1884 Winchester Cartridge Display Board Rings Up $100,300 in Miller & Miller's Auction, June 5th

2024-04-17 10:08:32 Art & Entertainment

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New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada, June 10, 2021 -- Three 19th century American cartridge display boards ? two from Winchester (1887 and 1884) and one from Union Metallic Cartridge (1880s) ? sold for a combined $241,900 in an online-only Canadiana & Sporting auction held June 5th by Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. The sale grossed $496,219, including the buyer?s premium.

All prices quoted in this report are in Canadian dollars.

The abovementioned cartridge display boards were the top lots of the auction. All three were lithographed cardboard, with an applied representation of Winchester?s line of ammunition. Few survived intact due to their monumental size and the fact they were often displayed in store windows and areas exposed to light. They are highly prized by collectors.

The Winchester 1884 cartridge display board was the top lot of the auction overall, breezing past its pre-sale estimate of $20,000-$25,000 to finish at a robust $100,300. It measured 28 inches by 38 inches. Runner-up honors went to the 1887 Winchester board, which had the same estimate and brought $88,500. The Union Metallic Cartridge Company board placed third, at $53,100.

The auction was headlined by the lifetime collections of Don and Joyce Blyth ? an astounding assemblage of stoneware, sporting advertising, decoys, powder tins, soda water bottles, ginger beer bottles, beer bottles, Canadiana and more. In all, 289 lots came up for bid, with 99 percent of them finding new owners. Over half of the lots sold met or exceeded their pre-sale estimates.

Don and Joyce Blyth were both avid collectors until Don?s recent passing. Included in the auction was a nearly comprehensive collection of Guelph merchant stoneware and bottles, among other pieces of Guelph, Ontario memorabilia. Also on offer were Don's collections of Canadian gun powder tins, decoys, sporting and firearms advertising and other items.

?I interviewed Don three days before his death,? said Ethan Miller of Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. ?What he had was museum quality material. I asked him, ?Why did you not donate it?? He said, ?Let the people enjoy it.? His intention has now been realized. The stoneware pieces sold strongly, and the rarest of the offering crushed the high estimates. All in all, it was a great sale.?

Joyce Blyth, who survives her husband and who attended the auction, said, ?Never in our wildest dreams did we think that the cartridge boards had such value. Don would have been thrilled.?

Following are additional highlights from the auction. Internet bidding was facilitated by LiveAuctioneers.com and the Miller & Miller website: www.MillerandMillerAuctions.com. A total of 321 registered bidders placed 5,838 bids. Thirty percent of all lots sold surpassed even their high estimate figures. All prices quoted are inclusive of an 18 percent buyer?s premium.

Stoneware was led by a rare three-gallon jug produced in the 1870s by F. P. Goold and featuring a race horse decoration in cobalt slip. It was made during Goold?s tenure at the Brantford pottery in Canada ($20,060). Also, a two-gallon jug debossed, ?Robt. Rutherford Guelph?, boasting an outstanding bird decoration, gaveled for $7,080. The jug appears on the cover of Joyce Blyth?s book, Jugs & Crocks of the Guelph Merchants.

Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd. has two more auctions planned for June: a Watches & Jewels auction on Saturday, June 12th and an Advertising & Breweriana auction on June 19th. Both will be online-only. In the fall, a Canadiana & Historic Objects auction is planned for October 9th.

To learn more about Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd., please visit www.MillerandMillerAuctions.com. Updates are posted frequently.