CAT AND MOUSE CAST IRON MONEY BOX VINTAGE SERIES
Reigning supreme on Max Berry’s leader board was the bank with a black man kicking a watermelon, the pinnacle of Charles Bailey’s esteemed pedestal series for J.
Twenty mechanical banks in all exceeded the $20,000 mark in Berry II, while 22 banks reached that impressive figure in Berry I. Back then, Sax’s black man kicking a watermelon had brought $354,500 his “Freedman’s Bank” went at $321,500 and his “Zig Zag Bank” sold for $189,500. Three of the Berry II achievers had sold at Bertoia’s 1998 auction of the Stanley P. Bailey at $96,000 and the Mikado by Kyser & Rex at $90,000, also had racial overtones. Three out of the hallowed five were ethnic by nature, and two Berry II stellar banks, the Chinaman in a rowboat by Charles A. The combined total for the five banks was $1,176,000. Bailey at $216,000 and the preacher in the pulpit by J. In Berry part I, two additional banks reached that magic milestone: the black fisherman by Charles A. During those angst-filled threshold moments, the free-for-all over the three rarefied mechanical banks that topped $200,000 each rivaled high-stakes poker. The air in the gallery was so heavy, you could “iron a shirt” with it, to quote Raymond Chandler.
Banks such as the English-made Indian chief at $22,800 (including buyer’s premium) and the “Time Is Money Bank” by an unknown maker at $52,800-both pictured here-are relative strangers to the auction scene. Rich Bertoia’s contention that among Berry’s mechanical bank hierarchy “the number of high-caliber pieces are so high, they just don’t show up at auction more than once in a twenty-year stretch” was clearly confirmed. Mechanical banks, 285 strong, stole the limelight. Scott Fitzgerald’s notion that “there are no second acts.” The Berry big bling of 583 lots resoundingly topped all expectations, bringing in $2.92 million, and, as the highlight films unspooled, decisively debunked F. and Stephen Steckbeck collections, $52,800.īertoia Auctions hit the reset button with the second round of Max Berry’s treasure-trove, offered March 27 and 28 in Vineland, New Jersey. “Time Is Money Bank,” manufacturer unknown, circa 1880, cast iron, embossed devil-like figure with wings at top center section rotates as coin falls, ex-Edwin Mosler Jr. Bailey’s pedestal designs both patient and dentist fall over backward as tooth is extracted, and coin drops in the gas bag. “Ding Dong Bell” bank, Weeden Manufacturing Co., circa 1888, only four known examples, boy pulls cat from well, $64,800.ĭeemed the finest horse-drawn artillery toy made, this late 19th-century Pratt and Letchworth cast-iron flying artillery with mounted soldiers drawing a caisson and cannon, ex-Bill Bertoia collection, rolled merry along at $57,600.ĭouble-decker omnibus, unknown French maker, circa 1890, hand-painted embossed tin, sideboards post destinations, e.g., “Ville de Marseille” and “Longchamp + Joliette,” 42" long overall, matched the high estimate at $50,400.ĭentist bank, J. “125 / Motor Bank,” Kyser & Rex Co., patented 1889, possibly the rarest of the cast-iron clockwork-driven banks, when coin drops, trolley rolls forward and rings chime, repainted trap, $48,000. Bailey, patented 1882, painted lead and wood, $37,200. With a replaced coin trap, it made $90,000. The coin disappears in a takeoff of the old hat trick. Bailey, painted lead, circa 1880, tray reads “Cheap Labor / Hotel / Dinner / One Cent / in Advance,” pull his queue, and he serves a rat on a platter, $96,000.įriday’s session ended with a circa 1886 Mikado bank by Kyser & Rex Co. Secor, circa 1880, cloth, wood, and painted tin, shows black man at desk who thumbs nose as hand sweeps coin into slot, no more than ten examples known, figure redressed and minor repair to head, ex-Andrew Emerine, Edwin Mosler Jr., and Stanley Sax collections, the sale’s second-highest achiever at $228,000.Ĭhinaman in a rowboat bank, Charles A. “Zig Zag Bank,” maker unknown, patented 1889 to Moses Newman and George Bennett, New York City, full- bearded wizard and jack-in-the-box connect in this stunning cast-iron, cloth, and papier-mâché bank, ex-Seamen’s Bank, Al Davidson, and Stanley Sax collections, third place among the super banks at $210,000. Griffith, Leon Perelman, and Stanley Sax collections, Berry II’s top achiever at $270,000. Stevens, patented 1888, Charles Bailey’s penultimate pedestal design, cast iron, ex-Walter Tudor, F.H. Part II of Berry Toy and Bank Collection Sparks Sensory Overload March 27th, 2015īank with a black man kicking a watermelon (a.k.a.
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