4 November 2009

White Star Liners poster auction 12th November

Specialist on-line auctioneers Onslows, celebrated 25 years in business this year, and things look set to get even better, what with a recent discovery that has set up their early November sale to be something of a crowd puller! Thirteen original shipping posters were recently discovered after having been rolled up after many years. They were of famous White Star Liners, including the Titanic’s sister ship the Olympic, the Majestic, Adriatic, Megantic and Albertic, and considering their age are in remarkably good condition.
The posters can be accurately dated to certainly post 1912 and the sinking of the Titanic, due to the additional lifeboats shown on each ship.They probably date from around 1919 when the Atlantic passenger routes were opened up, due to the end of WW1. The finest poster of the group is by Montague B Black showing the RMS Olympic, which is estimated to sell for £2,500 to £3,000. Another is Montague B Black’s White Star Dominion Line to Canada; after the war ended there was a campaign to attract people to Canada to set up home and start farming. The collection is likely to bring the lucky vendor a windfall of £15,000. Not bad for an afternoon’s work clearing rubbish from a house! To find out more about the sale on 12th November, visit: www.onslows.co.uk
Karyn

Antiquexplorer November Issue

Dear Explorer
Am I the only one, who feels that this year has just run away with them?
The clocks have just gone back and we’re hurtling toward December at a rapid rate of knots; next week I’ll be working on the December/January double issue!
But, before all this happens, what a busy month November is; the calendar reveals I’ll be at one (or two!) shows every weekend, right up until the end of the month.
The wood-themed issue this month came about by pure coincidence. Firstly, a friend in the throws of moving house, asked me of the best way to sell her two African figures, closely followed by meeting my web designer’s neighbour who’d amassed a fabulous collection of African figures over the years; and then of course, there was my own modest collection. I started to research the topic and came across a carving that recently sold at Bonhams, and had achieved a rather jaw-dropping figure. So, I started to wonder what the differences were between the pieces belonging to my friends and myself, and the Bonhams piece? And boy, did I open a can of worms, as you’ll see within the article on page 6. Very quickly it appeared that I had a ‘wood’ issue on my hands, and
the question was, ‘What else should we include?’ Well, there’s nothing like drawing inspiration from your own interests is there? And that’s when I decided to cover Bog Wood. I know it may sound odd, but I’d fallen in love with a piece of Bog Wood I’d bought recently. It was not only tactile and dramatic in form, but as ancient an item as I’m ever likely to own. Of course, it goes without saying that I then wanted to discover what else this ancient material was used for, and so reveal all on page 13. Finally, there are the Burmese Nats! Again, made from wood; these figures have a real organic feel to them, whilst being surrounded by superstition and spiritualism. I’d never heard of a Nat before, and hope that this issue not only brings a new discovery to you, but also a little bit of good fortune! Visit antiquexplorer online to buy your copy, post free!
Karyn