Eccentric Oddities Headline Heritage Auctions’ Gentleman Collector Auction
DALLAS — A remarkable variety of private collections, all carefully curated over decades, comes together in the fifth annual Heritage Auctions’ Gentleman Collector Auction Jan. 19 in Dallas, Texas.
“This sale covers a wide spectrum,” Heritage Vice President of Special Collections Nick Dawes said. “We started the Gentleman Collector Estates Auction five years ago with the collection of Malcolm Forbes, and I think this is the best auction we have had so far.”
Highlights include a circa 1919 Rare and Important Mitchell 35mm Standard A Motion Picture Film Camera (est. $70,000-100,000) operates as either a hand crank or electric drive. It originally was owned by RKO Radio Pictures, before ultimately being owned and used by a Walt Disney cinematographer. One of the early Mitchell Standard motion picture cameras that shot nearly all of the early movies in Hollywood and around the world, this one retains the original design and is in excellent condition.
A Bach-Auricon 16-mm Motion Picture Newsreel Camera Package (est. $25,000-35,000), circa 1953, retains all of its original components and sits on a factory-correct original wood tripod, the height of which can be adjusted to anywhere from 67-92 inches. The camera, considered a rare find from the golden era of movie newsreel cinematography, has all of its original paint and finishes, and the large, original factory 1,200-foot film magazine. The camera’s movement and sync motor work, and the package includes the lens and sound amplifier.
A Rare American Gilman Joslin Terrestrial Library Globe on a stand (est. $15,000-20,000), circa 1869, (nicknamed the ‘Boston Globe’) highlights a rare cartographic group including maps, some dating to the 16th century. The globe, in original condition was consigned by an East Coast family and is one of two iterations of this floor model terrestrial globe by Joslin, who was awarded a gold medal for his terrestrial and celestial globes by the American Institute in 1852.
Another lot expected to be among the most coveted in the auction is a Pair of Cantonese Export Silver Gilt Filigree Rosewater Sprinklers and Underplates (est. $12,000-18,000), circa late 18th century, made for the Indian or Middle Eastern market and recently discovered by a Heritage expert in Holland.
Collectors will have a chance to acquire a Mole Richardson Model 410 2000 Watt Fresnel Studio Light (est. $12,000-18,000), circa 1939. This light, which stands 65-1/2 inches high, has been refreshed with factory-correct instrument pain finish and bead-blasted to expose the original Shelby Steel Tube yoke and the original bronze fittings. It includes the original on/off switch and the original factory cable, but also includes a new wireless remote control on/off switch. The light was owned and used by Paramount Film Studios until it was sold in 1988, has electrical internals that have been cleaned, de-wired and fitted with a socketed 2,700-degree LED lamp, and includes a refinished mid-century factory stand.
Among the private collections is a group of 31 rare microscopes from a private West Coast collector. A spectacular cased Smith and Beck Binocular Microscope (est. $7,000-10,000), circa 1858, includes two full boxes of rarely seen accessories and bull’s-eye condenser, all in the original cabinetry. The instrument was the personal property of gentleman scientist extraordinaire Thomas Glaebrook Rylands, a descendant of whom sold it to the current seller. The auction also includes a 1959 Cased Ernst Leitz Dialux with an inclined binocular head with calibrated inter-pupillary adjustment and adjustable left eyepiece.
Perhaps the finest collection of vintage British biscuit tins to come to auction includes over 300 tins and most of the rarities, in very fine condition. Collectors are sure to fight over the rare William Crawford & Sons Rolls-Royce Limousine Biscuit Tin (est. $1,200-1,600), circa 1929.
Other lots that are expected to attract intense bidder interest include, but are not limited to:
· A rare Spanish Mechanical Rowboat Toy in its Original Box (est. $7,000-9,000), circa 1930 - one of the highest quality toys we have seen at Heritage.
· An Alligator Leather and Silver-Mounted Violin Case (est. $3,500-5,000) from sometime in the first half of the 20th century.
· A Mikhail Ovchinnikov Russian Silver Tankard with Wood Grain Motif (est. $3,000-5,000), circa 1908-17, with chased faux bois decoration to body simulating woodgrain, saw tooth texture on the edge of the lid and a geometric handle and heart-shaped thumbrest.
· A collection of nautical antiques relating to Admiral Horatio Nelson, over 50 antique meerschaum pipes, an exquisite collection of Georgian and Victorian paint boxes collected by a prominent artist, over 50 remarkable alligator leather accessories, mostly of the Edwardian period, a collection of drinking tankards of the highest quality and a fascinating collection of 19th century German nutcrackers round out this delightful sale.
· Two nine-inch Continental Carved Oak Comical Dwarf-Form Nutcrackers (est. $1,200-1,600), circa late 19th-early 20th century.
· A 19th-century Fine Meerschaum Pipe of a Tattooed Female Moore in its original case (est. $800-1,200); woman portrayed is semi-topless.
· Three J. Holland, W.J. Reeves & Son, and J. Newman’s English Regency Watercolor Paint Kits (est. $400-600) from the first half of the 19th century.
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $800 million, and over one million online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.
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