When it comes to power and position within the state, nobody is above the governor. Out of reach to those of us with random alphanumerics or even the owners of vanity plates, the governor has historically been given the most prestigious license plate that one can get: the number 1 — the alpha plate, the leader plate, the plate that gets a good parking space in the state capital. A collection of US governor’s plates from all 50 states plus Washington DC approaches the block at Morphy Auctions, joining other top lots from around the United States in this week’s picks.

MORPHY

Sale Date: April 3–4, 2019
Lot 1961
Lot Of 56: Run Of No. 1 (Governor’s) License Plates
Nearly-complete set of USA Governor’s plates from almost all 50 states plus Washington DC
Estimate: $10/15,000

COWAN’S

Sale Date: April 5, 2019
Lot 75
High Dog (Lakota, Nineteenth/Twentieth Century) Winter Count on Muslin
Early Twentieth Century, painted in green, yellow, red, blue, black and brown; with pictographic depictions of historical events of the Sioux from 1798 through the early Twentieth Century, 34 by 46½ inches.
Estimate: $40/60,000

ELDRED’S

Sale Date: April 5–6, 2019
Lot 691
Riley and Whiting Tall-Case Clock
Winchester, Conn., Nineteenth Century. Case with sponge-painted decoration, bonnet with broken arch pediment, case raised on ball feet. Painted Arabic numeral dial with Masonic symbols in lunette and floral, foliate and paterae decoration throughout. Signed “Whiting Winchester,” 81 inches high.
Estimate: $1,5/2,500

SCOTTSDALE ART AUCTION

Sale Date: April 6, 2019
Lot 332
Howard Post (b. 1948)
“Waiting,” oil on canvas, 42 by 62 inches. Signed lower left.
Estimate: $10/15,000

PBA GALLERIES

Sale Date: April 4, 2019
Lot 100
Original Art From Steinbeck’s Moon is Down
Eight original gouache paintings and three posters — variant trial versions of a theater poster for Oscar Serlin’s play based on John Steinbeck’s The Moon is Down. Provenance: the collection of producer Oscar Serlin.
Estimate: $3/5,000

SWANN

Sale Date: April 4, 2019
Lot 171
Simone Leigh (b. 1967)
Untitled, salt fired stoneware, 2006. Acquired directly from the artist; private collection, Philadelphia (2006).
Estimate: $40/60,000

WILLIAM A. SMITH INC

Sale Date: April 7, 2019
Lot 39
John Rutherford Boyd, Illustrator (1884–1951)
Watercolor on paper of three male window dressers putting lingerie on female mannequin, 24 by 28 inches sight.
Estimate: $2/4,000

MID-HUDSON AUCTION GALLERIES

Sale Date: April 6, 2019
Lot 258B
Marilyn Monroe Photo By Milton Greene
Limited edition photograph, numbered at the back 20/50, with back stamp of Milton Greene. Signed, 20 by 16 inches.
Estimate: $800-1,000

BRUNEAU & CO

Sale Date: April 6, 2019
Lot 240
Circa 1800 Townsend (Attr.) Newport Pembroke Table
Rhode Island, circa 1800, single board top with two leaves, finger-molded edge over one drawer with faux drawer back with original brass hardware, attributed to John Townsend (1733–1809). Mahogany, brass, 28¾ high.
Estimate: $1/2,000