Gloria Crane had a sweet smelling Long Beach Show after selling off most of her 1930s French golliwogg perfume bottle collection. Dealers, like Crane, have been bringing out their most prized black memorabilia for the last couple of months in anticipation of Black History month.”It has taken me years to hunt down this collection,” said Crane, whose prices range from $500 to $1,200 per bottle. They were all made by the French fragrance company: Vigny. She bought her first one, and arguably the cutest one, from “The Perfume Lady” Gloria Magidson years ago. It was priced at $750, but found a new home along with several others at the December Long Beach Show. Magidson used to have a space at Ann Lake’s Harbor Antique Mall in Fullerton. Crane used to work there and admire Magidson’s amazing perfume bottle collection. ”My very first job was cleaning and dusting Gloria’s perfume space,” she said. Magidson was not able to maintain her own space so she gave Lake permission to hire Crane to rearrange her perfume bottles. ”I learned so much about perfume bottles,” said Crane. “It took me weeks, but everything started selling because it had been cleaned and turned around.” After that, Crane had to buy her favorite perfume bottle in the space, which was the googly-eyed, bushy-haired, Golliwogg bottle. Black memorabilia was hot at the December Long Beach Show. Crane also sold a wooden card holder in the shape of the black butler for $650 at the show. Although she usually focuses on fine jewelry, T.C. Leary couldn’t pass up a politically incorrect cast iron ashtray. An alligator is nipping the butte of a crawling black baby eating a watermelon. She hoped the 1920s piece would chase down $400. Dealer Robert Sommers of Blue Heron Gallery in Fallbrook showcased a statue of a black a well-dressed black dandy seated on a chest at the November Del Mar Show. The remembrance of African American achievements originated in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson as “Negro History Week.” Woodson chose the second week in February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass. Some of the African Americans celebrated during black history month include inventors like Eli Whitney, Martin Luther King Jr., and Harriet Tubman. The Golliwogg is a character of children’s literature created by Florence Kate Upton in the late 19th century, inspired by a blackface minstrel doll which Upton found as a child in her aunt’s attic in Hampstead, North London. In order to afford tuition to art school, Upton illustrated a children’s book entitled “The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg.” The 1895 book included a character named Golliwogg, who was first described as “a horrid sight, the blackest gnome,” but who quickly turned out to be a friendly character, and is later attributed with a “kind face.” The Golliwogg had jet black skin; bright, red lips; and wild, woolly hair. He wore red trousers, a shirt with a stiff collar, red bow-tie, and a blue jacket with tails
Category Archives: Black Memorabilia
If it's black, it boils!
A group of mixed media graffiti art of famous African American icons in the space of Chris Thurman further suggest that anything black boils, especially since Barack Obama was elected President. In addition to the subjects, which range from the 44th President of the United States to boxer Joe Frasier, the technique also attracted a lot of attention. The pieces of art, eight in total, were completed by self-taught, full-time artist Christopher Kirk Smith for an exhibit celebrating Black History month at a gallery in Dallas, Texas. The technique, which mixes oils, pencil and several other mediums, creates an abstract, three-dimensional look. ”It is stencil work on top of a collage that is spray painted and then distressed by the artist,” explained Thurman, owner of Sputnik Modern. The image of Obama is titled “Dead Elephant” and trumpets for $850; Jackie Robinson hits it out of the park for $700; “The Brown Bomber,” a.k.a. Joe Frasier knocked out $750; Buckwheat from “The Little Rascals,” $800; and Miles Davis plays for $800. For more information, contact Thurman at (214) 679-6825.
Black memorabilia
Black memorabilia, from campaign items bearing Obama’s likeness to vintage images of mammies and big-lipped natives, are expected to rise in value as a result of several major events. Everything is coming to a head with Barack Obama being sworn into office as the first black president on January 20th, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 15th, and Black History month in February. Antique dealers are preparing for this rise in momentum by stocking up on the sometimes controversial black memorabilia. George Nyiri of George’s in Fullerton offered a circa 1910 Vienna bronze of a melon-eating black boy that chomped for $350 at the recent Bustamante Show. He believes it is based on an oil painting from 1650 entitled “Grape and Melon Eaters” by Bartolome Esteban Murillo. Rick Kaplan of Kaplan Antiques & Fine Art in Pasadena offered an unusual piece of black memorabilia that did not depict the subject in a degrading way as is often the case. The colossal signed Goldscheider piece shows a well-dressed dandy in around 1890 engaged in a conversation on a European telephone. ”It is very unusual for a dandy to be depicted in such a way,” said Kaplan, who hoped the 2 1/2′ tall amicable gent would ramble on for $12,000. Having just escaped the grasp of slavery, it is unusual to see a black man in that time period that appears so well established. Kaplan is known for his monumental terra cotta sculptures, pots, lamps, and mantle clocks. Also offered in his shop is a 34″ tall Art Nouveau era terra cotta sculpture entitled “Feeding the Birds.” Designed by Doebriceh for Ernst Wahliss, the sculpture chirped for $4,995. A terra cotta clock topped by a romantic couple kissing and dancing is more than meets the eye. The circa 1890 clock symbolizes the life cycle. Father Time and a baby are at the base of the clock, which ticks for $5,000. Another Art Nouveau piece features an Alfonse Mucha-inspired woman’s bust made of composition stone. The top of her heaving busom exposed, the subject with long flowing hair is wearing a crown, $4,500. Kaplan’s shop is open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. unless he is away at a show. He is a regular dealer at the Bustamante Show in Pasadena. His next show will be the Miami Beach Antique Show from January 22nd-26th at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Florida. Rick Kaplan Antiques & Fine Art is located at 450 S. Fair Oaks in Pasadena. Call (626) 793-6841 for more information.
