Morphy Auctions is excited to announce a can't miss sale to be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 and 22. The first of two sales featuring selections of the Robert Newman collection will have an outstanding scope of material. All items from this sale are on display in Morphy's auction gallery and available for preview.
Collectors looking for absolutely one-of-a-kind Coca-Cola brand rarities need to look no farther than this auction. The celebrity of this sale would have to be Lot 205, an original oil painting featuring radio stars Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy checking out a cooler full of Coca-Cola from 1949. This artwork was used in numerous company advertisements and also prominently featured on the back cover of an issue of “National Geographic” in 1950. The painting - attributed to Haddon Sundblum, who also created the chubby, grandfatherly Santa Claus well-known today - is estimated at $40,000-$75,000. Another sterling selection is Lot 552, a 1930s-era silver Coca-Cola display bottle. This piece, made especially for a company executive who supervised the construction of the ocean-liner inspired Coca-Cola bottling plant in Los Angeles, Calif., is estimated at $25,000-$50,000.
This auction's selection of fine Coca-Cola posters is certainly the real thing. It's easy to take flight with Lot 662, a Coca-Cola aviator girl poster from 1941 with strong, deep colors. This example, one of the most desirable and hardest to find posters Coca-Cola produced, is estimated at $2,000-$3,500. Collectors may get bent out of shape over Lot 49 - a rare poster from 1910-15 featuring a straight sided Coca-Cola bottle - which is estimated at $3,500-$4,500. And Lot 615, a stunning Coca-Cola sailor girl poster from 1936, is certain to generate a boatload of interest. This wonderfully litho'ed print, estimated at $4,000-$6,000, is finished with a light coat of silver glitter, which adds even more appeal to this already sparkling piece.
Collectors will certainly want to catch the wave of fine beverage signage on offer at this sale. Lot 826, a 1941 Pepsi-Cola tin sign with bright, bold, and beautiful colors, is estimated at $1,600-$2,700. It's easy to do a double-take over Lot 473, a Coca-Cola two-sided porcelain sidewalk sign from 1936. This cutout style example in outstanding condition is estimated at $2,500-$3,500. And Lot 557, a 1930s Coca-Cola Brunhoff lighted counter sign, should have bidders all aglow, and for good reason. This example is estimated at $7,000-$10,000 and is described by Morphy’s catalogers as, "a bright and clean example and with the strongest original bottom glass panel that we can remember seeing, much less ever selling."
This auction also offers a smokin' selection of tobacco related advertising rarities from the Newman collection. Lot 1154, a Recruit Cigars porcelain sign from 1915-20 with great colors, lights things up with its $1,400-$2,250 estimate. And size defies with Lot 1136, an 8.5-by-4-inch Recruit Cigars porcelain door push from 1915-25. This rare sign in nearly perfect condition makes a grand entrance with its $2,500-$3,500 estimate.
Lamps, cutouts, salesman's samples, thermometers, displays, and other soda related advertising specialties - including Lot 973, an Orange Crush dispenser estimated at $5,000-$9,000 and made in 1933 for the Chicago World's Fair - provide refreshing variety to this two-day sales event.
"We are thrilled to present this first of two auctions featuring the Robert Newman collection of extraordinary antique beverage and tobacco advertising 45 years in the making. The quality of the items in this sale is truly in a class onto itself. Bob is known for his fantastic eye and his ability to find examples in "investment quality" condition. And our cataloger, Gary Metz - one of the nation's most recognized experts on antique and vintage Coca-Cola memorabilia - could not agree more. Look for more selections from the Newman collection in our upcoming June 5, Antiques, Advertising, and Figural Cast Iron sales event," said Dan Morphy, president of Morphy Auctions.
Morphy Auctions, located at 2000 North Reading Road, Denver, Pa., is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, call 717-335-3435 or visit www.MorphyAuctions.com.