OCEANSIDE, N.Y. – A full sheet of 80 post office-fresh Chinese Year of the Monkey stamps, purchased in 1980 by the consignor at a post office inside the People’s Republic of China, sold for $135,600 at a multi-estate auction held April 19-21 by Philip Weiss Auctions in Oceanside, N.Y.
This full sheet of post office-fresh Chinese Year of the Monkey stamps (1980) brought $135,600. Photo courtesy Philip Weiss Auctions
The sheet of stamps was by far the top lot of the nearly 2,000 mostly fresh-to-the-market lots that came up for bid.
Offered were stamps and coins, postcards, toys (to include trains and soldiers), dolls, Disney items, animation and animation art, figurines, Hollywood memorabilia, rock ‘n’ roll collectibles and more.
Internet bidding for the sale was through Proxibid.com.
Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include a 13 percent buyer’s premium.
Animation cels from Disney classic films proved especially popular with bidders. A production cel with production background from the 1953 movie Peter Pan, with an image depicting Tinker Bell, climbed to $19,775. The background showed books and a cup with quill pens. The matte was inscribed “To Amy Greene with best wishes” and signed “Walt Disney.”
This article originally appeared in Antique Trader magazine
Learn about subscribing to Antique Trader magazine for just $1 per issue!
Large publicity cel from the 1937 Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ($11,865).
A 10 1/2 inch by 14 inch publicity cel from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) hammered for $11,865. The large publicity set-up featured all seven dwarfs. It was gouache on trimmed celluloid, applied to an air-brushed Courvoisier background. Like the Peter Pan cel, this one’s cache was enhanced by the “WDP” stamp to go with the coveted Walt Disney signature.
Production cel and master watercolor background from the classic Disney film Dumbo ($5,650).
A great production cel from the movie Dumbo, measuring about 5 inches by 5 inches square and showing the plucky pachyderm blowing bubbles from his trunk, went to a determined bidder for $5,650. Also included was the master watercolor background – 8 inches by 10 inches.
Concert poster for a 1969 appearance of the Grateful Dead at the Las Vegas Ice Palace ($2,599).
Vintage concert posters also did particularly well. A poster for the Grateful Dead show at the Las Vegas Ice Palace from March 29, 1969 (featuring Santana on the undercard) hammered for $2,599. The first printing poster, measuring 14 inches by 22 inches, featured great cartoon and comic book art by Laurie and Janusz Gottwald of Ampersand Designs in Providence, R.I.
Also sold was a poster for Howlin’ Wolf and Big Brother & the Holding Company (with Janis Joplin), for a Sept. 23-24, 1966 set of shows at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. Art was done by Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley of The Blindwood Press in San Francisco. The first printing concert poster, measuring 14 1/4 inches by 20 inches, was in near mint condition.
To learn more about Philip Weiss Auctions, contact the firm at 516-594-0731 or phil[at]weissauctions.com.