Innehållsförteckning för April 1, 2021 från Kovels Antique Trader

NEW YORK — A bowl bought at a yard sale last year by a savvy bargain hunter for $35 has been identified as an exceptionally rare 15th-century Chinese antique that is expected to sell for up to $500,000. The small, intricate blue-and-white artifact, which features motifs of lotus, peony, chrysanthemum and pomegranate blossoms, was originally commissioned by China's imperial court during the Ming dynasty, according to Sotheby's auction house in New York, where the bowl will be auctioned on March 17 as part of Asia Week, March 11-24. The item is valued between $300,000-$500,000, with the top estimate nearly 14,300 times the amount it was purchased for. The bowl was discovered last year near New Haven, Connecticut. While Sotheby’s is not disclosing the owner’s identity, the head of its Chinese…

Imagine touring the countryside in a vintage trailer decorated with old Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola advertising memorabilia. That’s exactly what my wife, Bonnie, and I have done with our restored 1969 Shasta Compact travel trailer, in which we showcase our collection of soda-related antiques at vintage trailer rallies across the southeastern United States. The funny thing is that up until three years ago, neither of us had ever ventured into an antiques shop, thinking antiques were for our parents’ generation. So what got us to browse antiques shops for old Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola items? The journey began in 2017 when we purchased a brand new, retro-style Gulf Stream travel trailer called a Vintage Cruiser. Although our Vintage Cruiser was new, its red-and-white interior looked like a 1950s diner and the exterior…

fine glass paperweights, created to keep papers from flying about in drafty rooms, are among the most popular collectibles. Early ones were likely any eye-catching pebbles that came to hand. As letter writing became increasingly popular, however, members of the European upper class sought more appealing weights to grace their lavish desk sets. In response, glassworkers created shiny, heavy, decorative — yet functional — domes. Some, known as end-of-the-day ones, may have simply enclosed bits and bobs of glass swept up from workshop floors. Others, like those of master Venetian glassmaker Pietro Bigaglia that were exhibited at the 1845 Vienna Industrial Exposition, featured an array of artistic elements based on lost skills of ancient Egypt and Rome. Bigaglia’s domes were often “scrambles,” jumbles of fanciful canes created by meticulously patterning…

Emerging from World War II a combat photographer who had witnessed his share of horror, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) determined he would photograph only “attractive people in attractive places doing attractive things.” And so he did. While working for Life, Town & Country and Holiday magazines, Aarons photographed a veritable who’s who of high society: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier in Monaco; Bing Crosby at Pebble Beach; and John Huston at his hideaway in Puerto Vallarta. For more than forty years, Aarons roamed the world photographing everything that was cool and chic about old money with his trusty Leica camera. About the wealthy, he onced joked, “Even their vegetables are better.”…

ROCHESTER, Minn. — The original Olmsted County Gold Rush Antique Show and Flea Market, one of the largest shows in the Midwest, is kicking off its 49th year May 7-9. Covering 52 acres at the fairgrounds in Rochester, Minnesota, this indoor/outdoor event will have dealers from all over the country displaying their wares in 1,200 spaces and eight buildings and will include antique furniture, primitives, glassware, pottery, jewelry, clocks, watches, lamps, coins, art, toys, advertising, farm and car collectibles, hunting, fishing, funky junque and more. Show hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free; parking is $5. Face masks are required. The Olmsted County Fairgrounds is at Hwy 63 South/ 16th St., SE intersection, Rochester, MN…

The collecting world just got a little stranger – and a lot more colorful – recently when a digital asset of an animated flying cat with a Pop-Tart body sold at auction for nearly $600,000. Nyan Cat, the Internet’s most famous digital Pop-Tart body ›ying kitty, just sold for nearly $600,000. Is the sale of digital assets a crazy fad or the future? Chris Torres created the wildly popular Nyan Cat in 2011. The meme of the pixelated cat flying across space leaving a rainbow trail in its wake has been shared and viewed online hundreds of millions of times. A one-of-a-kind version of the quirky kitty sold February 18 on Foundation, a website for buying and selling digital goods, for roughly $580,000. “It was crazy,” Torres told Artnet News.…

COMMERCE, Ga. — More than 500 lots of original advertising signs, coin ops, country/general store items, Americana, and rare and unique items will be offered at Rockabilly Auctions’ Advertising, Americana, & Nostalgia Auction. The sale will start at 10 a.m. EST on March 27, with live and online bidding. Items will also be added to the catalog up to auction day. If you would like to consign in this auction, please call Kurt at 770-652-8075. Auction highlights include a number of Coca-Cola vending machines including a professionally restored Coca-Cola Vendo 44 vending machine, with every component in like-new condition and a high-gloss paint that makes it look like it just rolled off of the factory (estimate $4,000-$8,000); a Seeburg Jukebox loaded with records and title strips that plays 100 selections…

In 1891, 29-year-old William Wrigley Jr., a man who would create a chewing gum empire, came to Chicago from Philadelphia with $32 in his pocket and an idea to sell soap. His gum empire bubbled up from his marketing strategy of offering premiums with each soap purchase. In a somewhat comical series of events, each premium item Wrigley offered ended up being more popular than his main product. First he switched from soap to baking powder, then — when customers loved the sticks of chewing gum he offered with the baking powder — he switched his attention to gum. It turned out to be a billion-dollar decision. In 1893, Wrigley introduced Juicy Fruit Gum, which was followed by Spearmint Gum. Behind aggressive direct marketing and large-scale advertising campaigns, Wrigley Gun…