Converse Auctions online only East Meets West Auction on March

The auction will be Internet-only but previews will be held in Converse Auctions’ new gallery located at 1 Spring Street in Paoli, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia.

Paoli, PA, USA, February 29, 2020 -- A striking oil portrait painting of a young girl by Russian artist Alexei Harlamoff, a handsome William Gilbert Jewelers wall regulator clock, a pair of fine elaborate zitan folding chairs with dragon arms, and a gorgeous bronze enamel censer in a presentation box are a taste of what’s in Converse Auctions’ East Meets West Auction on Friday, March 13th at 10 am EST.

The auction will be online-only, but previews will be held in Converse Auctions’ new gallery located at 1 Spring Street in Paoli, not far off Interstate 76 and just outside of Philadelphia, north and west of the city. Previews will be held Tuesday through Thursday, March 10-12, from 10-4 Eastern time. Internet bidding will be facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. People can also register and bid online at www.ConverseAuctions.com (and enjoy a lower buyer’s premium in the process).

The auction is packed with 579 lots of fine American, European, African, Chinese and other Asian items – a tantalizing blend of objects from the East alongside items from the Western culture (hence the title ‘East Meets West’). All lots have a starting bid of $10, a tactic designed to encourage newcomers to the collecting world, and old pros as well, to bid early and bid often.

Items from the East include Chinese fine furniture, bronzes, carvings, glass, paintings, jewelry, wooden boxes and brush pots, textiles, vintage Japanese textile kimonos, robes, obis and accessories, scrolls, prints, porcelain, books and cryptomeria.

Items from the West will feature fine art paintings and prints by Vlaminck, Cope, Sobossek, Burliuk, Dauchot and others, plus Mexican child portraits and Haitian paintings, a torso attributed to Brancusi, furniture and sterling silver (including a Reed & Barton service for eight).

Also offered will be clocks, European and American pottery and porcelain, Mid-Century Modern lots, art glass, decoys, insulators, African tribal artifacts, books, jewelry, vintage accessories (to include a lovely Hermés scarf), large Persian Tabriz and other rugs, and many other great items.

The oil on canvas portrait by Alexei Harlamoff (Russian, 1840-1925), depicts a young girl wearing traditional ethnic dress, her soulful eyes staring directly at the viewer as she delicately touches the flower garland that crowns her head. The 28 inch by 34 ½ inch painting is signed lower right “Harlamoff” (est. $6,000-$9,000). The William Gilbert Jewelers wall regulator, 80 inches tall, has a pinwheel time only escapement with grid iron pendulum (est. $5,000-$8,000).

The elaborately decorated gilt bronze lidded censer with beast handles, 16 ½ inches tall, has an estimate of $8,000-$12,000. It has colorful accent characters, bats, flowers and tendrils on the body and lid, plus a presentation box. The two zitan folding chairs boast heavily carved legs, arm rests and back, all in a dragon and cloud motif. The backsplat has a dragon carved into it and the back of the chair is carved in a ruyi with flaming pearl. The pair should finish at $3,000-$5,000.

A pair of oil on canvas portraits of young girls, each one rendered by a Mexican artist and with an estimate of $1,000-$1,500, is sure to get paddles wagging. One is a rare painting by Horacio Renteria Rocha (Mexican, 1912-1972). It shows a girl elaborately dressed, holding chicks in her uplifted apron, as hens, chicks and puppies play at her feet. The other, by an unknown artist, is of a girl in fancy clothes with a toy dog. Her name is in a banner: “Nina Delores Vakao, AD 1890.”

An elaborately carved huanghuali lotus cabinet, carved all over in three-dimensional designs, is expected to change hands for $2,000-$4,000. The three top doors lift up and slide in, and there are two drawers underneath. The drawers are carved in lotus blossoms and leaves. Also, a bronze Buddha with a well-worn patina, accented in gilt bronze and bezel set turquoise stones, has an estimate of $800-$1,200. The figure is on a lotus petal and is in a custom wood presentation box.

Two very different lots share identical estimates of $2,000-$4,000. One is a large Persian Tabriz Oriental rug, 108 ½ inches by 150 inches, executed in dark reds with central flower and tendril motifs surrounded by various flower and tendril borders on blue backgrounds. The other is a lovely carved marble torso of a female, done in a style consistent with Constantin Brancusi’s stylized, simplified art. The unauthenticated piece is signed on the plinth, “C. Brancusi 1943”.

A short black silk Japanese kimono, or Haori gown robe, made around 1970 and decorated with cranes and flowers, 48 inches by 55 inches, should gavel for $100-$200. Also, a complete set of eleven The Tale of Genji books by Murasaki Shikibu, in Japanese, translated by Tanizaki jun and published in 1950, each book individually slipcased, will be offered up as one lot (est. $40-$80).

An oil on board painting of a village scene overlooking the sea by Maurice de Vlaminck (French, 1876-1958), signed lower left but unauthenticated, unframed and measuring 17 inches by 13 ½ inches, carries a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-$3,000; while a pastel Parisian café scene by the French artist Gabriel Dauchot (1927-2005), featuring a beautifully dressed couchette sitting at a table while a server stands behind her, undated, 22 ½ inches by 28 inches, should hit $300-$500.

A mahogany slant-top desk with two over three drawers, plus a top cupboard with an arched top and Eastlake style brasses, likely marriage, with two adjustable shelves and two drawers, has an estimate of $800-$1,200. Also, a pair of vintage Mid-Century Modern Danish bent wood arm chairs, measuring 27 inches by 27 inches by 31 inches, will be sold as one lot (est. $500-$800).

For more information about Converse Auctions and the East Meets West Antiques Auction on Friday, March 13th, please visit www.ConverseAuctions.com. Updates are posted frequently.

About Converse Auctions:
Converse Auctions is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, you may call them directly, at (610) 722-9004; or, you can send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Curious about an item’s value? Bring your items (or photos) to Free Appraisal Tuesdays, every Tuesday from 10 am to 4 pm at the new Paoli gallery. For more information, please visit www.converseauctions.com.

Media Contact:
Todd Converse
Converse Auctions
1 Spring Street
Paoli, PA, USA 19301
610-722-9004
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http://www.converseauctions.com

Chris Comet and The Tribe Reaching New Horizons Independent USA Import

Canyon Lake, TX, Mar 01, 2020 -- From out of nowhere this sensational Melodic Rockalbum was delivered at my house address and I am so glad it did, because we have something special here for sure. CHRIS COMET is a producer/composer/arranger/keyboardplayer/drummer who came to the USA 32 years ago, where he landed in Hollywood and started playing and producing in famous studios such as Westlake, A&M, Record Plant, Fantasy, Jackson family private studio and so on… He worked with many well-known session musicians, but eventually moved to Texas where he has his own studios called SOARING EAGLE. Here he recorded a really great record along with a bunch of other musicians and singers called THE TRIBE, consisting of Rudiger, Lead Singer & Backup Vocals, Paul Slade, Lead Singer, Composer, Acoustic Guitar, Kevin Reeves, Backup Vocals, Tony McElveen, Lead Singer and Backup Vocals, Marcello Vieira, Lead Singer and Backup Vocals, Glenn DeLaune, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar and Backup Vocals, Kamil Rustam, Electric Guitar and Acoustic Guitar, Claudio Tristano, Electric Guitar and Acoustic Guitar, Nick Miller, Electric Guitar, Jack Haigh, Acoustic Guitar, Chris West, Brass Section, Blake Mohler, Banjo and Pedal-Steel Guitar and Charles Berthoud, Bass and Fretless Bass.
 
The result is Reaching new horizons, an album featuring 11 state-of-the-art tunes that should be on the list of any must-have releases of the AOR/Melodic Rockfans out there. If we only just have a look at the first couple of songs it is clear we are dealing here with a sensational and original record that easily beats the FRONTIERS RECORDS releases. The music is prime-time pure Melodic Rock, with a focus on a major production and catchy melodies, while especially the guitarwork and vocals are simply fantastic. Opener Here comes the sun is a lovely well-thought uptempo melodic rocker that sounds like a cross between FAIR WARNING and ZENO. Next track What I'm waiting for is a superb AOR/Melodic Power (Semi) Rockballad in the classic tradition, somehow reminding me of MAGNUM. More classic 80s bombastic big time sounding Melodic Hardrock comes in the shape of Reaching new horizons that sounds like a perfect cross between LUCIFER'S FRIEND (circa their album Sumogrip), HOUSE OF LORDS and a bit of AORIsh ROXUS and ROX DIAMOND.
 
Thankfully the whole CD continues this Melodic Rocksound, even during the PROCOL HARUM cover A whiter shade of pale, because for example Down the corner is classic 80s Melodic Rock like TOBRUK, 80s BON JOVI, PHANTOM'S OPERA melted together. it doesn't really matter who sings, because each of the 4 singers has a strong and original voice, perfectly suitable for this kind of pure Melodic Rock. Every words we say is yet another classic HOUSE OF LORDS/GIUFFRIA/DAVID GLENN EISLEY/JAMES CHRISTIAN ish Power AOR Ballad and so is Without you that also reminds me of classic ROKO. Pure 80s AOR/Pop/Rock in the style of ERIC MARTIN, BE TAYLOR GROUP, STEVE PERRY, STARSHIP and such can be found during the midtempo You can count on me. There's actually no weak song to be found here, so this could well be one of the 2020 highlights in the Melodic Rock/AOR world!
 
Overall it also feels a bit like the legendary PHENOMENA snd INTELLIGENT MUSIC PROJECTS, yet with a very authentic classic Melodic Rocksound in the 80s traditional way, without sounding dated. Do not miss this gem and check it out at: http://www.chriscomet.com/about.htm

Media Contact:
Chris Comet Music
210-667-3716
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http://www.chriscomet.com

Nye and Companys Pop Up Fine Art Auction on Wednesday March 11th has something for everyone

The auction will be held online and at the Bloomfield, New Jersey gallery. The catalog will delight collectors of different tastes and collecting aesthetics, with works from the 17th thru the 20th century.

Bloomfield, NJ, USA, March 2, 2020 -- Following the success of Fashion Week in New York, London and Paris, Nye & Company is taking a page out of the fashion world and has created a Pop-Up Fine Art and Sculpture auction planned for Wednesday, March 11th, online and in the firm’s gallery at 20 Beach Street in Bloomfield. starting at 10 am Eastern time.

The sale is officially titled a Pop-Up Fine Art Auction. The auction will begin promptly at 10 am Eastern time. Internet bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. The catalog has also been posted to the Nye & Company website (www.nyeandcompany.com)

“We are excited to take a page out of the fashion world and offer this unexpected pop-up auction” said Andrew Holter of Nye & Company Auctioneers. “Walking the streets of New York, London and Paris you will undoubtedly find a pop up shop of exciting and trend setting fashions. We have decided to follow suit and offer our clients a unique opportunity to purchase works of art in a variety of different mediums and styles.”

Modern masters like Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Indiana and Manuel Rivera are represented. Lichtenstein’s Crak lithograph is a terrific representation of the Pop-Art Movement. Equally as exciting is the Golden Love silkscreen by Indiana. This iconic work or variation of this work can be found in just about every major museum or large-scale city as a public installation. The metal mesh on painted panel is a superb example of the Spanish avant-garde movement seen in the El Paso school of artists.

Inspired by the great French Impressionist/Post-Impressionist artists such as Cezanne, Gaugin and Signac, the Dutch/Indonesian artist Arie Smit has created a wonderful gouache on panel. Colorful and post-impressionistic, this work delights the eye with its vibrant and colorful depiction of an Indonesian rice fields. Continuing with the Impressionist movement, there is an exceptional etching titled Le Chapeau Epingle, after Pierre Auguste Renoir.

For the more traditional collector, there is an idyllic oil on canvas depicting cows in a landscape by Edmund Osthaus. Traditionally known for his depiction of sporting art and in particular, bird dogs, Osthaus has a superb ability to capture the very essence of animals. In particular, he is able to transport the viewer into the picture and elicit feelings of a hot, lazy summer day with cows grazing in the field.

For those that like the classic Old Masters, there is a rare Rembrandt Van Rijn etching from 1630. It is part of the self-portrait series, titled Self-Portrait in a Cap, Laughing. Rembrandt created roughly 30 self-portrait etchings. His etchings are highly sought after in the marketplace and in this particular example, he was able to capture his emotion and jovial spirit. The viewer can’t help but be drawn into this image and want to get to know this fascinating artist and man.

People can bid in person, by phone, in absentia and online. An online preview will be held February 27th- March 11th at www.nyeandcompany.com. First-hand gallery previews will be held Monday thru Friday, March 2nd-10th from 10 am to 4 pm; and Sunday, March 8th, from 12 noon to 4 pm. All times quoted are Eastern.

For more information about Nye & Company Auctioneers and the Estate Treasures Auction on Wednesday, March 11, visit www.nyeandcompany.com. The full color catalog can be viewed at www.nyeandcompany.com, LiveAuctioneers.com and Invaluable.com.

About Nye & Company:
John Nye had a long and fruitful career at Sotheby’s before he and his wife, Kathleen, acquired Dawson’s in 2003 and started Dawson & Nye. With the move to Bloomfield seven years later, they renamed the business to Nye & Company (Auctioneers, Appraisers, Antiques). The firm is nationwide, but the vast bulk of the business comes from trusts and estates in the tri-state area. To learn more, please visit the website, at www.nyeandcompany.com.

Media Contact:
John Nye
Nye & Company Auctioneers
20 Beach Street
Bloomfield, NJ, USA 07003
973-984-6900
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http://www.nyeandcompany.com

Holabirds four day Objects of Our Affections auction held Feb 14th 17th in Reno totals 356000 Dolar

The auction was held Thursday thru Monday, Feb. 14-17, online and live in the Reno, Nevada gallery. The top lot was a Native American-themed oil painting by Nevada gaming artist Franz Trevors.

Reno, Nevada, USA, February 27, 2020 -- A large Native American-themed oil painting by Nevada gaming artist Franz Trevors sold for $6,250, an ornate sterling silvered Mexican Charro parade-style saddle used in the Pasadena Rose Parade around 1940 brought $4,500, and a collection of 45 Alaska tokens fetched $5,375 in Holabird Western Americana Collections’ four-day auction held Feb. 14-17.

The Objects of Our Affection auction was packed with over 2,500 lots of numismatics, mining collectibles, Americana, railroad memorabilia and more. It was held online and in the Holabird gallery located at 3555 Airway Drive (Suite #308) in Reno. The overall gross was $356,000, as 2,450 people registered to bid online via iCollector, LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable and Auctionzip.

Featured were Part 1 of the John Reynolds collection of exonumia (numismatic items such as tokens, medals and scrip) and Americana; the Benjamin Fauver collection of counter tokens; the Bill Bliss collection of Potosi Mine (Nevada) gold and silver ingots; and numismatics, to include Masonic pennies, coins, medals, so-called dollars, tokens, shell cards, wooden money and dies.

Also offered were original James Marshall California Gold Rush collectibles; mining equipment, maps, ephemera, USGS folios and rare stock certificates; art (including works by Franz Trevors and William Forrest Martin, plus Japanese Netsuke); a whiskey and beer shot collection; vintage baseball and boxing collectibles; stocks and bonds from the Ken Prag collection; and other items.

Day 1, on Friday, February 14th, featured 74 lots of artwork, general Americana (to include jewelry, pocket watches, souvenir spoons, souvenir plates, ephemera (geographically sorted), miscellaneous items (including decoys, books, music, toys and more), an mining artifacts and ephemera (including books, more geographically sorted ephemera, equipment and other items.

The star lot of Day 1 was the oil painting by Franz Trevors (American, 1907-1980). The work, 5 feet by 8 feet and titled War Party on the Move, was commissioned by Felix Turrillas, Jr., the owner of Felix’s Bank Club in Lovelock, Nevada, and was rendered in the style of C.M. Russell. It had no signature because it was repaired for the Bank Club decades ago and, in the process, Trevors’s signature was erased. The painting depicted Native Americans in an outdoor setting.

Other Day 1 performers included a Regina 20 ¾ inch, style 26 music box built in 1899, boasting magnificent, bright and rich sound, with 23 metal discs 20 ¾ inches in diameter ($3,625); a five-star, ball-tipped “Deputy Sheriff” badge from Denver, Colorado, circa 1880s-1890s ($531); and a large Nevada steam-driven hoist, having no cable but great as a major mine display ($3,125).

Day 2, on Saturday, February 15th, was dedicated to almost entirely to geographically sorted stocks and bonds (with categories that include mining, railroad, transportation and general). Also offered were railroad artifacts and ephemera. In all, 643 lots crossed the auction block on Day 2.

On Day 2 a stock certificate for Edison Phonographs, Ltd. (N.J.), signed by Thomas Edison himself as president and issued on April 5, 1922 to Henry Lanahan in the amount of one share, garnered $2,625; while a stock certificate for the Pennsylvania & Lake Superior (Mich.) Copper Company, dated Dec. 25, 1845 and one of the earliest Michigan mining stocks, rose to $1,125.

Day 3, on Sunday, February 16th, was a dream for fans of numismatics. Featured were coins (encased and elongated, Masonic and general), medals and so-called dollars, ingots, currency, exonumia, ephemera, tokens (shell cards and geographic sort), wooden money, dies and hobbs.

The Alaska token collection – 45 tokens, with various cities represented, including the Heraldic Art silver medal of Alaska statehood in 1959, was one of the day’s top lots. Also sold was a well-worn Italian Republic of Milan one lira silver coin from 1791 with an image of Leopold II on the obverse and counter-stamped by Sacramento, Calif. druggist J. L. Polhemus, hit $2,375.

Day 4, on Monday, February 17th, concluded the sale with a flourish. Offered were firearms and militaria, cowboy collectibles, Native Americana, bottles and glass, sports collectibles and bargains and dealer specials to include general Americana, numismatics and stocks and bonds. The stocks and bonds comprised several categories, to include mining, railroad and general.

The silvered, Mexican Charro parade-style saddle was the big attraction on Day 4. The high quality, ornate saddle came with a matching sabre, sombrero and other accoutrements. The sword had a Mexican engraved scene on the blade and was made by “A. Aragon, Oax.” The fact that the saddle was used in the Pasadena Rose Parade around World War II boosted its cachet.

Other Day 4 top lots included a group of nine photo pins for the Oakland Oaks (Calif.) baseball team (1903-1955), made by Whitehead & Hoag Co. of San Francisco, dating to around 1910 ($2,375); a token for the Pioneer Base Ball Club (Springfield, Mass., organized in April 1858), with a pictorial of a hitter on the obverse, one of 125 struck ($1,312); and a collection of about 40 California arrowheads and points, plus a 1902 Indian head penny, nicely framed ($437).

To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections and the firm’s calendar of upcoming auction events, please visit www.fhwac.com.

About Holabird Western Americana Collections:
Holabird Western Americana Collections is always in the hunt for quality Americana and coin consignments, bottles, advertising and other collections for future auctions. To consign a single piece or a collection, you may call Fred Holabird at 775-851-1859 or 844-492-2766; or, you can e-mail him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To learn more about Holabird Western Americana Collections and the firm’s calendar of upcoming auction events, please visit www.fhwac.com.

Media Contact:
Fred Holabird
Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC
3555 Airway Drive (Suite #308)
Reno, Nevada, USA 89511
775-851-1859 or 844-492-2766
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http://www.fhwac.com

Death defying Dog Publishes Road Trip Memoir Accounting of the Fall 2016 National Mood

B.T. Frug is a 120-year-old dog and first-time author. He recounts his many life experiences in his new book, American Dog: 117 Years of Humping Around America, Including a Marvelous Journey with Johnny O’Shea, Jr.

San Antonio, TX - USA, February 28, 2020 -- B.T. Frug is a 120-year-old dog and first-time author. He recounts his many life experiences (and those of his former owners) in his new book, American Dog: 117 Years of Humping Around America, Including a Marvelous Journey with Johnny O’Shea, Jr. The book is part memoir and part travelogue, according to Frug’s former owner/travel companion and fellow author, Johnny O’Shea, Jr., who is coordinating the book’s publication. It is, perhaps, something like a roman à clef: The road trip it details is definitely nonfiction and the veracity of the rest is a mystery.

Frug—who prefers “Bandit,” his favorite name among the many he’s had over the past century—identifies as a French bulldog-pug mix and wandering mendicant. He declares early in American Dog that he’s something of an equal-opportunity hater when it comes to any kind of group and the groupthink that inevitably comes along with it. However, his begrudging affection for just about every individual he encounters shines through.

Frug is not sure why or how, but he stopped aging around three or four years old—his early twenties, in dog years—and has been itinerate ever since, avoiding suspicion by never staying with an owner or in a home for more than ten years. This supernatural amount of time has allowed Frug to pick up skills such as typing and communicating in the English language. They are skills that Frug insists all dogs are inherently capable of but do not have sufficiently long lives to master.

O’Shea, whose 2016 cross-country road trip with Frug—during which they distributed O’Shea’s own book, Back in Bloom: Rediscovering the Happiness Inside of You—is detailed in American Dog, says that Frug’s current whereabouts are unknown and that he has not heard from his old companion in several years. The two authors and former creative collaborators do not seem to identify as friends.

Frug’s manuscript is cobbled together largely from nightly journal entries typed while on the road with O’Shea. Through O’Shea, he cites John Steinbeck’s 1962 Travels with Charley: In Search of America, Anthony de Mello, and “Hemingway, Lincoln, Roosevelt (Teddy, obviously)” as influences.

Frug and O’Shea’s road trip across the Lower 48 happened over the course of Fall 2016—a crucial, charged time for America. American Dog documents the motels they stay in, the hitchhikers they pick up, the booze they share, and the unlikely relationship that develops between dog and man.

Frug’s observations are sometimes stunning, often bitingly funny, and always from a twisted, terribly clear-eyed perspective you’ve never before considered.

The author’s motives for wanting to publish the book now are not fully known, but O’Shea imagines that it might have a little something to do with mortality and sharing his unique insights while he can. Frug can die, after all, just not from old age.

Author Name on Cover: B.T. FRUG
ISBN Paperback: 9781612448169
Paperback Price: $18.95
eBook Price: $6.95
Page Count: 308
Available Worldwide

Press & Media Contact:
Lisa Michelle Umina, Publisher
Halo Publishing International, Inc
8000 W Interstate 10, Suite 600,
San Antonio, TX 78230 - USA
+1 216-255-6756
http://www.halopublishing.com