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Toys, Glass, Petroliana Fetch Top Dollar in Auction

This Pacer 400 porcelain pump plate sign with ethyl logo, 14 inches by 9 inches, rated 9+ for condition went to a new owner for $1,815.

RAYMOND, Ill. — A standard-glaze portrait vase bearing the likeness of a cocker spaniel sold for $2,640 on the last day of a three-day auction held Feb. 15 thorough 17 hosted by Matthews Auctions. The 13-inch vase, signed “M. Timberlake,” was in good condition, with no chips, cracks or repairs. It was the top achiever of the 1,200 lots up for bid.

Headlining the event was an exceptional group of antique toys and signs from the Joe Russell estate of New York City. A second smaller New York toy collection was also offered.

The auction also featured many fine advertising and petroliana, as wells as art pottery, early American pattern glass and Pickard china.

Approximately 70 people attended the auction, while another 450 registered to bid online through Proxibid.com. Many absentee bids were fielded, as well as a handful of phone bids. “It was a good sale, with robust bidding throughout,” said Dan Matthews of Matthews Auctions.

Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include a 10 percent buyer’s premium.

Japanese-made Space Ship X5 tin litho friction drive toy, 12 inches long and rated 9 for condition, sold for $495.

• A Roseville Rozane vase showing a man wearing a hat and artist signed “A. Williams” and marked “Rozane RPCo” changed hands for $1,265.

• A Husky Tri-Power porcelain pump-plate sign with dog graphics and rated 8.9 out of 10 for condition sold for $2,310, and a Pacer 400 porcelain pump-plate sign with ethyl logo rated a robust 9 traded hands for $1,815.

• A Zerolene single-sided porcelain sign with fabulous color and gloss and rated 8.9 and gaveled at $1,045, followed by an Iroquois Chief single-sided porcelain convex sign with Indian chief graphics, rated 9+, logged $1,350.

• Highlights from the toys category included a Strauss “Ham and Sam the Minstrel Team” tin lithe wind-up toy, rated 8.75 in good condition with an operational motor and only minor wear at the joints from routine use tabbed at $660, and a Japanese X-5 tin litho friction drive spaceship, rated 9 in good condition went to a determined bidder for $495.

Roseville Rozane portrait vase of a man wearing a hat, artist signed by A. Williams changed hands for $1,265.
Standard glaze portrait vase of a cocker spaniel dog, artist signed by M. Timberlake was the auction’s top lot at $2,640.

• A Sports Land Japanese tin litho wind-up Cardinal ride, rated 7 and showing wear but with a working motor, changed hands for $440; an All-Stars Mr. Baseball, Jr. tin litho battery-operated toy showing Mickey Mantle went for $413 and an Arnold “Mac 700” tin litho wind-up motorcycle with rider, rated 9, hit $468.

• Tops in the advertising signs category was a Diamond Horseshoes Calks single-sided tin embossed sign in a wood frame with superb graphics and with only minor wear, marked Donaldson Art Sign Co, Covington, N.Y., sold for $1,705. Also, a metal Penny toy ship with two stacks, in very good condition and rated 9, went for $319.

Iroquois Chief single-sided porcelain sign with Indian chief graphics, rated high at 9+ for condition, showed well with a winning bid of $1,350.
This Zerolene “The Standard Oil For Motor Cars” single-sided porcelain sign, with a condition rating of 8.9 sold for $1,045.

• Rounding out just some of the sale’s top lots, a Chein Hercules Royal Blue Line “Coast to Coast Service” tin litho bus, rated 7.9 in good condition and with a straight body, having only minor paint damage and rust, rolled off for $633, while a die-cast Matchbox Major Caterpillar Earthmover #M-1, new in the box, rated 9.5, topped out at $275.

For more information on upcoming sales, visit Matthews Auctions’ website.

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