Jesse James Gang Signatures Expected To Be

Among The Highlights This Weekend At Fairfield Auction

Among the antique furniture, paintings, silver and other decorations at Fairfield Auction this month is a rare artifact of the American Frontier.  In a small autograph book are the signatures of Cole, Jim and Bob Younger together with Bob Ford. The four men partnered with Jesse and Frank James and were known as The James-Younger Gang, robbing banks, trains and stagecoaches throughout Missouri and the adjacent states in the 1870s.

While signatures of any members of The James-Younger Gang are rare, a group of four together is possibly unique. The autograph album was consigned by descendants of Leopold Kahn. Discovered by P.T. Barnum in 1870, Kahn was 25 inches tall and billed as Admiral Dot. By 1882 Kahn was touring with The Royal Lilliputian Opera Company, which included other famous little people of the day.

By 1882 The Younger brothers resided in The Stillwater (Minn.) State Prison, having been apprehended after the botched hold-up of The First National Bank of Northfield, Minn., in 1876. The signatures of the Youngers are all dated January 18, 1882.  At that time Bob Ford was still hiding out with Jesse and Frank James in Missouri.

On April 3 of that year, as they prepared to depart for another robbery, Bob Ford shot Jesse James in the back of the head. He immediately wired the governer, claiming the $5,000 reward on James’ head.  

The lot of autographs will be among the 350 lots to be auctioned during the Important Estates Auction at 53 Church Hill Road beginning at 11 am Sunday, September 27. Previews will be offered Friday and Saturday, September 25-26, from 11 am to 4 pm each day, and also on Sunday morning from 9 to 11.

From the estate of Dr William Drucker of Riverdale is a fine collection of modern photography highlighted by Diane Arbus’s “Jewish Giant at Home with His Parents in The Bronx, NY, 1970,” which is estimated at $50/70,000. Eddie Carmel, the subject of the photograph, was a patient of Dr Drucker, a noted Manhattan endocrinologist.

Other photographs from the Drucker estate include Robert Mapplethorpe’s “Clifton” and Tina Barney’s “Cousins,” as well as works by Lee Friedlander and Alfred Stieglitz.

Other photography of interest includes a group of 24 Ezra Stoller photographs, all depicting Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. Two images of “Falling Water” retain exhibition labels from The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Works by Morris Rosenfeld, Lucien Clergue and Jean-Pierre Sudre as well as three RCA mural studies by Margaret Bourke-White will also be offered.

A good selection of Americana includes a fine Queen Anne lowboy of diminutive size (28¾ inch case), probably North Shore or Portsmouth. A small Federal giltwood convex mirror with candle arms, a school girl drawn map of The United States circa 1810, a copper Blackhawk horse weathervane, a Pennsylvania fractur and a group of Hudson River primitives  should also attract attention.

An excellent pair of oval China Trade paintings, with a view of The Pagoda of Wampoa, Chinese warships, and retaining their original frames, are estimated $8/12,000.

Another historically significant lot is a small Howard Hughes archive of eight photographs documenting his around-the-world flight of 1938 and includes a photograph signed by Hughes and radioman Richard Stoddard. The flight halved the previous record time for a around-the-world flight and established Hughes as a pre-eminent figure in aviation.

A large selection of fine art is lead by a Moses Soyer “Autobiographical,” a 24 by 25-inch oil on canvas with an extensive exhibition record documented verso.

Also of note is a large oil by Jan Lebenstein (as well as four other works by the artist) and an excellent winter landscape by George H. Boughton. Works by Vu Cao Dam, John Pike, James B. Sword, Alfred Weber, Pietro Gabrini, David Bates, George Frank Higgins, Addison T. Millar, Francois Gerome, Jay Hall Connaway, Vaclav Vytlacil, Earl MacPherson, Carl Weber, Nicholai Cikovsky, Carl Gaertner, George Lilanga and Albert Lorey Groll will also offered, as will a large frame signed by Frederick Harer.

A strong selection of fine prints include a collection of 14 pencil signed etchings, each depicting Scotties, by Marguerite Kirmse as well as works by Thomas Moran, Auguste Rodin, J.F. Millet, Marie Laurencin, Odilon Redon and Alex Katz.

Consigned from the family of Templeton Crocker’s butler is a group of fine Art Deco objects from Crocker’s iconic San Francisco penthouse designed by Jean-Michel Frank and Jean Dunand, perhaps the most important Art Deco residence in The United States. Of particular interest are three pieces of lacquered metalware by Jean Dunand and a desk lamp by Maison Desny of Paris.

Other 20th Century objects to be sold include a Michael Powolny figure depicting Winter for The Wiener Werkstatte and a collection of 45 French exhibition posters featuring Chagall, Picasso, Miro, Modigliani and Van Gogh. Two bronze and ivory figures by A. Gori, a Tiffany bronze floor lamp base, two rare Rozenburg porcelain Art Nouveau vases, a Pablo Picasso 10-inch plate for Madura, a pair of Noguchi desk lamps and a pair of Harry Bertoia diamond chairs will also be up for bidding.

Other items of interest include a good group of estate jewelry, a Stella console disk music box, a Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica Platter, a William Lund chess set, a pair of 26” French Empire tole lamps, an Aesthetic Movement writing desk stamped “Gillows” and a pair of giltwood sidechairs from Windsor Castle.

Most items can be previewed during the sale, as well as online; visit FairfieldAuction.com. For further information call 364-1555.