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The British Guiana One-Cent Magenta.  UPDATE: IT MADE A WORLD RECORD $9.5 MILLION.

THE rarest and most famous stamp in the world – unseen in public since 1986 – comes up at a dedicated evening sale at Sotheby’s in New York on June 17.  The legendary and unique British Guiana One-Cent Magenta is estimated at $10-20 million.  This would mark a new world auction record for a stamp.

On offer from the estate of John du Pont, who purchased it in 1980, it has not been seen publicly since 1986 when it was exhibited at  the Ameripex ’86 International Stamp Show in Chicago.   du Pont, heir to a chemical industry fortune and an avid collector, bought it for  $935,000 in 1980. The stamp will travel this spring to locations including London and Hong Kong, before returning to New York for exhibition in Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries beginning 14 June. It was  rediscovered by a 12-year-old Scottish boy living in South America in 1873, and from there passing through some of the most important stamp collections ever assembled.

David Redden, Director of Special Projects and Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Books Department, commented: “I have been with Sotheby’s all my working life, but before I knew about the world’s greatest works of art, before I knew about the Mona Lisa or Chartres Cathedral I knew about the British Guiana. For me, as a schoolboy stamp collector, it was a magical object, the very definition of rarity and value, unobtainable rarity and extraordinary value. That schoolboy of long ago would be bemused and astonished to think that he would one day, years later, be temporary guardian of such a world treasure.”

In 1852, British Guiana began receiving regular postage stamps manufactured in England by Waterlow & Sons. But in 1856, a shipment of stamps was delayed, which threatened a disruption of postal service throughout British Guiana. The postmaster turned to the printers of the local Royal Gazette newspaper, and commissioned a contingency supply of postage stamps: the one-cent magenta, a four-cent magenta, and a four-cent blue. The sole-surviving example of the one-cent magenta was first rediscovered not far from where it was initially purchased. In 1873, L. Vernon Vaughan, a 12-year-old Scottish schoolboy living with his family in British Guiana, found the stamp among a group of family papers.

UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR A RECORD BREAKING $9.5 MILLION.

With everything from a hand made model of a clipper and  a stuffed fox and pheasant to antique furniture, art and a collection of glass paperweights the clearance auction by Fonsie Mealy in Castlecomer on February 18 promises to be interesting.  The catalogue lists 388 lots and is online. Here is a small selection.

A handmade model of Caliph, a clipper ship designed for the China tea trade launched in 1869 which disappeared on a voyage to Shanghai in 1872 (180-220). THIS WAS UNSOLD

A Victorian figured walnut bow fronted what not (200-300).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

A collection of 30 glass paperweights, late 19th and early 20th centuries (280-380).  UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR 320

A fox and pheasant (120-180).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 110

One of a pair of heavy decorated brass hall lanterns (250-350).  UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD

A bronze patio table modelled as a seated nude (220-380).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 220

The Pope’s Harley Davidson sold for 241,500.

The Pope’s Harley sold for 241,500 at Bonhams in Paris on February 6.  A Harley-Davidson motorcycle jacket sold for 57,500. Auctioned for charity they had been donated to Pope Francis by the motorcycle manufacturer last June. Funds raised will go towards the renovation of the Caritas Roma’s Don Luigi di Liegro hostel and soup kitchen at Rome’s Termini railway station.  The 1,585cc Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide was signed on the tank by the Pope at the Vatican last November. The jacket was also signed by Pope Francis. They were bought by separate bidders at Bonahms Les Grandes Marques du Monde sale at the Grand Palais in Paris. The motorcycle went to a private buyer in Europe, the jacket went to an overseas buyer.

IT is not every day that an auction throws up a selection that ranges from Dinosaur eggs to Winston Churchill to Al Capone.  The auction of the private collection of Stanley J. Seeger at Sotheby’s in London on March 5 and 6  offers all that and extra in more than 1,000 lots across 75 collecting categories.  This encyclopaedic collection has been grouped together by Sotheby’s until the title 1,000 ways of seeing. Starting chronologically with 250 million year old fossilised trees it charts many moments in history and art.

Whimsicality, humour and historical resonance always appealed to Stanley Seeger (1930-2011) and Christopher Cone. The works of art, objects and curiosities they collected were part of their everyday life. Guests to their homes might be invited to sit in Winston Churchill’s armchair, while being poured tea from Lord Nelson’s silver teapot or served Bloody Marys from Al Capone’s cocktail shaker – a Christmas gift from the gangster’s men, engraved “To a regular guy, from the boys 1932”. Stanley Seeger’s great enthusiasm for natural history is reflected in the collection in ten fossilised dinosaur eggs from the Jurassic Period (100 million BC), while his fascination with film, history and great historical figures is reflected in Orson Welles’ working draft script for Citizen Kane (1941).

Melanie Clore, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, who worked with Stanley Seeger many times over the years, said: “Only once in a generation does a collector with such diverse, interesting and far-reaching taste as Stanley Seeger appear. His engaging intelligence and wry sense of humour are reflected in the sheer ‘joie de vivre’ of this sale. Every single object has a story to tell and is enhanced by its association with one of the greatest collectors of his generation”.

Meriden International Sterling Company
‘Al Capone’s Cocktail Shaker’
Engraved “To A ‘REGULAR GUY’ From THE BOYS 1932” (£1,000-1,500).

Admiral Lord Nelson’s Bachelor Teapot
Hallmarked London, 1799 (£8,000-12,000).

WINSTON CHURCHILL’S ARMCHAIR
Mahogany and upholstered later upholstered in white silk damask, with stained rear legs ending in brass cappings and castors, with a label printed Knight, Frank & Rutley
Made circa 1880. (£3,000-5,000).