Maine Antique Digest, April 2017

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14-D Maine Antique Digest, April 2017
- FEATURE -
10-D
Auction Prices
Realized
Here are a few notable prices of antiques sold
recently at auction, as provided by press
releases. All prices include the buyer’s
premium when charged. We’re always looking for
newsof prices realizedat auctions, particularlyunusual
or top lots. Send pictures, complete descriptions, and
information to A.P.R., Maine Antique Digest, PO
Box 1429, Waldoboro, ME 04572 or e-mail them to
>.
Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952), Out of the Darkness—
Navajo, Canon de Chelly, 1905, orotone, 7½" x 9½"
(15¾" x 19" with frame), $10,710. Clars Auction Gallery,
Oakland, California, January 14 and 15.
Before the Rain: Mono Lake, High Sierra, U.S.A. by
Chiura Obata (American/Japanese, 1885-1975) set
a new global record for the artist. This 10¾" x 15½"
(17½" x 22" with frame) woodcut print brought
$10,890. Clars Auction Gallery, Oakland, California,
January 14 and 15.
This Marina B. 18k gold and
diamond choker necklace
sold for $8740. Direct Auction
Galleries, Chicago, Illinois,
January 10.
Seaman Schepps 18k gold and
pearl sea horse pin, $4025.
Direct Auction Galleries,
Chicago, Illinois, January 10.
Designed by Italian medallist Costantino Affer (1906-1987)
and struck by Lorioli Brothers, this gold medal issued for
the Cortina 1956 Winter Olympics in Italy sold for $23,882.
Cortina is best remembered for the debut of Soviet athletes in a
Winter Olympiad, as well as for the first instance in which the
Olympics was internationally televised. RR Auction, Boston,
Massachusetts, in an Internet auction that concluded January 19.
This Cortina 1956 Winter
Olympics torch sold for
$26,950. RR Auction, Boston,
Massachusetts, in an Internet
auction that concluded
January 19.
St. Moritz 1948 Winter
Olympics silver medal,
$20,828. RR Auction, Boston,
Massachusetts, in an Internet
auction that concluded January 19.
Only 470 proof
dollars were
struck during
1864. This rare
$1 coin (1864
PCGS PR66
CAM CAC)
sold for $47,000.
Legend Auctions,
Las Vegas, Nevada,
January 26.
Ingots or slugs such as this one were struck at the U.S. Assay Office
in San Francisco under the direction of Augustus Humbert. This
$50 Humbert (PCGS AU50) with reeded edge brought $61,687.50.
Because of Humbert’s reputation for honesty, his operations put
many other assaying and minting firms that opened after the
discovery of gold in California out of business. Legend Auctions,
Las Vegas, Nevada, January 26.
This 10" high S. Kirk &
Son Co. sterling silver
presentation pitcher
has idyllic scenes of
Bastogne, Belgium and
is engraved “Presented
to the hero of Bastogne,
Maj. Genl. Anthony C.
McAuliffe as a token of
esteem by his friends in the
City of Baltimore and the
State of Maryland, Theodore
P. McKeldin, Mayor and
Herbert R. O’Conor, Governor,
June 24, 1945.” It sold for $3875.
Witherell’s Auction, Sacramento,
California, January 11-25.
This antique California double-barrel percussion shotgun is
marked “Villegia & Slotterbek, Makers, Laminated steel, San
Francisco” on the 28" long barrel and “Villegia & Slotterbek”
on the locks, which are also engraved with game birds and dogs.
It sold for $3375. Witherell’s Auction, Sacramento, California,
January 11-25.
This World War
II document is a
surrender demand
from the German
commander at the
siege of Bastogne, Belgium
during the Battle of the
Bulge, for which General
Anthony McAuliffe gained
fame for his reply of “Nuts”
to the threat of “total
annihilation” from the
German commander. It came
from McAuliffe’s estate by
family descent. Included was
the envelope marked “United States Forces / Official
Business” and with “Original of Bastogne surrender
demand” handwritten in pencil. The one-page, 11.62" x
8.25" document realized $23,125. Witherell’s Auction,
Sacramento, California, January 11-25.
At $23,750, this mimeographed copy of the Potsdam
Proclamation, signed by President Harry S. Truman—with
Winston Churchill’s and Chiang Kai-shek’s names added
in Truman’s hand—was the top lot at Witherell’s Auction
in Sacramento, California, January 11-25. The World
War II document, dated July 26, 1945, was collected by
Secret Service agent Elmer R. Hipsley and hidden in an
accompanying map of Berlin. The Potsdam Proclamation
called for Japan’s unconditional surrender and threatened
“prompt and utter destruction” for noncompliance with the
terms. Copies of associated photographs and identification
were included in the lot.