Wild West Posters Bring Serious Money At Royka's

LUNENBURG, MASS.

:A cache of almost 200 exquisitely colored posters advertising Buffalo Bill's early Wild West shows, found hidden in an attic in New York State home, brought serious money at Paul Royka's October 1 auction. Several bidders meant business as they vied for the posters, which were, for the most part, in very good condition with strong, true color.

The star lot was a 291/4-inch by 22-inch lithograph poster advertising the appearance of the man the Indians called "Evil Spirit of the Plains," Dr W.F. Carver, who was also billed as "Champion Rifle Shot of the World," in the Wild West show at the Cleveland, Ohio, fairgrounds. It brought $33,640 from Kansas City dealer Lyn Knight, who was a major buyer throughout the sale. Knight also prevailed on a lithograph poster of the Honorable W.F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) and Carver (who abandoned dentistry for marksmanship) that he got for $26,680.

A poster with the image of Carver "As He Appeared before the Emperor of Germany and Thirty Thousand Officers and Soldiers at Potsdam, June 13th 1880" sold to the phone for $26,880. The same bidder took a poster with an image of Carver as the swashbuckling "Champion Rifle Shot of the World" for $24,360 and a poster with black and white portraits of members of the Wild West show troupe for $11,020.

The collection of posters, many of which predated the 1883 formation of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows, had advertised appearances of Cody's earlier troupe, the Buffalo Bill Combination, that he founded in 1873, at the Worcester Theater, which burned in 1890. As he hammered them down, auctioneer Paul Royka commented that he had grown up nearby in Worcester and that selling these historic posters was particularly poignant for him. Buffalo Bill (William Cody) was a hunter, a scout and guide for the US Cavalry, and a man with a profound flair for the dramatic. As a guide he led buffalo hunting parties and provided entertainment in the way of vivid dramatizations of frontier life.

Cody's Buffalo Bill Combination and his later Wild West shows toured for 40 years from city to city across the United States and Europe and its cowboys and Indians, sharp shooters, specialty acts, including buffalo, cattle, elk, horses and other animals, and Buffalo Bill's Cowboy Band popularized the romantic notions of the American West. The troupe included some of the most renowned stars of the day. Advance men papered the countryside with posters and arranged for licenses, accommodations, provisions and publicity for the shows prior to their arrival. The annual budget for posters alone was somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000, a vast sum at the time.

A lithograph poster for an appearance of the Buffalo Bill Combination with the simply beautiful image of He-Nu-Kaw, billed as "The Handsomest Indian Maiden in the World" sold to Knight for $25,530.

A poster of Buffalo Bill in his role as Chief of Scouts and Guide for the Pony Express surrounded by other images of him as guide, buffalo hunter and stage driver sold for $18,560. Each of the aforementioned posters was estimated at $3/5,000.

While the Buffalo Bill posters commanded the most interest and money, posters with other subjects more than held their own. A poster advertising the Panthan mystery show estimated at $500/700 sold for $9,280. The 1877 poster advertising the appearance of Charles T. Parsloe in Ah Sin, the Heathen Chinee, a play by Mark Twain and Bret Harte, fetched $4,350 against the estimated $500/700. The collaboration between the two writers is said to have ended their friendship.

Two early works by Milton Avery were of particular interest. The very early oil on -canvas "Rocky Shore," thought to have been painted in about 1918, went to an absentee bidder for $30,160. A landscape with trees that was signed in pencil on the back "Milton C. Avery, 66th Street, Sept 10, 1918" sold for $13,920 to the same buyer. The landscape depicts the back garden of Avery's brother. As Royka pointed out, the brush strokes in each picture differ markedly, indicating Avery's early experimentation. Both paintings were accompanied by documentation of their 1969 restoration from the Wadsworth Atheneum.

A Seventeenth Century American side chair in black paint retained the original cane beneath an upholstered back and stirred much interest. It brought $13,920. The chair was deaccessioned by the same art association as the Haseltine painting.

An early American tall chest with nine graduated drawers with interesting old brasses had a beautiful mellow hue and fetched $9,280 on the phone.

An unusual pair of early Nineteenth Century Indian-form andirons with the original paint went for $2,668 from Lyn Knight who was later heard to announce that he had spent $239,000 on posters and other objects.

Among a nice offering of art pottery was a large Marblehead Pottery vase with an incised wisteria design, a sailing ship mark and an Arthur Baggs mark that fetched $12,760 from a very focused Marilee Meyer. A Marblehead Pottery tile decorated with an image of a ship went for $1,044, despite a slight roughness on one edge.

A 1914 Saturday Evening Girls' pottery vase decorated with scarabs brought $1,102 as did a 1929 Rookwood vase with a banded daisy design by Edward Timothy Hurley.

One major surprise was an early sulphide pin that Royka described as having "been kicking around the gallery for about three years"; it sold for $2,900 against the estimated $50/75. The pin, which bore images of an American flag, flowers and a cubed box that alluded to the financial issues of the period, turned out to be a campaign pin from the candidacy of Martin Van Buren.

Royka's sponsors an evening reception at the New England Museum Association's annual conference November 16-18 in Burlington, Mass.

All prices quoted reflect the 16 percent buyer's premium. For information call 978-582-8207 or visit www.roykas.com.