Summer's finest estate offerings ready for harvest Sept. 24 at Nest Egg Auctions' gallery The pick of antiques, fine art and historical and military memorabilia discovered over the summer by Nest Egg Auctions will be offered in a Sept. 24 sale of great quality and variety.
News-Antique.com - Sep 10,2011 - MERIDEN, Conn. – Over the summer months, Ryan Brechlin’s team at Nest Egg Auctions has had the opportunity to visit numerous estates and collections around New England, with contents ranging from Modern art to American political and historical ephemera. On Saturday, Sept. 24, the Connecticut-based company will conduct a mixed Estate & Antiques Auction featuring a premier selection gathered from those various sources.
Among the strongest categories to be offered is historical and military memorabilia. A key lot consists of a red and yellow signal flag that came from the World War II Japanese Battleship Nagato, grouped together with an Imperial Navy field cap and samurai sword from a non-commissioned officer on the ship.
“The Battleship Nagato was the lead ship at Pearl Harbor. When U.S. forces captured the ship, their men ‘liberated’ – or pillaged – the ship,” Brechlin explained. “What makes this lot so special is that it comes with the capture papers belonging to Robert B. Dippold, the soldier who liberated the items. His family even decided to include a group of six medals from Robert Dippold’s estate, which makes it an even more attractive selection of militaria.” The group lot is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
Another important American historical item in the auction is a 1903 photo print of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, signed by Orville Wright. The 4½- by 6¼-inch photo is captioned “First Man-Flight, December 17, 1903 / Kitty Hawk, N.C.” Estimate: $800-$1,200.
A nostalgic relic from New York’s Coney Island is the wooden subway platform sign painted white with a red directional arrow and the message in bold letters: “TO CONEY ISLAND.” Measuring 48 by 12 inches, the memory-stirring marker could make $500-$1,000 on auction day.
Three lots of maps will be sold, including an 1846 Augustus Mitchell Atlas containing six maps in a bound folio with intact front and end papers. The maps represent mid-19th-century New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York City and Philadelphia. A rare edition, the atlas is expected to fetch $500-$1,000.
The Modern art section of the sale is led by a wonderful collection of 18 lithographs by American pop art pioneer James Rosenquist (b. 1933-). Some of the artworks are artist’s proofs, while others are printer’s proofs; most are pencil signed by Rosenquist.
A presentation proof of Robert Motherwell’s “Elegy,” measuring 37 by 25 inchess is artist-signed and has an impressed monogram at lower right. The thought-provoking artwork suggestive of a Rohrschach inkblot is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
The auction will also feature Part II of a collection of photographic nudes from the Estate of Alfred “Cheney” Johnston, with 125 photos apportioned into 60 lots.
“Our first selection of Cheney Johnston photos, which was the center of attention in our April 16th auction, brought terrific prices. There were individual photos that made as much as $3,600, and a group of negatives went for $28,000. Johnston was the premier American celebrity photographer of celebrities in the Art Deco era, and his work is greatly respected,” said Brechlin.
