Fine Art: One Man’s Collection
Apr
6
10:30 AM10:30

Fine Art: One Man’s Collection

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Fine Art: One Man’s Collection on Saturday, April 6, 2024. The sale features over 70 works of art from a private collection in Northern California, including oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and lithographs. The vast majority of the auction focuses on two Northern California artists, Colin Campbell Cooper and Gary Ray. Other noted artists in the sale include Peter Nielsen and Ransome Gillet Holdridge.

Colin Campbell Cooper, Jr. (1856-1937) was a distinguished American impressionist painter best known for architecture, European and Asian landmarks, landscapes, and portraits. Gary Ray (1952- ) is a contemporary painter, primarily of plein air images of coastal regions and inland areas of Southern and Central California.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →

Vintage Watches: One Man’s Collection
Mar
24
10:30 AM10:30

Vintage Watches: One Man’s Collection

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Vintage Watches: One Man’s Collection on Sunday, March 24, 2024. The sale features over 140 timepieces from a private collection in Northern California – mostly men’s wristwatches, plus several pocket watches, small clocks, and one ladies’ watch. Almost all date from the mid-20th century, from the 1940s to the 1970s. Most are American brands, plus several from Europe. The 25+ manufacturers include Bulova, Hamilton, Longines, Lord Elgin, Omega, Dunhill, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Louvic, Jacques Lemans, and Concord. Completing the sale are several Rolex boxes for watches and/or jewelry.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Estate of Edward S. Stephenson
Mar
9
10:30 AM10:30

The Estate of Edward S. Stephenson

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Estate of Edward S. Stephenson on Saturday, March 9, 2024. Featuring over 200 lots, the sale features a diverse and eclectic collection featuring two major themes: arms and armor, and Asian decorative arts, primarily from Japan. The latter are mostly from Mr. Stephenson’s time in Japan with the military at the end of World War II, before he became an award-winning Hollywood production designer. Highlights include a Franz Von Stuck nautilus cup and the coronation costume of Baron Sawada at Emperor Hirohito's coronation in Kyoto in 1928.

The part of the auction that features arms & armor includes a diverse range of items, mostly from England, continental Europe, and Japan: sets of armor, hall shields, chargers, medallions, military portrait plaques, helmets, tsuba, and more. Armaments from various countries and centuries include several swords and bayonets; a saber, cutlass, and dagger; plus a selection of Japanese tantō.

From Japan are an eclectic array of decorative arts, small furniture, works of art, household items, and more: netsuke, statues, ewers, bowls, vases, jars, Satsuma and Imari ware, hibachi, blue and white porcelain, miniature zushi, Bunraku puppet heads, early 20th-century kimonos, boxes, carved figures, a 19th-century tama sculpture, gongs, a scroll painting, groups of wooden boxes, and much more. Among the lacquerware items are picnic and other boxes, sets, games, a pear box, and miniatures. Noh items include an assortment of masks and a doll set in a fitted chest. Among the small furniture items are tansu chests, armor chests, and collectors cabinets. Works on paper include calligraphy documents, woodblock books, and temple stamp books.

From China are censers, ceramic figures, famille verte dishes, a brush pot, vases, covered jars, a marble head of Guanyin, a jade figure of fu dogs, and a bronze figure of Manjusri. From elsewhere in Asia are ceramics, textiles, mystical silk batik panels, and a collection of seals. Rounding out the sale are bronze figures and sculptures, candlesticks, platters, a 19th-century goblet, Orlando Furioso from 1967 in three volumes, and more.

 About Edward S. Stephenson and His Collection

Born in Iowa, Edward S. Stephenson (1917-2011) moved with his family around age six to Glendale, in Southern California. Inspired by early motion pictures, young Edward decided at age 11 he wanted to pursue theater and production design. After high school, he attended the Pasadena Playhouse College of the Theater and after graduation began working in theatrical design.

Like many other young men, his career was interrupted by World War II. Serving in the U.S. Air Force, he was stationed in Guam, Texas, and, for seven years, in Japan. He was appointed civilian Director of Entertainment and Music for the Commander in Chief, Far East and Supreme Commander, Allied Powers; in this role, he headed the military’s post-occupation entertainment services, when entertainment for GIs was said to be a “necessary supplement to the basic needs of food and shelter.” Much of his time was spent at the Tokyo Takarazuka Revue building, later renamed the Ernie Pyle Theater for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who was killed in Okinawa. Known as the “Radio City Music Hall of the East,” this was the hub for American-style entertainment in Japan and indeed all of Asia. It was here that Mr. Stephenson plied his trade of production and theater design, including a performance of “The Mikado” that was attended by the Japanese royal family.

After the service, Mr. Stephenson spent a short time in New York, then returned to Southern California in the early 1950s. From his time in Japan, he sent the second largest shipment of Japanese artifacts back to the U.S.; the largest was sent to Gump’s, the renowned retailer in San Francisco.

Upon his return to Los Angeles, Mr. Stephenson began working in production design in live television, a career that spanned five decades and numerous accolades. He received three Primetime Emmy Awards for production design and/or art direction -- for An Evening with Fred Astaire, for The Andy Williams Show, and for Soap. With Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, he worked on numerous shows, including Maude, Sanford & Son, Good Times, and the pilot for All in the Family. He also worked with Witt-Thomas-Harris on Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Blossom, and others.

In 1978, he found time to launch Hollywood Studio Gallery, which became the entertainment industry’s leading prop house for art and wall décor, with 50,000 pieces available for rent. Today the company is owned and run by Mr. Stephenson’s daughter, Tara Stephenson-Fong, herself a noted set decorator and winner of an Art Directors Guild (ADG) award, along with numerous Emmy and ADG nominations. Mr. Stephenson retired in 1994.

While collecting his entire adult life, Mr. Stephenson seems to have been first bitten by the bug when he was in Japan after the war; trading, for example, a carton of cigarettes for a samurai sword. While in Japan, he collected numerous Japanese woodblock prints: Turner Auctions + Appraisals’ followers will remember the very successful sale in May 2023 of his collection of woodblock prints from post-war Japan that featured ghosts, demons, and monsters, whose myths and legends pervade Japanese culture. Other woodblock prints from Mr. Stephenson’s collection will be available in a future auction. This sale offers an extensive array of many other Asian decorative arts he acquired over time, as well as his collection of European military armor and other arms.

According to Tara, her father loved art and architecture: “He saw something beautiful and wanted to have it – and he didn’t know how to do anything small.” Now, over the years, Mr. Stephenson’s collections have been sorted out, awaiting the right time and the right person to go to sale. As with the supernatural prints offered previously, Tara says she hopes these objects, carefully acquired with a designer’s eye, “find a good home with good people.”

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Retablos: The Art of Devotion
Feb
24
10:30 AM10:30

Retablos: The Art of Devotion

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Retablos: The Art of Devotion on Saturday, February 24, 2024. Offering over 230 lots from a private collection in Northern California, the sale features distinctive works from Mexico and South America, including Peru and Bolivia. Almost all works are from the 19th and/or 20th centuries; most are painted in oil on tin or copper; some are framed, most are not. There is also an extensive array of relicario medallions, most from South America, including Bolivia. Some other religious or devotional items round out the sale, including crucifixes, santos, wood carvings, painted altars, miniature monstrances, and more.

Retablos are a widespread folk art form from the colonial Spanish or Mexican culture that gained popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Small and colorful, these devotional paintings illustrate holy images or miraculous events from traditional art of the Catholic church, depicting Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or one of the church’s many saints. Usually created by untrained artists and showcased privately in homes to enable personal devotion or to give thanks, retablos often became valued family heirlooms.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
A Fine Mélange
Feb
3
10:30 AM10:30

A Fine Mélange

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present A Fine Mélange on Saturday, February 3, 2024. Offering over 200 lots, the sale features an eclectic array of items, including artworks, decorative arts, jewelry, furniture, Asian items, and more.

Among the artworks are paintings, watercolors, lithographs, and other works on paper, mostly from the 19th-20th centuries; noted artists include Roland Petersen, Joseph Antoine Bouvard, Emory Ladanyi, Samuel Peter Rolt Triscott, Alexandra Nechita, Alfred Schroff, and David Gilhooly. Several sculptures on offer are by Dan Corbin, Grant Speed, and Rollin Karg. Jewelry offerings feature rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets of gold or silver, most adorned with precious or semi-precious stones. The diverse selection of furniture includes chairs, tables, chests, cupboards, desks and more in styles such as Queen Anne, Regency, Federal, and American, and Chippendale. Among the decorative arts are glass items, tole table articles, American baskets, snuff boxes, and more; highlights in this category include a 19th-century carousel horse, tall torchières, angel candelabra, and a Louis C. Tiffany vase. Rounding out the sale are sterling silver flatware and several pens.

There is also a large selection of items from Asia, including artworks; and silk panels, collars, and table runners. From China are paintings, vases, beakers, censers, lotus shoes and slippers, decorative objects, export tea items, immortal figures, snuff bottles, and horseshoe and high-back chairs. Several woodblock prints come from Japan; and a nat figure of Min Lay comes from Burma.

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Estate Jewelry & Gold Coins
Dec
16
10:30 AM10:30

Estate Jewelry & Gold Coins

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Estate Jewelry & Gold Coins on Sunday, December 17, 2023, at 10:30 am PST. Featuring over 105 lots from a few estates, these items are ideal for holiday jewelry gift-giving to others (or to treat oneself!) or perhaps for long-term investment, in the case of gold coins.

Jewelry offerings include necklaces, rings, bracelets, pendants, brooches, and earrings. Most are 14k, 18k or white gold, blackened silver, or platinum; most are set with gemstones such as diamond, emerald, ruby, sapphire, amethyst, pearl, tourmaline, garnet, opal, turquoise, moonstone, and/or lapis lazuli. Some pieces are antique or vintage. Among the other jewelry items are micro-mosaic brooch-pendants; lava cameos and earrings; unstrung chrysoprase beads; unmounted gemstones; several suites; and groupings of antique, vintage or costume jewelry. For men are several pairs of gold cufflinks, watch fob chains, and an antique cigar cutter fob. Jewelry highlights include a 5.3 carat diamond and platinum ring, a gold-coin charm bracelet, and an emerald and diamond ring,

 The diverse array of gold coins – many from the 19th or early 20th century – includes items from the U.S., France, Mexico, and South Africa. Among the highlights are a U.S. 1904 Gold Double Eagle Liberty Head $20 coin; three South Africa Krugerrands; a Mexico 50 peso gold coin, Winged Victory/Eagle Dated 1821-1947. There are also several gold or silver ingots, one lot of ancient bronze coins, and a 1934 Federal Reserve $1,000 note. Completing the sale are a Lalique ornament and three bags, from Cartier, Versace, and Coach.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 4
Dec
3
10:30 AM10:30

The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 4

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 4, on Sunday, December 3, 2023, at 10:30 am PST. Offering over 235 lots from the estate of a Northern Californian who collected trains for over 75 years, the auction features mostly post-war and modern-era train offerings – some new old stock, some unused, and many in their original boxes. These include locomotives, tenders, cabooses, numerous sets and groupings; a diverse array of train cars, including freight, box, reefers, stock, hoppers, passenger, sleeper, diner, gang, mail, beer, pullman, sleeper, and flat cars; water tenders; TTOS, TCA and LCCA club cars; and more. There are also accessories and train and controller parts on offer. Many lots are Lionel model trains; other manufacturers in the sale are K-Line, MTH, Atlas, Williams, 3rd Rail, Rail King, Pecos River, Crown Model, and Peterson Supply. Almost all trains are O gauge, with several Lionel Classics in standard gauge.

About Armond Conti & His Collection

Born and raised in San Francisco, Armond Conti attended St. Ignatius High School and graduated from San Jose State in Industrial Technology. He met his wife Chris in the late 1950s, when they were both audience members of the popular radio show of Don Sherwood, who billed himself as the “world’s greatest disc jockey.” In 1964 the Contis and their then-three children moved to Livermore, California, then San Jose, where Mr. Conti worked as a nuclear engineer at General Electric for over 35 years, until he retired.

Armond Conti collected model trains for over 75 years, introduced to a lifelong passion around age 4, with a Christmas present from his parents. He continued to build and enhance his collection through the years, adding top-quality model trains from train shows and online sources. Perhaps no surprise as an engineer with an interest and skills in mechanics and technology, he also began to repair model trains for others, working after his day job at Bill’s Train Station in San Jose for over 15 years. He also set up an 18’ x 18’ shop in his backyard to pursue this aspect of his train hobby. His train layouts burgeoned as well, increasing as his homes got bigger: first at the top of his San Jose garage, where the layout platform hung down two feet from the ceiling and Mr. Conti would stand on a ladder to work on it. Later, when Mr. Conti moved to a nearby town, his train layout expanded to one-third of the basement of the family’s large and spacious new home.

Through the years, Mr. Conti enjoyed ‘train chasing’ with fellow train buffs, and visiting the Tehachapi Loop near Los Angeles, an engineering feat completed in 1876, where he would go watch trains with his son Mike and others. As Mike said, his dad liked trains because they were “big, noisy, and kind of cool.” These traits were shared with Mr. Conti’s other lifelong hobbies – muscle cars and World War II airplanes.

After Mr. Conti’s passing, the family decided to part with the vast collection for several reasons: no one has the same love of trains that Mr. Conti did, the family has other interests, and the model train hobby takes up a lot of space. Fellow enthusiasts who share Mr. Conti’s passion for model trains are sure to benefit from and enjoy the astute rewards of collecting for over seven decades.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Reverend Charles Hartwell Family Collection
Nov
18
10:30 AM10:30

The Reverend Charles Hartwell Family Collection

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present the Collection of the Reverend Charles Hartwell Family on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Offering 150 lots, the sale features a wide array of items, mostly from 19th-century China, including artworks, furniture, decorative arts, prayer beads, jewelry, books, clothing, textiles, family memorabilia, and more. The sale’s items come from the family of Reverend Charles Hartwell, Congregational missionaries and philanthropists in Foochow (Fuzhou), China from the 1850s-1930s. The family members’ items in this auction include Rev. Charles Hartwell (1825-1905) and Lucy Estabrook Stearns Hartwell (1827-1883); their children Charles Stearns Hartwell (1855-1931), Emily Susan Hartwell (1859-1951), and Carrie Amelia Hartwell Tupper (1864-1959).

Furniture items in the sale include armchairs and dining chairs, a curio shelf, cupboard panels, and carved mirrors. Among the artworks are Chinese paintings on paper, ancestor portraits, scroll and miniature pith paintings; several Japanese woodblock prints; and works by Emily Susan Hartwell and Neil Meitzler. From Japan are several woodblock prints, an art pottery vase, and Imari items.

Many decorative arts are on offer, such as cloisonné, glazed, porcelain, celadon and bronze vases; bronze vessels, beakers, censers, and libation cups; snuff bottles; decorative and carved stone objects; polychrome and terracotta figures; porcelain bowls and ginger jars; boxes of burl root, lacquer and porcelain; gilt lacquered temple figures; a silk fan; metal tea caddies; several lamps; and blue and white dishes.

There is also an array of Chinese clothing and textiles: embroidery of gold thread dragon, silk collars and panels; a table runner; a fan; a man’s court robe, a silk short coat; and more. Of note are a selection of high-heeled and lotus shoes, including a booklet on Chinese foot binding made by a Hartwell family member. Lotus shoes were worn by women in China who had bound feet, a very painful tradition that lasted nearly a thousand years, ending only around the 1950s.

Books and publications include ones on Chinese art, textiles, and ceramics; Japanese sculpture; Asian art and rugs; and a signed copy of Baghdad by the Bay by Herb Caen. There are several lots of prayer beads and jewelry of jade, bone, hardstone, silver and/or metal. Family memorabilia includes a Charles Hartwell family archive, a Chinese stamp collection, and 19th-century photographs of China and England.

Auction highlights include a Chinese lavender-blue ovoid vase, a 19th-century ancestral tablet, and a pair of bowls with eight horses of Wang Mu. Several items from other collectors round out the sale.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Fine Art & Works on Paper
Nov
4
10:30 AM10:30

Fine Art & Works on Paper

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Fine Art & Works on Paper on Saturday, November 4, 2023. Featuring over 85 lots from several collectors and estates, the sale offers diverse media -- engraving, watercolor, gouache, lithograph, pastel, woodblock, woodcut, pencil, drypoint, and more -- by American and European artists from the 16th through the 21st centuries. A large portion of the auction is devoted to the four-color lithographs of Albert Genick (1836-1906) from his acclaimed work on Greek pottery, Griechische Keramik, printed by Ernst Wasmuth in Berlin in 1883. Artists showcased in the sale from the late 1800s to present day include Millard Sheets, Bruce Conner, Russell Chatham, Winthrop Turney, Armin Hansen, Stephanie Sanchez, August LeRoux, Julien Weir, and Leonard Foujita.

A number of works date from the 16th-19th centuries, with offerings from Rembrandt Van Rijn, Samuel Dirksz, and architectural drawings of Paris and London. There is also a wide array of engravings from those times – by Giovanni Piranesi, Antoine Melling, William Williams, Paolo Fidanza, Christoph Weigel, Emanuel Sweert, and Sébastian Leclerc, plus a group of classical architecture illustration plates by Andrea Palladio and Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi. Completing the auction are maps of French Polynesia, French political pamphlets, Napolean memorabilia, a large collection of Netherlands royal family postcards/ephemera, several oil paintings, and a small sculpture by Chaim Gross.

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Applegate Collection
Oct
21
2:30 PM14:30

The Applegate Collection

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Applegate Collection, on Saturday, October 21, 2023. Featuring over 120 lots of California Contemporary Art from noted Northern California collector Reed Applegate, the sale includes diverse artworks – paintings, works on paper, mixed media, ceramics, and sculpture – by Bay Area artists.

The auction offers a wide range of artworks from David Gilhooly, including numerous prints, some mixed media, and several sculptures. Other artists represented are Roland Petersen, Avery Palmer, Dan Corbin, Paul Wonner, Mel Romeo, Richard Diebenkorn, Raymond Jennings Saunders, Theophilus Brown, Michael Mulcahy, Tony Natsoulas, and others. The sale also showcases many works by women artists, including Janet Turner, Karen Shapiro, Maija Peeples-Bright, Julie Bozzi, Mary Snowden, Lynn Criswell, Chunhong Chang, and others, plus German artist Käthe Kollwitz. Completing this auction is a very large oil and acrylic painting by Ira Yeager from an East Coast collector.

Turner Auctions + Appraisals begins its online auction on Saturday afternoon, October 21, 2023, at 2:30 pm PDT; sale items are available for preview and bidding now.

About Reed Applegate & His Collection

Harold Reed Applegate (1943-2022) was born in Chico, California, and lived there his entire life, most of it in the house built by his parents. His home was just a short walk to Chico State University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965. There he studied under Professor Janet Turner (1914-1988), a renowned printmaker, whose initial donation of 400 prints in 1976 helped launch the museum at Chico State named in her honor. Although Mr. Applegate was a painter, he kept all his art to himself; his passion lay in the works of others, and he became an avid collector for nearly 60 years.

After graduating from college, Mr. Applegate worked as a graphic designer for various local newspapers. Then, when new resources became available, he became a collector full-time. His focus was on Northern California contemporary art, a geographic area he defined as between San Jose, the Pacific Ocean, and the borders of Nevada and Oregon. In fact, over 90% of his collection was sourced from Bay Area artists. Most of his acquisitions were made through the years at Bay Area art shows, where he became friends with the artists.

Mr. Applegate’s stamp collecting as a boy perhaps foretold the enthusiasms that followed. His later collecting interests began in 1964 as a college student with the acquisition of a Käthe Kollwitz print and continued unabated until he passed away. He was a founding member of the Museum of Northern California Art (monca), donating over 100 works from his collection to help launch the museum. His generosity was shared with other public institutions as well, including sizeable donations to Sacramento’s Crocker Museum and the Janet Turner Print Museum, where the exhibit “Northern California Horizons: The Reed Applegate Collection” is now underway through October 14. According to Museum Curator Dr. Rachel Skokowski in the exhibit catalog, “…After graduating from Chico State in 1965, Reed Applegate was at the epicenter of this exciting artistic moment. He continually looked to new horizons as a collector, taking chances on what were then emerging artists. Today, these artists form a ‘who’s who’ of Northern California art…”

His patronage extended to other areas of the arts as well: he was a longtime and active supporter of the North State Symphony, Chico Community Ballet, and numerous art openings; and endower of scholarships for Chico State studio art students.

Over his lifetime, Mr. Applegate amassed more than 500 works of contemporary art. An avid walker who was frugal, sociable, and with a magnificent eye, he was regular presence at the Janet Turner Print Museum, at Chico State where he volunteered as a print researcher for the Turner Museum, and at his local Starbucks on his walks around town.

Through Reed Applegate’s prescient vision and generous nature, works of art from his vast collection amassed over six decades can be appreciated publicly in museums by all. Now, upcoming at Turner Auctions + Appraisals, fellow enthusiasts of Northern California contemporary art have a rare opportunity to bid on works from his acclaimed collection to enjoy personally at home.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid

View Event →
The Estate of Marian Hymel
Oct
21
10:30 AM10:30

The Estate of Marian Hymel

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Estate of Marian Hymel on Saturday morning, October 21. Offering over 150 lots, the auction features the personal collection of Mrs. Hymel, who was a popular antiques dealer in Los Gatos, California, whose focus was Early America. Her high-quality antiques were sourced throughout the United States over more than 35 years. The collection in this sale includes furniture, fine art, decorative arts, rugs, jewelry, and silver.

Highlights include a Queen Anne Maple Wing Armchair, a Serapi rug, a Queen Anne carved maple flat-top high chest, a set of Regency carved fruitwood chairs, a Chippendale mahogany inlaid oxbow-front desk, and several antique gold bangle bracelets. Among the noteworthy artworks are an oil portrait of a young woman attributed to William Matthew Prior/Hamblin School, an early 19th-century oil painting from the American School, and a watercolor by Gerrard R. Hurdenberg.

Turner Auctions + Appraisals begins its online auction on Saturday morning, October 21, 2023, at 10:30 am PDT; sale items are available for preview and bidding now.

About Marian Hymel & Her Collection

Marian Hymel (1932-2023) was born and raised in New York. She studied nursing at Bellevue Hospital’s Training School for Nurses, the first U.S. school to be run according to Florence Nightingale's nursing principles. After her marriage, she and her family moved to Los Gatos, California, where she lived much of the rest of her life.

Marian Hymel’s interest in collecting began in California with pewter pieces. Over time, her interests expanded to collections of other “smalls” (that is, not large furniture), including bentwood boxes, shell work, brass candlesticks, and hooked rugs. As years passed, Mrs. Hymel’s home reflected her creativity and pleasure in decorating, in which she took particular pride, as the modern furniture of the 20th-century began to be replaced by special Early American items.

As her interest and expertise in antiques grew, she joined an antique collective in Los Gatos, then launched her own shop, which was open for several years. Coupled with a good eye, a love of beauty, and knowledge and proficiency in Early American antiques, she insisted on offering authentic, high-quality pieces that she carefully curated. An Early American purist, her items were sourced over three decades from all over the U.S., including antique shows and shops, private collectors, and industry friends with whom she traded.

Now, with Marian Hymel’s passing, her family is sending her personal collection out into the world, in hopes that others will appreciate and find pleasure as she did in these distinctive Early American items.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Fine Mélange Auction
Sep
9
10:30 AM10:30

Fine Mélange Auction

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present a Fine Mélange Auction on Saturday, September 9, 2023. Offering over 260 lots, mostly from America, Europe and Asia, the online auction features an eclectic array of artworks, decorative arts, jewelry, coins, books, and more from various collectors and estates. Artworks – mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries – include oil paintings, watercolors, drawing, etchings, lithographs, and Persian illuminated leaves, plus several sculptures. Among the extensive selection of decorative arts are 18th-century torchieres; an angel candelabra; a 19th-century carousel horse; Continental pottery including pitchers, vases, and candlesticks; porcelain figures, figurines, vases, and boxes; silver items; Schmid music boxes; carved santos and religious ceramic plaques; carved tribal figures and masks; bronze items; a 19th-century fan; French playing cards; a grouping of boxes; and collectibles like Beswick Beatrix Potter figurines. There is a wide selection of Peace and Morgan silver dollars, mint sets, Presidential coins, and banknotes. Among the books are western novels, works by Baroness Orczy, automobilia items, and an Idaho cattle brand book.

There are extensive offerings from Asia, including bronze Buddhas and other statues, vases, an inkstone, and nephrite pendants. From China are paintings, jars and jugs, tomb figures, carved stone objects, a scroll weight, a jade pendant, cloisonné jars, and candlesticks. From Japan are woodblock prints, drawings, dishes, bowls, chargers, and a dragon inkstone. Completing the sale are jewelry lots -- necklaces, including Southwestern old pawn items, a Tiffany men’s wedding band, women’s rings, and Rado and other wristwatches – several vintage purses, and Mont Blanc pens.

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 3
Aug
26
10:30 AM10:30

The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 3

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 3, on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at 10:30 am PST. Featuring over 95 lots from the estate of a Northern Californian who collected trains for over 75 years, the timed auction presents a variety of pre-war and post-war train offerings – some new old stock, some unused, and many in their original boxes. These include locomotives, tenders, numerous sets and groupings; and a wide selection of train cars, including freight, box, stock, pipe, hopper, coil, and passenger cars. There are also many accessories on offer: switches, transformers, curve track, vehicles, and more. Many lots are Lionel model trains; other manufacturers in the sale are American Flyer, K-Line, Hornby, Bing, and Ives. Most are O gauge, plus some S and G gauge lots. There are also numerous books, guides, manuals, and catalogs – on trains, railways, toy trains, model railroading, Lionel parts, trolleys, and more – plus framed train prints and posters. The auction also includes some toys, including a Lehmann “Tut-Tut” automobile, and several cast iron toys and tin aircraft models. Rounding out the sale are a selection of Service Man train parts.

 About Armond Conti & His Collection

Born and raised in San Francisco, Armond Conti attended St. Ignatius High School and graduated from San Jose State in Industrial Technology. He met his wife Chris in the late 1950s, when they were both audience members of the popular radio show of Don Sherwood, who billed himself as the “world’s greatest disc jockey.” In 1964 the Contis and their then-three children moved to Livermore, California, then San Jose, where Mr. Conti worked as a nuclear engineer at General Electric for over 35 years, until he retired.

Armond Conti collected model trains for over 75 years, introduced to a lifelong passion around age 4, with a Christmas present from his parents. He continued to build and enhance his collection through the years, adding top-quality model trains from train shows and online sources. Perhaps no surprise as an engineer with an interest and skills in mechanics and technology, he also began to repair model trains for others, working after his day job at Bill’s Train Station in San Jose for over 15 years. He also set up an 18’ x 18’ shop in his backyard to pursue this aspect of his train hobby. His train layouts burgeoned as well, increasing as his homes got bigger: first at the top of his San Jose garage, where the layout platform hung down two feet from the ceiling and Mr. Conti would stand on a ladder to work on it. Later, when Mr. Conti moved to a nearby town, his train layout expanded to one-third of the basement of the family’s large and spacious new home.

Through the years, Mr. Conti enjoyed ‘train chasing’ with fellow train buffs, and visiting the Tehachapi Loop near Los Angeles, an engineering feat completed in 1876, where he would go watch trains with his son Mike and others. As Mike said, his dad liked trains because they were “big, noisy, and kind of cool.” These traits were shared with Mr. Conti’s other lifelong hobbies – muscle cars and World War II airplanes.

Now, with Mr. Conti’s passing, the family has decided to part with the collection for several reasons: no one has the same love of trains that Mr. Conti did, the family has other interests, and the model train hobby takes up a lot of space. Fellow enthusiasts who share Mr. Conti’s passion for model trains are sure to benefit from and enjoy the astute rewards of collecting for over seven decades.

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Fine Art, Asian Art, and Jewelry
Jul
22
10:30 AM10:30

Fine Art, Asian Art, and Jewelry

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Fine Art, Asian Art, and Jewelry on Saturday, June 22, 2023. Offering over 315 antique, vintage, and contemporary lots, the online auction features an eclectic array of artworks, decorative arts, jewelry, coins, and more from various collectors and estates. Paintings, lithographs, and prints come from diverse artists, including Gustave Baumann, Clayton Sumner Price, Olaf Carl Seltzer, Ira Yeager, Paul Lauritz, Pablo Picasso, George Rowlett, Serge Poliakoff, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Paul Rene Gauguin, Emory Ladanyi, Graciela Rodo Boulanger, John Coughlin, Barbara Johnson, and others. Highlights among the artworks are signed photographs by Ansel Adams. Several sculptures are offered, including by Dino Rosin and Grant Speed.

From Asia are diverse offerings: numerous bronze deities from Thailand, India, Tibet, or Burma, including Buddha, Ganesh, Krishna, Kali, and Hanuman figures; a keris dagger; Persian illuminated leaves; a Tibetan painting; and carved nephrite pendants. From Japan are cloisonne, lacquer, and mixed metal boxes; a hanging scroll painting; a tiger netsuke; and porcelain dish. From China are hanging wall panels and paintings; cocoon-shaped jars; an 18th-century export platter; vase lamps; metal stirrups; a celadon fishbowl, stone chops; and hardwood armchairs.

There is an extensive selection of decorative arts: a 19th-century carousel horse; a singing bird automaton, music box and clock; a one-winged plaster angel; Swedish Argenta vases; 18th-century torchieres; gilt-bronze and gilt brass candelabra; glass items or collections from Lalique, Swarovski, and Baccarat; decorative eggs; a tea caddy; and more. Religious offerings include Gothic-style reliquaries, an altar cross, and African Orthodox processional cross, a silver and gilt metal chalice, a carved figure of Christ, a Mexican retablo, and Greek icons.

There is also a wide selection of jewelry for women, including necklaces, pendants, bracelets, rings, earrings, pins, and various groupings – many in gold or silver and adorned with precious or semi-precious stones. One jewelry lot features unmounted diamonds; another has unmounted stones, beads, and crystals. For men are wrist- or pocket-watches, fob chains, and cufflinks. Some lots of Old Pawn Southwest jewelry are also available, such as concho belts, necklaces, and belt buckles.

Silver lots, mostly in sterling, include flatware, serving ware, platters and chargers, letter openers, two pheasant figures, and other objects. The auction also includes diverse coins: Morgan, Peace, and Liberty silver dollars; collections of Mercury dimes, buffalo nickels, and Lincoln pennies; and several antique or international coins. Completing the sale are a Czech violin; a selection of art books, many on Picasso; automotive hood ornaments; and pens from Mont Blanc and Schaeffer.

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Movers & Shakers: Introducing & Daughters Auctions
Jun
24
10:30 AM10:30

Movers & Shakers: Introducing & Daughters Auctions

Stephen Turner and Turner Auctions + Appraisals is proud to present & Daughters Auctions, a company launched in 2023 by his daughters Cassandra Turner and Elysia Turner-Lechelt, along with Jason Krell. With that in mind, Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to host & Daughters’ premiere online auction, Movers & Shakers, on Saturday, June 24. The sale features over 90 lots of luxury fashion, jewelry and accessories from celebrated designers, including Chanel, Gucci, Van Cleef & Arpels, Hermès, and others; in addition to rare feminist books and works by female artists.

About & Daughters Auctions and its Partners

With more than 30 years of experience in the auction industry as a personal property appraiser and auctioneer, Stephen Turner of Turner Auctions + Appraisals is sharing his industry expertise and ushering in the next generation of auction specialists by presenting & Daughters Auctions – founded by daughters Cassandra Turner and Elysia Turner-Lechelt, along with Jason Krell.

“Like many fathers, I hoped that my daughters would take an interest in my business,” explained Stephen Turner. “To see them embrace the auction industry, while putting a unique spin on it, makes me extremely proud.” For nearly two years he has been mentoring Team & Daughters and sharing his decades of knowledge, so they are well-positioned to curate and host auctions with their own unique approach and style.

Located in Canada and Europe, & Daughters is embracing the romance of the auction world, while harnessing the power of technology and social media to create a business that knows no boundaries and attracts a new demographic of buyer and seller. “We believe the auction industry is filled with opportunity – not only to find and present beautiful property, but also to grow the business in a way that highlights under-represented artists,” explains Cassandra Turner. “Women artists, for example, currently account for less than 4% of total art sold at auction, and one of our goals for & Daughters is to showcase the talented emerging female artists who deserve recognition by the auction industry.”

Here is a brief bio on each of the partners:

Cassandra Turner, Austria: "Every cultural piece is a collective memory, one worth discovering, understanding, and sharing." Cassandra's passion for art and culture led her to pursue her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology; she is now responsible for the curation and appraisals of vintage fashion, modern and contemporary books, and vintage and antique jewelry.

Elysia Turner-Lechelt, Canada: Elysia has a PhD and MA in cultural policy, with expertise in urban and regional cultural policy practices, creative industries, cultural labor, and a BA in Art History, specialising in German expressionism. Before academia, she worked in the cultural sector in organizations like Contemporary Calgary as a manager of public programming, audience development and community outreach. 

Jason Krell, Canada: With a unique background in fashion and television, Jason took his passion for media and entertainment and took it a step further by earning a Communications degree, majoring in Public Relations. For over 15 years he has worked as a consultant and agency owner, all while working as 1/2 of The Style Guys with his husband Aly - lifestyle experts regularly appearing on TV programs across North America. 

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Paul Jarosz Collection of Model Trains
Jun
11
10:30 AM10:30

The Paul Jarosz Collection of Model Trains

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Paul Jarosz Collection of Model Trains on Sunday, June 11, 2023, at 10:30 am PDT. The auction features over 275 lots – almost all O gauge and mostly Lionel – from a Northern Californian train enthusiast who collected for decades. The sale presents a variety of desirable train offerings from the 1970s and later – several mint stock, many barely used, and most in their original boxes. These include locomotives, switchers, tenders, and cabooses; numerous groupings and sets; and a wide selection of train cars, including passenger, diner, baggage/mail (Madison and Heavyweight among them), box, freight, flat, hopper, tank, ore, rotary gondolas, husky stacks, autocarriers, and more.

There are also Christmas and holiday trains and cars, sets and train cars for girls or boys, and Thomas & Friends offerings. Also on offer are many accessories: besides FasTrack and a legacy control system, the sale features a colorful selection of Department 56 and Hawthorne Village buildings and village collections to enhance train modules. Most lots are Lionel model trains; other manufacturers in the sale are K-Line, MTH, Rail King, Atlas, Williams, Sunset, Right of Way Industries, RMT, Weaver, and others. Rounding out the sale are groupings of Virginia & Truckee Railroad shipping/waybills from years past from another collector.

About Paul Jarosz & His Collection

Born in Detroit, Paul Jarosz received his first electric train, as many children do, for Christmas, when he was seven years old. This gift launched a passion for model trains that has had multiple iterations through the years. Although his boyhood enthusiasm initially waned as he got older, Paul began to collect Lionel trains, starting in the 1970s for about 10 years. He then moved on to other gauges and manufacturers, including N, HO, G, and MTH.

About 20 years ago, Paul returned to Lionel O gauge trains and has been a committed Lionel collector ever since, acquiring his model trains from train shops, mail order, train shows, and swap meets. In fact, his hobby became an important part of his later life: he worked for seven years in The Train Shop in San Jose; was a member of multiple model train groups, including serving as President of the Golden State Toy Train Operators (GSTTO); and helped showcase train modules for the public’s enjoyment in various venues such as the Vallco Shopping Mall and a local airport.

As times change and Mr. Jarosz’s interests have evolved, trains have taken a back seat, so to speak, to other priorities, including more people-focused activities at his church. Now, as his expansive collection goes to auction, Lionel enthusiasts will be eager to get on board.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Ghosts, Demons and Monsters, the Collection of Japanese Prints from the Estate of Edward S. Stephenson
May
20
10:30 AM10:30

Ghosts, Demons and Monsters, the Collection of Japanese Prints from the Estate of Edward S. Stephenson

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is very pleased to present Ghosts, Demons and Monsters, the Collection of Japanese Prints from the Estate of Edward S. Stephenson on Saturday, May 20, 2023. With a focus on the supernatural, this online auction features over 110 Japanese woodblock prints collected in post-war Japan by an award-winning Hollywood production designer. Never exhibited before, these works are by famed 19th- and early-20th-century woodblock artists, including Yoshitoshi, Kuniyoshi, Yoshitsuya, Kunisada, Kunichika, Yoshiku, and others. Two 19th-century Japanese watercolors complete the sale.

About Edward S. Stephenson and His Collection

Born in Iowa, Edward S. Stephenson (1917-2011) moved with his family around age six to Glendale, in Southern California. Inspired by early motion pictures, young Edward decided at age 11 he wanted to pursue theater and production design. After high school, he attended the Pasadena Playhouse College of the Theater and after graduation began working in theatrical design.

Like many other young men, his career was interrupted by World War II. Serving in the U.S. Air Force he was stationed in Guam, Texas, and, for seven years, in Japan. He was appointed civilian Director of Entertainment and Music for the Commander in Chief, Far East and Supreme Commander, Allied Powers; in this role, he headed the military’s post-occupation entertainment services, when entertainment for GIs was said to be a “necessary supplement to the basic needs of food and shelter.” Much of his time was spent at the Tokyo Takarazuka Revue building, later renamed the Ernie Pyle Theater for the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who was killed in Okinawa. Known as the “Radio City Music Hall of the East,” this was the hub for American-style entertainment in Japan and indeed all of Asia. It was here that Mr. Stephenson plied his trade of production and theater design, including a performance of “The Mikado” that was attended by the Japanese royal family.

After the service, Mr. Stephenson spent a short time in New York, then returned to Southern California in the early 1950s. From his time in Japan, he sent the second largest shipment of Japanese artifacts back to the U.S.; the largest was sent to Gump’s, the renowned retailer in San Francisco.

Upon his return to Los Angeles, Mr. Stephenson began working in production design in live television, a career that spanned five decades and numerous accolades. He received three Primetime Emmy Awards for production design and/or art direction -- for An Evening with Fred Astaire, for The Andy Williams Show, and for Soap. With Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, he worked on numerous shows, including Maude, Sanford & Son, Good Times, and the pilot for All in the Family. He also worked with Witt-Thomas-Harris on Golden Girls, Empty Nest, Blossom, and others.

In 1978, he found time to launch Hollywood Studio Gallery, the entertainment industry’s leading prop house for art and wall décor, with 50,000 pieces available for rent. Today the company is owned and run by Mr. Stephenson’s daughter, Tara Stephenson-Fong, herself a noted set decorator and winner of an Art Directors Guild (ADG) award, along with numerous Emmy and ADG nominations. Mr. Stephenson retired in 1994.

While collecting his entire adult life, Mr. Stephenson seems to have been first bitten by the bug when he was in Japan after the war; trading, for example, a carton of cigarettes for a samurai sword. The intriguing woodblock prints he collected have a dramatic and powerful visual focus – on ghosts, demons, and monsters, whose myths and legends pervade Japanese culture. Several prints in the sale include the Bakeneko, the fearsome cat monster “that inspires fear and respect through legends, art and Japanese folklore.”

According to Tara, her father always had a fascination with the occult, the macabre, the unexplained, so his attraction to these supernatural woodblock prints is not surprising. Because he felt the prints were precious, they have been kept in storage, not on display. He also collected European military armor, the subject of a future sale at Turner Auctions + Appraisals. Mr. Stephenson loved art and architecture: “He saw something beautiful and wanted to have it – and he didn’t know how to do anything small.” Now, over the years, Mr. Stephenson’s collections have been sorted out, awaiting the right time and the right person, and are now going up for sale. Tara says she hopes the artworks “find a good home with good people.” Those passionate about supernatural Japanese prints are sure to find their spirits lifted

Press release >>

View Event →
The Pebble Beach Estate of Norman Lausten
Apr
22
10:30 AM10:30

The Pebble Beach Estate of Norman Lausten

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is very pleased to present The Pebble Beach Estate of Norman Lausten on Saturday, April 22, 2023. Reflecting Mr. Lausten’s passion for collecting that spanned more than seven decades, this online auction features an eclectic array of over 330 lots in diverse categories, reflecting the wide range of items in the estate. Among the antique, vintage and/or contemporary items are books, directories and other printed material; jewelry, clothing, shoes, and accessories for women and men; objects related to automobiles and bicycles; knives; silver certificates; artworks; Asian collectibles; musical instruments; war items; and a variety of mechanical devices such as cameras, radios, steam engines, telescopes, and more. Some lots from other collections or estates round out the sale.

About Norman Lausten and His Collection

Born in San Francisco, Norman Lausten (1942-2023) was the only child of Charles and Winifred Lausten. Young Norman spent his early years at the family ranch in Williams, California, where his great-great grandfather, and his grandfather and two brothers were pioneer rice farmers in Maxwell, northeast of Sacramento. Later, his family divided their time between the family ranch and their Carmel home, moving there permanently in 1956. Norman graduated from Carmel High School in 1960, then attended Monterey Peninsula College. He became an automobile mechanic, and eventually was promoted to mechanical supervisor for the City of Pacific Grove, repairing city vehicles.

Norman’s passion for automobiles started as a baby: his first word – at 10 months! – was “car.” Likewise, his interest in collecting began very early: at age four, he found a carbide bicycle lamp in his grandfather’s basement, setting in motion an obsession for early automobile items and many other antique collectibles. As Norman would later say, this happenstance discovery as a young child “was the impetus for the whole madness.” Over the next 70+ years, he would build a literal museum in his Pebble Beach home, filled with antique radios, books, paintings, headlamps, other auto memorabilia, and much more – welcoming friends and other automobilia aficionados to enjoy his collections. Along the way, according to his cousin Richard Lausten, Norman became an antique automobile historian and “walking encyclopedia” of the early automobile up through the 1930s. His collection’s pride and joy were his 1913 Simplex and 1922 Locomobile. Not surprisingly, from 1958 on, he attended every Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the world’s most prestigious car show.

Other aspects of his life are very interesting as well. Norman was a gifted musician, playing guitar, banjo and fiddle. He inherited a beautiful tenor voice from his father, an opera singer; his mother taught piano and organ. His wife Jeanne Richelieu DuCasse (1945-2000) was the granddaughter of famed early California artist Xavier Martinez, whose family was showcased recently in a very popular and successful sale at Turner Auctions. Jeanne was an avid collector as well, of antique clothing and jewelry. Together the couple enjoyed traveling, vintage car club rallies, and picnic gatherings.

Norman Lausten was a proud fifth-generation Californian, whose family has a notable history. His great-great grandfather Francis Drake Brown (1823-1903) was one of the earliest California Pioneers. Born in Missouri, he joined a 15-wagon train with 150 others, in 1846 at age 23, working as a scout in payment for his food and shelter. The trip, usually four to six months long, was said to be uneventful until the foot of California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, where “they hit up against a hard hill to climb,” according to Mr. Brown’s diary as reported in the 1911 Grizzly Bear magazine. Then after several days of unsuccessful attempts, they finally prevailed. Thanks to the good plans of a Methodist preacher and Buffalo Jones, long pine poles lashed together, 16 yoke of cattle, “and no furlough on “cussin’”, they reached the top in one day.

Brown’s diary continued: “Three weeks later, the ill-fated Reed-Donner Party were snowed in at this camp” – “the saddest thing I ever looked upon…” While a party of 81 pioneers began the trip, only 45 were able to walk out alive after the horrific winter in the Sierra Nevada. The party was trapped by exceptionally heavy snow; when food ran out, some members of the group reportedly resorted to cannibalism of those already dead.

However, several weeks ahead of the snows that caused that tragedy, Brown’s weary party joyfully took sight of the Sacramento Valley on October 4, 1846: “There it lay in its beauty, the grandest valley in the whole world.”

Francis Brown’s remarkable adventures and achievements continued. Also in 1846, he fought in the Bear Flag Revolt under Colonel John C. Fremont; made his fortune in the 1949 Gold Rush; and became the first sheriff of Solano County in 1850. Over his lifetime, Brown made six subsequent trips back to Missouri buying and selling land, including one in 1848 to marry his sweetheart Frances, who bore him 10 children. In 1876, he settled in California and set up a 3,000-acre farming operation in Colusa County, where Francis said the Browns were “useful, true citizens.”

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Collection of Bohemian Artist Xavier Martinez and His Family
Feb
25
10:30 AM10:30

The Collection of Bohemian Artist Xavier Martinez and His Family

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is very pleased to present The Collection of Bohemian Artist Xavier Martinez and His Family on Saturday, February 25, 2023, at 10:30 am PST. Featuring over 200 lots, the auction spans about 110 years and five generations related to famed Northern California artist Xavier Martinez (1869-1943). Items include artworks created by and gifted to Martinez, art produced by members of subsequent generations, and a wide range of other family possessions saved through the years such as photos, correspondence, books, ephemera, and more. Never seen before by the public, this historical collection is sourced from the family’s multi-generational homes in Northern California – first in Piedmont and Carmel, then in Pebble Beach. Several pairs of Chinese vases from other collectors round out the sale.

Besides an array of artworks by Martinez, there are paintings, drawings, sketches, etchings, works on paper, photographs, and sculpture by Micaela Martinez DuCasse, Ralph DuCasse, Chiura Obata, Josephine Wood Colby, Albert Thomas DeRome, Leo Lentelli, Arnold Genthe, Benjamen Chin, Gardiner Hale, Evelyn Otheto Stoddard Weston, Eugene Delacroix, Del F. Lederle, and others. Other lots on paper include silhouettes, photos of Martinez, caricatures of his bohemian circle of friends, and his 1915 Gold Medal Panama-Pacific International Award. Among the Bohemian Club memorabilia are plays, photos, publications, and ephemera. There are numerous groupings of letters, albums, papers, and/or ephemera – including Martinez, both his wife Elsie and daughter Michaela, Ralph DuCasse, Harriet Dean, his father-in-law Herman Whitaker, Franklin Roosevelt, photographer Edward Weston, artist Magda Pach, and others. Groupings of publications feature art exhibit catalogs and the California College of Arts and Crafts. Also offered are a diverse selection of books from the family library, including México y Sus Alrededores, a signed edition by Jack London dedicated to Martinez with photograph, Inedited Works of Bakst, and several publications on Carmel.

About Xavier Martinez and His Family

Xavier Martinez, the most renowned of his family members, was an artist acclaimed for portraits and tonal landscapes. He was born in Guadalajara to a Mexican father and Spanish mother. After his mother died when Xavier was age 17, he was fostered by Rosalia LaBastida de Coney (1844–1897); when her husband Alexander Coney was appointed Consul-General of Mexico in San Francisco in 1886, Martinez followed them there, arriving in 1893. He enrolled in the California School of Design and graduated in 1897, when he also became a member of San Francisco’s storied Bohemian Club. Founded in 1872 and continuing today, this is a private club for “gentlemen who are connected professionally with Literature, Art, Music, or the Drama” and those whose love or appreciation of these objects “make them worthy companions in artistic fellowship.” This association with the Bohemian Club was to continue for many years. Also in 1897, Martinez – known to his friends as “Marty” – sailed to France and entered École des Beaux Arts, Atelier Gérome, in Paris. Graduating in 1899, he returned to San Francisco in 1901. There, connecting with friends old and new, he frequented Coppa’s Restaurant, a popular gathering spot of the Bay Area bohemian crowd, where Martinez painted the black cat frieze.

In 1906, Martinez moved across the San Francisco Bay to Piedmont due to the horrific 7.9-magnitude earthquake that ravaged the city, killing over 3,000 people and destroying some 28,000 buildings. Family lore, never confirmed but passed down through generations to great-grandson Bruce McCreary, has it that Martinez was saved from death by a trip to the bathroom: when the earthquake hit at 5:12 am, he had left his bed – just before the bedroom wall collapsed on it! With San Francisco on fire and in rubble, Martinez found refuge across the bay in Piedmont with Herman Whitaker, an English-born writer and fellow Bohemian Club member, and his family – and there in Piedmont he stayed.

Living in Piedmont at the Whitakers, he fell in love with and married their daughter Elsie, 16 years old, 20 years his junior, and known for her beauty. For five years, the couple’s summers were spent in Carmel so Martinez could teach art classes at the Hotel Del Monte, where he also was one of the artists invited to create an art gallery there.

In 1913, their daughter Micaela was born, known as “Kai.” In 1923, after a marriage of highs and lows, Elsie and Xavier Martínez amicably separated, and Elsie and Micaela moved in with Harriet Dean, Elsie’s partner until Harriet’s death decades later. Their house was just down the street from Martinez’s studio, and they were all devoted to each other through the years. (As Elsie said regarding her daughter’s divorce, no doubt mirroring her own relationship, “I don't believe artists should marry anyhow,” since artists work “so hard that family life couldn't be worked into it.”) In 1941, Martinez became ill, moving in the following year with Elsie, their daughter, and Harriet in Carmel, before passing away in early 1943.

During his life, Xavier Martinez was friends and colleagues with many of the arts’ leading lights of the time – Henri Matisse, Maynard Dixon, Jack London, Gottardo Piazzoni, poet George Sterling, and others. The exhibitions of Martinez’s art were numerous, including the Bohemian Club, Panama Pacific International Exhibition, Palace of Fine Arts, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the New York World’s Fair in 1940, and others. He was also an art teacher and professor for decades at leading Bay Area art schools, including the California School of Arts and Crafts (renamed the California College of the Arts in 2003), where he taught for over 30 years, retiring in 1942. Today, his paintings are held in permanent collections of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Monterey Museum of Art, Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Oakland Museum of California, Mills College Art Museum, and Guadalajara Art Museum.

Following in her father’s footsteps, Micaela “Kai” Martinez (1913-1989) also became an artist, sculptor, and educator. Kai started drawing as a child with her father and developed an interest in religious/Catholic themes as a young girl, which led to her affinity for creating religious art. Following her studies at California School of Arts and Crafts, she painted the library murals for the Franciscans in San Francisco, produced fresco murals for the seminarians library at Mission San Luis Rey, and created Stations of the Cross paintings and sculptures for the cloisters of the Franciscan Sisters. From 1955 to 1978, she taught Liturgical Art classes at the San Francisco College for Women at Lone Mountain campus and was a lecturer at Holy Names University in Oakland.

In 1944 Kai married painter Ralph DuCasse; they had two daughters, Jeanne DuCasse and Monique Tomasovich. The DuCasses eventually divorced, and Kai remained in Piedmont, where she maintained her art studio to the end of her life.

Ralph DuCasse (1916-2003) was born in Kentucky. During World War II he worked in Intelligence, specializing in the Japanese language; he was stationed and trained at Fort Ord in Monterey, and was eventually sent to Asia. At Fort Ord, DuCasse met Micaela Martinez; they married in 1944. After his art studies in Ohio, California, and New York, he taught at various California fine art institutions, including U.C. Berkeley; in 1958, he joined the faculty at Mills College in Oakland, later becoming chairman of the Art Department. While helping to hang a student’s mobile at Mills in the late 1950s, DuCasse suffered a life-changing accident, falling 40 feet through the art gallery’s glass ceiling. Severely injured, he was hospitalized for many months and not expected to survive. After the many surgeries that followed, including on his shattered painting arm, his style changed and evolved. The first major one-man show of his work was held at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in 1961. Widely exhibited, DuCasse’s work is held at institutions that include the Oakland Museum of California and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Over time, the creative works and colorful history of multiple generations of the Martinez family accumulated in the Pebble Beach house of the DuCasses’ daughter, Jeanne DuCasse, which became a museum-like repository for family artworks and memorabilia. Today, filling the home’s attic and basement, the diverse and extensive collection has outgrown its available space. With that in mind, the current generation has decided to share these engaging visual and historical works instead of allowing them to deteriorate in boxes, unseen by those who would appreciate them. Aside from heirlooms kept by family members, this unique trove of art and possessions, accumulated over 110 years, now comes to auction.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 2
Jan
29
10:30 AM10:30

The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 2

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Armond Conti Collection of Model Trains, Part 2, on Sunday, January 29, 2023, at 10:30 am PST. Featuring 200 lots from the estate of a Northern Californian who collected trains for over 75 years, the sale presents a variety of fine, distinctive, and desirable pre-war and post-war train offerings – some new old stock, some unused, and many in their original boxes. These include locomotives, tenders and cabooses; numerous sets and groupings; and a wide selection of train cars, including flat, passenger and baggage (Madison, Baby Madison and Heavyweight among them), fire, milk, dump, refrigerator, box, freight, coach, vat, and missile and helicopter cars. There are many accessories on offer: besides switches, transformers and Gargraves track, there are a loaders for logs and oil drums, gatemen, platforms, coal elevator, nuclear reactor, burro crane, automobiles, billboards and street lights, and more. Many lots are Lionel model trains; other manufacturers in the sale are MTH, 3rd Rail, K-Line, Atlas, Williams, KMT, Kusan, LGB, and REA/Polk. Most are O gauge.

About Armond Conti & His Collection

Born and raised in San Francisco, Armond Conti attended St. Ignatius High School and graduated from San Jose State in Industrial Technology. He met his wife Chris in the late 1950s, when they were both audience members of the popular radio show of Don Sherwood, who billed himself as the “world’s greatest disc jockey.” In 1964 the Contis and their then-three children moved to Livermore, California, then San Jose, where Mr. Conti worked as a nuclear engineer at General Electric for over 35 years, until he retired.

Armond Conti collected model trains for over 75 years, introduced to a lifelong passion around age 4, with a Christmas present from his parents. He continued to build and enhance his collection through the years, adding top-quality model trains from train shows and online sources. Perhaps no surprise as an engineer with an interest and skills in mechanics and technology, he also began to repair model trains for others, working after his day job at Bill’s Train Station in San Jose for over 15 years. He also set up an 18’ x 18’ shop in his backyard to pursue this aspect of his train hobby. His train layouts burgeoned as well, increasing as his homes got bigger: first at the top of his San Jose garage, where the layout platform hung down two feet from the ceiling and Mr. Conti would stand on a ladder to work on it. Later, when Mr. Conti moved to a nearby town, his train layout expanded to one-third of the basement of the family’s large and spacious new home.

Through the years, Mr. Conti enjoyed ‘train chasing’ with fellow train buffs, and visiting the Tehachapi Loop near Los Angeles, an engineering feat completed in 1876, where he would go watch trains with his son Mike and others. As Mike said, his dad liked trains because they were “big, noisy, and kind of cool.” These traits were shared with Mr. Conti’s other lifelong hobbies – muscle cars and World War II airplanes.

Now, with Mr. Conti’s passing, the family has decided to part with the collection for several reasons: no one has the same love of trains that Mr. Conti did, the family has other interests, and the model train hobby takes up a lot of space. Fellow enthusiasts who share Mr. Conti’s passion for model trains are sure to benefit from and enjoy the astute rewards of collecting for over seven decades.

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
 Fine Art, Jewelry & Collectibles
Dec
17
10:30 AM10:30

Fine Art, Jewelry & Collectibles

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Fine Art, Jewelry & Collectibles on Saturday, December 17, 2022. The online auction features over 310 diverse lots, just in time for holiday gift-giving or enjoying oneself. Fine art includes paintings, engravings, woodcuts, lithographs and screenprints by many noted artists, including Marc Chagall, Raoul Dufy, Leroy Neiman, Jane Peterson, Loran Speck, Carol Jablonsky, Robert Lyn Nelson, Peter Max, Hoi Lebadang, Irving Amen, and John West.

Jewelry includes necklaces, pendants, earrings, bracelets, brooches, rings and wedding bands. Most feature gold, platinum, or silver and are accented by precious or semi-precious stones such as diamonds, rubies, emeralds, blue topaz, sapphires, cultured or seed pearls, jade, amethyst, garnets, lapis lazuli, opal, coral, turquoise or others. There are women’s and men’s watches, including a lapel watch and pocket watches. Numerous groupings of vintage, antique, or costume jewelry are also available. Among the highlights for women are the Cartier gold LOVE bracelet, an array of Hermès scarves, and several designer handbags.

There are also a wide range of collectibles and decorative arts: Tiffany and Cross pens; framed feather leis from Boris Huang; vintage Champagne, water and beer bottles; Austrian intaglio glass place-card holders; a Byzantine-style carved wood panel, and much more. Works from Asia include several Buddhas and an Indian diety. From China are an 18th-century export platter, carved soapstone chops, embroidered silk panels, jade items, and a lacquered game box. From Japan are tsubas, a netsuke, and woodblock prints. Tableware and serving ware include sterling silver cocktail picks from Tiffany, flatware, candlesticks, and a salver; and glass and porcelain decanters, including one from Daum. Last but not least are several guitars and banjos, including a 1940s Gibson L-7 Arch Top acoustic guitar, a 1960s Martin & Co. 12-string acoustic guitar, and Chickenfoot and Staind electric guitars. Several Pearl Jam signed album covers complete the sale.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Model Trains & More
Nov
12
10:30 AM10:30

Model Trains & More

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Model Trains & More, on Saturday, November 12, 2022, at 10:30 am PST. Featuring over 250 diverse lots from various collectors and estates, this timed auction presents pre-, post-World War II, and modern trains in an array of gauges: O, S, HO, OO, and G/No.1. Having wide appeal for a variety of train enthusiasts, manufacturers represented in the sale include Lionel, American Flyer, Fleischmann, Märklin, Edobaud, Plasticville, and New Bright. Lots on offer include locomotives, tenders, switchers, and cabooses – plus passenger, freight, box, dump, and stock cars; many are in their original packaging. There are also several Lionel train sets, a New Bright Christmas train, and a wide range of model train accessories: track, turntables, transformers, figures, animals, and buildings. In addition, the sale includes train books, catalogs, and other publications. Completing the sale are several erector and construction sets, several toys, and plastic and die-cast toy vehicles from the 1950s. Auction highlights include American Flyer O Gauge five-unit cast aluminum Zephyr; an American Flyer set No. 5001T "The Farm Set;” an American Flyer S Gauge 360/364, whistle button, 650, 644, 631, in original boxes; and a yellow All American Toy Company Timber Toter Jr. truck.

Preview & register to bid:


View Event →
 The Jim Haas Native American Art Library and a Collection of Southwest Jewelry
Oct
8
10:30 AM10:30

The Jim Haas Native American Art Library and a Collection of Southwest Jewelry

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present the auction of The Jim Haas Native American Art Library and a Collection of Southwest Jewelry on Saturday, October 8, 2022, at 10:30 am PDT. The Haas library section of the sale features over 100 lots consisting of more than 900 books, catalogs, and other publications on various Native American and Canadian First Peoples art styles and artifacts from the personal collection of Jim Haas; this noted, long-time specialist in Native American and Ethnographic Arts retired several years ago as Director from Bonhams after 32 years with the company and its predecessor. In addition, over 30 lots of Southwestern bracelets, rings, and necklaces are offered from various collectors and estates. Many of these are “Old Pawn” pieces, that is, old Indian jewelry that was traded for credit or goods, often Navajo made. Rounding out the sale are several publications on other ethnic arts, including Pre-Columbian, Mexican, and tribal.

Reflecting Jim Haas’s 30+ years as a professional appraiser and expert in the arts, his printed collection is a working library of art reference books and auction catalogs. With a focus on the Native American books used in his profession, his collection is a sizeable reference library in many areas that would be difficult to put together today.

Haas’s library features collectible volumes that are sources of knowledge or beauty; many are older, hard to find, out of print, or specialty books from the 1980s and 1990s or earlier. Virtually every style of North American Indian arts is represented – from Western Canada to Florida, including Eskimo, Northwest Coast, California, Plateau, Great Basin, Southwest, Plains, Great Lakes, Eastern Woodlands, and Southeast. Although some books focus on contemporary works, most volumes are general compendia on antique art and artifacts, showcasing good background information, the evolution of the art form, and many visuals. Some books are very specialized, such as those on tomahawks or parfleche, i.e., rawhide bags or containers usually hung in pairs from saddles.

Jim Haas began his long and acclaimed career in the arts through serendipity and chutzpah. A graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison with a master’s degree in Communication Arts and a focus on media production, he came to San Francisco in 1984 and was unable to find a job in that field. Out and about one day, he walked by the Butterfield & Butterfield auction house and saw an Oriental rug auction was underway. He went in, was fascinated, and asked to see Bernard Osher, Butterfield’s owner. Mr. Osher, perhaps thinking he was a member of the prominent San Francisco Haas family (he’s not), granted him an audience. Jim pitched himself with enthusiasm and zeal, resulting in a job first as a preview worker, then at the front desk. Although Jim Haas’s career path was different than he intended, it was not without personal interest: he recalls many weekends as a teenager getting up early to go treasure hunting at a Milwaukee flea market while his boyhood friends slept off the previous night’s escapades.

At Butterfields, his good luck continued when the Ethnographic Department head quit and Jim assumed the position, becoming a specialist and respected expert through the years. During his 32 years at Butterfields, later acquired by Bonhams, Jim spent 20 years as Director of the Ethnographic Art Department, which included Native American, African, Oceanic, Southeast Asian tribal and pre-Columbian art. During the first five years, he also worked simultaneously as Director of the Oriental Rug Department, focused on tribal and rural weaving traditions of village and nomadic people of the east. For his last decade at Bonhams, Jim focused strictly on Native American art. Over the length of his career, he estimates he oversaw about 75 sales that generated some $65-$70 million for the company.

Now, after leaving his long career at Butterfields/Bonhams about five years ago, Jim has happily retired; he and his wife Claudia travel more, and spend half of their time in San Francisco and half in Tequisquiapan, Mexico. Although he still performs appraisals and occasional consultations, he now finds time to practice his blues harmonica; he returned recently from Racine, Wisconsin, where a reunion with his high school band included a gig at a local bar, which invited them back “anytime” since they packed the place. Now, as he seeks to make more space in his life, Jim has decided to downsize many of the items he’s accumulated over decades, saying “If they’re not appreciated on a daily basis, why own them?” Collectors, scholars, and researchers are sure to benefit from this decision.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
'Objects Trouvés:' Found Objects from the Estate & Collection of Noted Artist Ira Yeager
Oct
1
to Oct 15

'Objects Trouvés:' Found Objects from the Estate & Collection of Noted Artist Ira Yeager

  • Turner Auctions & Appraisals (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is very pleased to present two auctions from the estate of noted California artist, Ira Yeager (1938-2022). Offered at both live and online auctions in October 2022, the sales feature Yeager’s artworks, plus fine art, decorative arts, furniture, and more from his vast collection and estate, which encompasses multiple residences. Between these two auctions, 800 lots from Yeager’s personal collection of found objects amassed over many years – what he called “objects trouvés” – go up for bid.

LIVE AUCTION: Turner Auctions + Appraisals will hold the live auction in Napa Valley, California, on Saturday and Sunday, October 1 & 2, 2022, at YÄGER GALERIE, 1312 Lincoln, Calistoga, California, from 10 am PDT; the auction is available for preview on Friday, September 30, from 10am-6pm.

ONLINE AUCTION: Turner Auctions + Appraisals begins its online auction on Saturday, October 15, 2022, at 10:30 am PDT; sale items are available for preview and bidding now. The online auction will be featured live on multiple platforms; links to the online auction are below. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

World-renowned for diverse works of art created over six decades, Ira Yeager is acclaimed for his Native American portraits, history-themed paintings, and abstract landscapes. He was born in 1938 in Bellingham, Washington, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean near the Canadian border. His father had a namesake sporting goods store, still in operation today, and was a friendly competitor of Eddie Bauer, the man. Ira came of age hunting, fishing, appreciating the natural beauty of the outdoors. Foretelling interests to come, he also come in regular contact with Native Americans and Canadian First Peoples with whom his father would trade fishing or hunting rights for goods from his store.

Young Ira’s interests were primarily elsewhere, however. When he was about eight years old, he asked for a set of oil paints for Christmas and received them from his mother, always an enthusiastic supporter of his artistic endeavors. He knew from that time that art was to be part of his future, and indeed the smell of oil paints remained a sensory recollection throughout his life.

In 1957, Ira moved to the San Francisco Bay area to attend the California College of Arts and Crafts, where he studied with abstract expressionist Richard Diebenkorn; then with Elmer Bischoff at the San Francisco Art Institute. He then went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence to further his studies, beginning a lifelong passion for Europe, Morocco, travel, cultural immersion, and eccentric characters in his wide circle of friends. A true bohemian, Yeager felt at home in many places – and acquired many homes along the way: San Francisco, also where his studio was located; Corfu, Greece, where he and his partner George Hellyer lived for a decade; Santa Fe, New Mexico, where recent exhibitions were held in the LewAllen Galleries; Calistoga in Napa Valley, also home to the YÄGER GALERIE; and Sea Ranch, California. Many of his favorite places were near the water, reflecting his coastal birthplace and always calling him back. An enthusiastic entertainer, his many homes welcomed a wide array of friends and acquaintances who would add fun to the festivities. Among them were famed contemporary artists or writers, including Truman Capote, Joan Brown, Tennessee Williams, William Boroughs and others. From his first solo exhibition in the 1960s in San Francisco, Yeager’s work has been widely lauded and shown in numerous Northern California venues and in Santa Fe. His art is held in many private and public collections throughout the United States and Europe.

In German, the word “Jäger,” which became the anglicized surname “Yeager,” means “hunter” – a spot-on description of a man who searched, found, and collected throughout his life. Always on the hunt, Yeager was an avid collector for over 70 years, beginning from around age 14 with objects found locally, such as glass floats or paint boxes. His interests were diverse, exotic, and eclectic – from Native American jewelry and baskets or firearms and duck decoys, reminders of items from his youth; to European pieces that reflected the history or color palettes of France and Italy of the 17th or 18th centuries. As Yeager said, he could “go anywhere and find something from the 18th century” – that is, something that supported the tradition of design of the era and that could inform or inspire his own work. In fact, often his finds would show up in his artworks: a colorful teapot or shapely chair, for example, might end up pictured on his canvas – or a footstool or table might become the canvas itself!

Brian Fuller, Yeager’s friend and colleague for over 30 years, is his Gallerist and Curator. There at Fuller’s YÄGER GALERIE in Calistoga, Yeager’s works and objects trouvés are showcased in context, just as the artist did.  Speaking about Yeager and his passion for collecting, Fuller said “Ira came from the land of Christmas trees and always knew there was something beyond.” His collection was sourced from many places “beyond” – among them, Yeager’s varied residences in Europe (noting that he felt living in Corfu, Greece, was the closest thing to living in an 18th-century village). America was also a valuable collecting resource, particularly San Francisco, where his dear friend Lillian Williams owned a shop of French antiques, and the city’s grand estates, whose owners would carry objects of culture and discernment back from their Europe travels. From these many enjoyable forays into hunting, history and cultures, Yeager created his “follies,” properties replete with and surrounded by special, hand-picked items. There, in an environment created by him, he could react to his found objects and use them as a reference for his artistic works. Surrounded by his found treasures and the fruits of his collecting passion, he found inspiration for his own artistic creations and to, as he said, “push paint around.”

As an artist and collector, “Ira chose beauty,” said Fuller, seeking beautiful lines, shapes, and colors that would culminate in his artwork. While inspired to paint European ancestry or Indian portraits, he sought to “reinvent history,” giving his works a contemporary and challenging interpretation. According to Fuller, Yeager knew when to stop – always leaving something irregular, an edge, to give his work added life, age, or patina. Now, with Ira Yeager’s passing, Fuller is sharing a lifetime of objects trouvés – and continuing the YÄGER GALERIE, whose contextual vignettes of art and found objects celebrate the spirit and flair of how Yeager lived and worked. It is there the legacy of Ira Yeager will continue to engage, inspire, and flourish.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Artworks of the Eleen Auvil Estate
Sep
17
10:30 AM10:30

Artworks of the Eleen Auvil Estate

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present The Art of Eleen Auvil (1927-1922), a noted California artist, on September 17, 2022, at 10:30 am PDT. Featuring over 120 lots from the artist’s estate, the auction includes a diverse selection of paintings, sculpture, works on paper, copper and bronze wall art, and more. Auction proceeds go to the Spirals Benefit Store in Pacific Grove, California, serving local seniors thru the Alliance on Aging.

Eleen Auvil’s career as an artist and teacher spanned nearly six decades. During her long and prolific career, she trained and taught widely, received numerous awards, exhibited across the United States, and is represented in private and museum collections. She attended Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, earning degrees in textiles and sculpture. Ms. Auvil later taught there, as well as the Chicago Art Institute, Wayne State University, and Flint Institute of Art.

After a successful career in textiles designing and hand weaving, her focus shifted to sculpture, which she continued for over 30 years – first three-dimensional works, then wall pieces. Ms. Auvil is also well-known for her abstract monotype prints. Her works incorporated an array of subjects, techniques, and materials, including in copper, bronze, mixed media, and handmade paper. She was past President of the Board of Directors of the Carmel Art Association, founded in 1927, dedicated to presenting the finest work for sale by artists living on the Northern California’s Monterey Peninsula. Ms. Auvil held a rare dual Artist Member status in the organization, having juried into the Carmel Art Association for both two- and three-dimensional works.

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Books & Ephemera, including Historical Documents from the Chapman Family
Aug
20
10:30 AM10:30

Books & Ephemera, including Historical Documents from the Chapman Family

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Books & Ephemera, including Historical Documents from the Chapman Family of Connecticut, on August 20, 2022, at 10:30 am PDT. Featuring over 220 lots from the 17th to the 20th centuries, the auction includes antique and vintage books on many subjects and in diverse languages. There is also a wide selection of works on paper – engravings, vintage photographs; maps; war posters, lithographs, and several artworks. Historical documents from the Chapman family are part of a collection related to Edward Mortimer Chapman (1862-1952), a Connecticut pastor, academic, author, and descendant of one of Saybrook’s first settlers.

Books from the 17th-19th centuries are written in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Latin. There are a wide range of topics: art, history, literature, plays, poems, illustrations, European cities and travel, Russia, opinions, and more. Among the multi-volume groupings are those by Voltaire, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Darwin, and J. F. Ducis. From the 20th century are books on Americana, architecture, posters, children’s and youths’ books, fables, English churches, and more. Notable fiction authors include Tom Wolfe, William Faulkner, and Ayn Rand.

Works on paper include “Dennis the Menace” original art; antique engravings; maps of arrondissements in Paris, and U.S. railroads and townships; vintage and panoramic photographs; patriotic World War I and II posters, and lithographs by Lucien Hector Jonas; an 1823 letter from British actor John P. Kemble; four illuminated Tafsir al-Qur'an manuscript paper leaves; Indian miniatures; and signed photos of Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Coleman. Rounding out the sale are ocean liner ephemera of the mid-20th century, including from Cunard/Queen Mary and United States Lines, and WWI-era newspaper flonges (molds).

An important part of this auction features the historical documents, papers and ephemera of Edward Mortimer Chapman and his family. Born in 1862, Chapman graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1890 and served as pastor of Old Lyme Congregational Church from 1906 to 1915. Chapman’s written works integrated his wide-ranging theological, literary, and historical interests. A descendant of Robert Chapman, one of the first settlers of Saybrook, Connecticut (c. 1635), Edward Chapman was an avid chronicler of history of his family and the area.

The Chapman-family’s offerings, many from the 18th century, include letters, land grants and sales, deeds, ledgers, opalotype milk glass portraits and miniatures, silhouettes, tintypes, photographs. Among the highlights are various letters from Woodrow Wilson, with whom Chapman had a personal acquaintance, through the Old Lyme Church and time spent in the Old Lyme art colony. Chapman corresponded with Wilson and his family, both when Wilson was president of Princeton University, and then during his U.S. presidency. Along with Woodrow Wilson, Chapman's correspondents included senators, clergymen at various institutions (many being friends from Yale Divinity), editors and reviewers, fellow antiquarians, and family members.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Automobilia & Collectibles from the Francis E. Tarzian, Sr., Estate
Jul
30
10:30 AM10:30

Automobilia & Collectibles from the Francis E. Tarzian, Sr., Estate

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Automobilia & Collectibles from the Estate of Francis E. Tarzian, Sr., on Saturday, July 30, 2022, at 10:30 am PDT. Mr. Tarzian was a passionate collector of antique automobiles and related items, whose restoration and machinist skills garnered numerous awards. This auction features a wide and eclectic array of automotive items, virtually all vintage and mostly antique, as well as some other collectibles from the early 20th-century era.

Among the many items of automobilia are gasoline, pump and truck service signs; license plate toppers; auto and truck badges; horns; auto lights and lamps; lanterns; collectible spark plugs; radiator caps; gauges; speedometers; a Cadillac steering wheel; and antique car parts such as ignition switches, clocks, radios, and more. The sale includes a wide selection of printed matter pertaining to antique vehicles, including books, magazines, maps, instruction manuals, and technical volumes including Automobile Engineering and Machinery’s Encyclopedia. In addition, there are several lots of advertising of vehicles and images of antique vehicles – all framed. More contemporary items include antique-car-show awards, badges, and ribbons; Shell and Sunoco coin games; and tire ashtrays.

Collectibles include a variety of antique sewing machines, irons, and cast iron toys. Rounding out the sale are miscellaneous tools, unopened consumer products, hip flasks, vacuum tubes, pipes and parts, law enforcement badges, a potato planter and seed sower, kerosene lamps, and wall sconces. Auction highlights include a boa constrictor horn; an antique Edison cylinder, phonographs and parts; and a GE Edison Mazda lamp store display.

About Francis E. Tarzian, Sr.

Francis Tarzian was born in 1929 and raised in New Jersey. His father, born en route while his grandmother was emigrating to America, was a stonemason who was adamant that his son Francis follow in his career footsteps. Young Francis, however, had other ideas: at age 17 – and with his mother’s permission – he ran away to join the U.S. Navy for several years. There he pursued his trade of choice, becoming a master machinist, and serving in the Korean War on the escort carrier USS Sicily.

 In 1955, Francis married Vennetta Harding, then began their family of five children: Francis Jr., Rebecca, Nathan, Lydia, and Gregory. In 1969, the family moved to Los Altos in Northern California. During that time, Mr. Tarzian worked for NASA’s Ames Research Center on the Polaris missile project. One noteworthy career achievement was his development of the fittings that connect hoses to the space suits of astronauts.

While Mr. Tarzian had a lifelong fascination with all things mechanical, his interest in restoring cars began in 1953 when he purchased a 1921 Ford Model T Center Door Sedan, recovered from a New Jersey barn. This first restoration project, one that Vennetta participated in as the young couple was courting, was completed in the mid-1950s. It was also in 1953 that Mr. Tarzian joined the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA), where he became the founding member and first president of the Foothills (CA) Region. Today the AACA organization boasts over 55,000 members and 350 regional chapters.

Each of the restoration projects lasted about three to five years. Mr. Tarzian was known for the exceptional quality of his restorations and the parts he produced, not only for his vehicles, but for those of other collectors. Because of his reputation, he was often welcomed into car museums, where he was allowed to take precise measurements of a part so he could machine and recreate it. With the exception of one second-place Grand National award in 1988 (of a vehicle restored in 1967), Mr. Tarzian’s vehicles were consistently awarded perfect scores of 100 points. According to his daughter, Rebecca Ross, the result of all the attention, care and love were exquisitely restored vehicles that she says were “a piece of jewelry you drive.” In January 2021, four of Mr. Tarzian’s vehicles – a 1907 Schacht Runabout (High Wheeler), 1912 Ford Model T Torpedo, 1919 White Model 15, 3/4-Ton Stake Side Truck, and 1921 Ford Model T Center Door Sedan – were offered by Turner Auctions + Appraisals and sold to avid collectors.

It’s no surprise that a man who appreciated cars would have other mechanical interests as well – and Mr. Tarzian did. He had numerous mini-collections of automobilia, such as spark plugs, radiator caps and other car-related ephemera. Another interest were motorcycles: with his BMW motorcycle, he was a member of “The-Thousand-And-One-Club” – traveling 1000 miles in just 24 hours! He also went across country and back in three weeks.

 Sadly, Mr. Tarzian died suddenly in 1997. Until recently, the family had chosen to keep his collection intact. However, with Mrs. Tarzian’s passing in 2020, the Tarzian children decided it was time to let others enjoy their father’s beloved collection of meticulously restored antique vehicles, automobilia, and collectibles.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
The Grace Garcia Estate, Part 2
Jun
26
10:30 AM10:30

The Grace Garcia Estate, Part 2

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present the Grace Garcia Estate, Part 2, on Sunday, June 26, 2022. This sale features an extensive array of religious items, fine and decorative arts, and collectibles from the personal collection of the late Grace Garcia, owner of Gilroy Antiques in Gilroy, California, for over 30 years. Called Gracie by all who knew her, she was a passionate collector who traveled throughout the world, adding beautiful things along the way. This auction also includes several lots from other collectors, including paintings by William Russell Flint and Mauritz Frederik Hendrich de Haas, and groupings of character dolls and costume figures.

Items of fine art and decorative art in this sale from the trust of the Grace Garcia Estate are diverse and eclectic, mostly from the 18th to 20th centuries. This sale features a vast selection of religious items – giltwood angels and putti; monstrances; framed plaques of Christ, angels, Madonna, saints, and popes; Greek, Russian and Christian icons; table and relief altars, painted altar statues and figures; numerous crosses and crucifixes in various materials; reliquaries; sacred hearts; figurines; embroidered panels; two framed certificates of past popes; carved wood saint figures; and numerous other devotional items. Artworks include paintings by Gerrit Neven and William Rowe, and a small selection of marble busts. Among the many lots of decorative arts are porcelain boxes, vases, figures, busts and figurines; a birdcage automaton; cat or dog vases, boxes, figures and memorials; small toys; Victorian shell objects; French glass egg boxes; silver serving ware and decorative items; a Rivenc music box; rococo-style gilt candelabra; a Neoclassical-style crystal urn; a Taj Mahal tapestry; items under glass domes; and more. Rounding out the sale are early-20th-century postcard and ephemera albums; art books; and an Indian apothecary cabinet.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
 The Grace Garcia Estate, Part I
Jun
4
10:30 AM10:30

The Grace Garcia Estate, Part I

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present the Grace Garcia Estate, Part I, on Saturday, June 4, 2022. It features a wide array of paintings, religious items, and decorative arts from the personal collection of the late Grace Garcia, a passionate collector of beautiful things and avid world traveler. Known as Gracie by her many friends, acquaintances, and customers, she was owner of Gilroy Antiques in Gilroy, California, for over 30 years. Part II of her collection will be offered in early summer. This auction also includes jewelry, a silver water pitcher, and several other items from other California estates.

Items of fine art and decorative art in this sale from the trust of the Grace Garcia Estate are diverse and eclectic, mostly from the 18th to 20th centuries. They include paintings, marble sculptures and busts, glass and porcelain vases, ceramic wall plaques, needlepoint and crewel work, Gothic candlesticks, birdcage automatons, trinket boxes, French jewel caskets, painted miniatures, Staffordshire figures, Limoges boxes, Chinese ginger jars, sterling flatware and decorative items, Victorian wool work, an antique teaching skull, and much more. Among the religious lots are paintings, icons, monstrances, reliquaries, a ciborium, sacred hearts and plaques, carved statues and figures, crucifixes and crosses, Thai buddhas, Hindu deities, and Buddhist statues. Jewelry items for women and men include necklaces, bracelets, pendants, brooches, cufflinks, wrist and pocket watches. Many are in gold or silver set with gemstones. Designers include Tiffany, David Yurman, and Judith Ripka.

About Grace Garcia and Her Collection

Grace Garcia (1939-2022) was born in Campbell, California, to a family with roots in San Francisco. She graduated from Campbell High School, married in 1957, and had four children. As a young bride with a limited budget of $25 a week, Gracie could not afford to shop in stores with new furnishings. As a result, she began to pursue antiques and other beautiful old things that were less costly. While she is quoted as saying she “became a collector at birth,” Gracie began collecting in earnest in the early 1960s, shopping for beauty, not price. Over time, her collection grew dramatically, with items acquired from her travels, antique shows or stores, in advance of estate sales, or from people who knew she would appreciate their gifts.

Her job brought her further into the sphere of antiques. As manager of the Main Street Exchange in Los Gatos, California, Gracie worked until the store closed in 1989 due to the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake. Soon after, she decided to launch her own shop, Gilroy Antiques, and on her own terms: she was only open the first 20 days of each month, reserving the last 10+ days to travel the world or visit friends and family. In fact, for over 30 years, her store provided two sources of great pleasure – there she was surrounded by her antiques and met people who visited, making many friends and connections along the way.

In addition to her store and meeting people, travel was a vital part of Gracie’s life. From 1986 to 2019, she made 43 trips throughout the world. Of those, 35 were international trips – with visits to China, Russia, Mexico, myriad countries in Europe, and other places in Southeast Asia including India, which was a favorite. According to her children, David Garcia and Tika Burns, “she was fearless.” She often traveled on her own, with neither a cell phone nor a computer for assistance, and felt comfortable going anywhere, intentionally getting lost in cities to embrace the place and its culture. “She was not afraid of people or places or to buy things: if it was beautiful, she’d buy it.” In fact, Gracie would regularly travel with a big, empty suitcase filled with bubble wrap in anticipation of beautiful objects yet to come! Her newest passion, said Tika, was birdcages. Sadly, with Gracie’s passing, her planned trip in 2022 to Budapest was not to be.

A large part of Gracie’s personal collection has a religious flavor, perhaps inspired initially by the splendid works of art and adoration found in the Vatican. Although she was not religious in the traditional sense of the word, she was spiritual and embraced items from various religions around the world. She appreciated the art, dedication and craftmanship that went into the pieces. Gracie’s large house was filled with her collection, and then when it grew too large, it expanded into the apartment above her antique store. The many religious items were woven and displayed throughout her living spaces, and particularly her bedroom, where Gracie cheekily noted that she had had “more priests in her bedroom than anyone else.”

Grace Garcia was a down-to-earth, self-made woman: she paid off her house, raised a family, made countless friends, and ran a successful business. She lived for beauty, appreciated quality and value, and was an intrepid traveler. It was said her passion for antiques was surpassed only by her passion for life. Now, as her personal collection goes to auction, the acquisitions of Gracie’s life well-lived are sure to enhance the lives of others.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Sports Cards & Memorabilia, Toy Cars, and Trains
Apr
30
10:30 AM10:30

Sports Cards & Memorabilia, Toy Cars, and Trains

Turner Auctions + Appraisals presents Sports Cards & Memorabilia, Toy Cars, and Trains on Saturday, April 30, 2022, at 10:30 am PDT. The timed sale features over 230 lots from several Northern California collectors and estates. There are several themes in this auction, each with a variety of offerings. Among the sports cards, groupings include Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Football Hall of Fame, Basketball and Baseball Super Stars, Basketball Hall of Fame, and many others. In addition, many sports cards lots include commons of 2,000 or more. There’s also a wide selection of sports memorabilia: signed bats and photos from the San Francisco Giants as World Series Champions; autographed or specialty basketballs; signed football helmets, photographs, a football, and a jersey; and a variety of signed or souvenir boxing gloves, including Manny Pacquiao, Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Roberto Duran.

The are many groupings of Johnny Lightning toy cars in an array of years and series – most on original cards. These include Commemorative Cars, Challengers, Dragsters, Muscle Cars, Classic Customs, Toy Fair, Promotional, and Limited and Special Editions – plus originals on Topper cards. There are several other manufacturers as well: Racing Champions, Lionel Revolvers and Speed Rebels, Sizzlers, and Mattel Hot Wheels. Almost all of the model train offerings are from Lionel, including locomotives; switchers; cabooses; and freight, box, stock, dump, passenger cars – plus several Limited or Special Edition train sets. There are also some specialty train items such as a snowplow switcher, burro crane, and various accessories.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →
Fine Art, Asian Art, Jewelry & More
Apr
16
10:30 AM10:30

Fine Art, Asian Art, Jewelry & More

Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Fine Art, Asian Art, Jewelry & More on April 16, 2022, from various collectors and estates. The sale offers a wide range of American and European paintings from the 17th to the 21st centuries; noted artists include Ira Yeager, Salvador Dalí, Thomas Hill, William Posey Silva, Marjorie Jane Reed, and German Grobe. In addition to a Ferdinand Preiss sculpture, there are several works in marble, bronze, or acrylic.

There is diverse selection of Asian arts: from China, artwork, a gilt carved panel, cloisonné boxes, a carved armchair, a brass vase, and a pewter and jade teapot; from India, a marquetry box, a 17th-century Somaskanda figure; from Thailand, pairs of bronze and Buddha heads and carved wood statues. There are also a Burmese Buddha, a Tibetan saddle, and Ganesh and Shiva figures. Items from Japan include a chest, swords with daggers, Imari dishes, and a wide selection of Japanese woodblock prints. Among the artists are Ando Hiroshige, Paul Jacoulet, Helen Hyde, Hiroshi Yoshida, Hasui Kawase, Yoshi Toshida, and Kunichika.

Decorative arts are also on offer, including a micro-mosaic snuff box, rock crystal balls on stands, porcelain vases, a birdcage music box, a selection of French Parian ware, an antique cased ship model “Flying Cloud,” sterling silver decorative items and serving ware, small furniture items such as red Eames low chairs, mantel and Le Coultre Atmos clocks, gilt frames, a neo-classical pier mirror, Czech cut-crystal tumblers, masks from New Guinea and Africa, various lighting fixtures and sconces, and more. Among the religious items are crucifixes, carved figures, French medals, and a 10k gold rosary. There are also books on art history, for children and youths, and a number from 18th- and 19th-century France.

A wide selection of fine jewelry includes rings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants, crosses, brooches, charms, and watches for women and men. Many are made of gold, white gold or silver, embellished with gemstones such as diamonds, rubies, Bohemian garnets, sapphires, and lapis, or pearls or enamel. Cameo pieces are offered; a few items are from Tiffany or Cartier. There are also many groupings of rings and other jewelry – gem-set, antique, vintage, or costume. Rounding out the sale are gold coins, WWI silver medallions, women’s shoes from Prada and Bally, a wood-cased music player with 28 tune cobs, stereoscopes with glass plates, and several works on paper: a woodblock print, engraving, and Civil War photographs.

Press release >>

Preview & register to bid:

View Event →