Fine Tin Toys & Technology Make a Welcome Return
on 29 May 2010 in Cologne
Following
a highly successful Photographica
auction, which achieved a 93% sale rate last month, the second instalment of
the year at Auction Team Breker promises to be one of the most fascinating to
date.
The rare Märklin ‘Hexenhäuschen’ or Gingerbread Cottage
(estimate 40,000/60,000 Euros) which features on the front cover of the auction catalogue is the leitmotif of the sale. An optical instrument as well as a superb toy, this is a house with a hidden secret: the roof lifts off, revealing a turntable for kaleidoscopic patterns to be viewed through a prism in the chimney. A drawer in the base contains the coloured celluloid flakes, cut paper scraps and pieces of lace placed there by the original owner almost one hundred years ago. The Gingerbread Cottage is listed as No. 8880 in the 1909 Märklin catalogue, which describes the toy as a magic mirror and suggests moss, coloured cotton balls and dead insects as possible specimens for the kaleidoscope. The delicate design must have contributed to the low survival rate, as the Gingerbread Cottage being offered in May is the only example known today. It is preserved in near-mint unplayed-with condition.
Cat.-no. 534
The
auction features a wonderful selection of tin vehicles, from the sedate to the
sensational. An elegant 1902 Bing
Phaeton (estimate 12,000/20,000 Euros) pits comfort against speed in the
form of a 1905 Günthermann “Coupé
Gordon Bennet” racer (estimate 20,000/40,000 Euros). A 1910 Ernst
Plank Monoplane commemorates Louis Blériot’s daring first cross-channel
flight (estimate 1,500/2,500 Euros), while an Aeronautical
Carousel by Müller & Kadeder of Nuremberg paints a more light-hearted
picture of early 20th century aviation (estimate 3,000/4,000
Euros).
Cat.-no. 5
The golden age of steam is celebrated by the lifetime collection of the late Georg Köhl, a retired workshop head at Linde AG in Cologne, who learnt how to repair his first steam vehicle (a harvesting traction engine) at the age of nineteen. Quality and originality were the benchmarks of Köhl’s selection, which brought together the most celebrated names in European toy and model-making - Märklin, Carette, Radiguet & Massiot. Live-steam models of fire pumpers, tractors and marine engines are just some of miniature machines to be found in the collection. Highlights include a number of fine English engineering models such as the Royal Chester, a 1 ½-inch scale traction engine built from plans by W.J. Hughes (estimate 6,000/7,500 Euros).
The
English watch-maker Charles Tansley
created a series of four remarkable working models for public display at the
Midland Fine Arts and Industrial Exhibition
in the 1870s. Inspired
by the sights of his native city Coventry, Tansley’s themes included
industry, racing and the new popular music. His model of a “Beam
Steam Engine” (estimate 10,000/ 15,000 Euros) is constructed of
lacquered brass, with sturdy turned pillars and delicate tracery finials drawn
from Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. Six enamel dials act as a register
that counts the number of coins deposited by denomination. Dropping an old
English penny into the slot brings the pistons, gears and flywheel to life,
while a hidden bell chimes four times. A halfpenny delivers the same
performance, but for half the time, and the bell only chimes twice. So
reliable was the register considered that, according to the description on the
marquee, it would accurately record up to 100,000 pennies.
Collectors
attending the auction preview in person will have the chance to see
demonstrations from the Parisian
Smoking Automaton (estimate 5,000/8,000 Euros) who inhales from a lighted
cigarette and then nonchalantly blows out smoke rings, a 16-inch Clown
Magician who performs the illusion of the Chinese rings (estimate
5,000/8,000 Euros) and a Black Forest
Flute Clock with two animated birds that sing on the hour (estimate
5,000/8,000 Euros). There are
also superb 19th self-playing musical instruments from several
private collections, including a ‘Grand
Format’ Interchangeable Musical Box (estimate 15,000/20,000 Euros) with
six cylinders (a choice of thirty-six tunes) housed in the matching
burr-walnut table, and a carved Bremond
Chalet Clock which plays Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” (estimate
1,500/2,000 Euros).
Cat.-no.
369
In
addition to recorded sound and wireless, the sale offers collectors a chance
to bid on several landmarks of written communication. At Breker’s auction on
21 November 2009, a very rare 10-rotor example of the legendary German ‘Enigma’
ciphering machine from 1938 sold for 28,000 Euros. This sale features a
4-rotor example from c. 1943, in unusually complete condition with its
original oak attaché case. It carries an estimate of 15,000/20,000 Euros.
An 1837 ‘Albion’ Printing
Hand-Press by London maker J. & J. Barrett, one of the earliest of the
office antiques in the auction, is estimated 3,000/5,000 Euros.
Cat.-no.
86
Cat.-no. 293
Full auction details and an expanded list
of highlights can be found on www.breker.com.
Live bidding is available through www.artfact.com.
For more information on buying or selling at Auction Team Breker, please feel
free to contact us by e-mail: auction@breker.com,
telephone: (+49) (0) 2236 38 43 40 or Fax: (+49) (0) 2236-38 43 430
A
bilingual, fully-illustrated colour catalogue is available for 28,00 EUR
(37,00 EUR Overseas) from Auction Team Breker, Postfach 50 11 19, 50971 Köln,
Germany or: Otto-Hahn-Str. 10, 50997 Köln (Godorf), Germany
Opening Hours: Tu – Fr 9 am – 5 pm
AUCTION TEAM BREKER
Tel.: ++49-2236-38434-0
Fax: ++49-2236-3843430
Auction Team Breker
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