Morphy Auctions Presents: Las Vegas Antique Arms Show
January 26th & 27 2024
www.antiquearmsshow.com
Westgate Resort & Casino 3000 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas NV 89109

LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Later this month, Morphy Auctions will team up with Brian Lebel’s 34th Old West Show & Auction and the Las Vegas Antique Arms show to produce what is expected to be the mega-event of 2024 for collectors of antique arms, Western memorabilia and cowboy relics. “I expect this to be a one-of-a-kind event in the industry, combining the best of the crossover categories — cowboy and Western, Native American, Hollywood and firearms,” said Dan Morphy, founder and president of Morphy Auctions.

On Friday and Saturday, January 26-27, the two shows and auction will band together under one roof at the Westgate Casino & Resort to offer collectors a selection of antique firearms, Western art, antiques, apparel, décor, jewelry and collectibles. Over the two days, guests can browse and buy from more than 1,200 tables of goods presented by Western dealers and craftsmen. On Friday evening, Morphy Auctions will take center stage to conduct a live event: Brian Lebel’s 34th Annual Old West Auction of important and historical Western antiques. All forms of bidding will be available, including live via the internet.

The 473-lot auction is packed with pieces for both the advanced collector and beginner. A wealth of Native American artifacts includes pictorial beadwork, bridles, vests, textiles, weapons and a Blackfoot beaded war shirt accompanied by an old photo and written history. The list continues with Gold Rush and Wild West material, law badges, historic photos and documents, firearms advertising, screen-worn cowboy apparel, Stetson hats with celebrity connections and items personally owned by such notables as President Ulysses S. Grant and Buffalo Bill Cody.

Edward H. Bohlin’s personal sterling silver mounted with gold-repousse gun belt will be presented together with a pair of Bohlin-mounted Colt single-action Army revolvers. The equestrian parade ensemble was designed by Bohlin himself and built in collaboration with top Bohlin artists over a 14-year period. The one-of-a-kind double-holster rig was World’s Fair-exhibited (Montreal, 1967), worn in scores of parades and published in numerous books and magazines. The lot includes a letter from Bohlin scholar James Nottage and carries an estimate of $200/250,000. Bohlin saddles, spurs, buckles and bolos are also entered in the auction.

A selection of marked spurs includes designs by Cox and Baldwin (Canon City), Bradley, Visalia, Tapia, Schnitger, Figueroa, Dahl, McChesney, Crockett and many others. A pair of rare circa 1920s double-mounted G.S. Garcia “Rabbit” spurs — so named because they feature engraved images of snuggling and sleeping bunnies on their fronts and backs – are maker-marked G S Garcia on one spur and Elko Nev on the other. One of only two such pairs known to exist, these spurs are estimated at $35/45,000.

A museum-grade ledger book created and maintained in the late Nineteenth/early Twentieth Centuries by Sitting Bull’s nephew White Bull (1849-1947) — purported killer of General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn — is unique and historically important. In White Bull’s handwriting, it documents coups, combats and winter counts of the Sioux. In all, there are 162 pages, 120 with writing and 33 with drawings ($200/250,000).

More than a century after their lives are said to have ended abruptly in a dusty Bolivian town, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid continue to fascinate fans of Western lore. The two friends and partners in crime were part of the “Fort Worth Five,” whose scurrilous outlaw careers were marked by a long string of bank and train robberies. It was the beginning of the end for the so-called “Wild Bunch” gang when their photograph, taken in 1900, came to the attention of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. That image would soon become the mugshot on “wanted” posters throughout the Western states. On January 26, Morphy’s will auction an original 1900 Wild Bunch Gang photo taken by a Fort Worth photographer John Swartz. Clear and sharp, the mounted photo has a handwritten identification of the five sitters on verso ($60/80,000).

Adding star quality to the auction, an array of vintage collectibles includes property once owned or used by Hollywood royalty: John Wayne, Buck Jones, Clint Eastwood, James Arness, Rex Allen and, the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers. One of Rogers’ most prized possessions was his pair of McCabe parade chaps from a complete parade saddle ensemble commissioned in 1931 for wealthy horsewoman H.L. Musick and her champion horse Diamond. After many Rose Bowl appearances, the silver and gold-repousse chaps were acquired by Rogers for use at promotional appearances and in photos. They were exhibited nationwide and resided in the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum Collection ($70/90,000).

The auction, produced by Morphy’s in association with Brian Lebel’s Old West Events, will be conducted live in the Ballroom at the Westgate Casino & Resort, 3000 Paradise Road, start time: 4 pm Pacific time / 7 pm Eastern time. For information, 877-968-8880 or www.morphyauctions.com.

Shop one big, top-quality show that brings together the very best dealers from two closely aligned categories, antique firearms and genuine Old West art and relics.