Friday and Saturday, April 16 and 17, were more banner days at Bertoia Auctions as the third sale of the Donald Kaufman Collection drew the attention of a full house of bidders. “The sale was fun and exciting, grossing well over the high estimate at $2.3 million, and we had a good representation of European buyers,” Jeanne Bertoia said. Some of the foreign buyers were unable to get a flight home right after the sale and attended The Philadelphia Show with Jeanne Bertoia on Sunday. One London collector, who was unable to get to the sale, had flown over a month ago to preview the sale and was able to do his bidding by phone.

The top lot in the sale went to a Tippco Mickey and Minnie Mouse motorcycle, lot 2979 (pictured), a litho tin windup toy in working order, excellent condition, Germany, circa 1932, 9¼ inches long. The catalog stated that it is the most desirable of the German toys of this period and carried a estimate of $23/28,000; it sold to a New York City collector for $65,550.

Runner-up was lot 3441 (pictured), a rare Marklin four-seat tourer, Germany, circa 1903, 13 inches long, with hand painted white body, gold striping and light orange, embossed seating. This lot, with an estimate of $30/35,000, sold for $55,200 to a European collector. The catalog notes, “This toy is one of Don’s prized finds.”

The next part of the Kaufman sale will be September 25′6, with the final section to follow at a later date. In total, close to 7,000 objects were in the collection. ⁒SS