Monday, August 31, 2009

Antique Watch Returned From 1881 Seabed Grave To Relatives


In 2000 while searching a shipwreck off the Pembrokeshire coast, diver Richard Hughes found a pocket watch engraved in 1866 to Captain Richard Prichard. He then spent the next nine years tracking down the relatives to return the watch to its rightful owner. Read the BBC article here.

Friday, August 28, 2009

£7500 For This Chesterfield

A sofa that had once belonged to Winston Churchill fetched £7,500 at a recent English auction. It's pre-sale estimate was £50-80.

Found during a house clearance in the shed of a Northamptonshire vicarage, the distressed Chesterfield was promoted to the auction rooms when the brother of the late owner mentioned the connection. The late-19th-century leather settee had graced Churchill’s private Whitehall office during his second premiership from 1951 to 1955, before he gave it to a friend from Northamptonshire.

Jonathan Humbert, of JP Humbert Auctioneers sold the piece. “We were going to throw it away but when the chap mentioned its Churchill link, we thought we’d run it for a bit of a laugh,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying. “On the one hand it’s clapped out, but on the other hand it’s got this illustrious heritage. Who knows what famous rears sat on it,” he added.
The new buyer will be sending it to the restorers.

Read the Telegraph article here.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

A Hundred World War II Photographs Rescued From Military Tip


An archive of World War II photographs of the Royal New Zealand Air Force No 6 Flying Boat Squadron in the Solomon Islands has been 'scavenged' from a military rubbish tip. Now an Australian researcher would like help to identify the airmen in the photographs.

Read the Dominion Post article here. See archive on flickr here.

Do you recognise anyone in these photographs? Contact news@waikatotimes.co.nz

Photo: More than 200 men line the wing of one of the giant Catalina flying boats that were affectionately known as "Dumbos" c1944.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Commonwealth Gifts To The Queen on Display

To mark the 60th anniversary of the formation of the modern Commonwealth, an exhibition entitled 'Queen & Commonwealth: The Royal Tour' is now on display at Buckingham Palace. You can see over 100 gifts online, given to the Queen on her travels including a Kahu Kiwi and Wakahuia presented on the Royal Visit in 1953-4. We have been very good gift givers over the years. "Some items are loaned to an appropriate organisation, for example a Maori canoe, given by the government of New Zealand, is on long-term loan to the British Museum, and two floor mats given by Queen Salote and the Tongan people are at the Royal Scottish Museum". Website here.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Busts Withdrawn From Sale

A pair of painted plaster busts of Truganini and Woureddy dating from the 1830s were withdrawn from sale prior to the auction taking place at Sotheby's in Melbourne. They were withdrawn to protect the security of Sotheby's staff and the public (was the outcry not a reason?). Protesters attended the auction with a megaphone chanting “Sotheby’s, Sotheby’s leave us alone – let us take our ancestors home”. Read the ABC's article here.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Be Cautious With Art; Buy Georgian Furniture


Do you want to know what to buy, sell, Or Hold In Today's Market? Here is an informative article from The Times Online UK about the current UK art and collectables market. I would apply the same guidelines to the New Zealand market. Remember, it is a good time to buy (especially at auction for even less) if you have the money, just make sure you pick the right items. Good condition is always key for any investment piece.
(Pictured: Georgian Mahogany Lowboy $1,800-2,500. For Sale at Webb's on 24 September)

Friday, August 21, 2009

Frida Kahlo Archive A Fake?


The archive of Frida Kahlo, announced in June to be the subject of a new book, has many experts claiming it is a fake.


“In my view the publishers have been the victims of a gigantic hoax,” says New York-based Latin American art dealer Mary-Anne Martin, who has bought and sold numerous works by Kahlo (1907-54). “The perpetrators have constructed all these letters, poems, drawings and recipes, using Frida's biography and her published letters as a roadmap. The drawings are badly done, the writing infantile, the content crude; the anatomy drawings look like something from a butcher shop instruction book. The paintings are ‘pastiches’, composites based on published works. The provenance provided is unverifiable and meaningless. There’s nothing I would like more than to discover a group of unknown works by Frida Kahlo, but there is no way on earth that any of these works could pass muster at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, or my gallery. I am astounded it has gone as far as it has.” Full article from The Art Newspaper here.

What do you think? See slideshow of archive here.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Toys Still Sell Well In Recession


A recent BBC article has the toy market in the UK buoyant in the current economic climate. While people don't have the expendable income to buy new cars going to fairs and picking up pieces for a few dollars is a good alternative. Most collectors, who seem to be male and older than 30, seem to be buying collectable pieces from the 1960s-80s.

The Holy Grails of the Toy Market:

Dinky Toy Weetabix van (1952) £3,000
Star Wars Jawa with plastic cape (1978) £500
Hornby Dublo rail cleaning wagon (1964) £500
Rare non-soldier Action Man footballer (1968) £300
Corgi Yellow Sub with hatch opening to reveal The Beatles (1969) £300 (Values by expert Barry Potter based on mint toys in package)

This may bode well for two upcoming toy auctions in Auckland. This Saturday A+O have the Ross Sutton Toy Collection. "Ross Sutton will be well known to toy collectors in New Zealand as the owner of Carousel Antiques which operated in Hamilton in the 1980s and 1990s" (A+O website blurb). View the catalogue here.

Webb's have "One of New Zealand’s finest and most comprehensive private collections of Hornby trains" featuring a 1930s New York Subway Train. This is on October 22nd and entries are still welcome.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Quinns Arcade Restoration Project Has Good News







The beautiful Quinns Arcade in Waimate has had another $3,000 given to the restoration project by the Waimate District Council's heritage fund. It is expected to be completed in five years. Read about the restoration Pro-Ject here.

The Oldest Working TV in Britain Found




The 1936 Marconiphone is alive and well and working from the lounge of a north London home. From the BBC.

Monday, August 17, 2009

299 Birds Stolen From Natural History Museum

"Detectives fear that almost 300 rare and "irreplaceable" tropical birds stolen from the Natural History Museum's ornithological collection could be ripped to shreds for use as fishing lures, dress adornments and costume jewellery.
Curators at the museum's bird collection in Tring, Hertfordshire, noticed that dozens of specimens had gone missing following a break-in on 24 June.
Although the thieves left behind more than 8,000 "specimen types", including the finches collected by Charles Darwin in the Galápagos, they took 299 birds." Guardian article continues here.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Snuff Box Sells for $6100 in Dunedin


A 223 year old gold filigree snuff box, believed to once have been owned by Robbie Burns, has sold for $6100 at Forno's auctions in Dunedin. Otago Daily Times reports.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Have a Look Inside a £600,000 Book


"The British Library has acquired the Macclesfield Alphabet Book, a 'pattern book' thought to have been used by scribes in medieval Britain to produce luxury books. The 15th century tome was purchased for £600,000." From In Pictures from the Guardian website.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Visitor Numbers Up at Historic Sites in UK & US



'Staycations' and relatively inexpensive admission rates may be the key to visitor numbers increasing this year. Article from The Art Newspaper here.

Image: Chesterwood, the summer estate of American sculptor Daniel Chester French in Massachusetts

Monday, August 10, 2009

The Play School Clock Found in Invercargill

Do you remember this clock? The good old Play School clock has been unearthed at the Invercargill Public Library. It was used years ago to display children's artwork but details are sketchy as to how it got there. It seems that Te Papa would really love this to add to their collection, which seems to consist of everything but poor Little Ted. R.I.P. Article at Stuff. Have a look at what Te Papa has in their collection, which includes little Ted's suit of armour here.

Subscribe to The Historic Places Newsletter to Keep in the Loop

A story from the Historic Places August 2009 Newsletter.



"The historical collection of objects at Antrim House in Wellington, now the headquarters of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, has recently been fortunate to benefit from the generosity of a Wellington resident.
The Hannah family built Antrim House in 1905 and lived there until Robert Hannah’s death in 1930. When the family sold the property, an auction was held to sell off some of their effects. The donor's mother, who had recently arrived in Wellington from Napier after the 1931 earthquake, attended this auction and bought this small silver-plated sugar bowl, inscribed 'Antrim House' on the rim. The maker's marks on the base tell us that the bowl was made by Walker and Hall of Sheffield and dates to between 1900 and 1909, so it was obviously made at around the same time as the house itself.
The sugar bowl is part of a set that NZHPT already had in its collection - comprising two dessert spoons, two jugs and a two-handled bowl also inscribed with 'Antrim House'.
Very few objects original to Antrim remain at the house, so the NZHPT is grateful to add such a rare and well-provenanced object to its collection. Other objects that do remain are a cricket scorebook and a rugby shield from the days when Antrim was used as a Boys Hostel and competitions were held against other similar hostels in Wellington."


You can subscribe to the Newsletter here. For The Historic Places website click here.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Long Lost Stand Found For Hercules



A dealer in the US has found the long lost ivory stand to an elaborately carved ivory of Hercules which is part of The Met collection. Previously the same dealer found the original bas relief to the stand. Now all three pieces are reunited. Article from the New York Times.




Thursday, August 6, 2009

A Miniature Sterling Silver Menagerie







One always has to keep an eye on Trade Me to see what the online antique market is doing . I have noticed that currently sterling silver animal form pin cushions are selling well above market rates. They have always been desirable in the auction houses as they are a small, reasonably priced, and a great looking thing to display in your cabinet of curiosities. The key things to look for is; condition, make sure they are not dented or cracked, look at the dates - the older the better, and then of course the form - rarer ones such as hedgehogs and elephants tend to get more money than the more common shoe form cushions (not that a shoe is an animal). They should certainly retain their value in the coming years.

Pictures:
The hedgehog (Birmingham, 1907) sold on Trade Me sold for $639.
The duck (same city and year) needed restoration to the cushion sold for $458.
The group shot is from an Art & Object Catalogue from May 2007. These sold for between $300 for the elephant and $450 for the hare. They were all Brummy and from around the same period.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Points Of View


See highlights from a not yet opened Historic Photography Exhibition at the British Library charting the evolution of the artform.
Picture: Obaysch the hippo in 1852.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Cleaning Time at the British Museum


See how those large artefacts are cleaned at the British Museum here.

Dillinger Memorabilia Aided By The Movie

It is always best to pick your time to sell items at auction. Movies related to the matter always help sell the items well - just think of the price of Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings material.

At the end of July items relating to Dillinger were sold in Chicago. The lot pictured here included a letter written by John Dillinger to his niece while in prison, a photo of Dillinger and an official Wanted poster. Auctioned at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on July 28, 2009 for $60,400 - 10 times the high estimate.

Also included in the sale was "a Colt Army Special .38 revolver used by East Chicago Police Captain Timothy O'Neil in the final shootout with Dillinger at the Biograph Theatre ignited heated competition among five telephone bidders. The gun sold for $36,400 to Wayne Lensing, owner of the Historic Auto Attractions Museum in Roscoe, Illinois" source Liveauctioneers news article here. (scroll down past the photo header).

The article has pictured the original mugshot on which the movie poster for Public Enemy is based. I was wondering why Johnny had that funny smirk.

Monday, August 3, 2009

MOTAT Free For Auckland Residents This Month


Get to MOTAT this month with; proof of your address, your rates bill or one of the published vouchers and you will get free admission. More information at the MOTAT website.
Image: Chemist & Druggist Store Interior.