What's It Worth?

Out of the attic and into the spotlight

Japanese Embroidery

Posted By on November 23, 2011

Michaan’s is honored to offer personal property from the estate of peninsula resident Connie Dunham in our upcoming annex sale.  For decades, Connie studied, practiced and taught the exquisite art of Japanese embroidery, or nihon shishu, to students from all over the west coast.

Japanese embroidery has been an art form for over 1000 years.  Originally used to adorn the robes of court members, the technique developed into a stand-alone art form fusing technique with spirituality.  Like sado the tea ceremony, kado the way of the flower, kendo the way of the sword, shodo the way of calligraphy and even Aikido the way of energy, nuido – the art of embroidery – is a specific type of work that reflects the contact between the mind, the heart and the hand.

To become proficient in nuido, a student must progress through a series of twenty phases focusing on fifty separate but integral techniques.  Some techniques overlap several phases including an understanding of symbolism and color choice.

Students must also learn how to properly prepare the silk fabric, how to lace the fabric to specialized frames, how to work with flat threads, twisted threads and couching threads. Students must use specially prepared silks and flosses, needles, tracing papers and patterns to achieve a work that reflect their lifestyle and state of heart all while conforming to accepted iconography and colors.

Not only did Connie teach embroidery, exhibit embroidery techniques and show finished pieces throughout the United States, she facilitated getting the proper materials to her students.  Thus her estate is left with a tremendous trove of thousands of tubes of silk and metallic threads, couching threads, tools, patterns, silks, needles, instruction books and finished works.

This is an incredible opportunity for anyone interested in Japanese embroidery to acquire materials and for anyone interested in textile arts in general to gain inspiration.  Connie Dunham’s Japanese embroidery collection will be sold on Tuesday, November 8th and Wednesday November 9th.  Preview is Sunday, November 6 and throughout both days of the sale.

For more information about Japanese embroidery or to find a local teacher contact the Japanese Embroidery Center in Atlanta, Georgia at 770/390-0617 Fax: 770/512-7837 or www.Japaneseembroidery.com.

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

Elephant skin purse

Posted By on November 22, 2011

This is a purse made of elephant skin.  It was given to my great-grandmother, Mary M. by her husband, Jack Martin who rode the horse Agile to win the 1905 Kentucky Derby.  The purse is in very nice condition with a working key and lock, small change purse, and mirror/compact.  It is lined in soft leather.

Can these items be legally sold?  And does it have any value?

Wow.  Although we’ve come a long way over the past century or so in the animal rights venue, we still have a ways to go.  The short answers to your questions are yes, it can be legally sold and yes, it has value.

Your great grandfather is described in “Two Minutes to Glory:  The Official History of Churchill Downs” as a “pretty-boy but tough and confident” jockey.  The book also describes the May 31, 1905 Kentucky Derby as the worst Derby ever:  it fielded only three horses, was won in a time of 2:10.75 and the winning purse was only $4850.

Your great-grandfather and Agile raced in the Tennessee Derby only a short time before this on April 3rd.  They won this mile and an eighth race in 1:58 and, according to the New York Times report of the day, took the winning purse of $8800 for this event.

So Jack had a good season and splurged on a showy and expensive gift for his wife:  a purse made from the exotic hide of an African elephant.

You must understand that during the 19th century the European colonization of Africa meant that huge numbers of non-native people were swarming to the area.  These 19th century folk loved not only the adventure of an African safari or an Egyptian dig:  they loved the collecting and taxonomy involved.  They supplied not only hunters but also photographers and sketch artists to document specimens, terrain and vegetation.   They collected their mounts and were quickly drawn to the perceived glamour of having luggage, shoes, drinks sets and furnishing made from exotic hides.

In 1909, former president Teddy Roosevelt and his son Kermit traveled with a 250-member party to collect specimens for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, which opened the following year.  They collected (read: killed) over 1100 specimens, 500 of which fell into the “big five” category of lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape buffalo.

In 1913 the American Museum of Natural History in New York began its 5-year partnership with Carl Akeley to create lifelike dioramas of African mammals for the museum.  Hunting was fashionable, topical and had a weird scholar-hero aspect to it.

Your purse appears to be beautifully preserved, nicely made and of an attractive size.  In a vintage accessories sale it would have a pre-sale estimate of $250-500.

CITES is the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species.  Formed in 1973 with the goal of stopping the traffic and exploitation of endangered animals and plants.  By the mid 20th century, for example, South Africa’s elephant population had plummeted to about 200.  Now, after years of protection the population has grown so that by 1994, when the population had grown to over 17,000, culling of the elephant herds was legalized and the trade in these exotic skins was once more legal.  In 2009 the government of South Africa again agreed to culling:  animal rights activists continue to fight against this practice of destroying herds.

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

Barrister’s Bookcase

Posted By on November 21, 2011

My Dad sent me this bookcase when I became a lawyer, many years ago.  He purchased it in 1946 from a used furniture store in New York City.  The measurements are 51″high, 12″deep and 35″ wide.  Each shelf comes apart, as well as the top & the bottom drawer.  The glass is original.  I have been told it is an Eastlake from the late 1800′s.  Not that I would ever sell it, but have always been curious as to its value.

How fitting that he gifted you this bookcase when you became a lawyer:  the form is traditionally called a barrister’s bookcase.  It was designed to protect books from dust and other elements but also, and most importantly, it was designed to be portable.

Early, pre-printing press books were expensive and were kept by their wealthy owners in specialized chests or caskets.  The magnificent Bodleian library in Oxford was one of the first large collections of books and manuscripts to house their holdings on open shelves as early as the 16th century.  Some of these early treasures still retain the binding chains that locked valuable texts to shelves.  

After the development of moveable type, printed books became available and more affordable.  Collections grew along with wealth and soon some of homes and colleges were home to magnificent libraries.  

Although we do not have the distinction between the two professions in the U.S., in English courts a barrister is an expert on case studies.  Part of the duties of a barrister is to summarize case studies and present them to the court.  Therefore, barristers required a way to move large amounts of printed material quickly and safely from chamber to chamber.

A barrister’s bookcase is a modular piece of furniture.  The style was marketed as “elastic bookcase” by Cincinnati based manufacturer Globe Wernicke in 1898.  Each shelf is a unique stand-alone element having a glass door with an up and over mechanism.  This means that the glass door can be pulled shut over the books and the shelf of books can be transported safely and easily without the necessity of unloading and reloading the shelves.  Shelves are interchangeable, so; some shelving element even act as desks; tops and bases are separate elements.

With your reeded pilasters and acanthus detailing, your bookcase could be called an Eastlake style.  Charles Eastlake was not a furniture maker but a British writer whose 1868 book, “Hints on Household Taste” urged Victorians to forego some of their bigger excesses in furnishings and to embrace simpler forms and cleaner lines.

This type of bookcase has never gone out of style and is currently produced by a number of companies.  Your bookcase is of late 19th or early 20th century make and would easily bring $500 to $700 at auction.

Mea Culpa!

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

Birth of a Nation film

Posted By on November 21, 2011

My wife has two film canisters about 14 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick that she acquired in a post office auction 20 or 30 years ago.  They are labeled “D.W. Griffith - The Birth Of A Nation – Aug. 8, 1915 Color.”  They both have film in them.  Do these film have any value?

As I’ve said before, things have all sorts of value and not all of them are monetary.  I’ll address “Birth of a Nation” in a bit but I encourage you to take the film canisters out of your house.  They can be very dangerous!

I talked to Allen Michaan, owner of Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, about your film.  He explained that cinematographers used nitrate-based film in the late 19th and early 20th centuries until improvements in film composition technology eased nitrate films out of the market. The early nitrate films can be very dangerous:  as it deteriorates the film gives off nitrous oxide, nitrous dioxide and other highly toxic and combustible gases.  If trapped inside film cans these gases can spontaneously combust; if the gases leak out into the atmosphere they can destroy other types of film stored nearby. .  Allen recommends that you contact your local fire department or county hazardous waste management for disposal.

For an illustration of nitrate film’s volatility see the conflagration scene in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds.  While you’re at the video store be sure to rent a copy of “Birth of a Nation”, D.W. Griffith’s 1915 seminal and controversial film.

Dixon adapted Birth of a Nation from Thomas Dixon’s play “The Clansman” which was originally written as a propaganda piece for the Ku Klux Klan.  The film, starring Lillian Gish, was hailed as a masterpiece and is considered the first movie blockbuster.  Even when first distributed, however, the film was controversial.

The story is of a northern and a southern family in the reconstruction period after the Civil War.  It features white actors in black face acting ignorant and sexually aggressive towards white women; it dramatizes the suffering of whites after the civil war and glorifies the Ku Klux Klan to the point where the Klan is said to have used it as a recruiting tool.  Griffith, like his predecessor Dixon, firmly believed in white superiority

The NAACP vehemently opposed distribution of the film and the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures debated whether to ban it.  It was the first movie to be screened in the White House and Woodrow Wilson is said to have been sympathetic to the sentiments expressed by the film and many white Americans believed the film accurately betrayed race and race relations. The film’s popularity gave rise to race riots throughout the country and rejuvenated membership in the Ku Klux Klan.

What’s it worth? It’s worth remembering that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

Correction: Several people pointed out a huge error I made in last week’s column.  I did not do the required research and gave the wrong information about the reels of film.  Older 35-millimeter prints of “Birth of a Nation” could have been on dangerous nitrate stock.  This print, however, was on 16 millimeter film, was likely printed in the 1960s or 70s and is not dangerous at all.  The mistake was mine – I read the words on the film canister to Allen Michaan but did not tell him the measurements.  The good news is that I’ve learned something and am now aware of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont.  Check them out at www.nilesfilmmuseum.org.

 

 

 

 

 

Amphora Vase

Posted By on November 21, 2011

Michaan’s specialists recently held an appraisal event as a fundraiser for the Carmel Art Association.  We always see unusual and lovely things when we’re there but I was floored when this zoomorphic piece of pottery landed on my table.

The outer sections are veined and scattered with what looks to be small barnacles; the inner section has a ribbed tree grain quality to it and wrapped around the out stalks are wide bands of gold glaze.  Something as imaginative and beautiful as this could only have come from Bohemia.

Amphora pottery was formed in the Turn region of Bohemia 1892 when Carl Riessner, Rudolf Kellel and Eduard Stellmacher pooled their disparate talents.  Ownership, management and talent for the company was fluid and, due to fires and wars, no complete history of the artists has been found.

What is known is that the factory was very near the Imperial Technical School for Ceramics and Associated Applied Arts and that the school provided the company with many highly skilled and well trained artists.  Students at the school studied plants, animals and inanimate objects.  They were asked to design pots, jugs, candlesticks and tiles that used themes found in nature in new and different design motifs and glazes.  All designs began as drawings and were later produced as sculptures.

The artistry and technical skill of Amphora potters lead them to a Best in Show medal at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.  Their Art Noueau and Jungstil inspired work also took the top prize in the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.   This achievement is more astonishing for the young company when you realize it was competing against such art pottery contemporaries as Grueby, Fulper and even Louis Comfort Tiffany!

I cannot decide if this particular bowl on stand looks like a mushroom, a jellyfish or a futuristic space craft.  At 13 inches it is lighter weight than I expected; The colors, textures and glazed combine to form one of the loveliest pieces of art pottery I’ve seen.

The owner’s were trying to simplify their lives and decided to consign it to our Fine December sale.  It will have an estimate of $1000-1500.

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

Hanson Duvall Puthuff and Meyer Straus paintings

Posted By on November 19, 2011

In a funny coincidence, I came across two California paintings this week by two artists with roots in Missouri.  The first was a sweet river landscape with cows by artist Meyer Straus; the second a scene of the Sierra Madre Hills by Hanson Duvall Puthuff.

Hanson Duvall Puthuff was born to poor working parents in Missouri in 1875.  After his mother’s death when he was two, Hanson was raised by his mother’s friend, a Civil War widow named Elizabeth Puthuff.

Elizabeth supported herself and her adopted son by working as a seamstress. She recognized early on that Hanson had an aptitude for drawing so she arranged for him to study art at the Denver Art School in Colorado as well as at the Chicago Institute of Fine Art.  The combination of his artistic talent and her Civil War connections led to jobs as a commercial artist as a mural and sign painter in an advertising agency.

Puthuff moved to Los Angeles in 1903 where he readily found work as a theatre scene painter and billboard painter.  While thriving professionally for the next quarter century, Puthuff longed to paint plein aire landscapes. He left the commercial world in 1926 and focused on landscapes, particularly deserts.

His first commission as an artist was from the Santa Fe Railroad.  He painted a series of views of the Grand Canyon that were used in advertisements and promotions.  He continued to receive museum commissions to paint murals and backgrounds for dioramas.  He still felt tied to the commercial world and long to work exclusively on his own ideas.

A gregarious and socially active man, Puthuff was instrumental in the formation of the California Artists Club, the Art Students League of Los Angeles and the Garvanza Circle.  Always prolific and competitive, Puthuff received painting medals in Paris salon in 1914, the Pan Pacific International Exposition in 1915, the California State Fair in 1918, the Golden Gate International Expo in 1939 and dozens of others.

Puthuff’s great love was the hills and deserts east of Los Angeles:  as these landscapes themselves became more and more suburbanized, Puthuff’s depictions of them became more prized.  This 28 x 36 inch oil, “The Sierra Madre Hills” would have a presale estimate of $12,000-15,000.

Meyer Straus was a generation earlier than Puthuff but his career had a similar trajectory.  Born in Bavaria in 1831, the Straus family moved to Ohio and then to Missouri when Straus was a teen.  Like Puthuff, Straus found work in theatres as a scenery painter.

Failing health in his 40s, Straus moved to the warmer climate of San Francisco where he continued to work as a scene painter in a number of theatres.  In 1876 he appears to have abandoned theatrical painting when he opened a studio on Montgomery Street and devoted himself to capturing landscapes of Yosemite, Marin and Monterrey.

Interestingly, the landscape scene I saw in Carmel was not of a Monterrey landscape but a Missouri landscape, done before he embraced easel painting.  While charming and an early work from this artist, a scene like this – out of the usual works of the artist – will have a pre-sale estimate of $2000-4000.

St. Louis does appear to be the gateway to the west!

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

Embroidered flour bag

Posted By on November 19, 2011

Michaan’s specialists held an Appraisal Event last week at the Jewish Community Center in Walnut Creek.  Among some of the charming and lovely things I saw was this embroidered flour sack.  The family didn’t know anything about it except that it had descended through the Saskatchewan branch of the family.

I was thrilled!  I’d heard of these flour sacks but, in 15 years as an appraiser, I’ve never seen one!  Here’s the explanation.

In the early days of the First World War, France allied herself with Russia; Germany, at war with Russia, then declared war on France.  In order to invade France, Germany occupied Belgium and confiscated all of the Belgian’s food; as Belgium was an ally of England, England then declared war on Germany.

In an attempt to starve the Germans out of Belgium, England blockaded Belgium.  This blockade had the unfortunate consequence of limiting food to the Belgian people and it is estimated that over the course of the war 7 million Belgians and French experienced significant hunger.

Under the guidance of future president Herbert Hoover, then living in London, the Commission for Relief in Belgium was established.  This commission relied entirely on donations and volunteers.  Hoover was able to organize fundraising and grain purchases in the US; he managed to find ships to carry the grain to Rotterdam where it was unloaded; he persuaded warring countries not to intercept the four, sugar and grain that was essential to feed 10 million people every day.  He successfully lobbied for families in the US to reduce waste and began the “Food Will Win the War” campaign.

In addition to the food itself, the cotton sacks were carefully monitored.  Germans needed cotton to produce munitions so, even empty, the sacks could not be allowed to fall into the German hands. The sacks were distributed to schools, convents and small businesses, employing thousands of Belgians who produced clothing, pillows and bags.  These items were sold to produce income but many were embroidered with notes of thank you and returned to the US.

This flour sack was one that was embroidered and returned.  In this case, like many others, the Belgian needlewomen used the decorative graphics and illustrations on the bags as templates.  The Ceresota Flour graphic of a seated young boy cutting a loaf with a knife (the graphic still in use today) proved irresistibly charming.

This bag was worked on by two women or girls who added a decorative lace over silk band, a silk cord in the three colors of the Belgian flag, their initials, the words “God Loves You” in English and the 1915 date.

This bag is a wonderful and tangible reminder of a time when individuals could band together outside the structures of governments to help restore and retain humanity in the world.  Historically and morally they are precious; monetarily they bring $300-500 when sold.

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

Five Star Coca Cola Dealer sign

Posted By on October 7, 2011

I have a cardboard poster, 11-3/4″W X 18-3/4″T It has some water damage on the right corner and a few rips at the top  & bottom. It says “I’m a Five Star Coca Cola Dealer.” Can you tell me if it was a prize for a dealer selling a lot of Coke or something like that?

Coca-Cola was developed on a whim by Atlanta based pharmacist John Pemberton.  Frank Robinson, Pemberton’s accountant, named the product and wrote out the name in the script Coke still uses today. By 1891 the rights to the product were bought by entrepreneur Asa Candler.

Candler was an innovative and enthusiastic salesman.  He hired celebrity endorsers; he provided free insignia-covered coolers, clocks and scales to pharmacies; he distributed thousands of coupons for free drinks.  Retailers loved the promotions as they brought thirsty, cash-in-hand customers into their stores.

Businessman Joe Biedenharm independently bottled the first 12 Coca-Colas in 1894.  This bottling revolutionized the industry transforming it from a fountain-based beverage to a portable beverage that could go to homes, picnics and the workplace.

As popularity increased imitators abounded.  Coca-Cola increased its marketing and branding.  “Accept No Substitutes” and “Demand the Original” became company slogans.  By the 1920s Coca-Cola had developed the portable six-pack and traveled with the US Olympic team to Amsterdam.  During WWII Coke promised any man in uniform anywhere in the world a Coke for 5 cents – even if the company lost money on the deal.  Post war prosperity saw the introduction of Coke, the marketing sprite (who would later be another brand name).  By the end of the 1950s Coca-Cola had over 1000 bottling plants in more than 120 countries.

The Coca-Cola Company inspired and rewarded loyalty in their employees.  They encouraged their employees with incentives including gift coupons, trip vouchers and insignia decorated jewelry. The jewelry company Balfour created 10k gold and enamel service pins awarded to employees every five years.  The Balfour Company also provided a catalog of Coke insignia gift items such as tie clips, compacts, bracelets, lighters and compacts.  Company managers could even order Coca-Cola Rolex watches!

Coca Cola was always mindful of the retail aspects of their success.  Retailers were scrutinized and rewarded just as employees were.  Retailers needed to present the Coke brand as Coke wished – retailers who achieved this received discounts, gifts and recognition.

Your Coca-Cola poster is one of these earned retailer awards.  From the wording and the star motif I’d date it to the mid 1950s. Coke ephemera has major collector appeal but is also quite plentiful. While the color on your poster is quite good, the overall condition is bad.  Someone might pay $10 for it; in better condition it could bring $100.

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

 

Civil Defense Packaged Disaster Hospital

Posted By on October 7, 2011

In this age of crazy storms, earthquakes on the wrong coast and on the weekend of Burning Man camps, I’m excited to write about a recent discovery.

A couple of months ago I got a call from a gentleman explaining that he had just unearthed a warehouse full of what appeared to be old medical equipment still in wooden crates.  The warehouse they were stored in needed to be emptied and the stuff was going to end up in a landfill unless Michaan’s could “rescue” the property and find a new home for it.

When the crates were delivered I was shocked:  they could easily fill a double garage but all bore lovely stenciled descriptions of what they contained.

Sterilizers, Sutures, Catgut, Bone Mallets, Needles and Cots read some of the crates.  What on earth was going on?  After a little poking around (thanks again Berkeley Public Library!) I learned that we have a portion of a Cold War era Civil Defense Packaged Disaster Hospital.

Organized Civil Defense has existed in the US since the First World War and grew in importance during the Second World War.  It was not until September 23, 1949 when President Truman announced that the Russians had successfully detonated an atomic bomb, however, that the idea of a well organized and finely tuned Civil Defense was on the minds of most Americans.

By the late 1940s Boy Scouts, amateur radio enthusiasts, police and fire departments were all trained in basic emergency communication methods.  By the early 50s training had expanded to include radiological monitoring and medical health assessment; training spread to nurses.  Civil Defense and Citizen Mobilization were on the minds of everyone and the US released a film “Survival Under Atomic Attack” and millions of copies of a pamphlet of the same name to citizens.

As US population increased and increasingly moved to suburbs, the Federal Government put into play a national policy on attack:  the first step would be to assess damage to roads, structures and mines; second, determine methods to disseminate information; third to accelerate research on fallout protection; fourth to construct shelters and fifth to incorporate fallout shelters in public and private buildings. 

By the summer of 1961 President Kennedy asked Congress for $207 million to plan and create shelters to protect Americans from a nuclear attack and in October 1962 the Cuban missile crisis seemed to make imminent attack a possibility.

The 8.4 Alaskan earthquake proved to be an opportunity to test the efficacy of some of these survival strategies:  Alaskans experienced tidal waves, floods, power and communication outages.  It was Civil Defense trained amateur radio operators who were one of the first to re-establish communication.

What we have lotted for auction is a portion of a cold war era Civil Defense Packaged Disaster Hospital.  By 1964, the US had 1930 of these packaged hospitals stored around the country.  (Interestingly, American Samoa and Guam – the only two territories anywhere near the original Bikini Atoll atomic test site – had none.) The storage sites were chosen to be within 50 miles of the area served but no closer than 15 miles to the Critical Target Area.  Each unit held a complete 200-bed hospital designed to be set up in a pre-selected nearby building within a few days of a disaster.  The fully functioning hospitals included surgical units, laboratories, X-ray suites, pharmacies, wards and administrative areas.  When operational, they take up about 15,000 square feet; stored they are less than 2000 cubic feet.

Items will be sold on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 6 & 7 at Michaan’s Auction.  Preview begins Sunday, September 4th.  Estimates are very low ranging from $10 to $50.  Now is the perfect time to stock up on folding stretchers that double as cots:  Holidays are right around the corner!

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

 

Saint Joseph Santo Figure

Posted By on September 21, 2011

I hope you can help me with my Saint Joseph statue.  I’ve been told that it dates back to the 1850s or 1860s and that there is a similar statue in Mission San Miguel.  It is 18 inches high.

Your carved wood statue of St. Joseph is called a santos figure from the Spanish word for saint.  These figures can be found in homes and Catholic churches throughout Central America, South America and the Phillipines.  The figures are tied in culturally and geographically with the Spanish colonization of the Western world and, in particular, the Catholic Church’s role in the colonization and subjugation of native peoples.

Generally molded from wax or papier mache or carved from wood indigenous to the areas colonized, santos figures mimic the highly decorative and decorated statues in Spanish churches.   It is no surprise, either, that their looks draw from the styles of painters El Greco (1541-1614), Diego Velaquez (1599-1660) and Bartholome Esteban Murillo (1617-1682) three of the most prolific and well known painters of the early Spanish colonizing days.

Early Santos figures in the Americas tended to be somewhat primitive: as demand grew with the spread of Catholicism the number of artisans producing the figures grew as did their talent.  Some figures were fully articulated and meant to be clothes; on others the clothing and attributes were part of the carved figure.

Santos are considered to be intermediaries between the devout and God. To achieve their role as messenger, Santos figures need to be asked for specific goals (a good crop, a healthy child, etc.) treated well, need to to be thanked when the intercession was successful and need to be be the subject of public devotion.

(An odd exception to this rule is Saint Anthony of Padua.  As a lapsed Catholic myself, I find it amusing that, for some reason, he thrives on neglect and punishment.  A favorite of single women seeking husbands, St. Anthony may be relegated to a corner or even stood upside down until the asked for intervention is granted.)

Although Saint Joseph is named in only two of the four Bibles and never mentioned in the adult life of Jesus, as the earthly father of Christ he is revered among Catholics as a protector of children.  As a carpenter, he is the patron saint of workers.

Your Santos figure is typical of the sort that was being produced in Northern Mexico and Southern California in the mid nineteenth century. It appears to be carved wood covered with gesso and painted with tempera based pigments.  The losses to the paint are typical for the age. The fact that the hands are missing indicates that the hands were probably made of another material, perhaps bone or metal. If he were to come up at auction, it would have a pre-sale estimate of $300-500.

Jane Alexiadis
Michaan’s Auctions

 

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