Antiques & Effects Sale 29th July 2008, at The Cotswold Auction Company, Chapel Walk, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. GL50 3DS

A painted Mirror fronted Music Cabinet of demunitive size 131cms x 34cms (Lot 28, 29th July 2008), has sparked much interest amongst global furniture collectors and the antiques furniture trade. Thought to date from the early 19th Century the hand painted cabinet is adorned with musical instruments and floral swags and retains the original mirror to the cupboard door, above four floral swag painted drawers. The carved and painted stretcher has a central oval cartouche painted with roses. The estimate for this rare and original painted furniture is £500 - £700.

Antiques and Fine Art to include:- Hand painted early 19th Century Music Cabinet on Chest, Georgian Tray Top Comodes (2), Set of Four 19th Century Mahogany Aesthetic Movement Dining Chairs in the manner of Bruce Talbert, 19th Century Walnut Wall Mirror, J & J Kohln Bentwood Chairs (6), Arts and Crafts Carved Oak Wall Mirror, Oak Standing Artists Easel, Victorian Mahogany Revolving Bookcase, Gilt Table and Wall Mirrors, William IV Mahogany Breakfast Table, George III Walnut Bureau, George III Oak & Laburnum Lowboy, 19th Century Davenport Desk, 19th Century Hand Painted Papier Mache Work Table, 19th Century Brass Bound Campaign Writing Slope, 19th Century Oak 3 Bottle Tantalus with Silver Plated Mounts, Pictures, Prints and Maps, Oriental Carpets, Ceramics and Glass, Silver and Jewellery, Collectors Items etc.

Invitation to consign Antiques and Fine Art in Cheltenham:- Textiles and Design, Modern Art (1900 - 1990) 27th August Decorative Arts Sale in Cheltenham:- Entries now invited for this sale. Telephone 01242 256363 or email chelt@cotswoldauction.co.uk

RAINBOW CITY, Ala - Despite persistent news of a weakening economy, RealtyBid.com, the nation’s leader in online home auctions, is still thriving. Second quarter results have confirmed expectations that company performance during the first six months of 2008 outpaced the first half of 2007, which had itself been a record-shattering year for the company.

According to CEO/President Tony Isbell, RealtyBid.com, which offers thousands of discounted properties to home buyers and investors each month, saw its traffic increase during the first half of 2008 by an incredible 380 percent compared to the same time period in 2007. Also during the first half of 2008, RealtyBid.com saw its number of new registered bidders rise by 50.4 percent over the same time period last year.

But, Isbell said perhaps most impressive is the fact that RealtyBid.com saw a more than 12.4 percent increase in sales during the first half of 2008 compared to the first half of 2007. “To see that kind of increase during the first half of this year when our country saw declines in existing home sales every single month is very encouraging for our company.

“Certainly, as the number of foreclosures has increased nationwide, the number of bank-owned properties available to buyers via RealtyBid.com has also increased. What RealtyBid.com is able to do successfully — and has been able to do with growing success since 2001 — is bring motivated sellers, such as banks and other lending institutions, and buyers together.”

Isbell added that the team at RealtyBid.com is working to communicate that it is an excellent time to buy real estate. “This is especially true for those who understand the discount and investment potential of RealtyBid.com. It’s exciting for us to see our site traffic, inventory and sales grow each month, but we are even more excited because we realize more and more buyers are ‘discovering’ RealtyBid.com and realizing that online home auctions are a perfect fit for the current buyer’s market.”

Founded in 2001, RealtyBid.com specializes in the expedited sale of real estate through its innovative online auction platform. The company has become one of the most vocal advocates for the use of Internet technology as a means of bringing real estate buyers and sellers together. RealtyBid.com’s team has sold more than 12,000 properties.

Web site: http://www.realtybid.com/

DALLAS, TEXAS - Heritage Auction Galleries’ most recent Vintage Movie Poster Signature® auction, held July 11 & 12 in Dallas, Texas, realized $1,731,385 for 1,595 lots offered, although after-auction sales are still ongoing and are expected to push the final total to even higher levels.

“This was one of our largest offerings yet of rare and vintage movie paper,” said Grey Smith, Director of Vintage Movie Poster Auctions for Dallas-based Heritage, “including treasures from the very earliest days of motion pictures up through the more modern classics, and bidders responded enthusiastically.”

“The two top pieces in the auction were both from the same movie,” Smith said. “Flying Down to Rio, from 1933, is a significant film in that it was the first on-screen pairing of legendary dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The two sheet and the midget window card, both extremely rare formats and both featuring fabulous full-color Art Deco artwork, were the subject of intense interest, and, when all was said and done, brought an astounding $26,290 each, most likely a record result for either format.”

“Another exceptional result was the $25,095 realized for an incredibly clean, and likely unused, Creature from the Black Lagoon one sheet,” Smith said. “This has always been a strong title, with heavy collector demand, but this easily tops our previous price record of $20,315 set in July 2007. As a genre, 1950s science fiction remains solid, as seen in results like this as well as pieces like the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman that sold for $13,145, and the original Japanese B2 for Godzilla that brought $11,950.”

“Quality film noir titles also did extremely well in this auction,” Smith added, “A one sheet for This Gun for Hire brought $22,705, an Out of the Past one sheet realized $16,730, and a Post-War re-release French Grande for The Maltese Falcon fetched $14,340. This is definitely a genre to keep an eye on going forward.”

Smith continued, “Other results of note included four door panels for the Beatles’ film Help!, rarely offered as a complete set, that sold for $19,120; a beautiful Italian 4-folio for the Rita Hayworth version of Salome, with art by Anselmo Ballester, which brought $19,120; a midget window card from Ex-Lady, which realized, $16,730; and the exceedingly rare pressbook from Dracula, the movie that made an instant star of Bela Lugosi, that achieved $15,535.”

“We’re already working on our next Vintage Movie Poster Signature auction,” said Smith, “which will be held here in Dallas on November 7 & 8, 2008. Interested bidders should keep an eye on our website at www.HA.com/MoviePosters to watch the auction as it develops.”

Highlights of the July auction included:

Flying Down to Rio (RKO, 1933). Two Sheet (41″ X 54″): Realized: $26,290
Flying Down to Rio (RKO, 1933). Midget Window Card (8″ X 14″): Realized: $26,290
Creature from the Black Lagoon (Universal International, 1954). One Sheet (27″ X 41″): Realized: $25,095
This Gun for Hire (Paramount, 1942). One Sheet (27″ X 41″): Realized: $22,705
Help! (United Artists, 1965). Door Panel Set of 4 (20″ X 60″): Realized: $19,120
Salome (Columbia, 1953). Italian 4 - Folio (55″ X 78″): Realized: $19,120
Out of the Past (RKO, 1947). One Sheet (27″ X 41″): Realized: $16,730
Ex-Lady (Warner Brothers, 1933). Midget Window Card (8″ X 14″): Realized: $16,730
Thunderball (United Artists, 1965). Advance British Quad or Quad Crown Poster Style A (30″ X 40″): Realized: $16,730
Dracula (Universal, 1931). Pressbook (13.5″ X 19.5″) (8 Pages): Realized: $15,535
The Maltese Falcon (Warner Brothers, R-1962). Post-War Release French Grande (47″ X 63″): Realized: $14,340
Sons of the Desert (MGM, 1933). Midget Window Card (8″ X 14″): Realized: $13,145
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (Allied Artists, 1958). One Sheet (27″ X 41″): Realized: $13,145
Godzilla (Toho, 1954). Japanese B2 (20″ X 28.5″): Realized: $11,950
Fighting Caravans (Paramount, 1931). One Sheet (26″ X 39.75″) Style B: Realized: $11,950
Gone with the Wind (MGM, 1939). Signed Original Costume Sketch of Ellen (17″ X 22″): Realized: $11,950
Spellbound (United Artists, 1945). One Sheet (27″ X 41″): Realized: $11,352
Red Dust (MGM, 1932). One Sheet (27″ X 41″) Style D: Realized: $11,352
Gold Diggers of 1933 (Warner Brothers, 1933). Door Panel (27″ X 64″) Style F: Realized: $11,352
The Raven (Universal, 1935). Lobby Card (11″ X 14″): Realized: $11,352
Heritage Auction Galleries is the world’s third largest auction house, and by far the largest auctioneer of rare collectibles, with annual sales over $600 million, and 375,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage’s auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HA.com.

To access the Heritage Press Release Archives, please visit http://www.HA.com/MoviePosters

Toy collectors around the world are in for a treat with two significant collections of vintage toys set to be auctioned over the coming weeks.

First cab off the rank is the Bonhams & Goodman auction of Vintage and Retro Toys, to be held in the Adelaide rooms on Monday 21 July at 6pm. This unique collection of some 290 lots of Vintage & Retro Tin Toys, Robots, Cars, Space Toys, Trains, Die-Cast Dinky, Star Wars, Corgi, Matchbox and Beatles Collectables, is being auctioned under instruction from the Executor of the Estate of the Late Ashley (Andy Taylor) Toohey. Highlights include a 1950’s Tin Toy Godzilla (est. $200-$400), an early Bing Tin Toy Railway Station from the early 1900s (est. $400-$600), an Electric Driven Wooden Model of the USS Missouri (est. $200-$300), a Corgi Gift Set No. 23 Boxed Circus (est. $400-$600), a Boxed 1950’s A.T.N. Japanese Robot Driven Tractor (est. $800-$1,000), a Boxed Corgi Toy of Beatles in Yellow Submarine (est $250-$350), a 1950’s Robbie the Robot (est. $1,000-$1,500), Four Plastic Beatles Miniature Figures ($200-$300), a Boxed 1960’s A.T.N. Japanese Moon Car - Moon Spaceship (est. $2,000-$2,500), as well as many boxed and unboxed Micro Models, Minic/Tri-angs, Models of Yesteryear and Dinky, gift sets, vans, trucks, sedans, aeroplanes together with various Marklin and Hornby ‘O’ gauge trains, tank locos, engines, carriages, rolling stock and accessories. To view the full catalogue, please click here.

On Sunday 3 August at 12noon, Bonhams & Goodman’s Melbourne Rooms will hold an auction of Collectables, including the Robert Parson Collection of Antique and Fine Toys, Part I. For a full catalogue, click here. This collection offers collectors the chance to snap up European, American and Japanese pre-war and post-war clockwork, tinplate, friction, battery operated and diecast toys. Manufacturers include Bing, Marklin, Hornby, Lehmann, Gunthermann, Carette, Fleischmann, Tipp & Co., Schuco, Hubley, Tootsietoy, Wyandotte, Britains, Louis Marx, Dinky, Modern Toys, Yonezawa and Daiya. Along with the Robert Parsons Collection, over 50 lots of rock n roll memorabilia will go under the hammer. This memorabilia boasts impeccable provenance and includes signed albums from luminaries such as Paul McCartney, George Harrison, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen.

Adelaide: Vintage & Retro Toys Auction:
Monday 21 July at 6pm
Bonhams & Goodman
444-446 Pulteney Street, Adelaide, SA 5000
Enquiries: 08 8232 2860 or info.adel@bonhams.com

Melbourne: Collectables including the Robert Parsons Collection Part I:
Sunday 3 August at 12noon
Bonhams & Goodman
Level 1/540 Malvern Road, Prahran, VIC 3181
Enquiries: 03 8530 3900

Bonhams, one of the world’s leading international auction houses, has committed to holding its annual Scottish Sale in its new, state-of-the-art salerooms, which will be launched in August 2008. The Scottish Sale – now in its ninth year – will be the first auction to take place at 22 Queen Street, Edinburgh from 27 to 29 August. It will coincide with the world famous Edinburgh International Festival.

A variety of stunning objects with specific Scottish interest will be presented for sale over three days:
27 August - Silver, Jewellery, Arms And Armour
28 August - Glass and Ceramics, Books, Maps and Manuscripts, Works of Art and Furniture
29 August - Pictures.

Miranda Grant, Bonhams’ Director of Scotland, says: “We’re very excited about opening our new salerooms. I think people are going to be really surprised by the non-traditional space that we’ve created, which will show our clients’ items off to the best effect.”

With items still being sourced for the auction, star of the sale so far is an important sculpture by Robert Forrest (1789-1852) of James V – the last member of the royal family to hold only the title King of Scotland. The sculpture, entitled “James V at Cramond Bridge”, was carved from a single piece of sandstone and is believed to weigh more than 14 tonnes. The statue depicts an event popularised by Sir Walter Scott in his Tales of a Grandfather, where King James V was attacked while crossing the Cramond Bridge. Local tenant farmer, Jock Howison, rescued the king and he was rewarded with the land around Braehead. The sculpture is expected to fetch £30,000-50,000.

James V was just 17 months old when he became the last monarch to live his life as King of Scotland. He was handsome and charismatic and loved to move among people in disguise, adopting the name Gudeman of Ballenguich. His actions led him to be known as “The people’s king”.

Robert Forrest was a remarkable man who received a number of other notable commissions in his lifetime, including portraits of William Wallace and Napoleon, as well as the statue of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, which sits on top of the Melville monument in Edinburgh’s recently re-designed St Andrew Square.

Another item in the sale that has royal connections is a silver tray. It bears the inscription “Presented to George P Neele Esq by Queen Victoria as a mark of appreciation of the personal care and attention that he has for so many years devoted to Her Majesty on her railway journeys to and from Scotland June 1895″. Its estimate is £1,500-2,000.

Other highlights in the sale include:

An important painting by George Leslie Hunter “Loch Lomond”, expected to fetch £50,000–70,000. George Leslie Hunter (1879-1931) was part of the Scottish Colourist movement along with John Duncan Fergusson, Samuel John Peploe and Francis Campbell Cadell. They were among the first to introduce the intense colour of the French Fauve movement in Britain.

George Leslie Hunter’s mature work from the late 1920s is some of his finest and most fluid and the series of works done at Loch Lomond, one of Scotland’s greatest beauty spots, encapsulates this. Hunter was his own harshest critic, and there is a story of him standing on a footbridge throwing canvases he did not rate into a burn, to be swept into the loch.

An interesting and unusual item in the sale is a bronze sundial from the Skirrevore Lighthouse, made by Adie & Co., and expected to fetch £1,200–1,800. Scotland’s Skirrevore Lighthouse, now known as Skerryvore Lighthouse, is the tallest in Britain and among the most graceful of all lighthouse towers. It is even asserted by some that Skerryvore Lighthouse is the world’s most graceful lighthouse. Alan Stevenson, uncle of Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish novelist, designed it. It took six years and 150 men to build.

A beautiful selection of jewellery is also present in the sale with two very interesting lots:

A mid 20th century pearl and diamond design brooch in the form of bagpipes by Chaumet, Paris – estimate £3,000–5,000

A rare silver Mary brooch by Daniel Ferguson of Nairn - estimate £1,500–2,000.

Four Jacobite Glasses will also be auctioned. Currently, they belong to Geoffrey Seddon, recognised as the world’s leading authority on Jacobite Glass. They comprise:

A Jacobite composite wine glass – estimate £1,200–1,500 A Jacobite wine glass, composite stem domed and folded foot – estimate £1,000–1,500 A small Jacobite wine glass “Fiat” – estimate £1,000–1,500

A large opaque twist Jacobite ale glass – estimate £600–800

Auction info www.bonhams.com/scottishsale