Morphy's shines the spotlight on black Americana, fine art in its Sept. 5-8 Fall sale More than 2,500 lots of antiques, fine and decorative art, and other vintage items will be presented at Morphy Auctions’ Fall sale, Sept. 5-8 at the Adamstown Antique Gallery in Denver (Adamstown), Pa
News-Antique.com - Jul 16,2007 - DENVER, Pa. – More than 2,500 lots of antiques, fine and decorative art, and other vintage items will be presented at Morphy Auctions’ Fall sale, Sept. 5-8 at the Adamstown Antique Gallery in Denver (Adamstown), Pa. Headlining the array of goods is an outstanding single-owner collection of black Americana, with additional noteworthy categories including Coca-Cola and other soda pop material, a 35-year collection of early colored-glass fruit jars, a 200-lot Christmas collection, antique advertising, a collection of mechanical banks, and a first-rate assortment of toys. Within the fine art category, Morphy’s will offer approximately one dozen paintings by listed artists, as well as a top-quality collection of original animation art.
“There’s a little bit of everything in the black Americana collection,” said Morphy’s chief operating officer Dan Morphy. “There are around 75 lots of toys, desirable artworks with a black theme, folk art, fantastic early black rag dolls and advertising signs featuring African-American subject matter.” Among the top pieces in the collection are a pâpier-maché candy container depicting a black man smoking a cigar as he rides atop a pig, a 26-inch black nodder, a tin windup Black Johnny toy in its original box, and a very special German-made, black-theme chocolate vending machine. The automated machine, which carries a $40,000-$60,000 estimate, is made of cast iron and has a glass insert through which a black man’s head and body may be viewed. When a coin is inserted, the black man kicks his tin legs back and forth behind the glass and rolls his eyes side to side as a sweet is dispensed.
A fine selection of approximately 40 near-mint-plus porcelain signs will be auctioned within the general advertising section of the sale. “There’s an excellent cross-section,” said Morphy, “with many general-store-related pieces, including bean and dye cabinets, and a Red Goose Shoes collection featuring string-holders, toys and various other items with the distinctive Red Goose logo.”
Another special highlight within the antique advertising is the 400-piece tobacco tin collection of Bob Copeland, a longtime hobbyist from Ohio. “This is a very comprehensive collection,” Morphy observed. “There are all types of tins: pockets, cubes, store displays – there are excellent buying opportunities for tobacciana collectors across the board.”
In line with a longstanding Morphy Auctions tradition, the advertising portion of the sale will contain a featured subcategory devoted exclusively to Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Hires and other soda-pop material. “We’ll have our standard selection of good, early Coke calendars and posters, as well as some superior Coke serving trays and festoons,” Morphy said. “Approximately 100 soft drink lots have been cataloged in total.”
Time is of the essence for bidders to check out the more than 75 vintage clocks to be auctioned in the Fall sale. Standouts include a flat-top shelf clock and stovepipe hollow-column clock, both by 19th-century New York clocksmith Asa Munger; a George Marsh & Co. hollow-column clock, a Willard lighthouse clock, and many excellent-quality examples of shelf, wall and advertising clocks by other makers, including Baird.
