#Middlebury #Antiques
It’s important to keep up with what is changing in the world of art and collecting. Fool-the-eye (trompe-l’oeil) is a popular theme in a new type of art. Today, copies of machines, pieces of buildings, a huge hanging light bulb or an enlarged comic strip or stamp pad are displayed as outdoor statues or large indoor sculptures.
This time no successful bidder met the $9,400 to $14,000 estimate for the work by Fumio Yoshimsura, a carved wooden Singer sewing machine displayed as art. It is 30 x 16 x 37 inches, slightly smaller than life size.
Recently, a wood carving by Japanese artist Fumio Yoshimura (1926-2002) was offered by Auction Team Breker, a German gallery, in an online auction that reached the United States and most other large countries. It looks like a small Singer treadle sewing machine made in the early 1900s. The carved machine has a Singer plaque, bobbins, fretwork, treadle, drive-belt and wheel on a base with drawer fronts, all made of linden wood. It is made as a sculpture to place in a prominent spot in the house. The artist has made other utilitarian items like typewriters, motorbikes and various mechanical objects that were created full-size. He never depicted people. It’s a new type of art; however, the sewing machine didn’t sell.
Q: How can I obtain an appraiser and sell an aviation relic? I have a framed piece of original fabric from the Fokker D-VII “U.10.” The print states it’s the second in a series of relics from the National Air and Space Museum.
A: You have a limited-edition print that is part of the National Air and Space Museum’s Aviation Relic Series. Each print contains a 2-inch square of fabric from a historical aircraft in the museum’s collection. The fabric was removed and replaced when the airplanes were being restored in the 1970s and early 1980s. The Fokker D-VII was a German plane flown during World War I. The pilot, Heinz von Beaulieu-Marconnay, landed the plane on an American airstrip in France on Nov. 9, 1918, two days before the armistice was signed. Von Beaulieu-Marconnay was in the cavalry before he became a pilot. The 3-feet-high “U-10” painted on the side of the plane stands for “Tenth Uhlans,” his former cavalry unit. The museum gift shop might be able to tell you when this print was issued and what it originally cost. Another print from this series sold at auction recently for $270.
Current Prices
Bottle opener, sailboat, cast iron, 7 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches, $15.
Marshmallow tin, “Strawberry Oberon Marshmallows, Loose Wiles Co.,” round with red and gold lithograph, 1930s, 4-inch diameter, $90.
Trunk, Louis Vuitton, monogram, garment bag, rolling, 54 x 22-1/4 inches, $365.
Silver plate, centerpiece, applied flowers, leaves, pierced handles, glass liner, 8 x 22-3/4 inches, $570.
TIP: If you buy an old piece of furniture, smell it. If it smells musty, there must be mold spores somewhere, perhaps on the bottom of the seat. Wipe the furniture with denatured alcohol. Finished wooden surfaces can be cleaned with furniture cleaner.
For more collecting news, tips and resources, visit www.Kovels.com.
© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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