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FRIDAY APRIL 9, 2021 • VOL. 51, NO. 14
Smithsonian American Art Museum Receives Major Gift Of Extraordinary Amish Quilts Collection Comes From Faith And Stephen Brown The Smithsonian American Art Museum has received an extraordinary gift of masterpiece Amish quilts from the collection of Faith and Stephen Brown. The group of quilts is the largest and most significant collection of Amish quilts to enter any major art museum’s permanent collection. The quilts were made between the 1880s and 1940s and embody the astonishing design innovation and stitching skills of Amish women from communities in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states. An initial group of approximately 40 This Center Square quilt, 1930, 70- donated quilts will be featured in by-57 inches, Smithsonian American an upcoming exhibition organized Art Museum, was a gift of Faith and by the museum, scheduled for Stephen Brown, image courtesy of March 15, 2024, through Sept. 2, 2024. The exhibition and accompaFaith and Stephen Brown. nying catalog will highlight the ways in which Amish quilters across the United States negotiated tradition and innovation. The Browns’ entire collection, approximately 130 quilts, will be donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum by gift, promised gift or bequest. “The Browns Amish quilt collection is a national treasure, a collection of rare and exceptional textiles carefully compiled over 40 years.” said Kevin Gover, under secretary for museums and culture at the Smithsonian. “Among the This Tumbling Blocks quilt, 1930, 88.5-by-74.5 Smithsonian’s great inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum, strengths is the ability to was a gift of Faith and Stephen Brown, image make history come to life courtesy of Faith and Stephen Brown. through extraordinary
PAI’s 83rd Rare Posters Auction Sets Numerous New Highs March 14 Sale Totaled $1.95 Million
This Sunshine and Shadow quilt, 1930, 89-by-86 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum, was a gift of Faith and Stephen Brown, image courtesy of Faith and Stephen Brown. works of art such as these.” The Browns were inspired to collect Amish quilts after seeing an exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in 1973. Since then, the couple has amassed one of the nation’s premier collections of Amish quilts. Selections from their collection have been seen at major museums across the United States, most recently in 2009 at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s de Young Museum.
“The Smithsonian American Art Museum has long championed an expansive view of what constitutes art worthy of being collected and preserved as part of our national collections,” said Stephanie Stebich, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “We found similar visionaries in collectors Faith and Stephen Brown, who recognized the exceptional contributions to American visual culture
Poster Auctions International’s (PAI) first sale of the year, on March 14, finished at just under $2 million in sales. Rare Posters Auction LXXXIII surpassed expectations, thanks to passionate collectors and first-rate consignments. Jack Rennert, President of PAI, said, “This sale featured one of the best collections we’ve had in recent memory, but none of us could have predicted the feverish action on auction day. Collectors exhibited an intoxicating zest for posters and bid competitively. Thanks to their enthusiasm, we achieved a number of neverbefore-reached winning bids.” Political posters also enraptured bidders. The 1915 “Enlist” by Fred Spear, in the rare original half-sheet format, captured $15,600 against an estimate of $5,000-$6,000. And L. N. Britton’s powerful 1917 “Warning!” was won Continued on page 5
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Antique And Vintage Trains Steamroll At Weiss Auctions’ Toys And Trains Sale Eight Additional Train Sales Are In The Works Weiss Auctions’ first Toy and Train event for 2021, held onlineonly on Feb. 24, exceeded all expectations, especially in the exploding toy trains category, as 96 percent of all 500 lots found new owners in a sale that grossed around $200,000. It has inspired Philip Weiss, the owner of Weiss Auctions, to plan up to eight more train sales during this year. “We’re getting in huge collections, and we want to promote a category that’s obviously red hot right now,” stated Weiss. “For the February sale, we had nearly 1,500 active bidders between our site
(www.weissauctions.com), LiveAuctioneers.com and Proxibid.com. We’re always looking for new consignments, and I feel confident more great collections will come our way this year.” The auction featured the extensive S gauge collection of Frank Pisani, whose many rare and unusual examples included an exceedingly scarce and huge American Flyer dealer poster, 95-by-42 inches and made ca. 1955 ($5,100). The poster was chromolithographed on two pieces of paper, then factory attached. The color was bright, and it was in like-new condition.
The sale also saw the continuation of the Neil Padron estate, with many high-grade American Flyer S accessories and post-war rarities featuring many unique pieces, prototypes, production samples, errors and separate sale items. Also featured was Padron’s extensive Plasticville O/S collection of an estimated 680 boxed kits and blister cards, all of them different. That collection was offered as one lot and turned out to be the auction’s top Continued on page 3
Leonetto Cappiello’s “ParapluieRevel” from 1929 realized $31,200.
In This Issue A boxed Lionel 6357-50 Father & Son caboose, one of the harder cabooses to find (and the accompanying box even scarcer), produced only in 1960 for the Father & Son set, sold for $1,650.
SHOPS, SHOWS & MARKETS . . . . . . . . . starting on page 3 SHOPS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . on page 4 AUCTIONEER DIRECTORY . . . . on page 5 EVENT & AUCTION CALENDAR . on page 6 AUCTION SALE BILLS . . starting on page 7
FEATURED AUCTION: Morphy’s - February 27 - Page 2
CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . .on page 7