Scores of luxury brands offered in online watch auction May 2

Famous name wristwatches and pocket watches will be going up for bid in a Jasper52 online auction on Wednesday, May 2. Patek Philippe, Rolex and Tiffany & Co. are among the luxury brands available in this 200-lot collection of vintage and modern timepieces.

Panerai Luminor GMT automatic ocean chronometer, limited edition, stainless steel case.
Estimate: $4,500-$5,500. Jasper52 image

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Many facets of Asian art offered in Jasper52 auction May 1

Asian art and antiques through the ages are presented in a Jasper52 online auction on Tuesday, May 1. The more than 50 lots going up for bid include fine Japanese weaponry, carved netsuke, Tibetan thangkas, porcelain and jade.

Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.-A.D. 220, horse sculpture, 8¾ in. Estimate: $2,500-$3,000. Jasper52 image

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Navajo Rugs: Be Dazzled!

From big-city auction houses to remote trading posts, collectors have been searching for textiles of the American Southwest for more than 100 years.

The most highly collected and recognized form, the Navajo blanket, has shifted from an outer garment wrapped around the shoulders to a decoration on floors and walls. Hanging a traditional blanket vertically duplicates how it would have looked covering the doorway of a Navajo hogan.

Legend says Spider Woman, the creative deity from the underworld, taught the Navajo how to weave. Historians believe weaving in the Southwest originated with the ancestors of the Pueblo people. They were already using looms when Spanish explorers arrived. The colonization of New Mexico beginning in 1598 initiated trade between the Spanish and the Pueblo. Increasingly oppressive Spanish rule sparked a deadly revolt in 1680. When the Spanish reconquered the territory in 1692, many Pueblos took refuge in the Navajo lands.

Navajo Chinle pattern wool rug

Navajo Chinle pattern wool rug, circa 1900-1925, a small stain and slight edge fray noted, 47½ x 31 in. Hammer price: $850. North American Auction Co. and LiveAuctioneers image

The Pueblos taught Navajo women loom weaving, a technical art that takes years of practice to learn. Having acquired sheep from the Pueblo and Spanish, the Navajo traditionally used wool for their textiles. Finely woven Navajo blankets were famous for their ability to shed water. While Pueblo weaving has always been for Indian use, the Navajo traded their textiles with other Indians and Anglos. A central diamond surrounded by eight triangular elements at the edges creates a distinctive image that has made the Third Phase blankets the best-known Navajo weavings.

The opening of the Santa Fe Trail in 1822 and acquisition of the territory by the United States in 1848 resulted in increased recognition of Navajo weaving. Walk in Beauty: The Navajo and Their Blankets by Anthony Berlant and Mary Hunt Kahlenberg (1977, Little Brown & Co.) states that in 1849, when Lt. James Simpson led the first official U.S. expedition into Navajo country, he noted in his journal that the Navajo people made what were “probably the best blankets in the world.”

While economic conditions and changing lifestyles of the Navajo people have affected the progression of their art form, demand for it has grown. Auctioneers regularly schedule sales highlighting woven textiles within the greater category of American-Indian art.

The Cincinnati auction house Cowan’s made a big impact on the future market for American Indian weavings in 2002 when they sold a collection deaccessioned by the Western Reserve Historical Society. Among the items sold at that auction was a Classic Period Navajo child’s wearing blanket (46 by 31½ inches) that sold for $48,300. A Navajo Third Phase chief blanket (67 by 55 inches) sold for $26,450. Both textiles had once belonged to a U.S. Army cavalry officer who was stationed in the West in the late 1860s.

Navajo Storm pattern weaving/rug

Navajo Storm pattern weaving/rug, hand-spun wool woven in natural colors with a red stepped border, 85 x 50 in., second quarter 20th century. Hammer price: $950. Cowan’s Auctions and LiveAuctioneers

While museum-quality pieces from the 19th century like these are scarce, later weavings are readily available and more affordable to collectors and decorators.

For all the work and craftsmanship, Navajo blankets are beautiful decorating pieces that never go out of style.

Americans have long held an appreciation for Indian art, which became widely accessible in the first half of the 20th century. The railroads opened the Southwest to travelers during the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s and during that period people could bring these weavings home because they were easy to transport. There are many blankets from that time frame, and people continue to use them for decorating.

The 1920s marked the first heyday of the popularizing of Navajo textiles. Wealthy people often collected them. It was not uncommon to see Persian carpets on the floor of a home mixed with several Navajo rugs. People bought them for their aesthetic beauty as well as the fact that they are an important part of American culture.

While Classic period (1850-1875) and Transitional (1875-1890) weavings are the realm of serious collectors, nice 1920s-vintage rugs are still available.

Collectors evaluating a weaving will look for the caliber of the weave, the visual impact of the design and the technical difficulty behind its creation. A good example is the Teec Nos Pos style developed by weavers from the Four Corners area where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet. Teec Nos Pos is a multicolored weaving with almost all of the design elements outlined in a different color. The technical expertise to weave a Teec Nos Pos rug is great, and they are in high demand.

Circa-1950 Navajo pictorial Teec Nos Pos rug

Circa-1950 Navajo pictorial Teec Nos Pos rug with floating crosses, diamonds, arrows and four American Flags. Image courtesy of High Noon Western Americana and LiveAuctioneers.

Another important factor in evaluating post-Classic period Navajo textiles is whether the weaving is done using native handspun wool, which is generally more desirable than a comparable piece woven with commercial machine-spun yarn.

Many 1950s weavings that are made of commercial yarn, which drastically affects the value downward.

There are, however, Classic Period Navajo blankets that are made of machine-spun yarn.

Following their surrender to Kit Carson in January 1864, more than 8,000 Navajo men, women and children were forced from their homeland and made to endure internment near Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. Deprived of their flocks, Navajo weavers were introduced to machine-spun yarn produced in Germantown (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania. Blankets made from these yarns are called Germantowns. Over the years the term “Germantown” has come to mean any three- or four-ply machine-spun yarns from any Eastern mill.

After signing a peace treaty, the Navajo were allowed to return to their homeland in 1868, but their way of life was forever changed.

Navajo Crystal pictorial rug

Navajo Crystal pictorial rug, with red, natural white and light brown showing Valero stars, tadpole four-directionals, arrows, feathers and eagles, 127 x 66 in., early 20th century. Hammer price: $2,200. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers image.

Another factor in evaluating American Indian textiles is the color: natural wool, vegetal or factory-made aniline dyes, or a combination of these. While tastes change in this regard, buyers currently prefer a brighter palette, even though it takes a weaver twice as long to make an all vegetal-dyed homespun rug.

The cryptic names that have been given to styles of Navajo weavings often denote the town or trading post where they originated. Examples are Crystal, New Mexico, and Ganado, Arizona. Weavings whose place of origin cannot be pinpointed are often identified by region, such as Western Reservation in Arizona.

Because modern reproductions are being made on mechanical looms in Mexico and other foreign countries, it is advisable for novice collectors to buy from knowledgeable dealers and auctioneers who guarantee what they sell.

Ganado-style Navajo rug

Ganado-style Navajo rugs generally have a design consisting of one or more stepped diamonds or stepped and embellished triangles. Red, gray, black and ivory are dominant colors in the designs. This mid-20th century all-wool rug shows the stepped diamonds and triangles. It measures 71 x 45 in. Hammer price: $475. North American Auction Co. and LiveAuctioneers image

Collectors also should learn as much as possible about the many styles, weaving techniques and materials.

 

REGIONAL STYLES

—BURNTWATER: Weavers around Burnt Water, Ariz., developed this new style in the late 1960s. Building on design elements from Ganado and Two Grey Hills styles, Burntwater type weavings often feature bordered geometric designs with central, terraced diamonds. The distinguishing characteristic is the use of yarns whose pastel colors are achieved from the use of local vegetal dyes.

—CHINLE: Developed in the 1930s in the Canyon de Chelly region of northeastern Arizona and named after the town nearby, this modern classic style is now woven across the Navajo reservation. Chinle weavings are typically borderless and characterized by alternating plain stripes with horizontal bands of geometric designs. Colors most often are pastel or earth tones, but they can also be bright colors.

—CRYSTAL: Navajos on the western side of the Chuska Mountains near Crystal, New Mexico, began supplying textiles for John B. Moore’s mail-order catalogs in the early 1900s. These old-style Crystal weavings featuring bordered designs with geometric patterns later influenced the work of the Two Grey Hills weavers on the other side of the mountains. Since the late 1930s Crystal textiles have been known for having golden tones and horizontal bands that include “wavy” lines. Colors are usually muted earth tones but may include pastels and pinks.

—GANADO: This famous style originated at the trading post near Ganado, Arizona, where owner Juan Lorenzo Hubbell began trading with Navajo in the late 1870s. He was influential in the development of the weaving style in that area and encouraged the weavers to improve the quality of their textiles. He preferred natural wool colors and deep aniline dyed red. The National Park Service has run the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site since 1967.

—KLAGETOH: meaning “Hidden Springs,” Klagetoh is a community south of Ganado on the Navajo Reservation in northeast Arizona. Though Ganado and Klagetoh weavings typically have similar central diamond motifs, those from the latter have a predominantly gray background.

—TEEC NOS POS: Named for a settlement in northeast Arizona, Teec Nos Pos textiles traditionally have been produced by Navajo people living around the Four Corners area. Since the turn of the 20th century, these boldly colored textiles have exhibited Persian rug design influences elements including a central design element and a wide border.

—TWO GREY HILLS: Named for a former trading post near U.S. Route 666 in northwest New Mexico, Two Grey Hills textiles are typically fine quality weavings of undyed handspun wool in white, brown, black and gray, and feature strong geometric designs. Designs are strong, crisp geometric patterns. Later textiles may contain commercially prepared wool.

—WIDE RUINS: This style is named for the former Wide Ruins Trading Post, where it originated about 1940. Located along U.S. Route 191 south of Ganado, Arizona., the trading post burned in 1986. The Wide Ruins-style rug is borderless and characterized by horizontal bands with stepped diamonds. Vegetable-dyed wool produces the pastel earth tones seen in these finely woven textiles, which evolved from the Chinle style.

Jasper52 rolls out vintage rock star posters April 25

Rock ’n’ roll bands of the late 1960s are reprised in a Jasper52 online auction of vintage concert posters on Wednesday, April 25. Psychedelic colors and far-out graphics by the genre’s top artists combine to make these ephemeral items highly collectible.

First edition poster, Bill Graham/Fillmore West, 1968, artists Rick Griffin and Alton Kelley, featured acts: The Who, Grateful Dead and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Estimate: $200-$300. Jasper52 image

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Superheroes swing into action in Jasper52 auction April 24

The first appearance of Black Panther is one of the key issues in a vintage comic book auction that will be conducted online by Jasper52 on Tuesday, April 24. The auction has hundreds of fine vintage comics including Superman and Spider-Man at affordable estimates.

‘Fantastic Four’ (1961 1st Series), #52, Black Panther first appearance. Estimate: $345-$450. Jasper52 image

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Pearl Wisdom: Natural and Man-Made

At first glance, pearls may seem simple and uncomplicated, but there’s much more to their story than meets the eye.

There are two general classes of pearls: natural or man-made. Natural pearls are created by a living organism as a result of irritation. It occurs when a foreign object like a piece of shell or bone, or even another living thing, becomes stuck within an invertebrate with a soft shell, such as an oyster or mussel. In an act of protecting itself, the host organism begins to cover the foreign element in nacre, a crystalline material secreted by the organism. Over time, built-up layers of nacre cover the irritant. Because the process is not tied to any particular time schedule, the result is a product whose pattern, sheen, color, and dimensions are unique. Each natural pearl has its own individual identity.

Bulgari two-strand choker necklace with ruby rondelle beads and cultured pearls, 18K yellow gold clasp. Auctioned by Clars Auction Gallery for $70,000 + buyer’s premium on Feb. 19, 2012. Clars and LiveAuctioneers image

Man-made pearls, which do not rely on nature to take its course, are far more common than their natural counterparts. Also, pearl harvesting has been an ongoing pursuit for generations, so discoveries of old pearls are far less common than in the past.

Jewelry dealer and pearl appraiser Deborah Boskin, owner of db Designs, explained the effect that diminished supply has had on the pearl market. “The increase in interest and resale value for natural pearls has steadily grown over the past two decades,” she said.

This makes it an opportune time to sell natural pearls or turn one’s focus toward cultured pearls, which are available and affordable.   

Pearl Fact: Fewer than one in every 10,000 oysters produces a natural pearl of significant value.

To meet the growing demand for pearls, the practice of culturing pearls began in the late 19th century. It was the innovation of Kokichi Mikimoto that led to production of the first cultured pearls. After witnessing the depletion of oysters due to overharvesting in the waters near his homeland of Japan, Mikimoto sought to devise a process that would produce man-made, or cultured, pearls. Mikimoto achieved his goal in July of 1893 when he was able to culture a semi-spherical pearl, according to information from the Mikimoto website.

As explained on mikimotoamerica.com, cultured pearls transformed the opportunity of acquiring a pearl “from a chance to a certainty.” Not unlike nature’s process of creating a pearl, cultured pearls begin with a foreign object invading the tissue of an oyster. However, the object is placed inside the oyster by a technician, thus forcing the living organism to begin the process of coating the foreign element with nacre, according to information found at PurePearls.com. The process of creating cultured pearls may take place in either fresh or saltwater.

Opening oysters, extracting and cleaning pearls found inside, near the seaside town of Xiamen, China. Photo by Gauthier Delecroix, Creative Commons image.

Cultivating pearls in saltwater may take anywhere from 18 months to three years, while cultured pearls formed in freshwater settings, including lakes, rivers, and ponds, may be harvested as soon as two years after the process has commenced, says PurePearls.com.

Cultured seawater pearls generally come from one of three locations, which is also a definition of the type of pearl. Akoya cultured pearls are the most common and best known. These pearls are produced in Japan and China; while South Sea cultured pearls are produced in the waters off Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Tahitian cultured pearls are cultivated around the islands of French Polynesia, most specifically Tahiti.

Pearl Fact: Archeological records reveal Mesopotamia was where natural pearls were discovered and first viewed as collectible gems. This took place around 2300 B.C., according to information obtained at the National Geographic website.

As fashion and cultural standards have changed, so, too, has the position of importance held by pearls.

Diamond and seed pearl necklace with central saltwater pearl measuring 60 centimeters. Auctioned for £1,300 ($1,600) in November 2017. Fellows and LiveAuctioneers image.

“For quite a while, every young woman owned and wore her cultured pearl strand as one of her primary pieces of jewelry. Japanese Akoya cultured pearls, both in graduated and uniform bead necklaces, were the status quo. Think of outfits in the 1950s and you can picture it,” Boskin said. “In the ’60s, styles began to change, and in the ’80s, South Sea cultured pearls came on strong. In the past few decades, people were inheriting cultured pearls necklaces from their grandmothers, aunts and mothers, but no one was wearing them, or buying them. On the secondary market, their value went down. There were too many sellers and too few buyers.”

She went on to say, “For South Sea pearls, the market was incredibly strong in both retail and secondary markets. The larger the pearl, the better, and people could own so many varieties – white, black, golden, bronze, pistachio colors in round, baroque and mixed strands,” Boskin continued. “Then in the 2000’s, the Chinese freshwater pearls being created began to be larger, rounder and with higher luster. Because they looked similar enough to South Sea pearls but were far less expensive, the South Sea market became quite soft. Today, the secondary market for cultured pearls overall seems to be slowly building back up.”

Although seawater cultured pearls are represented by a variety of types, these types are far less common than freshwater cultured pearls. Cultured pearls produced in seawater make up less than 10 percent of the global cultured pearl production, according to information found on the National Geographic website. In addition, seawater cultured pearls often have a higher value than freshwater pearls. Pearl farmers cultivating pearls in freshwater sources use mussels rather than oysters as the host, and they are able to insert a greater number of irritants into a single mussel, resulting in some 50 pearls at a time.

Baroque pearl and silver-inlay necklace. Jasper52 and LiveAuctioneers image

Pearl Facts: Pearl shapes and colors continue to evolve with technological advancements. Despite what may seem to be the case, the majority of cultured pearls are baroque, which simply means they are not round traditional pearls, but unique in shape.

If all this talk about pearls, natural and cultured, is igniting an interest in you to learn more, Boskin offers a few words of advice, starting with “buy what you love.” While jewelry does hold value, it is a relative value. It may not sell later for as much as its purchase price or insured “value.” Everything is continent on the whims of the market at any given point in time.

A final gem of wisdom about collecting pearls, natural or cultured, is to look for the best luster possible, Boskin said. Not only does luster enhance the beauty of a pearl, it tends to make the pearl more valuable.

Contact Deborah Boskin at http://www.deborahboskin.com.

Online auction devoted to Orthodox religious icons April 18

Many traditional icons of the Eastern Orthodox Church—depicting Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, saints and angels—are featured in a Jasper52 online auction to be held Wednesday, April 18. These antique icons carry rich histories and religious symbolism.

Our Lady with three Hands, 18th century, 17 x 21.2 in. Estimate: $3,000-$3,500. Jasper52 image

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Collecting Old Glory

The American Flag is an object of admiration and empowerment. Songs have been written about it, poems reference it, it’s the subject of artwork and countless designs, and it is at the core of the patriotism felt by many generations of Americans. The American flag also symbolizes the character of a nation and its people.

That’s a lot for a piece of textile to live up to, but the American Flag has done so for 250 years, since its design first began to take shape. To examine the changes in American Flag design over the centuries and the appeal it holds to collectors, we turned to foremost flag expert Jeff R. Bridgman, principal of Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques, Inc. www.jeffbridgman.com.

As Bridgman explained in his researched writing The Evolution of the Design of the American National Flag, the Sons of Liberty played an integral role in the foundation of the flag and its design. This came about in 1767 as the group worked to muster support within the colonies against British tyranny. History references the adoption, by the Sons of Liberty, of a flag featuring nine vertical stripes, alternating between white and red, as a symbol of the nine colonies that opposed the Stamp Act of 1765. Reports also point to the presence of flags featuring variations of the stripes, and the color selection, with the occasional inclusion of blue, in the design of flags seen during the early years of the Revolutionary War, according to Bridgman’s research.

Depiction of the Grand Union Flag, aka Continental Colors, thirteen horizontal stripes in alternating red and white, with the British Union Jack in its canton. Artwork by Hoshie.

An example of this is the “Grand Union” flag, largely accepted as the first national flag of the United States. This flag featured 13 stripes of alternating red and white, with the image of the British Union Flag positioned in its canton, at the top left corner. This flag would remain the generally accepted flag of the United States until June 14, 1777, when Flag Day was established and the recognizable “Stars & Stripes” version stitched by Betsy Ross was officially adopted. The resolution of the Second Continental Congress accepted on June 14, 1777 states: “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.”

Bridgman spoke of two other moments in the history of the flag’s design as being especially significant.

“The next would be 1795, when the flag was officially updated to include two more stars and two more stripes. In 1818 it was updated again, adding five more stars, but the stripe count was returned to the original thirteen. At the same time, it was decided that the flag would be updated annually, on July 4th, if any new states were added over the course of the ‘flag year,’” he said.

“For the first 135 years of our flag’s existence, it actually had no official star pattern, no official shades of red and blue, and no official proportions. There was also no official number of points that the stars had to have. All of this was decreed in 1912 via an Executive Order of President William Howard Taft.”

Hand-sewn cotton 34-star Civil War flag, canton incorporating the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George, possibly made with Southern sympathies, 1861-63. The stars are double-appliqued – sewn to both sides. Measures 48¾ by 68½ inches. Price: $26,500, available from www.jeffbridgman.com.

Bridgman went on to say, “Those were the big years. Also important was 1861. Before this date, private citizens seldom flew the Stars and Stripes. The onset of the Civil War and some related events changed all that.”

Flag Fact: The current version of the American Flag, featuring 13 alternating red and white stripes, and 50 stars on a blue background, has been in place since 1960 with Hawaii’s admittance into the Union as the 50th state.

With such a robust and multilayered history, it’s little wonder that American Flags are so coveted by collectors. In terms of current interest for the American Flag market, Bridgman cites the particular appeal of flags with historical ties. This places Civil War flags, both Confederate and Union, squarely in the arena of greatest popularity. Also influencing today’s collecting trends is the recent controversy over the Confederate battle flag. The removal of Confederate monuments is actually fueling the market for legitimate historical materials, Bridgman said, adding that collectors have a heightened sense of awareness about how our nation’s history is preserved.

“We use history to teach our kids about how we have grown as a nation. Confederate flags are a part of that,” he said. “They are a part about how we struggled and evolved. The objects that the war produced – textiles and otherwise – are beautiful and fascinating in their own right.”

Another area receiving attention from collectors are political campaign flags. “(They) are achieving results at auction like never before,” Bridgman said.

Evidence of Market Interest: In more than a few instances, antique campaign flags entered an elevated level at auction in 2017. During its July 2017 auction, Hakes’ Americana & Collectibles presented a selection of campaign flags that prompted several well-publicized bidding battles. For example, an 1860 Lincoln and Hamlin campaign flag sold for $40,124; and a John Bell Constitutional Union Party flag rose to $13,700, nearly tripling its high estimate of $5,000, according to an article posted by Antique Trader. Yet, the example that made auction history was a campaign flag touting James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge as the Democratic Party’s running mates in the U.S. presidential election of 1856. The flag sold for a record-setting $275,000 during a May 2017 auction conducted by Heritage Auctions. The winning bidder was none other than Bridgman, according to an article posted by LiveAuctioneers’ Auction Central News.

1860 campaign parade flag with 33 stars in a pentagon medallion configuration and with an uncommon abbreviation of President Lincoln’s first name. The flag’s provenance includes a period of time when it was sewn into a quilt consisting of several rare political flags. Measures 11½ by 17 inches. Price: $48,000, available from www.jeffbridgman.com.

In addition to activity at auction and direct sales through his company, Bridgman is also witnessing the appeal and interest in American Flags first hand at the many shows he attends each year.

“(Shows) usually provide a ton of education for both collectors and dealers alike. Sometimes we learn as much or more from clients as we teach them. Shows are often full of educated, interested historians and collectors of all kinds,” said Bridgman. “They are a great place to actually see and touch material first hand and ask all of the questions necessary and get answers straight from the horse’s mouth, if you will.”

Attendance at shows helps with the overall education of a collector, which is something they will draw on for a lifetime. This is particularly important when people are purchasing flags from sellers via the Internet. The virtual world can provide unimaginable opportunity, but it also can be an overwhelming and confusing place for collectors just getting started, according to Bridgman. This speaks to the importance of educating oneself and becoming familiar with the history of both flags and textiles.

Tips From the Top: Bridgman’s Advice About Starting a Flag Collection

  • Buy from experts who have handled many flags. Don’t be drawn to the temptation of saving a dollar. If you do, you’ll more often lose dollars than win them. This goes for all categories of antiques and is in no way unique to flags. Whether it is silver, paintings, tramp art, decoys, porcelain, guns, or quilts, go to someone who knows their materials backwards and forwards and can be positively trusted to identify authenticity. A good deal will also tell you when they don’t know something.
  • After you’ve selected an expert and chosen some objects that you like, go with your gut. You’ll usually be happiest when you pick something you love.
  • Protect your investment by getting it mounted and framed by an expert in conservation of early textiles. Use U.V. protective glass or Plexiglas, change your lighting to LED, and minimize ambient light exposure when you are not using the space occupied by the textile.

With more than 25 years in the business of acquiring and selling flags, Bridgman’s appreciation for flags, their history and meaning runs deep.

“I love flags because they are not only an objectification of my love for America, its history and all it was intended by our forefathers to stand for, but also what America offers to people with the wherewithal follow to their dreams,” he said. “I also love the flag for the artistic achievement of the people who made it in the 18th and 19th centuries, when people had the liberty to design it as they chose.”

Thirteen-star American Navy jack with a diamond configuration that is unique among 13-star flags, likely made for a Hudson River paddle wheel steamer, circa 1880-1895. The jack flag is flown at the bow (front) of a military ship when at anchor or moored. Measures 23¾ by 35¼ inches, mounted and framed by Bridgman Antiques, Inc., conservation department. Price: $9,800, available from www.jeffbridgman.com.

At any given time, Bridgman has about 2,500 flags in stock, with the majority dating to the 19th century, some from the 20th century. Interestingly, recently he re-acquired a flag he had sold years ago. His in-depth explanation about the flag’s provenance demonstrates the type of appreciation Bridgman has for flags, and his intention to help others cultivate that appreciation for themselves.

The flag he re-acquired, Bridgman explained, is “a Liberation flag, made in France to celebrate the arrival of American troops following the Normandy invasion. Specifically, it was given to the 3rd Squad of the 8th Infantry Regiment (Motorized), which served under the 4th Infantry Division during the June 6 attack.”

He went on to say, “On the following day, the unit relived the famous 82nd Airborne Division at Ste. Mere/Eglise, battling German tanks and Panzer Regiments. Members of the French resistance movement presented the flag to the 3rd squadron while passing through French territory, and the squad proceeded to carry it through the balance of the war.”

“It has a beautiful, light blue, silk canton and wide red stripes that are a deep scarlet,” Bridgman said, describing the flag. “Like many of the flags I love best, it’s beautiful and unusual as well as historical.”

Finally, when asked about the valuable lessons that can be learned from exploring the American Flag’s long design evolution, Bridgman offered the following thoughts:

“[An appreciation for] quality hard work and a job well done, caringly delivered, value in handcrafted construction and thoughtful design; pride in patriotic love for our country, its people, and the men and women of our military who, with their own will and that of many great presidents and leaders, have afforded us all of the things we have today.”

He continued: “Many of these we take for granted, wanting more and more, and demanding special attention at every turn. A historic flag reminds me of a simpler time, when men and women made their own happiness from their own sweat and endeavors, and thanked God for what this great nation made available.”

To learn more about American flags, visit www.jeffbridgman.com.

 

Links to sources mentioned:

“Evolution of the Design of the American National Flag”:
http://www.jeffbridgman.com/pdf/2017-THE%20EVOLUTION%20OF%20THE%20DESIGN%20OF%20THE%20AMERICAN%20NATIONAL%20FLAG%20FROM%201767%20-%201912,%20AS%20IT%20RELATES%20TO%20COLLECTING%20ANTIQUE%20EXAMPLES.pdf

Flag Fact:
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagfact.html

Sale of Lincoln and Hamlin flag through Hake’s:
http://www.antiquetrader.com/antiques/collectibles/1860-campaign-flag-sets-world-record/

Sale of Buchanan flag through Heritage:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/news/auctions/auction-results/james-buchanan-1856-campaign-flag-posts-world-record-heritage-auctions/

Famous names mark Jasper52 fine jewelry auction April 17

Diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and other radiant gemstones in a variety of mediums are featured in a Jasper52 online fine jewelry auction set for Tuesday, April 17. Famous brands represented in the auction include Bvlgari, Tiffany & Co., Cartier and Hermes.

Bvlgari Parentesi 18K white gold diamond band ring, 0.55 carats, size 7. Estimate: $3,000-$3,500. Jasper52 image

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Reprise for bestsellers via Jasper52 online auction April 11

Modern first editions are featured in an online book auction that will be conducted Wednesday, April 11, by Jasper52. Bibliophiles can examine and purchase classics by Joseph Conrad, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, Lewis Carroll, John Steinbeck and many more.

Tom Robbins, ‘Still Life With Woodpecker,’ first edition, signed by the author with dust jacket. Estimate: $200,$300. Jasper52 image

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