1954 Fender Stratocaster Guitar & Exceptional Bronzes To Head Up Cordier Antiques' Fall Sale

Oct. 23, 2009 - PRLog -- A 1954 Fender Stratocaster electric guitar and a fine collection of bronze sculpture from the Estate of Harold M. Garonzik will headline Cordier Antiques & Auctions’ Fall Auction in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.  The single owner Stratocaster includes exceptional provenance and is estimated to sell between $20,000 and $40,000.  Items from the Estate of Harold M. Garonzik, a lifelong collector from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, will include an exceptional 36” Sevres palace vase and over ten high quality bronzes including pieces by Claude Michel Clodion (French, 1738-1914) and Auguste Moreau (French, 1826-1897).  Other auction highlights include a Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig signed baseball, paintings by Matthew Harris Jouett and Harry Leith-Ross, and a Russian Bolin silver and enameled cigarette case.  Also to be included are collections of slave documents, Victorian Valentines and art glass, canes, and rolling pins.  The 700 plus lot sale will be held over two days in Camp Hill, across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg.

Saturday’s sale will feature a large and varied offering of books, documents and ephemera. Leading off the category will be a collection of slave and Civil War documents including several archives of soldier letters.  A single owner collection of Victorian Valentines will offer several lots of handmade pieces in fine condition.  An important offering among books will be a copy of The Martyr’s Mirror printed by the Ephrata Cloister in 1766.  This rare and important book is physically the largest volume printed in Colonial America and this copy features what may be a unique printed paper liner.  It is estimated at $2,000 to $4,000.  Among ephemera will be a rare copy of the German language Stages of Man broadside printed by G.S. Peters in Harrisburg during the 1830’s.  Autographs will also be featured and will include a set of The Beatles autographs signed on a single sheet (estimate $2,500 to $5,000).

The highlight among collectibles will be the single owner 1954 Fender Stratocaster electric guitar.  Estimated at $20,000 to $40,000, the guitar was purchased in Carlisle in 1954 by the consignor John Hippensteel, lead singer of a popular 1950’s Central Pennsylvania Western swing band called The Blue Ridge Boys.  Also of note is a Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig signed baseball obtained by the consignor’s maternal grandfather who ushered at Ebbets Fields.  The ball was signed at an exhibition game at Dexter Park and is estimated at $5,000 to $7,500.  

Silver will include many fine offerings including a Russian 88 silver, jeweled and enameled cigarette case circa late 19th century.  Decorated with an elaborate scene of two swans on a tree lined stream, the case is marked for the well known Bolin family of court jewelers and is estimated at $3,000 to $5,000.  

Saturday’s session will conclude with over one hundred lots of jewelry and watches.  Of note is a 2.71 ctw diamond and platinum ring featuring a center .97 carat diamond and a custom made 14K gold wrap (estimate $2,500 to $3,500).  

Sunday’s session will lead off with ethnographic, Asian and decorative arts.  A highlight of Asian arts will be a fine Chinese Export tobacco leaf cider jug.  Decorated with tobacco leaves, flowers and bird in overglaze enamels, the jug is in excellent condition and estimated at $500 to $750.  Two pieces from the collection of Langdon Warner (1881-1951) will be sold including a Chinese celadon bowl and a Chinese phosphatic glazed stoneware bowl.  Mr. Warner was an expert consultant to the Arts and Monuments Section, G.H.Q. of the Supreme Commander during World War II and a well known expert, author and collector of Asian arts.

Ceramics will lead off with American porcelain and pottery including several lots of Dedham Pottery Rabbit dishes.  A collection of redware and stoneware will be sold including a jug attributed to Cheevers Meaders (estimate $150 to $300) and a vessel attributed to Jacob Medinger (estimate $250 to $500).  

A large and ornate palace vase by Sevres will be the highlight of European ceramics.  Standing an impressive 36” high, the vase features a large hand painted allegorical scene signed “L. Fournier d. Baudry” and well as a hand painted portrait to the back and recurring musical and stage themes overall.  The piece is estimated at $8,000 to $12,000 and is one of many exceptional items from the Estate of Harold M. Garonzik, a lifelong collector from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  

Fine art is set to offer many key lots in the two day sale including a portrait by Matthew Harris Jouett (American, 1788-1827) of Judith Swann Boswell, wife of Dr. William Hall Richardson.  Consigned by the family, the painting carries an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.  Other important paintings by American artists include a landscape by Harry Leith-Ross (Pennsylvania, 1886-1973) (estimate $4,000 to $6,000), a still life of flowers by David Burliuk (Russian/American, 1882-1967) (estimate $3,000 to $5,000) and a watercolor of birds by George Miksch Sutton (American, 1898-1982).  

European artists will also be offered among them a portrait of a soldier by Etienne Prosper Berne-Bellecour (French, 1838-1910) (estimate $2,000 to $4,000), a landscape by Otto Eduard van Pippel (German, 1878-1960) (estimate $2,000 to $4,000) and a portrait of a girl by Dorothea Sharp (English, 1874-1955) (estimate $3,000 to $6,000).  Several important works on paper will be sold including a John James Audubon elephant folio Plate CCXCI Herring Gull from Birds of America estimated at $5,000 to $7,000.  

Exceptional bronze sculptures and artwork from the Estate of Harold M. Garonzik will be a significant addition to Sunday’s fine art offerings.  Over twenty-five lots from Mr. Garonzik’s collection will be sold including a 31-½” bronze entitled “L’Aurore” by Auguste Moreau (French, 1826-1897).  Estimated at $3,000 to $5,000, the piece bears a presentation plaque to the base indicating it was awarded to a Senator Duval by the Pharmacists of the Haute-Savoie, a French department in the Alps in 1898. An impressive 44” bronze sculpture lamp of a Norse warrior by Edouard Drouot (French, 1859-1945) will also be included as will bronzes by Marius Jean Antonin Mercie (French, 1846-1916), Claude Michel Clodion (French, 1738-1814), and Isidore Jules Bonheur (French, 1827-1901) to name just a few of the artists that will represented.  From a separate consignor will be a fine bronze 22” bronze entitled “Paysanne au Champ” by Alfred Boucher (French, 1850-1934).  Circa 1890 with a Siot-Decauville Paris foundry mark, the bronze is estimated at $10,000 to $15,000.

Horology will be offering several tall case clocks including a fine Federal cherry and mahogany bonnet top by Samuel Hill, one of the best known Harrisburg, Pennsylvania clockmakers.  It carries an estimate of $15,000 to $17,500.  Another Pennsylvania clockmaker will be represented by a cherry castle top tall case by John Shellenberger, Thompsontown, Juniata County.  Originally built for David Walker, founder of Walker Township, Juniata County, it has been consigned by the great-great-great-grandson of Shellenberger and is estimated at $10,000 to $12,000.

Furniture and rugs will conclude Sunday‘s session and will begin with an impressive 12’ by 8’ eight-fold coromandel room screen made in Hong Kong circa 1880 to 1920 (estimate $3,000 to $5,000).  A late 17th/early 18th century English gateleg table with barley twist legs carries an estimate of $1,500 to $3,000.  

A full online catalogue of the two day auction is available by visiting www.CordierAntiques.com.  Questions can be directed to Cordier Antiques & Auctions at auctions@cordierantiques.com or by calling 717-731-8662.

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