Date: Fri 03-Jul-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: LIZAM

Quick Words:

Tyrer

Full Text:

From Macho To Quirky: Sports Items At Tyrer

w/4 cuts

By Rita Easton

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- Important sportsman, Adirondack, marine, and military

items were auctioned on May 30 by H.R. Tyrer Galleries, one of two such

auctions held by the auction house annually.

Five hundred lots of artwork; maps; hunting-, fishing-, and camping-related

items; Civil War- and World War I- and II-related lots were auctioned to a

full house in an atmosphere of fun.

"When we hold this auction, the audience will laugh at a joke. Not true at a

book auction. We have fun. It's always a very good turnout. We've done it

twice a year for the past ten years," Tyrer noted.

Garnering the high bid of $4,300, a large folio Currier & Ives, "Across The

Continent," measuring 17 by 27 inches, featured a bird's-eye view of the

outskirts of a town beyond which were miles of undeveloped flat land under a

big sky.

A pin fire pepper box pistol signed "Deprez," in a handsomely fitted case,

reached $1,800, and a chair the likes of which no one had ever seen before, a

Schwinn bicycle chair in leather and chrome, reached $1,000.

Tyrer was befuddled at the bicycle/chair lot, which could be sat in normally,

but had arms of chrome ending in bicycle grips and two horns under the seat

that could be operated with the press of a button. However, it had no wheels.

"It could have been used by a salesman in a Schwinn shop," said the

auctioneer, lamely searching for the logic. "But it's definitely called a

Schwinn bicycle chair, although I've never seen one before."

A salesman's sample of a Fairy Craft speedboat in a fitted case, approximately

12 inches long, brought $550, and Mettlach steins ranged from $800 to $1,500,

with a mug in the form of a monk in a dark cloak generating the most

curiosity. An 1868 Wesson superposed pistol with a concealed, sliding knife,

called an "over and under," reached $1,450.

"The knife is between the two barrels. In case you don't make it with the

bullets, you still have a fighting chance," Tyrer wryly explained.

A 10 by 14 inch tin cigar sign for "General Arthur Cigars," over which was a

portrait of General Arthur with a walrus moustache, reached $250; a 1762

survey map of Lake Champlain and Lake George fetched $1,450; a 1777 army map

under Lt General Burgoyne, framed, achieved $650; and a copy of "Olympia

1936," one of only 200 printed, covering the entire event which took place in

Germany and featuring photos of Sonja Henie performing and Adolph Hitler

viewing the proceedings, reached $700. The lot was numbered 101 of 200.

Of the art in the auction was a four by four foot framed engraving, "Monarch

of the Glen," a rendering of an impressively antlered buck standing on a rock

outcropping. The engraving brought $450 and was familiar to all as the famous

trademark of a well-known insurance company.

An 1854 photo album of 24 United States Civil War generals, handsomely

covered, sold at $900; two large folio J.J. Audubon prints, marked "R. Havell,

1836," one of canvas backed ducks, the other of mallards, went to the same

buyer at $1,700 each; an Old Town canoe, cut in half and upended, with the

seat planks horizontal, sold as an imaginative bookcase at $550; decoys ranged

from $50 to $350; and a group of vintage wood shafted golf clubs ranged from

$10 to $30.

Prices quoted do not reflect a required 10 percent premium.