Notable sales found in our December 18, 2020 issue start with the stuff of legend: a customized Kramer electric guitar built and used by Eddie Van Halen with his guitar tech Matt Bruck at the guitarist’s 5150 home studio, that sold for $231,250 at Julien’s Auctions. Creative pieces continue with the painting ‘Vaqueros’ by James Walker that reached five figures at Clarke Auction Gallery. Meanwhile, a Schreyvogel bronze came in at just over $50,000 at Concept Art Gallery. A Federal sideboard, a canape once owned by John Jacob Astor, and more round out this week’s Across The Block.
Eddie Van Halen’s Customized Kramer Electric Guitar Sells for $231,250
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. – Julien’s Auctions conducted its Icons & Idols Trilogy: Rock ‘N’ Roll sale on December 1 and 2, live and online. The two-day music auction event sold nearly 900 items of pop culture iconography, instruments and memorabilia owned and used by some of the world’s greatest music artists and bands of all-time. The top selling item of the event was an iconic guitar played by Eddie Van Halen. His customized Kramer electric guitar serial number F 0024 built by Van Halen with his guitar tech Matt Bruck at the guitarist’s 5150 home studio sold for $231,250 and features a red body with white and black stripes designed and applied by Van Halen. It was given to Van Halen’s close friend Bryan Cush, the owner of Cush’s Centenary Oyster House in Shreveport, La., in 1991. It is inscribed Yo – / Bryan / Let’s get / shucked / up / Eddie Van Halen / 5150 and was displayed at the bar where it was played by Van Halen when he visited. For information, www.juliensauctions.com or 310-836-1818.
Boy Scout Patches Sew Up $750 At Keystone Auctions
YORK, PENN. – Boy Scout patches and related items were plentiful at Keystone Auctions’ November 28 sale of Scouts/militaria, toys and collectibles. A lot of approximately 100 pieces included a 1937 patch and kerchief and found a buyer who ignored the lot’s $25/75 estimate and shelled out $750 to take them home. Keystone Auctions conducts several antique auctions and specialty auctions quarterly, usually focusing on collections such as jewelry, coins and more. For information, 717-850-2513 or www.auctionsbykeystone.com.
Cordier Bidders Come To The Table For Table & Chairs
HARRISBURG, PENN. – A Danish Modern teak table and four chairs topped Cordier Auctions & Appraisals’ November 28 online-only consignment auction, bringing $900 from a buyer in Portland, Ore. The set, which was unmarked, had been estimated at $150/200, but, according to a representative for the firm, the price achieved could be attributed not only to the continuing popularity of Danish Modern furniture but also to the high quality of the set. For information, www.cordierantiques.com or 717-731-8662.
Astor’s Swan Canape Swims To Lead At Gustave White
NEWPORT, R.I. – A highlight at the November 11 auction conducted by Gustave J.S. White Co., Estate Auctioneers & Appraisers was a French Empire canape that had once been owned by John Jacob Astor. The piece was one of a few that had been saved from Astor’s Newport mansion “Chetwode” when it was destroyed by fire 70 years ago. Despite a frame that was in poor condition having been ravaged by powder-post beetles, the carved swan-form arms were made of a wood they could not eat and were in better condition. According to Mike Corcoran, the Rhode Island dealer who purchased the canape for $3,800 believed she had “got a good buy.” For information, 401-841-5780.
Little Girl & Her Dog Charm Bidders In Applebrook Sale
NEW MILFORD, CONN. – “Tis the Season,” said Applebrook Auction’s Mitchell Borenstein, and surely it ’twas, as an enormous collection of pocket and wristwatches, toys, sterling silver, estate jewelry, furniture, artwork and more crossed the block in the firm’s pre-holiday sale on November 30. An estate fresh early folk art oil on canvas of a little girl and a dog warmed the hearts of bidders who took her to $5,625 above the $1/2,000 estimate. The frame measures 34½ by 24¼ inches and image sight measures 20¼ by 30½ inches. For information, 203-740-0944 or www.applebrookauctions.com.
Marble Top Commode Tops In Modern Day Auction
NEW CANAAN, CONN. – “Perhaps brown wood is beginning to make a comeback,” mused the auctioneer at Modern Day Auctions as a Louis Philippe marble top commode from the Nineteenth Century sold for $6,608 at the firm’s December 2 sale. Consignments came from longtime New Canaan collectors whose historic property incorporated an antique barn rescued from the early Colonial community of Dantown, which was flooded to create a reservoir in the 1920s. The owners created a charming and elegant atmosphere with sophisticated country pieces of French and English antiques, paintings and decorative arts. For information, 203-400-6000 or www.moderndayauctions.com.
Nathan Lombard Federal Sideboard Is Main Attraction At Coyle’s
MEDWAY, MASS. – There was limited seating in Coyle’s Auction’s outdoor pavilion for its rugs and curiosities session on November 17 and even more limited seating as the action moved inside as the sun was setting for session two, the estate auction. A Nathan Lombard antique Federal inlaid sideboard sold for $17,250, purchased by a phone bidder for a New England institution’s collection. Coyle’s is a family-owned and -operated auction house established in 1985. It provides professional and convenient assistance with estate settlements, liquidations and appraisals. Regularly scheduled auctions are conducted featuring antiques and decorative arts drawn from area estates and collections. For information, www.coylesauction.com, 508-733-6868 or 774-571-8263.
Schreyvogel Bronze Wrings Out $50,575 At Concept Art Gallery
PITTSBURGH, PENN. – A Charles Schreyvogel (American, 1861-1912) 1903 bronze, “The Last Drop,” depicting a frontiersman offering his thirsty horse water from his hat, sold for $50,575 at Concept Art Gallery’s December 5 fine art, antiques and design auction. The cast bronze, 5 by 12 by 18.6 inches, was signed and dated “copyrighted 1903 by Charles Schreyvogel” on base reverse, foundry mark Roman Bronze Works N.Y. 1904 on left edge of the base, inscribed Edition No 29 on underside. It had provenance to the Knoedler Gallery, New York and to Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), American industrialist, financier, union-buster and art patron, whose extensive collection of Old Master paintings and furniture created the celebrated Frick Collection and art museum.
‘Vaqueros’ Drive James Walker Painting To $62,500
LARCHMONT, N.Y. – At Clarke Auction Gallery’s December 6 auction of jewelry, fine art, antiques, midcentury and Asian estate items, an oil on canvas painting by James Walker of vaqueros sold for $62,500, making it the third most expensive Walker to sell at auction. The 1886 work measured 24 by 40 inches, was signed and dated lower left and had come from a Westchester, N.Y., estate. For information, 914-833-8336 or www.clarkeny.com.
