An Exceptional Group of Erzgebirge Ark with Animals Comes to Auction

Sunday, December 1, 2024

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31° F / -1° C

An Exceptional Group of

Erzbebirge Ark with Animals

Comes to a Bertoia Auction

Please click on this line to redirect to this Bertoia Auctions Auction

I've had the pleasure and enjoyment to write blog posts for Bertoia Auctions

almost since the beginning of my blog. They are a family business, and  I 

am very grateful for their having allowed me to write about them, and their fine collections of toys that come to their auctions.

I was up early today, and when I  decided to search on the LiveAuctioneers website, I decided by happenstance (coincidence) to add Bertoia Auctions in the search.

They have many auctions coming up, but the opening page for Bertoia Auctions on the LiveAuctioneers website immediately caught my attention. The page

had a beautifully-photographed set of animals with an ark and a group of four people that included 2 men and 2 women. 

Moreover, what I especially admired was the arrangement 

of the animals and the people. It must have taken a long time to create these wonderful arrangements for the photographer. I especially liked how the people 

and the birds were carefully placed in the grouping. The work that went

into these arrangements certainly  works well to have the viewer look around all over the composition and positioning of all the pieces.

This auction will start on December 13, 2024

This set was made in Erzgebirge, Germany. Originally, Erzgebirge was known

for mining, but later, became famous for their wood carving.

Bertoia Auctions Description (on LiveAuctioneers)

Item # 263

263. ERZGEBIRGE LARGE ARK W/ FLOCKED ANIMALS | Grande Noah?s Ark highlighting the best of Erzgebirge craftsmanship. Hand constructed between 1850 and1860 the gondola style ark exhibits a beautiful hand painted frieze, pegged construction and carved lines on the hull mimicking the curved | planks. The ark is accompanied with a menagerie of 230 flocked animals, birds, and figures. Flocked animals are quite rare. We know of only two Grande Arks containing this many flocked animal, this ark and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller | ark displayed at the Folk Art Museum located in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. | 29" long, 8" wide, 9" high. | There has been some restoration to several animals and touchup to the ark, overall in (Excellent Condition) for its age. | $10,000 - $15,000

I haven't seen such a large group of animals with people and an ark.

It's quite beautiful, and the craftsmanship is most-elegant and attractive.

I hope that you enjoy this post as I did in writing it, and by all means, venture over to the LiveAuctioneers website to see this Bertoia Auction's auction, together with, lots of interesting items up for auction.

So thank's for visiting my blog,

and always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

And, I can always be reached at

toysearcher@gmail.com

And to everyone,

A Very Merry Christmas and 

a Healthy and Happy New Year

(Mr.) Stacey Bindman

An Exceptional Toy comes to Auction

Monday, February 21, 2014
             (Second post of the day)

An Exceptional Toy Comes to Auction

   I'd be waiting for Bertoia Auctions to finally add their viewing catalogue on their website, and finally it showed up early this past week. I like to return several times to a site before I decide what I'd like to write, and this strategy or technique worked well for today's post. When you look at any set of items through most auction sites, ebay, or Liveauctioneers or similar sites, you need to sort out your  search by some parameter or sorting order. I usually do mine by bidding>>high to low. The most expensive toys are not necessarily the most interesting, but they are the most desirable by collectors.

   In my initial "previewing" for Bertoia Auctions MArch 2014 auction, I had simply dropped by and looked very fast. However, today, I decided to set the sorting order by bidding>>high to low, and I saw something that I had to share right away. What I saw was a beautiful Noah's Ark with people, and of cost the pairs of animals .But what most caught my attention was how careful the pairs of animals were arranged, and the lighting.  There sere some shadows and they helped present a soft and tranquil mood to the layout (the careful arrangement of the items in a photo). When I did my screen capture, and then enlarged the photos, I know that this was for a "special edition second post" of the day!

Please click here to visit Bertoia Auctions latest auction

I decided to copy the Bertoia description, so that the description writing would not interfere with the first image.

"An exceptional early example, hand painted overall, impressive size measuring 37" l., rarely found in this condition and scale, sliding door on one side, paint details are quite amazing and well executed, piece comes with an enormous array of nicely scaled carved examples. This fresh find makes a nice buying opportunity. Well preserved for age with normal crazing and wear to paint, repaired cracks to side of house"

*Description courtesy of Bertoia Auctions

37"  =  940 mm

I removed some of the grey-toned background in order to make the photo brighter.

what happened without any planning is that the animals appear to be on an island, as if the water level had risen to very high heights. But the best is how the lighting is soft and calming, and the animals are waiting their turn to board the ark.

When the final gavel hits the wood block, it will certainly most interesting to find out the popularity pif this special item and the final value that it received.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be.

Stacey

Write to me anytime at 

toysearcher@gmail.com

Noah's Arks

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Noah's Arks

  It's May 29 and another day of rain. March and April weren't the best months. MArch started off sunny, then mostly cloudy. April was cold,cloudy, and rainy. Then May arrived, and miraculously, we had 10 straight days of sun, and I thought "wow, this is going to be a great summer!". Well, May 's sunshine last those days.Most of the remaining days except yesterday were cold and rainy. It was great for my grass growing, as I didn't have to water, and the sewn seeds grew! So as you can see, it wasn't hard to come up with today's post.

Please click to be redirected to Bertoia's fine website

If you look closely on the roof,  you'll see a bird. This was typical of the German-made arks, and they could have 1 or 2 bird of the roof of an ark. 

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great day, rain or shine,

wherever you may be.

Stacey