Date: Fri 17-Jul-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDYC

Quick Words:

Garth-Auction-FCLong-Coll

Full Text:

Garth's Auction Of Frank C. Long Collection, Filled With Quirky Items

(W/9 Cuts)

DELAWARE, OHIO -- Eclectic was the word for the vast and often amusing

collection of Dr Frank C. Long, and the crowd that gathered at Garth's seemed

almost as quirky as the furniture, paintings, slot machines, music boxes,

lamps, and other treasures that filled the doctor's Upper Arlington, Ohio,

home.

Several paintings were passed for lack of a bid, while other pieces were the

focus of determined, albeit always good-natured competition.

A Tiffany lamp, one of several Tiffany pieces sold, was expected to bring

$8,000 to $10,000 but sold for $31,900. The geometric green variegated shade

was marked "Tiffany Studios New York 1501" and the base was marked "Tiffany

Studios New York 443."

Long's 1961 Mercedes-Benz was one of the sale highlights. The 300D-6 cylinder

Mercedes was sapphire blue with red leather upholstery and registered 19,848

miles on its odometer. It was an imposing sight in Garth's parking lot. The

car was the first item sold on the second day of the sale. The successful

bidder checked out the car moments before the sale began at 9:30 am; at 9:34,

he owned it, with a successful bid of $23,650. "Well, not a bad way to start

the day," Garth's owner and auctioneer Tom Porter remarked.

He got a laugh, one of many at this sale. The character of the collection

appeared to put the crowd in a good mood. When a shiny, nickel-plated railroad

bell was offered, auctioneer Steve Bemiller gave it a tap. The sound, which

put one immediately in mind of trains, railroads, and whistles in the night,

seemed to galvanize the crowd; hands waved all over the room. The bidding

stopped at $2,145.

A similar thrill accompanied the sale of a ship's engine room communicating

tower. The 39-inch-high brass piece was marked "A. Robinson & Co. Liverpool &

Glasgow." It was an appealing piece even before someone on stage cranked the

lever and made the bell ring, but the bell was irresistible. The tower sold

for $1,045.

Several slot machines, gleaming and heavy, were sold. As each was offered to

the crowd, stage workers dropped in a coin and pulled the handle. Among other

slot machines offered were a Jennings 10-cent Standard Chief, which sold for

$1,210; a Watling Manufacturing "Rol-A-Top," which brought $2,420; and a Mills

25-cent machine, which sold for $770.

Perhaps the most arresting of the machines was the Mills 5-cent one-arm

bandit, a 70-inch-high figure of a bandit. His kerchief covered most of his

face; his right sleeve was pinned to his shoulder. In laminated and carved

wood with a cast hand and gun and wearing a real felt hat, the bandit sold for

$4,070.

Several phonographs and Victrolas also added to the audio-visual pleasures of

the sale. A "Columbia Grafanola, Deluxe," a combination mechanism that will

play 78 records as well as Regina type metal disks, was in a quarter sawn oak

veneer case with lion heads and old finish. Twenty-eight disks were included

with the lot, which sold for $12,650.

A "Reginaphone" combination disk player and Victrola, in an oak and oak veneer

case, included a plated morning glory horn with an arm made by Columbia. Sold

with 15«-inch disks, the piece brought $5,500; while an Edison Triumph

Phonograph, with 28 cylinders and in oak case, sold for $880.

Then there were the music boxes, whose lilting tunes were another treat for

the ears. A cylinder box labeled "Ideal Sublime Harmonie" and "Orpheus" had

Swiss works with the patent dates 1885-1890 and sold, with three 11-inch

cylinders, for $5,225 (a very similar box sold a little later for $2,750). A

Regina-style box with works labeled "Schutz-Marke, Made in Germany," had a

retailer's label "Ilsen & Co., Cincinnati, O.," and included 20 disks. It

brought $3,850. Another music box, with bells, was labeled "Bells in Vue,

Switzerland," with a list of 10 tunes. It sold for $2,860.

Even a bird in a gilded cage offered some musical entertainment to the

audience. The automaton, which was made in Germany, was 11« inches tall and

chirped realistically before selling for $605.

A Continental serpentine chest of drawers, with figured wood veneer in a

geometric marquetry design that caused several audience members to murmur in

appreciation, sold for $7,480.

A marquetry dropleaf library table, in old finish with a detailed floral

design and other figures, sold for $2,860; a European console table, in beech

with inlay on the top, sold for $2,805; and a European Baroque table, in

walnut with old dark finish, had three dovetailed drawers, in one of which was

a photo of the receipt and a canceled check dated 1926. The table sold for

$3,960.

A settee with a rose crest in scroll foliage, attributed to Meeks, had tufted

gold velvet brocade reupholstery and sold for $5,500. An armchair similar to

the settee and with matching upholstery sold for $3,410, as did a similar

armchair with old needlepoint upholstery.

An Empire sofa, 107-inches long, with a mahogany and figured mahogany veneer

frame, was reupholstered with floral tapestry and included bolster pillows. It

sold for $3,850. A pair of English medieval-style benches, the last items sold

in the sale, kept bidders bidding at a time when buyers often are ready to

settle up and start loading. The benches sold for $1,320.

Several clocks brought healthy bids. A Gothic Revival grandfather's clock with

brass works and labeled "Elliott, London," had tubular Westminster and

Whittington chimes and sold for $7,700. An English grandfather clock in

figured mahogany veneer sold for $3,245; a French Normandy hanging clock with

brass works, an embossed brass facade and pendulum, and an enameled face with

"Andre Speth a la Charite" sold for $935; an American country grandfather

clock brought $1,320; and a three-piece Tiffany mantel set that included two

garniture urns and a china clock sold for $1,210.

Among other pieces of note were an ivory tankard, elaborately carved with

scenes of Dionysian revelry, including a mermaid handle and a cherub finial.

"This is a jewel," said Tom Porter, before selling it for $5,280. A small

plate from President McKinley's White House china was marked "KT & K China,

East Liverpool O." and sold for $1,155.

A bust of Caesar Augustus in Carrara marble and gilded bronze included a vase

with the seal "Pinedo Bronzes Paris" and sold for $6,325. A pair of German

porcelain vases in blue and gold, with handpainted scenes of young women in

classical dress, were labeled "Psyche Mit der Urne" and "Trauernde Psyche."

Signed "Ahne," and with Paris exhibition marks on the bases, the vases sold

for $2,145.

A tapestry fragment rebound as a wall hanging featured a scene with a stork,

building, and greenery in blue, green, red, white and brown. It brought

$3,080.

Several pieces of studio glass by Dominick Labino, described by Porter as

"probably one of the foremost studio glass makers in the last 25 or 30 years"

were offered, including a clear sculpture vase with an amber center and an

hourglass opening with red and black flames. It sold for $495. A Kestner #220

toddler doll in very good condition sold for $2,200; a "National" candy store

cash register in polished brass and with an oak base sold for $715; another

similar register sold for $660.

Among the many memorable lamps sold were a Tiffany gold dore Adams desk lamp

with a stick base and an octagonal shade marked "Tiffany Studios New York

1412" that sold for $5,500; a Handel floor lamp with a Tiffany gold iridescent

shade that brought $3,795; a Tiffany table lamp with its damascene green and

gold shade marked "Favrile" that sold for $2,860; a floor lamp with an

unsigned Steuben brown shade and a bronze base marked "Handel" that sold for

$3,300. A bronze floor lamp had a stand that the sale catalogue described as

"an amorous couple in an embrace." The couple holds the bowl-like globe shade

with colored glass circles. Signed "Gustave Gurschner," the lamp brought

$1,870 and a number of smiles.

Although several paintings were passed in this sale, others were sought after.

An oil on canvas of a still life with animals and flowers was signed "H.

Dudley Murphy." On the back of the canvas was "Zinnias and Dogs, H. Dudley

Murphy 1929." Bidding for the piece began at $5,000 and ended at $19,800.

An oil on canvas signed "Henri Cain" was titled "At the Banquet" and featured

a man declaiming to a group at a table. The painting sold for $17,600.

An oil on canvas of a Dutch household scene with a mother, father, two

children, and a sleeping dog was signed "Leon Caille 1897" and sold for

$6,380.

Amid the music boxes, phonographs, warbling birds and other euphonious aspects

of this sale, a Chickering baby grand player piano fits right in. In mahogany

with an Ampico reproducing mechanism and 210 rolls, the piano sold for $5,225.

The sale of a rickshaw seemed to baffle the jovial audience. "Who's Rick

Shaw?" someone in the audience joked. "Buy a rickshaw; take home something

unusual," Porter suggested. The rickshaw sold for $110. And in the end,

everyone went home smiling.