Super-rare Old Woman in the Shoe mechanical bank headlines Morphy April 4-5 sale
Published February 12th, 2008
DENVER, Pa. – Morphy Auctions has revamped its annual calendar of events so that now general sales are held in the spring, fall and winter, with tightly focused specialty auctions of toys, dolls and folk art in between. The first of the two-day toy auctions will be held April 4 and 5, and according to the company’s chief operating officer, Dan Morphy, there has been no compromising with regard to condition. “We’ve been very particular with this sale,” he said. “Almost everything is a ‘9’ or better – like what you’d have if you hand-picked a high-end collection.’
“Much of it has come from a West Coast collector who has always been known for buying top-quality pieces in the very best condition,” Morphy said. “Now he is downsizing, and we have the pleasure of offering toys from his collection that come with some of the best provenance in the business. This collector has diverse tastes, but he only goes for the best of the best. He bought cast iron from the Hegarty sale and also from the Griffith sale, including a beautiful Carpenter Tally-Ho.”
The Friday, April 4 session leads off with a grouping of early skittles sets, including rooster with chicks, hen with chicks skittles, peacock and German-made dog with pups. Among the rarest entries in the category are: frog with baby frogs (estimate $10,000-$15,000), a German-made rabbit with baby bunnies ($10,000-$15,000), and an Indian lying on his side, with smaller Indian figures ($8,000-$12,000).
Next on the Friday agenda are 250 cast-iron transportation toys, the majority coming from the West Coast collection and with a smaller but no-less-outstanding selection from the renowned Bob Brady collection. Included is the aforementioned Tally-Ho, in 100 percent original, near-mint condition, with no repairs and all-original figures. “It is one of the top examples known, if not the top,” said Morphy. The classic American toy is estimated at $40,000-$60,000.
Rarities abound in the cast iron section of the sale, led by a red 1927 Hubley Packard “Straight 8” in near-mint condition, $25,000-$30,000; a light blue Hubley Packard sedan, $10,000-$15,000; and an Ideal Bicycle Rider – one of only two known – $15,000-$20,000. Seventy-five pieces of pressed steel will follow, including three Buddy ‘L’ rarities: an International Shell truck, $5,000-$6,000; an airplane in hangar, $4,500-$5,000; and the prototype for the company’s famed garden railroad, $35,000-$40,000. Another stand-out is the Keystone bus estimated at $14,000-$16,000.
The Friday session concludes with an exciting array of more than 100 European tin toys, mostly German and French, from such premier makers as Lehmann, Carette, Stock and Martin. Leading the group around the auction block is a boxed Lehmann Snick-Snack, which depicts a man walking two lively dogs, and a near-mint, boxed Bing rowing scull, estimated at $6,000-$10,000.
On Saturday, the toy action begins “around the big circle,” as collectors vie for rare and beautiful marbles from the Gary and Sally Dolley collection. Both an over-1½-inch Indian mag lite marble and a blue glass suspended blue mica marble carry individual estimates of $4,000-$6,000.
Two highly desirable cigar-related articles will be offered next. An 18-inch DeMuth zinc counter-display figure of the irascible Mr. Punch dates to around 1885, and is the very one that was featured on the cover of Sotheby’s catalog for the Oct. 12, 2001 auction of the Covert and Gertrude Hegarty collection. Also to be auctioned is a prized 7-foot-tall zinc cigar store Indian with tomahawk made by Miller, Dubrul & Peters of Cincinnati. The figure was in the Hegartys’ personal collection and was part of the décor in their Pennsylvania home.
Figural cast-iron collectors can choose from a super lineup of cast-iron doorknockers, doorstops, bookends, weights and doorstops by the top names in the category. Among the leading entries are two Bradley & Hubbard designs: a Whistling Jim ($5,000-$7,000) and Rooster ($5,000-$7,000). From the aforementioned West Coast collection comes perhaps the nicest example in existence of an Uncle Sam doorstop. Estimate: $7,000-$10,000.
At least 20 cast-iron bell toys will be offered, including a Baby Quieter, Cat and Dog, Mule Jack, Boy on Serpent, and others. This group will be followed by 30 lots of early American toys of various media, including an Althof Bergman tin Trotter, and several Ives clockwork toys including a vividly expressive Stump Speaker.
The Saturday session will finish with more than 75 mechanical banks and 300 still banks. The mechanicals represent a who’s who of banks, from the West Coast collection and Bob Brady collection, with such examples as Roller Skating, Jonah and the Whale standard version, Magician with original box and many more. The star lot of the group is this 1883 W.S. Reed (Leominster, Mass.) Old Woman in the Shoe bank, one of only two known examples. It carries a presale estimate of $250,000-$350,000.
The 300 American and European still banks in the sale come from three different consignors. Among the many rarities are a Two-Faced Indian, Church with Basement, Mascot, Polish Rooster and Boy Nodder on Ball.
A division of Geppi’s Entertainment Auctions & Publications, Morphy Auctions will hold its first specialty toy sale of 2008 on April 4-5 at the Adamstown Antique Gallery in Denver (Adamstown), Pa. All forms of bidding will be available, including live via the Internet through eBay Live Auctions. An electronic version of the catalog may be viewed in its entirety online at www.morphyauctions.com or www.liveauctioneers.com. Tel. 717-335-3435.
