Brooklyn, NY, USA, December 6, 2022 — SJ Auctioneers will bid farewell to 2022 with an online-only auction that’s packed with 271 lots of rare jewelry, paperweights, glass art vases, scarce tin collectible toys and trains, stunning silverware, gorgeous natural gem trees, designer scarves and more – many of the items ideal for holiday gift-giving – on Sunday, December 11th, starting at 4 pm Eastern time.
The list of artists, designers and silversmiths reads like a who’s who in the world of famous name brands: Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Dominick & Haff, Jose Hess, Emile Delaire, Gorham Movito, Reed & Barton, Watson, Wallace, WM B Kerr, Sackermann Hessenberg & Co., Italian Vetreria Murano, Lesney, Steuben, Baccarat, Edward Hald and Arte.
Online bidding is via LiveAuctioneers.com and Bidsquare.com. A link to the catalog on LiveAuctioneers is here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/267061_vehicles-jewelry-silverware-scarves-toys/?page=1&pageSize=all. A link to the catalog on Bidsquare is here: https://www.bidsquare.com/auction-house/sj-auctioneers.
Several of the auction’s expected top lots are from the silverware category, such as the 72-piece Reed & Barton sterling flatware set in the Francis the 1st pattern, in excellent pre-owned condition, with box (est. $3,500-$8,000); and the circa 1850-1890 mixed metals Gorham sterling silver and copper jardiniere vase with applied 3-D strawberry plant and spider, 3 ½ inches tall, marked with the 1882 date mark (est. $2,500-$5,000).
Also offered will be a lovely pair of circa 1950/1960 Spanish silver pheasants table toys with dark ruby glass eyes (est. $1,000-$2,500); and a 19th century sterling silver vase by George W. Shiebler & Company (N.Y.), boasting a hand-painted enameled floral design to the front of the body, standing just shy of 5 ½ inches tall and weighing 5.015 oz. troy (est. $1,500-$2,000). Thew vase is marked “Sterling E.J. Jaccard J.Co.” (the retailer).
Rare trains will feature an American Flyer 20535 S Pony Express passenger set, S gauge, C-6 rating, circa 1959-1960, including a powered diesel, a non-powered diesel and four passenger cars, with each car lighted, plus metal trucks, metal wheels and knuckle couplers (est. $2,000-$6,000); and a pre-World War II Karl Bub tin litho O-gauge wind-up freight train set #815 (est. $300-$5,000). Many other rare trains are also in the sale.
Rare collectible tin toys include several lots with $500-$1,000 estimates. These will be led by a 1950s Disney 2nd National Duck mechanical tin bank, featuring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pinocchio, Figaro, Huey, Dewey and Louie. The bank is in fairly good condition and is mechanically sound. It would be a fine addition to any Disney collection.
Other tin toys with $500-$1,000 estimates include the following:
– A rare an old Georg Fischer penny toy (Gf 161), made in Germany, 3 ½ inches tall.
– A Firefighter Truck Scale / Ladder 34cm engine clockwork sheet metal tin toy with four firefighters in the cabin, attributed to Tippco but without certainty.
– A German-made Lehmann 771 tin toy garage from 1920, in used condition with light scratches on the paintwork, graded 7.5 out of 10 for condition.
A toy with a slightly lower pre-sale estimate is the original Marx Linemar Ford friction tin vehicle with driver in a reproduction box, made in Japan (1907), 4 ½ inches long, with a working friction motor with sound and a New Hampshire license plate (est. $250-$500).
There is a beautiful group of designer scarves up for bid, each being offered as an individual lot and each with an estimate of $350-$500. These include a Chanel silk scarf, a Cartier silk teal blue scarf, and a Patek Philippe silk teal blue scarf, all made in Italy.
The rare natural gem trees are handmade and visually arresting and include a large, 15-branch amethyst clustered gemstone tree on clear quartz with a faux tree trunk, from the amethysts of Uruguay, 75 millimeters tall by 115 millimeters wide (est. $250-$500); and a tree of life with clear quartz clustered branches on a rose quartz base gemstone tree (est. $250-$500). Either one of these would bring out the color and energy on any mantelpiece.
Returning briefly to silverware, lots sure to attract bidder interest include a beautiful French Towle sterling silver and green-blue enamel sandwich plate from 1948, about 9 ½ inches in diameter (est. $500-$1,000); and a rare vintage Cartier Perrier bottle opener and corks, 925 sterling silver, with box (est. 250-$500). See the catalog for more silver items.
No phone bids will be taken, but absentee bidding is available now online. Pre-bidding is also available, meaning for those who are unable to attend the online auction, they can still leave their bids now. To learn more about SJ Auctioneers and the Sunday, December 11th online-only auction, please visit www.sjauctioneers.com.
