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Page 20 The Antique Shoppe April, 2017
This Month in April 17, 1790. . . . . . Benjamin Franklin died. In 2009, a copy of his Poor
Collecting History: APRIL
By: Mike McLeod
April 3, 1882. . . . . . While his back was turned, the outlaw Jesse James (LEFT)
was shot and killed by Bob Ford, a member of his own gang,
to get a $10,000 reward. A Jesse James wanted poster took April 18, 1998. . . . . Michael Jordan played his final regular season game. The
$57,475 in 2012 at Lebel’s Old West Auction.
April 4, 2012 A 900-year-old Chinese ceramic Song
Dynasty “Ruyao Washer” bowl sold for $26,770,289 at April 22, 2005. . . . Johnny Carson’s Shure SM33 microphone (LEFT) from The
Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. It was made for a Chinese emperor
for washing calligraphy brushes.
April 6, 1520. . . . . . The great Renaissance artist and architect Raphael, or
Raffaello Sanzio, passed away at the age of 37. A prolific
artist, three of his masterpieces include The School of
Athens, Sistine Madonna, and Saint George and the
Dragon. In 2012, his black chalk sketch, Head of a Young
Apostle (LEFT), sold for $47,869,045 at Sotheby’s.
April 7, 2016 Seven paintings from Andy Warhol’s
Campbell Soup Series were stolen from the Springfield Art
Museum in Springfield, Missouri (nbcnews.com, 4/12/16).
April 8, 1974. . . . . . With his 715th home run this day, Hank Aaron (LEFT) beat
Babe Ruth’s home run record. Aaron hit 755 homers in his April 26, 1564. . . . . William Shakespeare’s baptismal date; his exact birthdate
career. In 1999, his 755th home run ball sold for $650,000
at Guernsey’s (usatoday30.usatoday.com, 7/25/07).
April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered to
General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse,
officially ending the Civil War. Present at those proceedings
was 25-year-old Brevet Major General George and the
troops he led in victorious battles. Custer’s personal
cavalry swallowtail battle flag sewn by his wife Elizabeth
Custer sold for $896,250 at Heritage Auctions in 2007.
Custer received the flag during a battle at Dinwiddie Court
House near Petersburg, Virginia, on March 31, 1865.
April 11, 2016. . . . . . Han Solo’s leather jacket from Star Wars: The Force
Awakens blasted off for $191,000 at an IfOnly.com auction
to benefit FACES (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures).
Harrison Ford’s daughter suffers from epilepsy (time.com,
4/13/16).
April 14, 1912. . . . . . The Titanic struck the iceberg. The ship sank early the next
morning, and more than 1,500 people lost their lives of
the 2,224 passengers and crew on board. A two-handled,
sterling silver loving cup that survivor Molly Brown (LEFT) Below:
CAP.
awarded to the Arthur Rostron, captain of the rescue ship WILLIAM
Carpathia, sold for $197,982 at Henry Aldridge & Son in BLIGH
2015 (paulfrasercollectibles.com). A captain for the Cunard
Line, Rostron also received a Congressional Gold Medal.
The only known first class dinner menu (LEFT) from the last
meal on the Titanic sold for $118,750 at Heritage Auctions
in November 2015. Five men at the same table signed
it and added their addresses; four of them eventually
survived. A photo of the iceberg auctioned for more than
$32,000+ in 2015 at Henry Aldridge & Son (nypost.com,
10/24/15).
April 15, 1452 Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday. A true
Renaissance man and acknowledged scientific genius,
inventor (parachute, helicopter, tank), and master of the
arts (Mona Lisa, The Last Supper), his Salvator Mundi—
which had been attributed to an artist in his studio and All photos are public domain, PD-US, unless otherwise noted.
previously auctioned for about $10,000—sold for between
$75 million and $80 million in a private sale in 2014
(nytimes.com, 3/9/2014).
Richard’s Almanac, officially titled then, “Poor Richard,
1733. An Almanack for the Year of Christ 1733,” along with
two other almanac volumes auctioned for $566,500 at
Sotheby’s. It is one of three known to exist, and while in
publication from 1732 to 1758, his almanac sold well. It
contained puzzles, weather forecasts, household tips and
Franklin’s witty sayings like: "He's a Fool that makes his
Doctor his Heir."
Chicago Bulls jersey he wore then sold for $173,240 at
Goldin Auctions in 2015.
Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson went for $50,787.50
at Heritage Auctions. Known as “the king of late night
television,” Carson’s show was the last one watched many
nights by millions of Americans during its 30-year run from
1962 to 1992. His show won six Primetime Emmy Awards,
and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. An
accomplished comedian, he said: “If life were fair, Elvis
would be alive, and all the impersonators would be dead”
(brainyquote.com).
April 24, 1904 Birthday of artist Willem de Kooning.
In 2015, his abstract painting Interchange sold for $300
million; it is listed as the highest price paid for a painting at
this time.
is not clearly recorded but believed to be April 23. Only
six of his signatures exist, and each is valued between $3
million (fantasticfives.com) and $5 million (most-expensive.
com). Truly, no one really knows what astronomical price
Shakespeare’s signature would bring. However, a definite
price was paid for one of the 40 known and complete First
Folios containing his plays (LEFT) $5,153,242 in 2006 at
Sotheby’s.
April 28, 1789 Lieutenant Fletcher Christian led a
mutiny against Captain William Bligh on the HMS Bounty.
Bligh and some of his loyal sailors eventually made it back
to England. Ten of the mutineers were later apprehended,
brought back and tried; three were hanged and seven
were acquitted or pardoned. Fletch Christian was never
found but believed killed by Polynesians or his own
men. In 2011, two of Captain Bligh’s medals (LEFT) were
auctioned for $216,000 at Noble Numismatics in Australia.
One was a Naval Gold Medal for a victory against
the Dutch, and the other, also gold, was an award
from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts,
Manufactures and Commerce (the Royal Society
of Arts) for returning to Tahiti and obtaining
breadfruit, his original mission.
April 29, 1954 Birthday cake for comedian and
TV star Jerry Seinfeld. In 2016, he did a little cleaning
out of his garage and sold 17 cars in his collection
through Gooding & Co. for $22,244,500 (newsday.
com, 3/21/16). Many were high-end Porsches, and
the highlight was a 1955 Porsche Spyder that hit
the road for $5,335,000. A couple of quirky cars:
Seinfeld’s 1964 Volkswagen Conversion Camper with
less than 19,000 miles on it left for $99,000, and his
1960 Volkswagen Beetle went for $121,000.
Credits: Wikipedia.org and Timelines.ws.