Date: Fri 12-Feb-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Weiderseim-Steiff

Full Text:

Wiederseim Postsale

(with cuts)

By Ginna Clark

CHESTER SPRINGS, PA. -- Amidst dense January fog and thawing mud, more than

400 people turned up for Ted Wiederseim's Winter Catalogued Antiques Sale on

January 23. The auction grossed a respectable $165,000, including buyer's

premium.

Many of the bidders were private collectors, although there some dealer

participation was also noted.

The sale featured the lifetime collection of Nancy K. Thomas, which included

Steiff animals, Victorian Christmas decorations, trains, early illustrated

Christmas books, dolls and dollhouses, as well as antique glass paperweights,

porcelain, sterling silver, fishing books, paintings and furniture.

Items from the estate of Glady's P. Ackerman and material consigned by a Main

Line private school were also offered.

Wiederseim's business is exactly two years old, and this represented the fifth

major sale he has conducted. Grand totals for previous sales averaged $250,000

to $375,000. Wiederseim hosts a significant number of on-site auctions. He

also does a great deal of appraising in addition.

Many bidders came for the more than 80 Steiff animals featured in this sale,

and they were not disappointed, despite the fact the Thomas children and

grandchildren had taken their pick from the estate before the auction. Snails,

hedgehogs, an alligator, a parrot, and orangutan, a kangaroo, "Eric the Bat,"

a bluebird, a beaver, a rooster, four "Jaco" monkeys, an owl, a polar bear,

skunks, a badger, squirrels, sheep, mice and hippos -- a veritable Noah's Ark

-- all crossed the block.

A Steiff ark store display sold for $900, and a 57-inch "Hazel the Giraffe"

went for $800. "Hazel" had graced the front hallway of the Thomas' home for

years, and apparently Thomas decorated her in seasonal apparel, such as an

Easter bonnet, a summer fishing rod, and other assorted outfits. Two Steiff

spiders reached $550, and a Steiff mohair penguin sold for $950. An important

tiger sold for $500.

The sale started off with a roomsize Heriz carpet, which went for $5,000.

Other carpets reached fair prices as well. An early Navajo Indian blanket,

five by eight feet, went for $1,000 to the trade.

There was very little furniture, but what was offered was snapped up by

dealers and private buyers. A Chippendale style mahogany tall case clock,

circa 1900, made by J.E. Caldwell in Philadelphia, fetched $2,800. It most

likely found a home in Chester County or a nearby region.

Phil Bradley purchased a mahogany cased stock barometer for $4,000. An Empire

plantation desk went for $950. A Hepplewhite style mahogany banquet table took

$3,000, and a walnut dresser garnered $1,000. A Hepplewhite cherry bow-front

chest of drawers sold for $1,750.

Several paintings sparked interest. The most outstanding was Charles Wilson

Knapp's (American, 1823-1900) signed landscape of Chester County, which sold

for $3,350. The Honeybrook scene depicted a farmhouse, the Brandywine, and

cows.