Antique Trader

Native American paintings were the stars of Hindman’s Western & Contemporary Native American Art auction, led by Fritz Scholder’s Hollywood Indian and Horse #2 (at left), which set a new auction record for the artist, after selling for $500,000. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s Fire-weed painting, the second top lot, sold for $350,000 against an estimate of $10,000-$20,000, setting a new record for the artist. David Bradley’s 2008 Sleeping Indian, Shiprock / Santa Fe also set a new auction record for the artist after earning $50,000. Hindman’s May 19 sale of $3.9 million significantly surpassed its estimate. Scholder’s Hollywood Indian and Horse #2 skyrocketed past its presale estimate of $50,000-$70,000 to achieve the record. Six other paintings by Luiseño artist Scholder were in the auction’s Top 10 lots, including his 1979 acrylic on canvas…

During my junior year of high school, my Contemporary Literature teacher, Mr. Kuklinski, gave the class two reading options: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess or Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Little did I realize at the time that either choice could lead me down the road to ruination, a path I’m fairly certain I would have stumbled upon on my own with a little effort. But still, it’s nice to know that educators once cared. So, thinking we were mature enough to decide for ourselves, Mr. Kuklinski, who also happened to be the high school hockey coach, let us pick one of the two novels to read and discuss during the first nine weeks of class. I initially chose A Clockwork Orange because the bright orange cover art caught my eye. I had…

YORK, Penn. – The enduring, multi-generational appeal of Star Wars action figures and related collectibles was obvious at Hake’s first Special Event Auction featuring memorabilia from the legendary franchise, which closed the books at $903,000 in early June. The predicted top item, a Boba Fett L-slot rocket-firing prototype, AFA 80+ NM, soared to a record-setting $236,000. This prototype is famous in collecting circles because it was pulled from Kenner’s 1979 Star Wars toyline when the rocket-firing aspect was deemed a choking hazard. The 3-3/4-inch figure is unpainted and has the L-slot mechanism (named for its shape). The online auctionachieved a 100-percent sell-through rate and set multiple new world records in so doing. In Hake’s last two auctions, 500 lots of Star Wars material have sold for a combined $2.1 million. “We’re very pleased…

Superman entered the pop culture conscience in 1938 with Action Comics #1. Writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster introduced the Man of Steel to a wide-eyed-world in perhaps the best-known origin story in comic book history. In rapid succession, Superman had a fan club, a syndicated comic strip and licensing deals with manufacturers of toys, puzzles, pajamas, coloring books, bubble gum and almost everything else under the sun. Radio and TV series were eventually followed by movies. While Superman’s star has faded of late, his influence cannot be denied. On July 7, Heritage Auctions is offering a 256-lot sale of Superman collectibles from the Golden Era. Here’s a sampling:…

You didn’t need to drive 88 mph in a time-traveling Delorean to buy Biff Tannen’s shrink-wrapped copy of the 1986 Back to the Future VHS tape – and set a new auction record while doing so. After a heated bidding war, a collector from New York picked up actor Tom Wilson’s sealed, near-mint-condition videotape for $75,000 in Heritage Auctions’ inaugural VHS and Home Entertainment Signature Auction on June 9 – the highest price ever paid at auction for a sealed, graded VHS cassette. The blockbuster sold-out sale, which featured 260 VHS tapes, drew 598 bidders from around the world on its way to realizing a total of $584,750. And many of the collectors were eager to pick up Wilson’s astonishing assemblage, which also included sealed, graded copies of Back to the Future…

When it comes to those who have influenced costume jewelry’s popularity, design, and craftsmanship over the past century, the list is long. It grows, in fact, decade by decade. Many contemporary designers continue to wow collectors, but those who created the classics really set the stage for the evolution of fashion jewelry design during the twenty-first century and beyond. It all started back in the 1930s. Coco Chanel & Elsa Schiaparelli Both Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli are original influencers when it comes to costume jewelry design and promotion. They were both instrumental in making the wearing of costume jewelry not only acceptable with high fashion but expected from the 1930s onward. Chanel encouraged women to wear both fine jewelry and costume jewelry together and created timeless looks that worked for most everyone…