commercial building should help dispel many myths about building with straw when done correctly. There are no problems with obtaining planning permission; such buildings are at least as fire safe as conventional buildings; and they will endure as long as any well-maintained building using bricks and mortar.
Furthermore, the heat insulation properties of straw bale walls are twice as good as the best alternative materials on the market.
The building is due to be structurally complete in October and it will be fitted out and occupied in the first quarter of next year.
Straw bale auction rooms nearing completion.
The main structure of the largest straw bale building in the UK is nearing completion near Stansted airport. Pioneers of straw bale building in the UK, amazonails of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, are now completing the straw bale walls of the 1,100 sq m (11,800 sq ft) auction room and offices.
The design, with straw bales infilling a timber frame, is an advance on conventional timber-frame buildings and is quicker to build. Workers from amazonails will have spent three weeks camping at the site building the straw bale walls when the main structure is completed this coming weekend, the cedar shingle roof being supported above the building on timber uprights while the walls were filled in.
The construction process has also been used for training future straw bale constructors, this following an amazonails tradition in which people wanting to build their own straw bale home learn while they build, under instruction from experts from amazonails.
The building will provide new auction rooms and offices for Sworders Fine Art and Antique Auctioneers, of Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. The building as a whole was designed by Robert Ward-Booth FRICS, a partner in G E Sworder & Sons. It incorporates solar heating, a bio-fuel boiler and water is harvested from the roof.
Barbara Jones, Executive Director of amazonails says: “This building demonstrates the amazing potential of straw bale buildings. They not only offer the possibility of exciting, eco-friendly homes; working commercial buildings can also benefit from the advantages of this kind of building while helping to lessen the consequences of climate change. The thermal efficiency of straw bale walls means that long term running costs can be much lower than other types of building and the dependence on fossil fuels can be reduced”.
This new commercial building should help dispel many myths about building with straw when done correctly. There are no problems with obtaining planning permission; such buildings are at least as fire safe as conventional buildings; and they will endure as long as any well-maintained building using bricks and mortar.
Furthermore, the heat insulation properties of straw bale walls are twice as good as the best alternative materials on the market.
The building is due to be structurally complete in October and it will be fitted out and occupied in the first quarter of next year.
Marie Antoinette’s pearls for auction.
A set of pearls once belonging to Marie Antoinette and taken to Britain by a friend for safekeeping will go on sale in December, and are expected to fetch up to $800,000.
Now part of a diamond, ruby and pearl necklace, France's last queen gave a bag of pearls and diamonds to Lady Sutherland, the British ambassador's wife, before she fled revolutionary France in 1792, a year before Marie Antoinette's death.
"Lady Sutherland was wife of the ambassador and friends with the queen, and they had children of the same age," said Raymond Sancroft-Baker, senior director of Christie's jewelry in London.
"When you are in a dire situation, there are not many people you can trust and the key was to give the jewels to someone with diplomatic immunity," he told Reuters.
According to Christie's, Sutherland arranged for clothes and linen to be sent to the queen while she was in prison.
"This was reportedly the last gesture of kindness shown to the doomed queen," the auctioneer said in a statement.
Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine in October 1793.
The diamonds were made into a necklace, while the pearls were mounted later for the occasion of the marriage of Sutherland's grandson in 1849.
The pearls, have never been offered at auction before and remained in the same family for over 200 years.
The necklace will go under the hammer at the Magnificent Jewellery sale in London on December 12, and is expected to make between £350,000 and £400,000 pounds ($700-800,000).
Now part of a diamond, ruby and pearl necklace, France's last queen gave a bag of pearls and diamonds to Lady Sutherland, the British ambassador's wife, before she fled revolutionary France in 1792, a year before Marie Antoinette's death.
"Lady Sutherland was wife of the ambassador and friends with the queen, and they had children of the same age," said Raymond Sancroft-Baker, senior director of Christie's jewelry in London.
"When you are in a dire situation, there are not many people you can trust and the key was to give the jewels to someone with diplomatic immunity," he told Reuters.
According to Christie's, Sutherland arranged for clothes and linen to be sent to the queen while she was in prison.
"This was reportedly the last gesture of kindness shown to the doomed queen," the auctioneer said in a statement.
Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine in October 1793.
The diamonds were made into a necklace, while the pearls were mounted later for the occasion of the marriage of Sutherland's grandson in 1849.
The pearls, have never been offered at auction before and remained in the same family for over 200 years.
The necklace will go under the hammer at the Magnificent Jewellery sale in London on December 12, and is expected to make between £350,000 and £400,000 pounds ($700-800,000).
Magna Carta Is Coming Up For Auction
It is the document that laid the foundation for fundamental principles of English law and it is coming up for auction.
NO, it is not Gordon Brown selling off the family treasures. The country is not that broke – yet:-)
Sotheby’s have announced plans to auction it in New York in mid-December, estimates that the document will sell for $20 million to $30 million.
It is the only copy in the United States and the only copy in private hands. Sotheby’s says the 16 others are owned by the British or Australian governments or by ecclesiastical or educational institutions in England.
Until recently, this copy was on display in the National Archives in Washington, steps from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But it was only on loan from a foundation controlled by the Texas billionaire Ross Perot, who bought it in 1984 for $1.5 million.
The Perot Magna Carta dates to 1297 and was endorsed by King Edward I. The National Archives said that of the 17 original versions that still exist, 4 are from the reign of John; 8 are from Henry III; and 5 are from Edward I.
Some jurists consider the Perot Magna Carta to be the most important one because it was the one that was entered into the statute books in England.
Mr. Perot, the onetime independent candidate for president of the United States, bought it from relatives of James Thomas Brudenell, the Earl of Cardigan, who led the charge of the Light Brigade in 1854, during the Crimean War. The copy was said to have been in the family’s possession since sometime in the Middle Ages.
But later generations were apparently unaware of its importance.
By the time Mr. Perot bought the copy, it had been on the market for four years, and at least one deal had fallen through before Mr. Perot came along. At the time, Mr. Perot said he was “amazed” that it had been for sale.
NO, it is not Gordon Brown selling off the family treasures. The country is not that broke – yet:-)
Sotheby’s have announced plans to auction it in New York in mid-December, estimates that the document will sell for $20 million to $30 million.
It is the only copy in the United States and the only copy in private hands. Sotheby’s says the 16 others are owned by the British or Australian governments or by ecclesiastical or educational institutions in England.
Until recently, this copy was on display in the National Archives in Washington, steps from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But it was only on loan from a foundation controlled by the Texas billionaire Ross Perot, who bought it in 1984 for $1.5 million.
The Perot Magna Carta dates to 1297 and was endorsed by King Edward I. The National Archives said that of the 17 original versions that still exist, 4 are from the reign of John; 8 are from Henry III; and 5 are from Edward I.
Some jurists consider the Perot Magna Carta to be the most important one because it was the one that was entered into the statute books in England.
Mr. Perot, the onetime independent candidate for president of the United States, bought it from relatives of James Thomas Brudenell, the Earl of Cardigan, who led the charge of the Light Brigade in 1854, during the Crimean War. The copy was said to have been in the family’s possession since sometime in the Middle Ages.
But later generations were apparently unaware of its importance.
By the time Mr. Perot bought the copy, it had been on the market for four years, and at least one deal had fallen through before Mr. Perot came along. At the time, Mr. Perot said he was “amazed” that it had been for sale.
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