Rose Mandarin hot water dishes, $11,500.

Lloyd Ralston Collection Yields $31,000 J&E Stevens Mechanical Bank

STRATFORD, CONN. — The lifelong antique toy collection of the late Lloyd Ralston was offered at auction this past Saturday, August 10, with strong prices achieved on the majority of the lots.

Ralston was a consummate dealer during the 1960s and 1970s, well-known, liked and certainly respected. He was best known for his keen eye and the quality of his collection.

Three hundred lots were sold during the first session of the auction with toys ranging from cast-iron still and mechanical banks, cast-iron toys, tin windups and comic characters to the toys that the collector concentrated on late in his collecting career, an impressive selection of cast-iron trains.

The top lot of the auction was the J&E Stevens girl skipping rope mechanical bank, selling to a phone bidder for $31,000, plus premium.

A complete review of the auction will appear in a future issue of Antiques and The Arts Weekly.