Mosby & Co. plans May 14 auction of Americana, toys, circus antiques at new D.C.-area gallery Mosby & Co., specialists in antique toys and Americana, will launch their new Frederick, Md., gallery with a May 14 auction featuring circus toys, rare signed documents, toy motorcycles & much more.
sample, while others believe it was a store gift to children whose parents bought a full-size stove,” Spurgeon explained.
Seven early Disney-theme die-cut advertising signs will follow the toys in Mosby & Co.’s sale. Top lots include a 20-inch window sign in brilliant primary colors touting Mickey Mouse Slip-Overs (sweatshirts) – possibly the only extant example – and a 1937 window standee of Clarabelle Cow advertising Pepsodent Tooth Powder.
The centerpiece of the Americana section is a twice-signed John Hancock document dated Jan. 21, 1767. In the handwritten response to a ship’s captain, Hancock notes that the 11 barrels of flour purported to have been delivered to him, never actually arrived. Hancock wrote on both the front and back of the historic document, which comes to Mosby & Co. from an advanced collector in Texas.
The auction includes two other documents signed by Declaration of Independence signatories: Robert Treat Paine and Thomas McKean; as well as a 1761 military appointment signed by both King George III and William Pitt. Among the other significant lots in the American section are a nicely illustrated circa-1862 Civil War recruiting broadside for the 2nd Massachusetts Artillery, documents related to the Revolutionary War, Civil War and slavery; and several period weapons.
The auction will conclude on a festive note with a fine selection of American and European circus antiques and advertising posters with a timeline ranging from 1877 to 1960. Rare and sought after, a circa-1890 German poster depicting “human oddities” in the E. Beisner Museum & Gallery is “graphic and colorful, but very creepy,” Spurgeon said. In a lighter vein, a circa-1935 Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey poster displays the image of a clown holding a platter filled with animals.
A late-19th-century mechanical carnival target game, in good working order, consists of a hand-painted wood box whose door pops open when the target is hit, thus activating clockwork musicians and three gaily dancing couples inside. Made in France, the musical novelty was used in carnivals that traveled around Europe.
Mosby & Co.’s live-auction premiere will be held on Saturday, May 14, 2011, commencing at 11 a.m., at the company’s new gallery at 5714-A Industry Lane, Frederick, MD 21704. The preview will be held from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, May 13, and from 9-11 a.m. on auction day. Catered food service will be available all day Saturday.
All forms of bidding will be available, including live via the Internet through Proxibid.com. For further information, call 240-629-8139 or e-mail keith@mosbyauctions.com. Visit the company’s website at www.mosbyauctions.com.
CAPTION FOR IMAGE AT TOP OF ARTICLE:
Rare die-cut store window sign of Mickey Mouse pitching “Slip-Overs for Boys and Girls,” estimate $3,000-$4,000. Mosby & Co. image.
