subject: A Big Score For Sports Memorabilia [print this page] Ted Williams' 1955 All-Star game bat and the cleats the legendary Red Sox hitter Black Latex Sleeveless T-shirt wore when he slugged the final home run of his career on Sept. 28, 1960, both exceeded their estimates at auction this month.
The bat, expected to bring $45,000-$65,000, sold for $72,000 at Sotheby's and SCP Auctions' joint sale of sports memorabilia in New York, and the well-worn cleats, still with Fenway Park dirt in the spikes, brought $51,000 against a $20,000-$30,000 estimate.
Of the nearly two dozen Celtics uniforms auctioned it was Bill Russell's 1967 home jersey that brought the top price, fetching $60,000 against a $40,000-$60,000 estimate. The auction's top-selling basketball uniform was the home jersey that Willis Reed wore when he led the New York Knicks in 1970 to their first NBA championship. It brought $90,000 against a $75,000-$100,000 estimate.
The 366-lot auction's two top sellers were the ring that Casey Stengel, New York Yankees manager from 1949-60, received for his team's winning the 1951 World Series, and for Babe Ruth's 1921-31 Louisville Slugger bat. The ring brought $180,000 against a $30,000-$50,000 estimate and the bat $162,000 against a $125,000-$175,000 estimate.
Joe DiMaggio's 1941 Yankees World Championship Hamilton 14-carat gold wristwatch brought $78,000 against a $30,000-$40,000 estimate, and Casey Stengel's 1957 Yankees American League Championship gold cufflinks fetched Black Latex Sleeveless Vest $72,000 against a $4,000-$6,000 estimate.
A Coca-Cola 1937 four-piece window display of a soda fountain with pedestrian die-cuts is one of the highlights of James D. Julia's Toy, Doll and Advertising Auction to be held Saturday at 10 a.m. in Fairfield, Maine.
The 52-inch wide, 46-inch high display has a $20,000-$30,000 estimate. Found in the log storage bin of a Little Rock, Ark., family, it was never put on display.
Highlighting the toys are an extraordinarily rare 12-inch long armored truck believed to have been made for the Brinks Express Co. ($20,000-$40,000) and a 44-inch-long Marklin brougham with its original metal horse ($15,000-$20,000).
Dolls range from an 1889 French Jules Steiner bebe and an extremely rare German Simon-Halbig portrayal of a Southeast Asian woman, each with a $20,000-$30,000 estimate, to a variety of dolls with estimates under $500.
A free-form English walnut coffee table by George Nakashima (1905-1960) and a bronze table lamp attributed to the Zentai Studios are among the highlights of Skinner's auction of 20th-century furniture and decorations Saturday at 10 a.m. at its Boston gallery.
The table by Nakashima, one of the leading innovators of 20th-century furniture design, has a $20,000-$30,000 estimate, while the lamp with its feathered eyes design has a $30,000-$35,000 estimate.
Besides such high-end items, there are other buying opportunities, says Jane Prentiss, Skinner's 20th-century specialist. For example, there are two Roseville Pottery vases with a $200-$250 estimate; an Orrefors 12-panel art glass bowl ($200-$300);Georg Jensen sterling silver tongs and serving knife ($200-$250); and a mid-20th century Planner Group maple coffee table ($200-$300).
A collection of more than 200 clocks will be offered at an on-site estate auction to be held by Paul McInnis at 10 a.m. Saturday at 19 Depot Road in New Durham, N.H. The auction will break at 11 a.m. for the sale of the estate's 1911, nine-room Black Latex Sleeveless Zipper Top house with attached barn and two-car garage, and will resume after the house's sale.
The clock collection includes mantel, wall, shelf, ship's, advertising, calendar, regulator, presentation, figural, and tall-case clocks. Small travel clocks, alarms and pocket watches also will be auctioned.
Among the house's contents are more than 15 antique quilts, hooked rugs, military items, early photographs, sheet music, costume jewelry, dolls, games, and old coins. Antique tools and a 1996 Ford Escort wagon are among the barn and garage contents.
The seven-drawer oak desk of Wallace Nutting (1861-1941), along with his personal and business correspondence and records, will be offered at Friday's 10 a.m. session of Skinner's two-day Discovery Auction in Bolton.
A variant of model number 748, the circa 1927 desk is one of the many reproductions that Nutting made of America's finest period furniture. The desk was purchased by his longtime attorney, who later passed it on to his son. It has been consigned to auction by the person who purchased the son's home in 1971.
