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AUCTION
CLOSED
Mastronet's
December
2005
Sports
Premier Catalog Auction
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photo
www.mastronet.com
Doug
Allen, President
Bill
Mastro, C.E.O.
10S660
Kingery Highway Willowbrook, IL 60527
phone
(630) 472-1200
This
Auction will take place |
12/7/05
Lots
1-929 |
12/8/05
Lots
930-1888 |
12/9/05
Lots
1889-2827 |
SEE
MASTRONET WEBSITE FOR
ALL BIDDING DETAILS |
MastroNet's
December
2005 Auction
AUCTION
CLOSED
COMMENTARY
by
Carlton
Hendricks
....At
the end of this commentary I'll list all my top picks and
include links directly to the given MastroNet web page. I highly recommend you get the hard copy catalog. Trying to view it all on the MastroNet website is not as
good....
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here to skip commentary - go straight to highlights
Wow, where do I start with this
auction, there are 2,827 lots. When I got the catalogs I first dove into the sports
sections, which is in two separate catalogs. Both were excellent; full of great stuff. But then there was this other red catalog they sent with the two sports ones. It had a picture of Abraham Lincoln on the front. I didn't pay much attention, since it had the non sport Americana things. After I plowed thru the two sports ones I cracked open the red Americana one....WOW...there was page after page after page of incredible items. The automobile collection of Charles Schalebaum is off the Richter scale.
(Charles Francis Richter 1900-1985, American seismologist) That catalog is a rare opportunity to see some of the finest automobile
display antiques in the world. It really was a pleasure to go thru. Between the sports section, and the non sport Americana, it's almost overwhelming. I'd have to say it's one of the best combination sport and non sport auctions I've ever seen. I'll put it like this. There are probably at least three lifetimes of things. Meaning, if you were very active, and attended lots of antique and sports shows all your life, you might see about 1/3 of this amount of things of the same caliber. And the quality of the catalogs is brow raising; they're practically encyclopedias. The sheer voracity of descriptions is startling, as they look like about two years worth of work.
I was going to take a run at mentioning all the highlights, but there is so much I don't have the patience, and you don't have the attention span. So I'll try to stick to the top three. At the end of this commentary I'll list all my top picks with links directly to the given MastroNet web page. I highly recommend you get the hard copy catalog. Trying to view it all on the MastroNet website is not as good.
Alright,
here's what I'll do. Because there's just so much great stuff, I'll choose
my three top picks from the sports things, and two top picks from the non sports items, and
I'll try to keep the chatter to a minimum.
This is a very tough call, but I guess my top piece of the sports auction is
Lot
2004, the 1926 Chicago Tribune Award presented to Benny Friedman of the University of
Michigan. Man, phew!...now that's a football trophy. An apparently life sized, sterling silver figural football, displayed on a 23" round black wooden base, 15" total height. I don't recall ever seeing another example of this. What a presence it must have in person, on that 23" round base. I would guess it's commissioned presentation silver, meaning it would be a one of a kind work of art. I don't see any mention of a maker in the description, and it looks at least a few notches above a Dieges and Clust work.
My next pick would be Lot
2006, a I’ve never seen it before, it’s big, has great graphics and color, and probably most important, the player is wearing a super rare Princeton style Helmet. This is another perfect example of an exciting, never seen piece.
My
third pick would be Lot
2016, the Bradley
Sweaters trifold advertising display sign, .
Phenomenal! Antique football display pieces don't get much better than
this. I think this is the same one John Buonaguidi had and sold at the
2000 National in Anaheim. John had picked it up at the Antique
Collectors Revival show San Mateo for like $1,200.00 as I recall; from a
dealer out of the San Joaquin Valley area of California, who dealt in
oak furniture mainly. I remember talking to the dealer, and I think he
said he'd gotten it out of a closed store there in his own area. John
kept it a year or two, and brought it to Anaheim. Tony Bussineau a.k.a.
Mr. Michigan, saw it and thought it over a bit and bought it for like
$4,000.00 or something like that, before the show opened. When John was
first considering letting it go and bringing it, I inquired what he
would ask for it. He asked me what I thought, and I said around
$5,000.00. John said he was figuring about that himself. I remember when Bussineau
came to buy it I was standing there, and it was exciting to watch it all
go down right in front of me. Bussineau made the offer and even though
it was a grand or so under asking price, $4,000.00 was a lot of dough to
turn down. John's always been a take the money and run kind of guy, and
so he took it. Everybody was a little nervous I remember. After Tony
left, John and I looked at each other like, you think that was the right
thing to do, kind of look. We both agreed, hey four g's is four g's,
time to turn the page. But it's always tough to move a great piece when
you're a collector at heart.
Anyway,
here it is again, and it's even more powerful now. Based on the fact
that after all this time I've only seen one other example, the one in
Gary Cypres' museum. It'll be very interesting to see what it brings
this time.
Alright,
now the non sport Americana stuff. Actually the automobilia in the
Americana catalog is mostly European, but who cares, it's just great
stuff. O.K., my top pick out of the Americana catalog is so incredible,
that it's not hard to choose as number one. To be honest, it's so great
that if I had to choose between it and the Benny Friedman
trophy...well...I guess the Benny Friedman trophy would win, but not by
much! I mean this thing is incredible. I'm talking about Lot
336, the 15"
tall c1880 bronze statue of a high wheel bicycle rider.
Phew! Killer! Have never seen it before. That thing is so great, that if
I got it, I wouldn't care if the rider is a soldier, I'd put it in with
my sport stuff anyway.
Posted
12/1/05
ADDENDA
This
is an addenda and clarification to the original
commentary above, on Lot 336, the 1880 high wheel
bicycle rider bronze. I've since been made aware there
is at least one broken spoke, and the front wheel is
cracked and separated in one spot, plus some spokes
appear to be a little bent, plus the marble base appears
to have a some cracks. The MastroNet catalog includes
the following disclosure within the lot description:
"It presents minimally at the EX/MT level with one separation point of the wheel where it meets the rocky surface, and two spoke separations where they join the
wheel".
The
stipulation of "EX/MT"
appears to be subjective. The photos on the MastroNet
website can not be enlarged to 100%, therefore, at least
on my monitor, it's quite difficult to see the
damage from the four posted. Photos
1 and 2 look almost perfect. If you look carefully you
can see a broken spoke in photos 3 and 4. If
you're serious about this piece, SportsAntiques.com
highly recommends requesting MastroNet email all four
photos to you, so you can enlarge them to 100%. Actually
it would be even better if MastroNet enabled 100% enlargement
of the photos on their site.
END
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My
next pick is based on it's graphic quality, and telling historical
significance. Lot
42, a c1900 William McKinley
presidential campaign poster, 21 1/2" tall by 15" wide.
Great color and design with story telling. Outstanding graphics of the
American flag draped as bunting over McKinley and Vice President, as
well as keen sportsman, Theodore Roosevelt. Later of course McKinley
would be shot and killed while visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York,
and Theodore would become president. It's just such a great
representation of America, from when we we starting to blossom into the
industrial age, if you call that blossoming that is.
At
the beginning I mentioned this poster's telling historical significance.
That's seen in the statement under the portraits. "THE AMERICAN
FLAG HAS NOT BEEN PLANTED IN FOREIGN SOIL TO ACQUIRE MORE TERRITORY BUT
FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE". No doubt this is in reference to Guam, Puerto Rico and The Philippines,
who we ended up in control of by default, after our victory of the
Spanish American war. The statement is an attempt to defend the
administration against any thought we were straying from George
Washington's and Thomas Jefferson's dictate and ideology of: Stay out of entangling alliances and foreign wars.
What's sad, is that this was about the end of that mind set. Between the
time this poster was printed in 1900, and 1918, when guided by Woodrow
Wilson, we entered world war one, something changed. That was when we
started abandoning our founding fathers original criteria for war.
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PAGE
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PAGE
2 |
TOP
FIVE PICKS |
BASEBALL |
FOOTBALL |
BOXING |
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HOCKEY |
|
AUTOMOBILIA |
|
AVATION |
|
NON
SPORT |
AUCTION
CLOSED
click
highlighted lot numbers to see items
|
TOP
FIVE PICKS |
Lot
2004
SOLD FOR
$1,931.00
|
1926 Chicago Tribune Award presented to Benny Friedman of the University of
Michigan |
Lot
2006
SOLD FOR
$1,391.00
|
1930's "Puretest Rubbing Alcohol"
poster with football player 37 7/8" tall by 25" wide |
Lot
2016
SOLD FOR
$1,735.00
|
Bradley
Football Sweaters tri-fold advertising display sign, 46-1/2"
wide by 33-1/2" tall |
Lot
336
SOLD FOR
$6,275.00
|
15"
tall c1881 bronze statue of a high wheel bicycle rider |
Lot
42
SOLD
FOR
$5,576.00
|
c1900
William McKinley presidential campaign poster, 21 1/2" tall
by 15" wide |
RETURN
TO TOP
FOOTBALL |
Lot 1995
SOLD
FOR
$900.00
|
Extremely Rare 1870's Salt Print
"Sculptograph" of A Football Player |
Lot 1996
SOLD
FOR
$19,489.00
|
1895 Early American Football Scene Oil Painting by Albert Morgan |
Lot 1997
SOLD
FOR
$3,723.00
|
Circa 1891 John Rogers Plaster Football Cast Statue |
Lot 1998
SOLD
FOR
$400.00
|
Impressive Early 1900's Wrought Iron "Footballer" Umbrella Stand |
Lot 1999
SOLD
FOR
$888.00
|
Rare Early 20th Century Friction Strip Football Jersey |
Lot
2035
SOLD FOR
$6,070.00
|
1950's Coca-Cola Advertising Sign Featuring Future NFL Black American Hall of Famers |
Lot
2026
SOLD FOR
$700.00
|
1940's AAFL
Sacramento Hawks vs.
San Francisco Seahorses
Football Broadside |
Lot
2023
SOLD FOR
$363.00
|
Large 1940's "Wilson Football Equipment" Cardboard Die-Cut Ad Sign |
Lot 2008
SOLD FOR
$807.00
|
46
1/2" tall 1930's Camel Cigarettes Football Cardboard Ad Sign |
Lot 2007
SOLD FOR
$1,531.00
|
1920's/1930's Knute Rockne 3-D Collection |
Lot
2003
SOLD FOR
$2,040.00
|
Knute Rockne Signed Photo |
Lot
2001
SOLD FOR
$578.00
|
1920's Figural Football
Desk Top Clock |
Lot 2000
SOLD FOR
$330.00
|
Early New York
Football Pennant |
Lot 1392
SOLD FOR
$2,469.00
|
1916 Canton Bulldogs Composite Photo
with Jim Thorpe |
Lot 1396
SOLD FOR
$200.00
|
Circa 1920's
ceramic football cleat flask |
Lot 1397
SOLD FOR
$636.00
|
1920's "Red" Grange University of Illinois Pennant |
Lot 1404
SOLD FOR
$1,685.00
|
January 1, 1926
Program - Red Grange and the Chicago Bears Against Jim Thorpe and the Tampa Cardinals at Tampa, Florida |
Lot 1412
SOLD FOR
$4,096.00
|
1930's Red Grange "Lucky Strike" Ad Sign |
Lot 1414
SOLD FOR
$2,830.00
|
Extremely Rare Jim Thorpe Autographed Photo |
Lot 1418
SOLD FOR
$587.00
|
1933 Bronko Nagurski and Red Grange Signed News Photo |
Lot 2595
SOLD FOR
$578.00
|
Cast
iron mechanical football kicker toy with original football! |
baseball,
boxing, hockey,
automobilia,
aviation, non sport
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