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New Jersey State Society of Auctioneers raises $2,408 to support U.S. troops overseas By ROD HIRSCH September 2009 BRIDGEWATER, N.J. - The last of the Somerset Patriots players had left the field just moments before, and while the grounds crew raked and tamped the infield and pitcher’s mound at TD Bank Ballpark, several hundred fans remained behind to watch and participate in the New Jersey State Society of Auctioneers annual Bid Calling Contest which featured nearly two dozen lots of sports memorabilia and other items, including cartoon cels, a tour of The White House and a bushel basket of fresh New Jersey produce. One by one, they climbed atop the first base dugout at TD Bank Ballpark, microphone in hand and worked the crowd, doing their best to impress the judges and raise money for Operation Shoebox New Jersey, a statewide volunteer organization that ships personal care packages to U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Auctioneers each have their own style, a rapid-fire sing song cadence of clipped words strung together with numbers that go higher and higher; though many in the audience couldn’t decipher the words, they felt the excitement and caught the fever. Through the melodic garble of words and numbers, the message was simple – if you want what I’m holding in my hand, you’re going to have to spend money, more money than anyone else in the crowd. The message was brought home bigger than life, as the auction was shown on the 50-foot ballpark screen with the camera trained on each auctioneer as they went through their routines. Going, going, gone . . . The auction netted a total of $2,150, with another $258 raised by Col Lee Fox, NJSSA president and his staff on the concourse prior to the auction. With a donation of $10 or more, Fox offered buyers a selection of jewelry he had purchased himself at an auction of seized and confiscated merchandise sold by the state of New Jersey. Col. Lee M. Fox Auctions is located in Mullica Hill. Fox was joined by his wife and daughter, with an assist from Air Force Sgt. Dave Lawson. Judges picked Joseph Bodnar of Bodnar’s Auctions, based in New Brunswick, as first place winner in the New Jersey State Society of Auctioneers bid calling contest contest; he was awarded a three-foot trophy topped off by a microphone. Stephen J. Miranti of Auction Liquidation Services, Eatontown took runner up. “I was very proud of our members and how they stepped up to the plate to raise money for Operation Shoebox New Jersey,” Fox said. Just two weeks following the auction, Lawson married the auctioneer’s daughter and shipped out to Iraq for his third tour of duty in the Mideast. Items sold included an autographed limited edition GiClee of Patriots’ manager Sparky Lyle in his Yankee pinstripes painted by noted sports artist James Fiorentino for $190. Signed by Lyle and the artist, the original painting of Lyle, winner of the Cy Young award in 1977, was donated by Fiorentino to OPSHBX NJ to be used for fund raising. A second limited edition print signed by Fiorentino and Lyle, depicting Opening Day 1999 at the Patriots ballpark, sold for $60. A framed photo plaque signed by Mickey Mantle with a letter of authenticity sold for $160. Other Yankees items included a Roy White autographed baseball for $70 and a Horace Clarke autographed baseball for $25. A framed, autographed photo of Don Mattingly with a letter of authenticity sold for $150. Several Patriots items were also sold, including a team-signed baseball from the inaugural 1999 season, $60, a 2009 team-signed bat, $170, and a 2009 team-signed baseball, $200. A luxury suite for one night in the 2010 season sold for $395. A round of golf for a foursome at Forsgate Country Club sold for $110, and the basket of produce sold for $60. The Washington D.C. package, which included The White House tour as well as a tour of the U.S. Capitol building, sold for $50. “You never know how people are going to participate in the bidding,” Bodnar said, “but I think it went extremely well, and as for winning the competition, I’m ecstatic. It’s a real honor to have won, now I’ve got this nice three-foot trophy on my desk; I’m going to bring it to the next auction and put it on the podium for everyone to see.” In addition to Fox and Bodnar, other New Jersey auctioneers competing in the statewide contest included Alfred Finocchiaro of Alfred’s Auctions, Hightstown; Stephen J. Miranti of Auction Liquidation Services, Eatontown and Harrie Copeland, Copeland Auction Company, Sergeantsville. Fox and Bodnar agreed that the NJSSA accomplished its goal of bringing people out to the ballpark to experience the sights and sounds of a live auction. “We all got out names out there and the crowd could see us on the video screen and hear the sounds of the auction throughout the ballpark, they could appreciate the performance that goes along with auctioneering,” Bodnar said. “That’s something you don’t get on EBay,” he added. Bodnars Auctions Space/NASA Memorabilia Highlights NJ Estate Sale You’ll have to forgive Joe Bodnar when he says matter-of-factly that many of the lots in his Nov. 29, 2007 auction are simply out of this world. That’s not a superlative. It’s a fact. Memorabilia from the Willingboro estate of Abraham Schnapf, a real life, bonafide New Jersey rocket scientist who helped develop the first weather satellites launched into space will highlight the auction, as well as hundreds of high end collectibles – Boehm porcelain, Swarovski and Waterford crystal, Lalique and Baccarat, an extensive Lladro collection, Netsuke figurines, Hummels, Lenox, Royal Doulton and Limoge will be sold during this special sale at the Ukrainian Cultural Center, 135 Davidson Ave., Somerset. The auction begins at noon, with previews Nov. 28, 5-8:30 p.m. and beginning at 10 a.m. the day of the sale. The online portion of the sale begins on Ebay at 5:15 p.m. A full catalog is available on the website, www.bodnarsauction.com Schnapf and his wife Edna purchased most of the collectibles during their frequent travels across the country and around the world according to their son Bruce Schnapf. Closer to home, they also met and became friends with Edward Marshall Boehm, whose rise to prominence as a sculptor of fine porcelain in nearby Trenton, N.J. paralleled Schnapf’s success as a space pioneer. Their Boehm collection includes many of the early birds and flowers for which Boehm became best known. Hundreds of black-and-white photos of the earth taken from hundreds of miles aloft by the TIROS weather satellites designed and refined by Abraham Schnapf and his colleagues at the RCA David Sarnoff research facility in Princeton will be sold. TIROS I was launched in April, 1960, followed in rapid succession by a series of other TIROS satellites over the next several years, each one more refined than its predecessor. By today’s standards the first-generation images transmitted back to Earth from space were rudimentary, yet spectacular. However, the pioneering technology engineered by Schnapf and his team introduced meteorologists, television weathermen, pilots, ship captains and others in need of accurate weather information to a more precise and dependable means by which to anticipate weather and its impact. Today’s forecasters owe a debt of gratitude to Schnapf and his colleagues for introducing an element of certainty to their inexact craft. "It was a different era, these were true pioneers and adventurers," his son reflected. "The temperament and level of excitement among citizens concerning each space launch was extreme instead of ‘ho hum, another shuttle launch’ like it is today. Back then, it really was the Golden Era." The sale will also include several desk top models of weather satellites Schnapf accumulated during his extraordinary career. The photographs, many of which are tagged with the logos of his employer and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will appeal to niche collectors on several levels – memorabilia from the earliest days of space exploration, meteorology and satellite imaging. Last month’s 50th anniversary of the launch of the Sputnik spacecraft from the former Soviet Union has also renewed interest in space memorabilia. In demand for his expertise, Schnapf’s work took him and his wife Edna on trips around the world – China, Japan, Europe and across the United States – all of which helps to explain the extensive collection of porcelain, art, glassware and jewelry that was in their Willingboro, N.J. home. Their son said his father’s ground breaking work opened many doors and opportunities for his parents during their travels, enabling them to meet the king of Spain, Russian cosmonauts and many of America’s original Mercury astronauts. Schnapf held several patents for devices and equipment he designed during his year’s working on weather satellites, and was honored by NASA with its Public Service award for his accomplishments and contributions to space technology. He was also accorded the RCA David Sarnoff Outstanding Achievement Award in Engineering and received a Certificate of Appreciation from the United States Commerce Department for his engineering and design work on weather satellites. He died in 1990 and his widow passed away in September. Their son and family members have been sorting through the items accumulated during a lifetime, took what they wanted and asked Bodnar to sell the remainder. "There’s just so much you can keep," their son explained. Other collectibles to be sold include: The House of Erte, Cybis Figurines, Daum France, a Nao collection, a collection of Orrefors, David Winter house collection, a selection of Mikasa, Coalport figurines, Kosta Boda, Art Glass, paperweights and bronzes. There’s also a collection of over 500 owls including porcelain, ceramic and glass. Bruce Schnapf said his mother also had an extensive collection of fine and costume jewelry, with over 600 lots of gold and sterling silver pieces to be sold. Many of the items to be sold are souvenirs, mementoes of his parents’ trips abroad, as well as keepsakes from specific events – the opera in Milan, trips to Copenhagen and Shanghai. "My parents were big supporters of the arts, museums and the theater," Bruce Schnapf said. "They were great travelers; we’ve looked at their slides and home movies, and although we didn’t have the benefit of audio, we could still enjoy the images and watch their stories unfold," he added. ----------------------------------------------------- The Ukrainian Cultural Center is at 135 Davidson Avenue, right off the Easton Avenue exit on Route 287 in Somerset, New Jersey. All sales are final, with all items sold as is with no returns. There is an 11 percent buyer’s premium and seven percent sales tax unless a resale certificate is shown. Checks are accepted with valid driver’s license and credit card. New bidders must present proper ID at check-in. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted. Further information is available by calling Bodnar’s Auctions at (866) 349-7378 or the website, www.bodnarsauction.comFRANKLIN, N.J. - Chief Petty Officer Walter Vila spent his career in the U.S. Navy and the better part of his adult life collecting works of art in his adopted homeland.
Following two tours of duty in Vietnam, the last 16 years of his life were spent attached to the Mediterranean Fleet, where he settled on the island of Sardinia off the coast of Italy. A patron of the arts and counted as a good friend by many of the island's artists, Vila would host wine tastings and art exhibitions at his home where his artist friends would sell their paintings.
If the paintings were to go unsold for any length of time, Vila would often have the opportunity to buy them at reduced prices, which helped to build his collection of contemporary, abstract and impressionist works, according to his sister, Judy Scanlon.
"I remember as a child, he used to draw all the time. He just loved art, so for him to start collecting it wasn't a surprise, it was in his nature,'' she explained.
When he died nearly 20 years ago, she had his collection shipped to the United States, but is now parting with most of the paintings as she prepares to move to South Carolina from her New Jersey home.
Bodnars Auctions will sell the art collection, along with other artwork and more than 3,000 lots from other estates including toys, model trains, dolls, glassware, porcelain, Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes, furniture and collectibles during a July 20 sale at the Ukrainian Cultural Center.
Several lots will also be available to Internet bidders via Ebay Live.
Most of the items in the multi-estate sale come from New Jersey homes. From a North Jersey house comes a collection of Daguerreotype and Ambrotype photos in traveling cases showing several generations of one family as well as a collection of miniature paintings and a 19th-century American School portrait of a young girl with a hoop.
A collection of Herend porcelain from Hungary comes from a North Brunswick home, while a collection of decorative art items including Royal Worcester and Limoges was consigned by an Elizabeth woman. A quality selection of Victorian furniture including a complete bedroom set signed Hillsborough, Illinois comes from a Branchburg estate.
A collection of 1950-1980s toys, dolls and doll accessories packed in boxes by a Somerville couple that used to work flea markets and shows will highlight the toy lots, along with a collection of quality Lionel trains - mint in the box - and a collection of 120 Jeff Gordon NASCAR-related items, including diecast cars that are being sold by a Milltown consignor.
This sale will again include the contents of a North Jersey flower shop featuring silk flowers, bows, ribbons, wrapping paper and giftware. The remaining contents will be sold in next month's sale.
Because of scheduling conflicts and the popular Brimfield sale in Massachusetts, Bodnar rescheduled his monthly auction a week later than usual. Next month's sale will be Aug. 10.
What makes the paintings from the Vila collection unique is what's taped to the reverse of each frame - a photo of the painting, the artist, and in some cases, the party at which the artwork was displayed. Some were signed and personalized, according to Scanlon.
The Vila collection features signed works by V. Pinna, Vito Ferrari, Alberto Marani, Libero Meledina, Sebastian, a few charcoals and a Salvador Dali print. Also from his collection are a few pieces of cast Italian sculpture including a figure of Caesar and a Roman soldier.
Bodnar offered several insights on some of the items he emptied out of the houses. There are 30 lots of Lionel trains and accessories dating from the 1940s and '50s that he says were hardly used, still in their original boxes including a No. 736 engine, freight cars, milk car, searchlight car and a cattle loader with the cattle still in their separate boxes.
Hundreds of dolls and doll accessories come from the home of the couple that used to sell at flea markets. Some of the smaller dolls and accessories are still sealed in their plastic wrap on remain fastened on their original display cards. Included are Shirley Temples, dolls by Ideal, Efanbee and Madame Alexander, some Barbies and a few Kenner action dolls.
Bodnar identified one Ambrotype from the collection of 50 as somewhat unique. The image of the gentleman features colorized gold highlights of his ring, watchfob and tie clasp. Even more intriguing is the hard case, which has an embossed image of a Civil War-era ironclad at a dock in the foreground, with a fortress, cannons and an American flag in the background. Many of the cases are signed Holmes, Syracuse, N.Y.
Gilded gold French lamps and a four-piece terra cotta parlor stove highlight items from the Elizabeth collection, which also includes a Moser decanter travel set, toleware and an unusual folding iron settee.
Another highlight is a collection of Steuben art glass, including an elephant with an elevated trunk.
The Herend porcelain collection includes dinnerware, vases, figurines, bud vases and tall vases and an ice bucket. A highlight is a 13-inch tureen in the Queen Elizabeth I pattern with a lemon handle on the cover.
The 3,000-lot July 20 auction begins at 9:45 a.m., with previews July 19, 6-8:30 p.m. and 9 a.m. the day of the sale.
The tentative schedule begins with box lots at 9:45 a.m., with toy box lots at 1:45 p.m. Costume jewelry and fine jewelry follows at 3 p.m., with table lots and dinnerware at 3:30 p.m.
The main auction begins at or around 4:30 p.m. with glassware, toys, dolls and trains.
There will be two auctions running simultaneously.
The special catalog sale begins at 5 p.m.
Catalog furniture begins at 6 p.m. and uncataloged furniture at 7 p.m.
The Ukrainian Cultural Center is at 135 Davidson Avenue, right off interstate Route 287.
All sales are final, with all items sold as is with no returns. There is a 11 percent buyer's premium and six percent sales tax unless a resale certificate is shown. Checks are accepted with valid driver's license and credit card. New bidders must present proper ID at check-in. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted.
Further information is available by calling Bodnar's Auctions at (866)349-7378. About the only thing missing from Joe Bodnar’s May 11 sale of ‘50s memorabilia, pedal cars and diner fixtures is a gum-snapping, fast-talking waitress with bad hairdo and too much makeup. A 20-year collection of advertising signs, fixtures, menus, soda bottles and cardboard popcorn containers once featured on a New York collectibles television show are featured in Bodnar’s Auctioneers monthly sale at the Ukrainian Cultural Center near Interstate 287 in Franklin Township, N.J. The sale will also include 265 pieces of stemware from a Perth Amboy estate, all unique, from cut-to-clear to handblown pieces, a lifetime collection belonging to a 90-year-old woman. The 2,500-lot sale begins at 10:30 a.m., and will also include furniture, glassware, jewelry, toys, clocks and collectibles. The items in the ‘50s collection were gathered from a variety of sources, including a junkyard in Staten Island and an old confectioner’s store in New Jersey. Highlights include a fully-restored Seeburg jukebox in working order, and the rear end of a cherry red 1960 Cadillac complete with customized upholstered seat. Both were purchased years ago from John T. Johnson of Brooklyn, N.Y., arguably one of the best restoration experts of jukeboxes, slot and pinball machines in the northeast. “When I was buying the jukebox from him, I’m handing him the money and I’m running over to the couch; I had to put something in the room to sit on that’s going to fit, and that was a perfect piece,’’ explained Louise Friscia. The jukebox is loaded with 45s from the ‘50s and ‘60s, some of which she bought as a teenager. “The rest of the stuff I picked up at flea markets, auctions, newspaper ads, shows, antique shops, I was always picking up something.” The PAX television network devoted a segment of its “Treasures in Your Home” show to her collection in 2000. “The first piece I collected was the pay telephone,” she explained, referring to a classic black box rotary pay phone with nickel, dime and quarter drop slots. There’s also a bright red vintage Texaco gas pump. She’s able to tell a story about every piece in her collection, and admits she’s going to miss it all. “No, it’s not that I really want to sell it, but I’ve relocated to a house that’s more of a traditional setting and I really don’t have the room. I always loved the ‘50s,’’ she said. “I guess it was more of a relaxed time, more simple than today.” She recalls spending time at her grandparents’ home in Brooklyn, a typical neighborhood teeming with young kids. “There were a lot of little boys who had pedal cars, a lot of fire engine ones, and one time I asked my grandfather for one, but he told me that they weren’t meant for little girls.” She suspects that’s why she began collecting pedal cars, several of which she worked on restoring herself. “There was an ad in the paper, this guy had lots of pedal car parts, some bodies without wheels, some stripped down with primer. I grabbed a bunch from him and decided to try and restore a few. I had a professional finish them off, but I did some of the body work and ordered the parts,’’ she explained. Her collection features dozens of paper and pressed metal advertising signs. One of the better pieces is a “Fountain Suggestions” wallboard featuring ice cream sodas for 25 cents, banana splits for 40 cents and a hot fudge nut sundae for 40 cents. “I was I New Jersey, in Keyport, and I stopped off to just get a cup of coffee at this place; I can’t call it a diner, it was an old soda fountain place that also sold things like birthday cards and toiletries. Behind the ccunter I can see this menu sticking up from behind a milk dispenser, and I see “Fountain Suggestions,’’ she said. “I called over the owner and asked him about it, but he said ‘I can’t move it, it’s too heavy.’ So I gave him my card. A year later he calls, tells me he was selling the business, that’s how I got the enu. “What’s good about it,’’ she continued, “is that he didn’t ruin it by crossing out the prices when they got higher.’’ In addition to the customized Cadillac bench seat, her collection includes a mounted steering wheel from a ‘50s Pontiac. “I saw this car for years in an old junkyard on Staten Island; there were like three cars piled on top of it, and it reminded me of one of my grandmother’s old cars with the big steering wheel; I asked the junkyard owner if I could have it, and he said, “yeah, go ‘head,’ so I took a hack saw and cut the steering wheel off and had someone make a stand for it.’’ She also is selling a 1960 Cadillac steering wheel and 1960 Cadillac hubcap. “I can count on one hand the things I bought on Ebay, but that includes the hubcap and the steering wheel. I wanted to match it with the car,’’ she explained. “I’m sad to see it go of course, 20 years of collecting and all, but I really don’t have any room. I had it all boxed up in the attic. What good is it in the attic or garage. I had my enjoyment out of it,’’ she explained. Reluctant to sell, but committed to doing so, Louis said she will attend the auction. “Absolutely, I’ll be there all day,’’ she said, “but I’ll have to keep my hands in my pockets and my eyes closed.’’ The 2,000-lot May 11 auction begins at 10:30 a.m., with previews May 10, 6-8:30 p.m. and 10 a.m. the day of the sale. The tentative schedule begins with box lots at 10:30 a.m., with table lots and dinnerware at 3:30 p.m. Costume jewelry and fine jewelry follows, with the main auction beginning at or around 3:30 p.m. There will be two auctions running simultaneously. The special catalog sale begins at 5 p.m. Catalog furniture begins at 6:30 p.m. and uncataloged furniture at 7 p.m. The Ukrainian Cultural Center is at 135 Davidson Avenue, right off interstate Route 287. All sales are final, with all items sold as is with no returns. There is a 10 percent buyer’s premium and six percent sales tax unless a resale certificate is shown. Checks are accepted with valid driver’s license and credit card. New bidders must present proper ID at check-in. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted. Further information is available by calling Bodnar’s Auctions at (866)349-7378. Local Tattoo Shop of Guinness Book of World Records Holder to be Sold on March 9, 2006! He took a drag on his first Lucky Strike when he was 9, and sat for his first tattoo when he was 13. He quit smoking by the time he was 40 after two heart attacks convinced him to do so, but he never quit sitting for tattoos. He rattles off the names of the world’s best tattoo artists like a fan reciting the names of his sports heroes. The artists, Stiggy says, all wanted a piece of him. There was plenty to go around - arms, legs, back, chest, wrists, thighs, buttocks, calfs, ankles, insteps and toes - enough room for 5,555 tattoos and enough to earn him an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. Now 68, and in failing health, it’s been years since Walter Stiglitz has been jabbed or done the jabbing. A stroke last year really slowed him down; had that not happened, chances are he’d still be mixing inks and practicing his art form at his North Plainfield, N.J. tattoo parlor. A legend in the world of tattoos and tattoo art, he was smoking five or six packs a day as a teenager, buying three cartons a week from wages earned as a painter and truck driver. He also invested heavily in tattoos. “Tattoo Stiggy” as he was known was something of a celebrity during his 14-year reign as the Guinness poster boy for body art, making television appearances and working the radio circuit. A wall poster showing him in his prime in 1987 hung on the wall in the back room of the tattoo shop, a complex montage of curves, swirls, figures, gargoyles, snakes and other designs. The last tattoo - number 5,555 - is on his rear end. “You know, the end,’’ he jokes. After the stroke last year, his daughter convinced him it was time to pack it in, and contacted Central New Jersey auctioneer Joe Bodnar to see whether there’d be any interest in the contents of Stiggy’s longtime North Plainfield tattoo parlor. In particular, she mentioned a 1950s mechanical riding horse, and a 1960s fire engine mechanical amusement ride. That was enough for Bodnar to schedule a visit, but not before Stiggy emptied out a few items to take home to his apartment. Stiggy’s collection of flea market finds, toys, carnival rides, tattoo art and other oddities will be sold by Bodnar next Thursday during his monthly auction at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Franklin. “Originally we were only going there for the mechanical horse and the carousel fire engine, but when we walked in and saw everything, I said to him ‘We’ll take it all,’ ‘’ Bodnar said. “I’m looking here, looking there, it was like walking into a carnival, like I was at Great Adventure or the boardwalk.’’ The two rooms that make up Stiggy’s tattoo parlor were crammed floor to ceiling with everything from a stuffed toy gorilla and disco floor dance ball to a Texas Longhorn skull - purchased in Mexico - 1950s pin-ups and a beat-up Koken barber chair that Stiggy sat in as a kid at a Newark barber shop to have his hair cut. He bought the chair from the son’s owner when the shop closed, and used it for his customers when he was working on their tattoos. The fixtures in the shop were old school, some pretty rugged stuff - Stiggy mixed his own inks. In the front room were scores of three ring binders and books containing tens of thousands of tattoo art swatches and patches for customers to browse through. All of the tattoo art will be sold. Bodnar unearthed a real prize in the back room, a plastic Elvis Presley toy guitar still sealed in its original packing, dating from the 1960s. The auctioneer expects at least one bidder will make a strong play for the toy guitar. “About a week before we went to the tattoo parlor, I had picked up another toy collection from a consignor, a big toy collector, and he actually told me that he had always wanted that Presley guitar,’’ Bodnar explained. “He told me he had tried to buy one recently, but someone beat him to it, and there it is, a week later, a guitar just like the one he wanted.’’ Stiggy’s collection is just the beginning. Bodnar has been accumulating a wide selection of toys the past 4 months, over 1,000 lots including battery-operated robots, cars and trucks; action figures, dolls and trains. There will be a selection of early country primitives from an Edison, N.J. estate and the contents of a Staten Island collectibles shop - over 2,000 quality collector plates and a large selection of Hummels, Hummel Miniatures, Goebel figurines, Precious Moments, Sebastian figurines, Red Skelton clowns, pewter items, steins, and Department 56 collectibles, enough to fill an 18-foot trailer. Numismatists will be drawn to a selection of U.S. silver coins and paper currency found in the attic of a New Brunswick, N.J. house, and from the Jersey Shore, the contents of a Victorian home featuring period furniture and smalls including a Limoges signed plaque, Royal Bonn, collection of Flow Blue, plus other quality glassware and porcelain. Highlights include: A maple corner cabinet, mahogany breakfront with bubble glass panels, Victorian washstand, banded mahogany tea table, mahogany Chinese Chippendale corner cabinet, mahogany sewing stand, selection of mahogany beds, Art Deco blanket chest, Victorian fireplace mantle, maple dining room set, Hitchcock kitchen set, Empire fall-front desk, Jenny Lynn bed, maple blanket chest, quality maple bedroom set, Period Queen Anne drop-leaf table, Victorian rope-turn drop-leaf table, oak dresser, oak rocker, mahogany dinning room set, mahogany plant-stand, an English wardrobe, English kitchen table, curio cabinet, oak dresser, 1939 World’s Fair folding table, and a selection of table top display cabinets, plus much more! Other items of interest include a large selection of 20th Century bronzes, selection of advertising items, selection of radios, table-top victrola, large selection of records including 78s, 45s and rock & roll 33s; early brass candle sticks; two Native American Indian blankets, large selection of paper goods and magazines including a Playboy collection, swords, knives, WWI bayonet, selection of clocks, selection of sterling silver and silver plate, selection of elegant lighting including lamps, sconces and chandeliers, a selection of brass, bronze and mixed-metal items and a large selection of early country collectibles and kitchen collectibles, selection of textiles, some clothing, a large collection of costume jewelry and fine jewelry, including 14k and18k diamonds, rubies and other precious stone jewelry, Victorian prints, original oils, lithographs, drawings, plus other quality art and coins. There are German and English dinnerware sets, service for 12, a Johnson Brothers Strawberry Fair dinnerware set, selection of Nippon and Noritake, a Limoges hand-painted plaque signed L. Barbot 1890, a Royal Bonn tall vase, a selection of Bisque figurines, large selection of Flow Blue plates and Depression and Carnival glass and art pottery. The Ukrainian Cultural Center is at 135 Davidson Ave. Somerset, N.J., off exit 10 of Route 287. Previews are Wednedsay 6-8:30 p.m. and 10 a.m. the day of the sale. The auction begins with box lots at 10:30 a.m.; toy, doll and train box lots at 1 p.m.; table lots and dinnerware, 4 p.m.; costume jewelry and fine jewelry, 3:30 p.m.; coin auction, 4:15 p.m.; main auction of glassware, individual items, 5 p.m.; toy, doll and train auction, 5 p.m.; furniture 6 p.m. and Toys from All Generations Catalog Sale, 6:45 p.m. There is a 10 percent buyer’s premium and 6 percent New Jersey sales tax. Credit cards are accepted, and all sales are final. Check the website at bodnarsauctions.com, or call toll free (866) 349-7378. Bodnar's to sell Lifetime Collection of Magazines! FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. December 2005 - As a young man, George Tsirikos was smitten by Hollywood starlets and Big Screen heros, oftentimes traveling from his home in Newark across the Hudson River to the bright lights of New York City and Broadway for a glimpse of the stars outside the theaters on the Great White Way. His sons Tom and Dennis say their father was an avid photographer, and was able to focus his camera lense on the likes of a young Judy Garland, Hedi Lamar, Bert Lahr and Basil Rathbone. He sought out signatures of movie stars and sports figures, and surrounded himself with magazines, a collection that grew over the years to number in excess of 2,000. His two sons suspect their late father was drawn to the magazines as much for his respect of the written word as the photographs. He was an avid reader, and saved newspapers as well, according to his sons. Beginning in 1937, and continuing through the 1960s, Tsirikos subscribed to Life and Look, the most widely-read and respected weekly newsmagazines of their time, as well as more obscure publications that focused on movie stars and celebrities like Pic, Peek, Snap and Lass. The entire collection will be sold by Bodnar Auctions at their Dec. 8 sale at the Ukrainian Cultural Center. The auction will also be featured online at Ebay.com. Dennis Tsirikos said their widowed mother had no use for the magazines, which have sat in the basement of their home since her husband died in 2001. "She’s got limited resources; they’ve just been sitting there, and are probably worth something to someone out there,’’ Dennis Tsirikos said. "My mom would complain that he never looked at them anymore, and that they took up a lot of space, but they were very special to him,’’ added his brother. Tom Tsirikos, an educator, spent a good deal of his summer vacation this year sorting through and chronicling the stacks of magazines, and despite having been stored in the basement of their home, the periodicals have been preserved in near-mint condition, according to auctioneer Joe Bodnar. "He would always treat them gently and with care so as not to break the binding or crease any of the pages ,’’ explained Dennis Tsirikos. "He had an appreciation for magazines, and books for that matter as well.’’ The collection includes 976 Life magazines and half as many issues of Look, as well as 197 Pic magazines and lesser numbers of the other titles. Most of those more obscure magazines date from 1938-1940, according to Tom Tsirikos. "There’s 20 issues of Peek, 16 of Lass, and about 20 different types of magazines with as few as one, seven or nine issues,’’ he added. Neither son remembers their father reading the magazines. "I don’t think he ever thought of them as an investment, it was more of when he retired, he’d go back through them; that’s what he liked to do.’’ Bodnar’s monthly auction will also feature furniture, jewelry, glassware, porcelain, pottery, toys and collectibles including Hummel Figurines, Lladro, Royal Doulton and Lenox birds. In addition to the Tsirikos magazine collection, Bodnar will have other periodicals in the sale, including a coveted Volume One, Issue One of Sports Illustrated. There will also be Victorian-era childrens’ books and other books and paper goods. Previews are Wednesday, Dec. 7 from 6-8:30 p.m., and beginning 10 a.m. the day of the sale. The auction begins 11 a.m. with box lots. There is a 10 percent buyers’ premium; for those who bid online, there is an 18 percent buyers’ premium; you can register online at bodnarsauction.com The Ukrainian Cultural Center, 135 Davidson Avenue, is off Exit 10 of Route 287, which connects with the New Jersey Turnpike. There are at least six hotels within 1/2 mile of the auction site. Further information is available by visiting the website - bodnarsauctions.com or by calling toll free (866) 349-7378. Bodnar's To Sell Local Estate packed with outstanding Art on September 8, 2005 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center, Franklin Township, N.J. Connoisseurs of fine art are expected to converge at Joe Bodnar’s Sept. 8 auction in New Jersey for an opportunity to purchase more than 100 paintings from a private collection that features a selection of primitive and formal paintings from European and American artists. But it doesn’t stop there. The art collection reflects the varied tastes of this sophisticated collector, which shifted over time as he grew older. The collection reflects great extremes, from his early passion for modern art, before he began to dabble in primitive African art before shifting again to a concentration in primitive American and English art, including portraitures and landscapes. The featured painting on the cover of the catalog is an unsigned 38-by-31 inch mid-19th century American oil on canvas depicting 3 adolescents, with a pre-bid estimate of $6,000-$9,000. Quality Master and unsigned pieces including 18th and 19th century children portraits; ship paintings; folk art paintings; Hudson River school paintings; Native American portrait paintings and Northeast Americana painting, as well as a selection of quality 20th century Modern works of art, will be sold with no reserve. “It reminded me of when I used to take classes at the Met,’’ Bodnar explained, referring to courses he took at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. “Each room I walked into, it just got better and better. There were paintings hung throughout the entire house. “In the foyer were the American school portraits of little girls; you make a right into the living room, you saw all the Hudson River school paintings and early Americana paintings,’’ he continued. “The piano room had European paintings in the back hallway. There was a room like an old time study or after dinner smoking room; the sailing ships were in that room, and in the old dining room were the still lifes. Upstairs was the modern artwork. “It’s the best collection of art I’ve seen in a house, it’s such a broad spectrum of styles and time periods, from the 1840s to the 1980s,’’ he added. This collection also features a selection of quality American and European furniture and decorative arts including a selection of 19th Century furniture, ranging from a bronze mounted flower base satinwood dining room table (ca. 1860-1870) with 6 period chairs to a selection of Victorian furniture, including a cast iron music stand with adjustable holders and claw foot base as well as 20th Century Modern furniture. There is also a selection of quality glassware and porcelain including a selection of early Meissen, flow blue, portrait vases and plaques and other decorative art items. There’s also a collection of 75 daguerreotypes and ambrotypes. Bidders in the audience will be joined by bidders on the Ebay Internet auction site. The collector, who died at the age of 92, began putting together the collection 50 years ago; many of the works of art were by artists who were his acquaintances. The paintings had all been hung on the walls of a splendid Victorian-era home in Central New Jersey, and shared space with the antique furnishings purchased by his wife, who was also an artist and sculptor. Some of her work shared space with the artwork on her husband’s collection. The clash in styles and cultures - from primitive African sculpture to Hudson River school paintings of the early 19th century - serve as guideposts to the evolution of the eclectic collection. “My father had no artistic talent himself, but he had a keen interest in art,’’ the couple’s son explained. “Once he began to get interested in a particular area, he’d start reading about it and seek out those who knew that kind of art. He developed a network of dealers who would sell to him.’’ In the later years of his life, the collector’s “hobby’’ as described by the son concentrated solely on English and American naivete, or primitive style works of art produced in the early 19th century by artists in England and America. The majority of the paintings in Bodnar’s auction are of that genre. “Our parents would be very happy to have each of these pieces of art and each piece of furniture go to collectors who appreciate its worth and who will place it in a treasured place in their home; that’s something they would have wanted,’’ their son said. Other highlights in the multi-estate sale include: box lots at 11:15 a.m., with table lots and dinnerware at 3:30 p.m.; costume jewelry, 4:15 p.m.; the Main Sale, featuring uncataloged glassware and smalls, 4:30 p.m.; the single-owner art collection, 5 p.m., and furniture, 6:15 p.m. The Sept. 8 auction begins at 10:30 a.m., with previews Sept. 7, 6-8:30 p.m. and 10:30 a.m. the day of the sale. The Ukrainian Cultural Center is at 135 Davidson Avenue, right off interstate Route 287. All sales are final, with all items sold as is with no returns. There is a 10 percent buyer’s premium and six percent sales tax unless a resale certificate is shown. Checks are accepted with valid driver’s license and credit card. New bidders must present proper ID at check-in. Visa Mastercard and American Express are accepted. Bodnar’s Oct. 20 sale will feature the contents of a Linden, New Jersey home, with more than 100 clocks from a 60-year collection as well as a selection of quality art pottery, Victorian furniture and antique rugs. Further information is available by calling Bodnar’s Auctions at (866)349-7378. SPECIAL SALE ADDED FOR JULY 21, 2005! FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Like a platoon of green recruits with a surly Marine drill sergeant barking at their heels, auctioneer Joe Bodnar needs to “move it, move it, move it.’’ With little storage space left, he’s had to add a second sale to his July calendar, devoted exclusively to the contents of a home owned by a longtime New Jersey antiques dealer. Just one week following his regular once-a-month multi-estate auction, there’ll be a 3,000-lot sale July 21 that will fill the huge auditorium at the Ukrainian Cultural Center off Davidson Avenue. It’s a sale with “something for everyone,’’ Bodnar promises, with everything from fine porcelain, fine art and glassware to country primitives, fine jewelry, costume jewelry and hundreds of box lots filled with odds and ends - even a vintage ‘50s poodle skirt. Every piece was picked and packed from the home of Evelyn Green, who for as long as she can remember, had a fondness for antiques, going back to her childhood in a tiny Canadian town. “If you couldn’t find me, that’s because I was in a musty old antique shop,’’ she explained. Spunky, quick with a joke, and with no shortage of reminisces, Mrs. Green later moved to the United States, and with her husband, operated a “mom-and-pop’’ grocery store for several years before they decided to stock their shelves with something other than coffee, flour, beans and corn flakes. They opened an antiques store in Montclair, which they operated for more than a quarter-century until the landlord decided he wanted to rent the space to a beauty shop. So what was in the store came home, and what couldn’t fit inside the house went into storage. Then, seven months ago, her husband of 56 1/2 years died. It was a time for mourning and a time for decisions. The house would be sold, but before that could happen, it had to be cleared out. Bodnar was one of the dealers contacted; it took three days with a full crew to clear out what Mrs. Green was willing to part with. “I already had a lot of stuff when I came down from Canada,’’ she explained, “and my husband and I loved to do what he called saleing - you know garage sales, houses, and we added that to some of mine, and of course, once you have a store people come in and sell you things.’’ So the inventory in the store spilled over into their home. “You should never buy what you like,’’ she offered. “Then you keep a lot of it and then you have to have an auction.’’ A partial list of what will be sold includes a French curio cabinet, a pair of inlaid European chairs, a marble-top plant stand, a selection of Art Deco smoking stands, an inlaid parlor chair, inlaid flip-top game table, an Arts & Crafts umbrella stand and a Victorian fall front desk. Highlights include an Icart figurine, B&G crab and fish ashtray, a selection of Wedgwood, an Art Glass bubble controlled ink-well, a pair of Gouda style figurines, an opalescent bowl, a selection of Johnson Brothers, a Royal Doulton tureen, and a selection of Art Pottery including Roseville and McCoy. Also, a selection of planters and jardinières, a selection of Arts & Crafts style pottery, an Art Deco planter, Redwing pottery, a Nippon vase, majolica, pitcher & bowl sets, a large selection of jardinières, a selection of Limoges, a selection of steins, a selection of shoes, a selection of Victorian glass, Hummels and a Zolnay vase. More highlights include a selection of ruby glass and cut to clear, a selection of cut glass, a large selection of Depression Glass, a Bristol glass vase with cherub scene, a pair of ruby prism lustres, a Royal Bonn covered urn, a Kaiser figurine, Mary Gregory glass, a Fulper vase, a Noritake dinnerware set, tableware, stacks of plates, and more than 300 pieces of Stangl and a selection of 100 hand held mirrors. The selection continues - a large selection of over 150 pieces of sterling silver, a selection of quality silver-plate, a large selection of art work including a 1914 Impressionist painting signed F.W. Clintock, a selection of Maxfield Parish, signed Savoyor, a selection of early Icart prints, plus other quality art. Still more items include a selection of radios, a selection of country primitives including kitchen collectibles, an early egg box, a Newark, NJ script jug, a Victorian writing lap desk with sterling silver top, a large selection of elegant lighting including lamps and sconces, cast iron Santas, a selection of dolls and toys, Native American Indian pottery, an early microscope, a selection of more than 40 bronzes including a large re-cast Remington Bronze, bronze statues and bookends, a pair of Art Nouveau book-ends, a selection of walking sticks, a selection of dresser boxes, a student lamp, stamps, guitar, crank victrola, saxophone, cast-iron collectibles, a Victorian knife box, a selection of fine and costume jewelry, evening bags, a selection of lighters, a selection of pipes, a selection of dresser pieces, a selection of perfume bottles, a large selection of books and Victorian paper goods and a selection of Victorian lighting and oil lamps. The July 21 auction begins at 11:15 a.m., with previews July 20, 6-8:30 p.m. and 10:30 a.m. the day of the sale. The Ukrainian Cultural Center is at 135 Davidson Avenue, right off interstate Route 287. All sales are final, with all items sold as is with no returns. There is a 10 percent buyer’s premium and six percent sales tax unless a resale certificate is shown. Checks are accepted with valid driver’s license and credit card. New bidders must present proper ID at check-in. Visa Mastercard and American Express are accepted. Further information is available by calling Bodnar’s Auctions at (866)349-7378. Bodnar’s next auction is Aug. 11, and will feature a large selection of toys. Bodnar's "Great Collections Sale'' June 9 at Ukrainian Cultural Center, Franklin Township, N.J. As much as they enjoyed traveling, Lynne Varga-Lichtman and her husband also enjoyed collecting, which enabled them to accumulate an eclectic assortment of Hungarian Herend porcelain, Lalique glassware from France, Russian lacquer ware boxes and glass paperweights made in the U.S.A. Her mother-in-law, who lived in London, was Hungarian, and traveled to that country frequently. She returned from one trip to Budapest with a Herend bonbon dish in 1971, and that got things started. "My favorite pieces are the Herend porcelain animals,’’ she said, listing a large duck, owl, goose, giraffe, a set of lions and penguins on an ice flow as some of her favorites. Now widowed and years later, she is thinning out her collections in preparation for a move to a smaller house than where she is now living outside Atlantic City, N.J. Hers is one of several "Great Collections" that will be sold in a catalog sale by Bodnar’s Auctions on June 9 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Franklin Township, N.J., a landmark sale that will also feature 75 hand-made quilts dating to the 19th century; a Victorian-era military library of 100 books including a volume signed by Queen Victoria; swords, bayonets and weapons; celebrity photographs; estate jewelry; clocks; Shelley porcelain and quality dinnerware by Minton, Tiffany, Wedgewood, Noritake and others. The on-site sale will also feature live Internet bidding on Ebay.Gail Vitale, a retired antiques dealer from Spring Lake, N.J., with 36 years in the business has also supplied Bodnar with hundreds of lots, including Shelley porcelain which she characterized as "pristine.’’ "Some beautiful collections have passed through my hands over the years,’’ she said, but one that she held on to until now is a Victorian button collection that she had obtained from a woman many years ago, a collection that had been passed on through several generations. More than 200 one-of-a-kind buttons are included in the collection, including a very rare Teddy Roosevelt button. "People back then used to save anything of value; they’d snip buttons off old cloth and save it,’’ she explained. Joe Bodnar, a seasoned auctioneer who runs Central New Jersey’s biggest auction each month, expects the buttons, many of them enamel and rhinestone, will draw a great deal of interest from collectors, as will Vitale’s collection of dinnerware. "There’s just too many to count; I ran out of steam with my packing,’’ she said laughing, "so some of that will have to go in his next auction.’’ Some of the Minton pieces he’ll be selling are very unique,’’ she added, "nice English things you’re not going to find every day.’’Bodnar will also offer Vitale’s collection of beaded bags. "They’re not in pristine condition,’’ Vitale said, "but collectors are going to love the clasps and holders, they’re just wonderful pieces.’’Equally wonderful is Varga-Lichtman’s collection of Russian lacquer boxes. Both she and her husband traveled to Russia frequently. "Both our families were from there, and we wanted to visit our roots,’’ she explained.A friend of her father’s worked at the American embassy in Moscow, and was in a position to make their travel in the country easier than it was for most Westerners. That enabled the couple to visit many of the villages where the intricate hand-painted black lacquer boxes were produced.Previews are Wednesday, June 8 from 6-8:30 p.m., and beginning 10:00 a.m. the day of the sale. The auction begins 11:15 a.m. with box lots, and will follow this schedule: table lots and dinnerware, 3:15 p.m.; costume jewelry, 3:30 p.m.; glassware, porcelain and smalls, 4:30 p.m. "Great Collection" catalog sale, 4:30 p.m.; furniture, 6 p.m. Catalogs will be available on-site for the 700-lot "Great Collections" sale. There is a 10 percent buyers’ premium; for those who bid online, there is an 18 percent buyers’ premium; you can register online at bodnarsauction.com The Ukrainian Cultural Center, 135 Davidson Avenue, is off Exit 10 of Route 287, which connects with Route 70 and the New Jersey Turnpike. There are at least six hotels within 1/2 mile of the auction site. Further information is available by visiting the website or by calling toll free (866) 349-7378. .
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