Auction and new Continental photo

Updating the auction information: the sale will include 100s of pieces of vintage aluminum gift wares from the collection of Dan & Hope Overmeyer.


The companies represented include a wide range of makers including these:


 Wendell August Fordge, Palmer Smith, Buenilum, Everlast, Continental, Arthur-Armour, Bruce Fox, Cellini-Craft, Shup Laird,J. Braun, Guildcraft and more.

Wendell August vases w/La Mirada
ceramic insert.

The ball feet indicate this is
Palmer-Smith

These tall flower candlesticks are 

NEKRASSOFF. The accepted 

knowledge of  his work is that 

he did not work in aluminum.

The candle snuffer, lower right, is Cellini; upper right is J braun.
Several companies added these bakelite type touches of decoration
to their wares, including Shup Laird.

These Everlast pieces are more familiar!

I was given a link to the auction company's website but have found no information on getting a catalog. Perhaps in the next update.
Click here to view their website.

     www.conestogaauction.com.





NEWS:
Two names have been added to the HACA page; also a few prices on the Sale page. Additions to a page of photos has some problems.

While checking over some of the items pictured I was reminded of an unusual on the Continental ice bucket in the Corduroy pattern. See below.

More auction photographs soon and perhaps some information on their catalog.

Dannie

HACA and Auction

Monday's conversation with Jeff, of the auction company, indicated that their plans to photograph every item, sometimes in  groups of two or three and to make detailed descriptions, would give collectors a great view or the pieces that will be auctioned. They have promised pictures and more details for publication in the Aluminist and I am waiting eagerly. This collection of Dan and Hope Overmeyer consists of several thousand pieces. However the entire collection will not be sold at this first auction. There will be following auctions. 

The auction information came to me because of our past listing in numerous antique and collectible reference books as a club or organized group. That is the very reason that I first suggested forming our association...to make us noticed as collectors!

As members of our Hammered Aluminum Collectors Association we had no dues, no meetings, no rules or by-laws. That doesn't sound like any club that I've ever heard of but it simply established us as a group of people interested in collecting and learning about hammered aluminum.

Several blogs back, I mentioned that it would be interesting to know how many HACA members were reading the new form of the Aluminist.Yesterday I received a note from a past member expressing her interest but seeing no place to list her name. To solve that problem, use the comment block for whatever you wish to say: 

  ... A simple "Hello" with or without your full name or...

 ... Your name and place me on the HACA list or...

...  Whatever other remark you wish to share

If the comment box isn't open, click on the word comment and it should pop up.
or email me, as Seaneen did.

I should be notified automatically of your comment and if you are desiring to be on a HACA list I will add your name. (HACA is one of the pages shown at the top of each Aluminist and opens with a click) 

A review of past comments shows that I have not always been notified although the problem may have been with the times I could receive no mail for over a week. I am going back and see if everything is operating as it should.

CATCHING UP

Anyone near Glendale, CA, might enjoy a visit to the Shareourselves Thrift Shop where they might still have a large group of aluminum items. The prices of the pieces vary from $3.00 for a small bowl - up to $20.00 for a tea pot. All pieces are priced individually. Reminds me of the long ago days when we could often find an entire booth filled with aluminum.
Some of these could be useful and there might be a surprise hidden in the stack.

I saved this photo of a Palmer-Smoth zhallow bowl with cast pheasants to add to our other examples of his work. 

Ebay listed a Rodney Kent tray which was described as gold anodized. Have any of you seen  on of these? It would help to verify that it was truly anodized or simply coated with gold spray-on paint. 

Rodney Kent

Commonly called a dresser set, a catalog  lists this as being for condiments

   Rodney Kent has the distinction of being the last major company to enter the aluminum gift ware field during
its heyday and of being the first to be recognized by the few dealers who actually noticed aluminum. 
   One of the first things to learn about this line of aluminum products is that Rodney Kent was not a person. This has been stated many times but kept in mind that there are many new collectors who are only now beginning to learn about the history of the companies.
     In 1997, the discovery of a Palmer-Smith-like piece marked Rodney Kent and with an attached leaflet stating that it was made of alloy of aluminum and manganese (Magalon). Some detective work by several collectors and then a phone conversation with Stanley Gelford, the head of the company making this new and totally different line of Rodney Kent, finally shed light on the company background. Gelford was a young engineer working for Krischer Gift Ware. At one time he was almost fired, later became a partner, and still later bought the company renaming it Shane Industries.

Krischer ice bucket w/green
crock liner

flower/ribbon trim

        While working for Krischer,  Gelford was placed in charge creating a new line of gift ware.  In our interview he credited the talents of many others for its successful design. In fact one of our group of collectors is a descendant of the man who created the very attractive ribbon and flower designed handles and another collector's father sold Rodney Kent products.
     Gelford was also in charge of creating a name for this venture and was at his wits end until he looked out his office window and focused upon a street sign at the corner of Rodney and Kent streets. Problem solved! Incidentally, those streets no longer exist under those names.
     Only one motif, a tulip, was ever featured but the variety of unique serving pieces and the glass pieces combined with the aluminum made this a very popular and memorable line of gift ware.
     As an extremely popular line, the Aluminist received many questions concerning both numbered and unnumbered items and finally developed a list matching each number with a description of the item. According to the record assembled by the Aluminist, the numbers began with #400 through #499. There were 32 unnumbered items described. The list was not complete with no item described for at least 35 of the numbers, but we may possibly now be able Lazy Susan, 16""identify the missing pieces. We did learn that on a few occasions the same number would appear on two different items.

I am copying the list and it will be set up as a separate page on this blog for reference and additions

SOMETHING EXCITING WILL HAPPEN SOON!

1000’s of pieces of aluminum by Wendell August Fordge, Palmer Smith,
Buenilum, Everlast, Continental, Arthur-Armour, Bruce Fox, Cellini-Craft, Shup Laird,
J. Braun, Guildcraft & more.  Many hard to find patterns and forms!

Sale to be held at Conestoga Auction Co., Manheim, PA. Auction will be listed through
LiveAuctioneers.com for live bidding, phone and absentee bidding also available.

Only two months away to dig into all the drawers for loose change, to break open the piggy banks and maybe consider cashing a CD....this is a fabulous opportunity to own a few pieces of some of the best and most unique pieces of decorative aluminum ever made. A very through cataloging is in process and many details and  pictures will be available in future issues of the Aluminist.

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Did you know that the statistics on The Aluminist blog show
 that the posts on Continental have been the most widely read. I'm wondering if anyone has a pattern/motif that was not featured in out posts. 

Speaking of  viewers, would you have guessed that besides the U.S., we have viewers from Russia, Iran, Slovenia, Brazil, Germany, India, and the Netherlands. My wish is to hear comments from each of these viewers. Their addresses are never shown.