Original works by the famed Saturday Evening Post illustrator Norman Rockwell rarely appear at auction.

The last one seems to have been "Breaking Home Ties," which sold in 2006 at Sotheby's for $15.4 million after being found hidden in a wall in the Vermont home of Rockwell's cartoonist friend Don Trachte.

So Pook & Pook is justified in adorning the cover of the catalog for its fine-art auction next Friday with the Rockwell that is the event's highlight: "That Musical Pal of Mine," an oil-on-canvas portrait that has a presale estimate of $30,000 to $50,000, according to the illustrated catalogs, also accessible online at www.pookandpook.com.

The modest figure reflects the portrait's subject matter. Unlike the near-archetypal images of Rockwell's magazine work (such as "Breaking Home Ties," which depicted a farmer father waiting at a train station with his college-bound son, or the more famous "Rosie the Riveter," which brought $4.95 million in 2004 at Sotheby's), "That Musical Pal" depicts a young harmonica player named William Haussler.

Not meant for publication, it was commissioned by Haussler's father, who worked for Hohner, the preeminent harmonica manufacturer of its day. It came from a private consigner, according to a Pook & Pook staffer.

It is one of half a dozen paintings with five-figure presale estimates in the 190-lot sale, which begins at 6 p.m. at the gallery at 463 E. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown.

A Ben Austrian oil-on canvas of a hen and her chicks, one of half a dozen Austrians in the sale, has a presale estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. An oil-on-canvas depiction of a rocky seaside at sunset by the 19th-century American Edward Moran titled "Rocs de Tocqueville" has a presale estimate of $15,000 to $20,000. It was exhibited in the 1982-83 traveling show "Americans in Brittany and Normandy," which made a stop at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

An oil-on-canvas by George Benjamin Luks titled "The Balloon Seller, New York" has a presale estimate of $10,000 to $20,000; a watercolor landscape with a pointer dog by the early 20th-century American Aiden Lassell Ripley should bring $10,000 to $15,000; so should a 13¼-by-20-inch watercolor by Jamie Wyeth depicting a possibly derelict sailing vessel named the Eva S. Cullison.

There also are a number of pictures with four-figure presale estimates that are of unusual quality and vividness, including an oil-on-canvas of a bald eagle by the early 20th-century American Earl Lincoln Pool ($4,000 to $7,000); a watercolor by Poole of wood ducks ($4,000 to $6,000); an oil-on-board still life by Martha Walter ($4,000 to $7,000); an oil-on-canvas depiction of a fox-hunting party by Henry James Soulen notable for its autumn red hues ($4,000 to $8,000); and a characteristic oil-on-panel New York winter street scene by Colin Campbell Cooper (also $4,000 to $7,000).

Two works by the American Lewis Henry Meakin, "Rocks at Gloucester" ($3,000 to $5,000) and "Approaching Storm, Penobscot Bay" ($1,500 to $2,500), were consigned by the Woodmere Art Museum with proceeds to benefit the Charles Knox Smith Art Acquisition Fund. The auction also features some European works as well as statuary, notably a beryllium copper sound sculpture by Val Bertoia ($5,000 to $10,000).

Previews are noon to 5 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 10 a.m. to sale time next Friday. For more information, call 610-269-4040.

Freeman's Friday A Freeman's Friday sale beginning at 11 a.m. today will offer more than 350 lots of widely diversified decorative objects and furniture at the gallery at 1808 Chestnut St. Most are expected to sell in the three-figure range.

The sale opens with three dozen lots of sterling silver, including a Philadelphia covered sugar bowl made by Samuel Richards around 1793 that is expected to sell for $400 to $600, according to presale estimates at the auction's online catalog, accessible at www.freemansauction.com. Following that will come four dozen lots of clocks, including a mid-18th-century English mahogany bracket clock ($500 to $1,000). Next will come 50 lots of copper and brass items, notably a large 19th-century copper still ($500 to $700) and a large copper-and-brass coffee maker by W.F. Dougherty & Sons, Philadelphia ($400 to $600).

Some of the sale's top prices will go for furniture, including a 20th-century teak chest of drawers ($600 to $1,200) and a Victorian mahogany linen press ($1,200 to $1,800). The auction also features maritime items, including a brass-and-copper mounted compass housing ($500 to $800) and a few native American artifacts. It will conclude with about two dozen artworks, notably a pair of prints by Morris Blackburn ($400 to $600).

Doors open at 10 a.m. For more information, call 215-563-9275.

Phone, online sale of toys A collection of toy robots and related items is being offered by the Smith House Toy & Auction Company in a phone and online sale that runs through Oct. 30. Many of the 400 lots come from the New Jersey collector Alan "Mr. Mint" Rosen. Among top robots are the Maddudaya Gang of Five, four members of which - the Target, Sonic, Radicon, and Lavender, each in its original box - are in the sale. The sale also features members of the lithographed Naito Shoten robot line, the South Pole Explorer and the B17 Spaceman, also known as the Electric Blue spaceman.

Would-be bidders must first register, either by calling Smith House proprietor Craig Thompson at 215-721-1389 or e-mailing smithhousetoys@comcast.net. To order a catalog, send a check or money order for $35 U.S./$45 foreign to Smith House Toy & Auction Company, P.O. Box 129, Telford, Pa. 18969. A preview of the toys can be arranged by appointment.

Contact David Iams at daiams@comcast.net.