: Morphy Auctions at the Adamstown Antique Gallery crowned a first
year of operations for cofounders Dan Morphy and Tom Sage Jr,
racking up a $1.25 million total (inclusive of ten percent
buyer's premium) in the gallery's most recent auction.
"This was our cleanest, smoothest sale to date," said Morphy. "We
had 800 live bidders registered over the week leading up to the
sale. A lot of people came in to preview the merchandise - which
we had on display in our gallery showcases for months prior to
the sale - then registered and left bids."
Postsale statistics showed more than 50 percent of the auction
inventory - heavily weighted with antique advertising, cowboy
collectibles, banks, doorstops and toys of all types - had gone
to buyers who used alternative bidding methods, especially the
Internet.
Bidders jumped right into the saddle to bid on nearly 500 lots of
cowboy and Western memorabilia. Towering over the category was a
rare four-foot-tall Roy Rogers and Trigger store display made for
Sears Roebuck & Co. In near-mint condition on its original
base emblazoned "Roy Rogers Corral," it sold for $9,900 against a
$5/7,000 estimate. Morphy revealed that it is headed for a
museum, to become part of an extensive permanent display of
cowboy memorabilia.
Roy Rogers and Trigger store display plastic composite
promotional figure used by Sears & Roebuck & Co.,
$9,900.
The sale's top lot was a toy vehicle with unique provenance:
a 1927 Hubley Say It With Flowers motorcycle delivery van, with
rare civilian driver, that could be traced back directly to the
owner of the Hubley Toy Company. The motorcycle originally was
given as a gift to Paul Reitz of Smoketown, Penn., who, as a boy,
did odd jobs around the Hubley family's estate. For 78 years, Reitz
held onto the precious childhood keepsake, but several months ago
he decided to sell the toy. Morphy advised Reitz that he would get
far more than his four-figure asking price if he were to consign it
to auction. The advice proved to be sound, and after the hammer
came down at $45,100, Reitz could hardly contain his joy.
The lure of "intact and unpicked" private collections proved
irresistible and set the scene for informal socializing among
enthusiasts. In the saleroom, however, the convention-style
camaraderie gave way to an atmosphere of friendly but determined
competition, as peanut specialists battled over the contents of
an advanced single-owner collection. Waiting patiently at the
back of the gallery, they swung into action as all attention
turned to the humble goober and its many forms of advertising and
packaging.
The star lot within the category was a Planters Mr Peanut parade
statue made for the Canadian market. Standing 6 feet tall and
made of papier mache, it exhibited extraordinary condition, with
no cracks to its surface. One of only six known examples, the
statue settled near the top of its estimate range, at $14,300.
Painted cast iron doorstop featuring a gentleman on a bale of
cotton, $16,500.
A single-owner grouping that Morphy had correctly predicted
would entice new collectors was an assemblage of early tin pot
scrapers, each lithographed with some form of advertising and
imagery. An example of advertising, Dove Brand Ham and Bacon, with
an image of a father pig disciplining his son, led the group at
$3,300 - more than triple its high estimate.
Collectors pulled out all the stops to battle over old store
stock from a Harrisburg five-and-dime store, especially unopened
play sets. "Anything mint/boxed and unopened went for two to
three times its estimate," said Morphy. A 1963 Wolf Man pencil
and paint set produced by Hassenfeld under license from Universal
Pictures sold for $5,500 against a $2/3,000 estimate.
