Auction Highlights for Thursday 3/7/2024

March 3, 2024

Last week I said I had a fire under my ass to find awesome stuff to pick up the slack from a slower-than-average showing the week before; THIS week is the opposite - I've got a fire in my BELLY a'burnin' to keep up the momentum from the blockbuster auction we just had on Thursday! I was in a buying frenzy this morning, with a 5am start scooping up all the best stuff at my local antique and flea market before jetting over to a high-end antique show to round off the morning, then scooping up some consignments from a local friend on my way to a late afternoon hike. Its been a busy day, but I am home, and the stuff for this week is photographed, so here I am to show it off to you. Here are the highlights for this week's auction, which takes place Thursday, March 7th, at 8pm EST right here on MHV.live!

19th Century Pharaoh's Horses Oil on Canvas Painting

Opening Bid: $25

I'll try not to repeat my words from previous posts about how exciting it is to find a Pharaoh's Horses in the wild, but it never gets old finding this staple of American Traditional Tattooing to bring to my audience. This time, though, its extra special, as this incredible, massive 29" x 29" artwork is an actual oil painting, coming to us from the hands of an anonymous artist over a century after they created it. Patent dates on the canvas stretchers used on this painting date to the 1880s, meaning this was painted just a few short decades after John Frederick Herring Sr. painted the 1848 original. The frame is custom made and contemporary to our time. I am incredibly happy to offer this painting to you this Thursday evening.

19th Century French Bronze "Au Diable" Devil Inkwell by Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne

Opening Bid: $25

My jaw hit the floor when I saw this glistening bronze and crystal inkwell beckoning to me from across the hall of the antique show. I can't resist something with a devil on it, and this piece has a particularly stunning winged demon that elevates it to superlative status in the world of inkwells and pen stands. Per this super fancy European antique store, it was made by Gustave Leblanc-Barbedienne, who succeeded his uncle, Ferdinand Barbedienne, at his fancy French foundry. Having a name and history attached to this piece is definitely valuable to us as collectors, but I think the beauty of some items transcends the importance of their creators. That is to say, if this inkwell was by Joe Schmo, I think it would be just as valuable, and just as alluring. You'll have the chance to own this fine example in Thursday's auction.

Flemish Art Pyrography "What's The Use" Three Skulls Pipe Stand

Opening Bid: $25

When you go to the same antique markets week after week, month after month, year after year, people learn your tastes, and the tastes of the people you sell to (that's you, dear reader!). That came in handy today when a dealer friend pulled this out from a paper bag he had set aside for me, knowing that I can't pass up something with a skull on it. I snatched it up. Its an antique, early 20th century Flemish Art Pyrography pipe stand with three very cool skulls. It has a Flemish Art mark on the back, indicating that this was likely made by a pyrography art manufacturer and sold already made, or perhaps sold as part of a kit. Either way, its the coolest piece of Pyrography I have ever seen - yes, even cooler than the few Pharaoh's Horses pyrography pieces that have passed through my hands. I got this from the same dealer I got the rectal dilators from last week, and as a consolation prize for my $5 loss on those, he gave me a $10 discount on this. We'll see how it does come auction time, when you'll have the chance to take it home!

Antique "The Two Paths" Temperance Chromolithograph, Printed in Germany

Opening Bid: $25

The imagery on this antique chromolithograph is too awesome. It warns the viewer against the perils of the drink, showing a spectral death figure pouring fire from a bottle over a group of drinking and smoking young hooligans, whose debauchery lands them in the clink by the time we get to the bottom of the print. Its an incredible artifact of the temperance movement of the time, and the colors are bright and bold. Great decor for your straight edge tattoo parlor. It can be yours! This Thursday.

Vintage Copper Pheasant Taxidermy Mount

Opening Bid: $25

Pheasants are a great addition to any taxidermy collection, and also a great way to start one. This copper pheasant mount has nice animation, posing, and color, and is in very good condition for its age. Find it in Thursday's auction!

White Wolves Attacking a Buffalo Bull, George Catlin (1796-1872), Print

Opening Bid: $25

This print gets better and better the longer you look at it. At first its a little unclear whats happening. Did this blood-dripping Bison just take a heaping bite out of that bloody white wolf on its back? Or is that wolf rolling on the ground laughing as it gleefully bathes in the blood of its prey? I think its the latter, and the pack of white wolves standing at the wait look like they're about to get in on the action. The prognosis ain't good for Mr. Buffalo Bill. This looks to be an original antique print, that I believe is hand colored. There's some foxing on the paper and the mat, and I don't think the velvet-rimmed frame is original, though it has age. Want to hang this ghastly scene on your wall? You know where to be Thursday night.

5.5" Megalodon Tooth

Opening Bid: $25

Google images told me this is a megalodon tooth, but I'm not a paleontologist, just a cool-stuff-ologist, so if its from some other prehistoric species, don't come at me. That said, it is most certainly authentic and at 5.5 inches from end to end, quite the behemoth dentition.

Dissolving Views, Rare 1896 Mechanical Pop-Up Book with Rotating Pictures

Opening Bid: $25

This incredible book was published in 1896 by E.P. Dutton & Co. and Ernest Nister out of New York and London. It features six full color movable illustrations that transform as you rotate a delicate disc of paper about the page. It is very hard to demonstrate this in photos, but I'll be sure to give you a full demo in Thursday's show. Note that while is rare book appears to be in better condition than most, many pages are loose, and the rotating mechanical pages only work if you manipulate them extremely carefully. This is by no means a toy, but a priceless addition to any antique children's book collector.

Okay that was an awful lot of typing, and my fingers are tired, and its getting late, so I am just going to give pictures and brief descriptions of the rest of this week's selections. And of course, there is plenty that won't be listed here and is yet to come. The only way to catch it all is to tune in to this week's auction, Thursday, March 7th at 8pm EST right here on MHV.live!