The RSL Auction Company is very pleased to announce its adoption of a new auction format that shall henceforward be known as the “Crème de la Crème Auction”. This phrase originated in France perhaps three centuries ago. Its earliest use stems from culinary references related to cheese produced with the finest creams. In modern parlance, the phrase has simply come to mean the ‘very best’, whether in reference to people or things. As the phrase implies, these auctions will be extremely small with only the very best quality offerings on the market.
Our first crème de la crème sale will take place this summer on Saturday, August 21st at our auction facility in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. The sale will showcase 300 stellar pieces that will include architectural still banks, dynamic themed spelter still banks, figural still banks, tin and cast iron mechanical banks, bell toys, cast iron animal drawn toys, European tinplate planes, trains, automobiles and novelty toys, rare examples of American tin and mechanical toys and several prized pieces of folk art. In the future, we will plan to create one crème de la crème sale every summer.
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LOT 297:
Artillery Bank - Rare Variant with White Fort Tower
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Sold for: $8,000
Start price:
$
4,750
Estimated price :
$9,500 - $12,500
Buyer's Premium: 27.5%
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Artillery Bank - Rare Variant with White Fort Tower
Confederate Officer. By the J. & E. Stevens Company Cromwell, Ct. - Circa Mid 1890's. Upon its release, Stevens' polychrome version of the Artillery Bank found an immediate audience with children. The action of the bank is absolutely exhilarating. Pull the cannon hammer down and place a coin inside the cannon. This causes the soldier's arm to go up. When the lever is pressed, watch as the coin sails through the air for deposit into the fort's tower. Meanwhile, the officer's arm goes down, as if he has given the command to fire. J. & E. Stevens offered the Artillery Bank with either a Union or Confederate Soldier, which was rather extraordinary, considering the Civil War had taken place nearly three decades before its production.
