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
a single collector comes a select grouping of circa 1850-1870 American colored-glass fruit jars in original, untouched condition. Glass colors include amber, blue, olive green and several very rare color variants. An exceptional grouping of a caliber very seldom seen in the auction marketplace, the jars were carefully amassed over a 35-year period, with condition and rarity always of primary consideration.
For those who like to celebrate Christmas year round, Morphy’s will present an extensive 30-year collection of Christmas antiques that includes 20+ candy containers, a large grouping of belsnickles, and numerous other figural Christmas and Santa items. Christmas connoisseurs will surely appreciate the selection of handmade Dresden ornaments and the hundreds of gleaming glass ornaments and kugels, many of them hand blown.
Fine art is a category in which Morphy’s has made great inroads over the past few years. The Fall sale will feature a number of excellent paintings by listed artists, including several by Johann Berthelsen (1883-1972). One of the entries is a signed 8¼ inch by 11 inch (sight) oil-on-canvas snow scene of Washington Square Arch in New York’s Greenwich Village. Other signed Berthelsen artworks feature the artist’s quintessential inclusions of pedestrians negotiating snowy streets against a backdrop of skyscrapers and other readily identifiable New York City landmarks.
A beautiful Eugene Boudin (1824-1897) oil-on-panel seascape titled Entrée du Pont du Havre depicts people walking alongside boats on a shore. Another marine artwork entered in the sale is a signed Berthelsen pastel of an industrial harbor scene with lights reflecting across the water, 17 inches by 22 inches (framed). Guy Wiggins’ (1883-1962) inscribed and signed watercolor titled Fishing Shack measures 10 inches by 13¼ inches (sight) and has a label on verso from Galleries Maurice Sternberg. The atmospheric waterside scene features a moored tug and rowboats, gulls swooping overhead and a man standing on the dock.
Measuring 9 3/8 inches by 5½ inches (sight), one of the most appealing pictures in the sale is Guy Carleton Wiggins’ signed oil on canvas titled 5th Ave. & 2nd Street. The diminutive cityscape is a busy conglomeration of pedestrians with umbrellas, and busses and trucks rushing down a snowy street; and features a row of apartment buildings and two American Flags. A fresh and vibrant work, it is affixed with a bronze I.D. tag on its frame that reads: Guy Carleton Wiggins 1883-1962.
Art of another persuasion – original animation art – also has been included in this pleasingly varied auction. Within the 70+ lots in this specialty category are many examples of coveted and highly collectible concept art, including one of very few original drawings of Mickey Mouse created by Walt Disney himself.
The auction will be rounded out by a varied selection of 200+ toys, including pressed-steel vehicles, tin windups and cast iron, and an assortment of always-popular vintage wood toys by Fisher-Price. Approximately 75 to 80 cast-iron mechanical banks will be offered, with highlights including a Girl Skipping Rope, a Professor Pug Frog, a Dentist bank and other
