Sunday, June 17, 2007

Philip Weiss Auctions tops $1 million at June 9-10 sale

Philip Weiss Auctions tops $1 million at June 9-10 sale


[ Fri Jun 15 2007] Philip Weiss Auctions topped the $1 million mark in a two-day, three-session multi-estate sale held the weekend of June 9-10. Top lots included six original Charles Schulz “Peanuts” panels (totaling $193,230); two Lou Gehrig palm prints ($82,490 the pair); and an original oil painting by American artist Douglas Gorsline ($31,640). The sale grossed just about $1.1 million.
“I had a good feeling about this auction,” said Philip Weiss, owner of the firm that bears his name. “We had some fabulous consignments, in a variety of categories. I predicted we might make $1 million, but when we actually hit it I think everybody here just felt jubilant. A lot of hard work went into making that number. Hard work, and wonderful items. It was a great way to end the season for us.”
About 1,500 lots changed hands in a sale that had two sessions on Saturday – one starting at 10 am and one at 5 pm – and a third session that lasted all day Sunday. “It was exhausting but exhilarating,” Mr. Weiss said. He estimated about 300 people made it to the firm's spacious showroom facility. In addition, there were nearly 3,000 registered online bidders and about 200 phone bidders.
Philip Weiss is a name nearly synonymous with Charles Schulz. It seems every sale boasts a few original “Peanuts” panels, and this auction was no exception. The star lot was a “Great Pumpkin” Sunday page from October 24, 1965, right before Halloween. It soared to $62,150. The comic featured Lucy and Linus writing to the “Great Pumpkin” and was even accompanied by a letter from Schulz.
An original daily panel by Schulz, this one actually drawn on Halloween day (October 31, 1967) realized $32,770. The piece – measuring 28-1/2” x 7” -- showed Snoopy and Linus in the “Great Pumpkin” patch. Also, an original “Peanuts” Sunday page, dated May 3, 1959 and with a baseball theme – hammered for $31,640. The excellent 22-1/2” x 15” panel featured Lucy and Charlie Brown.
The signed Lou Gehrig palm prints – one left and one right – came from the estate of Alice Denton Jennings, a palmist who took palm impressions of her famous clients, who later signed them. Her collection was so extensive it spanned several sales. The signed right palm print of Babe Ruth also sold, for $37,290. Another signed Ruth palm print sold for $26,000 at a Philip Weiss sale in January.
Other highlights from the sale follow. All prices quoted include a 13% buyer's premium.
A large oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist Douglas Gorsline (1913-1985) sailed past all estimates to gavel for a record price of $31,640. The previous record for a work by Gorsline was $2,800. The colorful, mid-20th century street scene depicted a nattily dressed couple. The unframed canvas – measuring 38” tall x 32” wide – even had a few scrapes and tears that didn't deter bidders.
The original cover art for “Amazing Spider Man” # 92 (January 1971), by renowned comic book artist John Romita, sold for $30,500. The cover, featuring Spidey's nemesis “Iceman,” was hand-signed in ink by Romita along the left edge. The fresh-to-the-market piece contained all original paste-ups and had some in-line corrections, white-out marks and color notes. It measured 11-1/2” x 17-1/2”.
A large abstract oil-on-canvas work by the Italian painter Mario Nigro (1917-1992), titled “Il Crollo Degli Dei” (1956), fetched $10,170. Information printed on verso included Nigro's address in Livorno, Italy, and the date of the painting: October 1956. The sizable work measured 51-1/2” high x 39” wide. Nigro was one of the fathers of the Concrete Art Movement, founded in Milano in 1948.
A beautiful Tiffany vase in the shape of a long-stemmed tulip, etched on the base “LCT 48693” and standing 18” high, garnered $14,405; a vintage oil-on-wood panel by the Polish-born American artist Ladislaus Bakalowicz (1833-1904), in a gilt frame and titled “Lady In Mirror,” made $6,7880; and a rare Confederate carte de visite of an unidentified Naval officer commanded $2,315.
Philip Weiss will take a well-deserved break for the rest of June before coming back strong with a trio of sales sure to set the industry buzzing. The first will be a huge one-day sale of general collectibles and memorabilia, slated for Saturday, July 21. Featured will be over 800 lots, including toys, trains, toy soldiers and more. This sale replaces the Annual Tag Sale, normally held in August.
Then, on the weekend of September 8-9, Philip Weiss Auctions will present the lifetime collection of Steve Rathkopf, a dedicated collector of western TV and comic book characters from the 1940s through the 1960s. Included will be comics, pin-backs, non-sport cards, puppets, marionettes, wallets, bracelets, premiums, vintage lunch boxes, 200+ mint paper doll books, posters and more.
It only gets better in October, when the contents of a home on Long Island – sealed for 25 years but bearing countless treasures – are sold in a true fresh-to-the-market estate auction. The unassuming, two-story brick home had been boarded up and looked to the causal eye to be a run-down residence with nothing of value inside. Nothing could be further from the truth. And it will all be sold.
Two truckloads were required to transport the trove that sat, undisturbed, since the early 1980s. Featured will be a turn-of-the-century 5-foot-tall cigar store punch figure; numerous early trade and advertising signs; over 400 occupational shaving mugs; rare 18th- and 19th-century folk art carved ships' figureheads; turn-of-the-century barber and pharmacy bottles; and a cast iron toy collection.
Philip Weiss Auctions is one of the premier full-service auction houses in the Northeast. To learn more about the company and these important upcoming sale dates, you may visit them online by clicking www.philipweissauctions.com. To consign an item, estate or collection, you may call them directly, at (516) 594-0731. Or you can e-mail them at phil@philipweissauctions.com.