Skip to content
Entertainment
Link copied to clipboard

Auctions: One tall order - a 12-foot-3 tall case clock

Auctions over the next few days will offer antique phonographs, original Peanuts sketches, and a tall case clock that more than lives up to its name.

Auctions over the next few days will offer antique phonographs, original Peanuts sketches, and a tall case clock that more than lives up to its name.

The phonographs will be a highlight of Briggs Auction's regular Friday sale, beginning at 5 p.m. today at the gallery, 1347 Naamans Creek Rd., Garnet Valley. Consigned from a Newark, Del., estate, the 10 to be offered include the popular "morning glory" tabletop models, says Briggs president John Turner.

The most unusual phonograph is a coin-operated Edison tabletop wax-disc model dating to the late 1800s. "It's sort of an early jukebox," Turner says. He expects it to sell for between $1,500 and $2,000.

Also from the Delaware estate is an early Coca-Cola vending machine expected to sell for $1,500, as well as an early time clock, a Victorian cylinder desk, and a large quantity of good porcelain.

Preview is 9 a.m. to sale time today. For more information, call 610-485-0412 or go to

» READ MORE: www.briggsauction.com

.

Alderfer offers clock.

The truly tall case clock will be a highlight of Alderfer Auction Co.'s two-day on-site liquidation of the contents of the Elkins Park retreat house of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de Ricci. After 75 years, the order is closing the house and moving its headquarters to Upper Darby.

The 100-room mansion at 750 Ashbourne Rd. formerly belonged to the Elkins family, as did the clock, which was given to the Dominican sisters when they acquired the property in 1932. The clock will be among 475 lots in the opening session, beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and carries a presale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000, says Alderfer associate Lon Clemmer.

In part, the estimate reflects its pedigree. The so-called Dick Whittington musical clock with carved figural base has calendar dials, a moon-phase dial, two chimes and seven songs, as well as a signature indicating it was made in 1743 by Joshua Thompson.

But Clemmer says the clock's height accounts for the estimate - it stands 12 feet 3 inches tall.

The opening session will be devoted to the mansion's fine furnishings, including a fitted staircase mural tapestry that Clemmer says should bring $10,000 to $15,000.

The second session, beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, will be devoted to "institutional" furnishings, including the bedding and other appointments of the mansion's 90 bedrooms.

Preview is 1 to 5 p.m. Monday and 8 a.m. to sale time Tuesday and Wednesday. Information: 215-393-3000 or

» READ MORE: www.alderferauction.com

, where a list of sale items can be found.

Sketches at Bunch.

Original Peanuts sketches will be a highlight of William H. Bunch Auctions' multi-estate sale, beginning at noon Tuesday at the gallery, 1 Hillman Dr., Chadds Ford. The sketches depict such classic images as Lucy offering psychiatric advice for 5 cents and Snoopy selling moon rocks.

The 1,200-lot sale also includes such artwork as three pen drawings by N.C. Wyeth and a George Cope Brandywine River landscape that has a presale estimate of $8,000 to $12,000, according to the catalog at

» READ MORE: www.williambunchauctions.com

.

The auction begins with about 250 lots of jewelry followed by 50 lots of silver, including a dozen lots of sterling equestrian-event cups and trophies.

Preview is 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. to sale time Tuesday at the gallery. Information: 610-558-1800.

On April 26 and 27, Bunch will be hosting the Chadds Ford Classic Motorcycle Auction. For more information, go to

» READ MORE: www.MyClassicMotorcycle.com

.

Pottery at Rago.

At 5:30 p.m. April 25 at Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville, several hundred lots of vintage and contemporary art pottery will be offered by Belhorn Auction Services.

The sale is being held in conjunction with the convention of the American Art Pottery Association Wednesday through April 27 at the Sheraton Bucks County Hotel in Langhorne. A pottery show and sale are set for noon to 5 p.m. April 26 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 27. For information, visit

» READ MORE: www.aapa.info

.